Image Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon
An aspiring screenwriter has sued Warner Bros. and the filmmakers behind The Hangover Part II for copyright infringement, defamation, fraud, and other charges, claiming that the R-rated comedy copied a script he had written about his wild personal experiences in Asia. After his marriage to a Japanese woman fell apart during his honeymoon in 2008, Michael Alan Rubin went on some adventures that he turned into a screenplay titled Mickey and Kirin.
In the suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Rubin says The Hangover sequel “is copied from the treatment … and also from the real life incident of the Plaintiff, because the protagonist in Hangover-2 travels from the United States to an Asian country to marry his Asian girlfriend.”
The lawsuit blames his ex-wife, Tamayo Otsuki, for giving the filmmakers his story and goes on to accuse them of defaming him with the franchise’s description of Ed Helms’ character — that he married a prostitute in Vegas while under the influence of drugs and had sex with a transsexual prostitute. For the record, it should be noted that Rubin is representing himself in the matter.
Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Uhh huuuhhh….
Why would EW stoop so low as to give this pathetic fool this free publicity?
what I was thinking…
I don’t think they defamed him. I actually believe that guy’s stupid enough to have sex with a transsexual prostitute thinking he’s a woman. This guy should definitely sue WB.
Soooo….they made the first movie just so they could rip him off for the sequel.
Is the gentleman his own “doctor” too?
Well, the first one is very, very similar to the movie Very Bad Things, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that they would copy someone’s work for the sequel. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge.
You aren’t getting it. Why would they make a movie, which you suggest was plagiarized just so they could rip this guy off. If they were going to rip him off, why not just make the movie based in Asia in the first place.
Not quick to judge, just can spot when someone is off their meds.
@K That’s what I thought too. The guy claims that he was upset with his “portrayal” and cites the marriage in the first movie while claiming that they ripped off his screenplay for the second movie. I bet his screenplay is littered with plot holes given that his defense is also. That guys a joke.
Both movies include Vegas and a Bachelor Party. That’s about it. I wouldn’t say copy.
It’s actually more common than you think to simply use a pre-written script for sequels. Several frachises have done it. The 4th Die Hard movie wasn’t written as a Die Hard movie. It was called apocalypse.com or something like that and it was bought and than altered to fit the franchise. Studios are lazy.
Neither was Die Hard 3, that was a rejected Lethal Weapon script and why it had all that banter between WIllis and Jackson.
Wrong, Ranch – Die Hard 3 was adapted from a spec screenplay called Simon Says.
Hollywood stole my script for Weekend at Bernie’s II. I based it on an experience I had when I reanimated a corpse through voodoo.
YES. FTW, AL. You made my day.
The problem is not that he does not have a life, but his life is so off-the-wall and cartoonish that it would be ridiculous if he made it into a film.
HAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WTF are you kidding me? This guy needs to get a life!
yeah.. good luck with that
loooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
from the real life incident of the Plaintiff, because the protagonist in Hangover-2 travels from the United States to an Asian country to marry his Asian girlfriend.”
What? I’m pretty sure stuff happens like that in real life to many people every year… the whole story is ridiculous.
Every time I hear a story like this one, I get more convinced I should sue the creators of “There’s Something About Mary” because once, I tried to date a hot chick! It’s based on MY life story and they stole it!! Bastards..
If this guy is an aspiring writer, than he shouldn’t be suing big studios like Warner Bros., otherwise, he will become very unpopular in the industry and no one will want to deal with him
I guess I should sue Chuck Palahniuk for Fight Club, since I physically fight myself all the time.
Fight Club stole that from Liar, Liar when Jim Carey was kicking his own @$$
except fight club was a book first which came out before Liar Liar
Rule 1 AND 2 broken, geeze
One time, there was this girl who seemed like she was so not right for me. But after some shenanigans and hijinks and misunderstandings, we fell in love. I’m suing the writers of every romantic comedy ever made.
this is just weird , so ha was the one who had sex with a transvestite..huh. good to know and good reason to sue lol
Obviously they didn’t copy this guy’s story when making The Hangover 2, they just copied The Hangover 1.
So….Warner Bros. stole a script from an unknown screenwriter only to turn around a have a more established screenwriter make his own version for more pay? Common sense people.
I think the writers of The Hangover should sue the makers of The Hangover 2 for stealing their script and idea…
I think the only thing that can possibly sue “the hangover part 2″ is the first “hangover” seeing as it was the exact same script and all, except this time in asia and with she males.
Gripping material by the way