New Moon filming halted over 'plagiarism lawsuit'

London (ANI): Filming of Twilight sequel New Moon has reportedly been put on hold, as its author Stephenie Meyer faces a plagiarism lawsuit over the vampire franchise. Twilight, which was filmed in 2008, starring Robert Pattinson, became a major international hit and its sequel New Moon, currently being shot in Canada, followed.

But now production on the second film has reportedly been halted after it emerged that Meyer is facing a lawsuit filed by her former college roommate. As per I'mnotobsessed.com, Heidi Stanton, who studied alongside Meyer at Brigham Young University, Utah, claims that the vampire books are similar to a short story she wrote when she was a student there.

Stanton filed her lawsuit against Meyer in Utah on April 14, alleging idea infringement. “Quite frankly, I was shocked when I began watching the movie with my husband last week. I immediately told him that she got that idea from me! I wrote a fictional short story with the same ideas when we were in college together," the Daily Star quoted Stanton as stating in the papers.

Meyer has, on the other hand, claimed that the idea for her popular series came to her in a dream in 2003 and she completed the first novel three months later. The website has reported that the lawsuit has cast doubt on the movie, and now its production has been 'put on hold' until the case is resolved. New Moon is scheduled for release at the end of the year.