--- description: Novelist Peter Gallagher alleges Whedon and Drew Goddard ripped off his 2006 novel 'The Little White Trip: A Night in the Pines' title: Joss Whedon Sued Over 'The Cabin in the Woods' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3aeccf54b573aa01/6987eb3055a859c4f6a89946/joss-whedon.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard Sued Over _The Cabin in the Woods_  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 15, 2015 2:51 PM CUT  Joss Whedon arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of "Avengers: Age Of Ultron" at the Dolby Theatre on April 13, 2015. Joss Whedon arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of "Avengers: Age Of Ultron" at the Dolby Theatre on April 13, 2015.Matt Sayles—Invision/AP  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 15, 2015 2:51 PM CUT An author is suing Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard [for copyright infringement](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/joss-whedon-lionsgate-hit-copyright-788854 "undefined"), alleging _The Cabin in the Woods_ filmmakers stole the premise of his novel for their 2012 horror movie. Whedon, the _Avengers: Age of Ultron_ director and _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ creator, produced and co-wrote the movie with Goddard, who directed it. But author Peter Gallagher has accused the two of them of ripping him off his 2006 book, _The Little White Trip: A Night in the Pines_, and is asking for $10 million in damages, according to _The Hollywood Reporter_. The suit, which also names Lionsgate and Whedon’s production company, claims the film unlawfully borrows the book’s plot (a group of young people encounters monsters at a cabin that’s secretly controlled), as well as certain key scenes and the personalities of Gallagher’s characters. Lionsgate declined to comment to _THR_, while Whedon and Goddard’s camps had yet to respond. \[[_THR_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/joss-whedon-lionsgate-hit-copyright-788854 "undefined")\] _Read next:_ [_Watch a New Clip From_ ](http://time.com/3820918/avengers-age-of-ultron-clip/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined")[Avengers: Age of Ultron](http://time.com/3820918/avengers-age-of-ultron-clip/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/autoplay/?xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3822620/joss-whedon-cabin-woods-lawsuit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3822620/joss-whedon-cabin-woods-lawsuit/"},"headline":"Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard Sued Over The Cabin in the Woods","datePublished":"2015-04-15T14:51:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:24:49.490Z","description":"An author alleges Whedon and Goddard ripped off his 2006 novel","url":"https://time.com/3822620/joss-whedon-cabin-woods-lawsuit/","keywords":["movies","Lawsuit"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3aeccf54b573aa01/6987eb3055a859c4f6a89946/joss-whedon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3aeccf54b573aa01/6987eb3055a859c4f6a89946/joss-whedon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Joss Whedon","caption":"Joss Whedon","creditText":"Matt Sayles—Invision/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3822620/joss-whedon-cabin-woods-lawsuit/","name":"Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard Sued Over The Cabin in the Woods"}}]}] ```