MATT DAMON - SCREENWRITER CAN CONTINUE BOURNE IDENTITY LAWSUIT

SCREENWRITER CAN CONTINUE BOURNE IDENTITY LAWSUIT

A screenwriter who claims he was "embezzled" out of his rights to the MATT DAMON movie THE BOURNE IDENTITY has been told he can resubmit his lawsuit for another review. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice BERNARD FRIED ruled that ANTHONY LAZZARINO can continue to pursue his claim. In 1981, Lazzarino was paid $175,000 (GBP90,000) for a deal with the no-longer-in-existence Orion Pictures. He alleges he wrote a screenplay based on ROBERT LUDLUM's novel The Bourne Identity. Lazzarino said, "They embezzled me. They took my rights and converted them as though they were Ludlum's rights. "My argument is based on the original contract and what it says. The other side has fabricated documents that were never a part of the original deal." However, defence lawyer MARSHALL BEIL, representing Ludlum's agent HENRY MORRISON, told the New York court, "We are arguing Lazzarino has no rights because the events he said took place never happened." Directed by DOUG LIMAN, The Bourne Identity film was a hit in 2002. It spawned the 2004 sequel THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, also written by Ludlum and directed by PAUL GREENGRASS.