If 'The Matrix' Movie Trilogy Had Immortal Nazis: Warner Bros, Wachowski Brothers Sued by Thomas Althouse, Says He Wrote It First
"The Matrix Trilogy" Part 2? In a lawsuit against Warner Bros., a judge ruled that The Matrix film trilogy did not plagiarize.
Warner Bros., who made all three "Matrix" films, won a ruling this week against Thomas Althouse. Althouse claimed that the studio, along with the Wachowski team, stole his script idea, "The Immortals," and most or all of Althouse's elements, including a Jesus Christ-like allusion.
The U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner granted judgment in favor of Warner Bros. on Monday, concluding that Althouse's "The Immortals" did not contain enough significant and substantial similarities to warrant litigation to carry it to trial. Klausner found that the 118 examples cited by Althouse in the lawsuit were either too general for copyright protection or were commonly used and unoriginal ideas, Variety reported.
Klausner also noted that the only similarity, albeit too general to be protected, was that "both stories portray a protagonist attempting to prevent a dominant group from oppressing and annihilating a subservient group."
In Althouse's "The Immortals," it centers around Hitler and a group of Nazis who are cryogenically frozen; then they are reanimated, after time, when their cohorts successfully accomplish creating an immortality drug, Variety reported. In the year 2235, a CIA agent named Jim, the main character, must fight the immortal Nazis who seek to dominate, oppress and destroy all non-immortals or "short-lifers," Variety reported.
In stark contrast, in "The Matrix" trilogy, the machines control, dominate and oppress humans only to harvest their energy, while trapping their minds in a virtual reality known as "the matrix." The protagonist, Neo, is the chosen one who must free humans from enslavement by the machines and also protect a group of rebels who live freely in the real world.
"The Matrix" trilogy films were directed by the Wachowski siblings. Warner Bros. contends that the Wachowskis began working on "The Matrix" in 1992, and completed the draft of the three films by 1993. Althouse claimed that he submitted his "The Immortals" script to the studio in 1993, the BBC News reported.
But what about the Jesus Christ allusion? Klausner noted that Christianity in literature dates back hundreds of years, so it technically makes such allusions public domain and therefore generally not protected by copyright, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
Klausner, in looking at the details of both Christ themes, noted that both projects express it very differently. In "The Immortals," it concludes with the literal "Second Coming of Christ"; while in The Matrix trilogy it concludes with a metaphorical reference to Christ with Neo sacrificing himself to save everyone.
A Warner Bros. spokesman stated that the studio had no comment about the ruling, Deadline reported.