A unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit panel on Monday affirmed the dismissal of a copyright lawsuit filed by a screenwriter against Sylvester Stallone, Lions Gate Films and Nu Image Films over the 2010 action film “The Expendables.”
The plaintiff, Marcus Webb, alleged that Stallone, who co-wrote and directed the film, ripped off a screenplay by Webb called “The Cordoba Caper.” Both scripts tell the story of a team of mercenaries dispatched to depose a Latin American dictator named General Garza. Stallone’s film, which was a box office hit, featured a star-studded cast including Jason Statham, Let Li, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
