A screenwriter has filed a federal copyright lawsuit in Los Angeles against Netflix, Charlize Theron and multiple producers and companies connected to the survival thriller “Apex,” alleging the film copied protected material from her earlier screenplay.
Amy Giaquinto filed the complaint September 21 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The docket identifies Netflix entities, Theron, screenwriter Jeremy Robbins, producers Ian Bryce, Peter Chernin, A.J. Dix and Beth Kono, and related production companies among the defendants.
Giaquinto alleges that her 2019 screenplay, “The Only Way Out,” was circulated in the industry and later reproduced in “Apex,” the Netflix film starring Theron, Taron Egerton and Eric Bana. Courthouse News Service reported that the complaint alleges similarities in plot, sequence, characters, themes, dialogue, mood and setting, including an opening climbing sequence. Giaquinto seeks damages for copyright infringement.
A lawsuit is a statement of allegations by the plaintiff, not a judicial finding. The publicly available docket reflects the new complaint and a request for summons, but no ruling on the merits. The defendants had not filed an answer in the docket entries available as of the filing date, and Courthouse News reported that a representative for the defendants did not respond to its request for comment.
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