Is Angelina Jolie's Directorial Debut a Total Rip-Off?

Croatian journalist has sued the star, claiming she took the plot of The Land of Blood and Honey from his book

Angelina Jolie a bad girl? Totally. But a book thief?

Well, someone thinks so.

A journalist has sued the Oscar winner, claiming that the plot of her already controversial directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, is based on his book The Subject Work—and that Jolie knew it and made the film without giving him any credit.

In his lawsuit, filed in federal court in Illinois, James J. Braddock (yup, that's also the exact name of the real-life boxer Russell Crowe played in Cinderella Man) of Zagreb, Croatia, states that he met several times in 2008 with producer Edin Sarkic to discuss a proposed feature based on his book about a Croatian woman locked up in a Bosnian prison camp.

Braddock says that in August 2009, he contacted Jolie's Make It Right foundation to discuss a home-building collaboration—not knowing, he claims, that Sarkic had been in touch with Jolie about the film that would become In the Land of Blood and Honey.

And now that the movie's release is just around the corner, Braddock states that there are numerous "obvious" similarities between his book and the film's tortuous-sounding plot, which centers on a love affair between the aforementioned Croatian woman and a high-ranking camp commander.

A rep for Jolie has not yet returned a request for comment.

Braddock is seeking an injunction to block the film's just-in-time-for-Oscar-consideration release on Dec. 23, and wants unspecified damages for alleged copyright infringement, as well.

Sarkic, Illinois-based FilmDistrict and Scout Film are named as Jolie's codefendants.