Author Claims Kingdom of Heaven Plagiarized His Book
James Reston Jr., author of Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade, claims that the new movie Kingdom of Heaven, starring Orlando Bloom, plagiarizes his book. Reston told the Associated Press, "The essence of it is that this is a film that is derived from the first 100 pages of my book." The AP reported that Reston also has a letter that producer Mike Medavoy sent to Ridley Scott about his book:
Reston, son of former New York Times executive editor James "Scotty" Reston, said producer Mike Medavoy optioned the rights to his book in November 2001 and weeks later sent a letter to Oscar-nominated director Ridley Scott.
The Dec. 12, 2001, letter mentions Reston's book by name and asks Scott to consider a movie based on the characters. "Think Lawrence of Arabia and A Man For All Seasons," Medavoy writes in the letter, which Reston provided to the AP.
Scott declined Medavoy's pitch, but went on to make Kingdom of Heaven.
