LOS ANGELES, California: A major Hollywood franchise is facing renewed legal scrutiny just days before the release of its next installment, as a California animator revives claims that the "Avatar" universe was built on his ideas.

Disney and acclaimed filmmaker James Cameron have been sued in California federal court by a 3-D animator who alleges Cameron copied his work in the 2022 blockbuster "Avatar: The Way of Water," according to a complaint.

The lawsuit was brought by Eric Ryder, who said he collaborated with Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment in the late 1990s to develop a movie based on his science fiction story titled "KRZ." Ryder alleged that elements of his story were later copied for the "Avatar" film series.

A third "Avatar" movie, "Fire and Ash," is scheduled for release in the United States on Friday. Ryder is seeking at least $500 million in damages and a court order blocking the release of the new film.

Ryder previously filed a similar lawsuit in 2011 over the first "Avatar" movie. That case was dismissed by a California state court, which found that Cameron had created "Avatar" before Ryder submitted his story to Lightstorm.

"This action is not an attempt to relitigate prior claims," the new lawsuit said. "It challenges new acts of copying that occur for the first time in Avatar 2."

Spokespeople for Disney and Lightstorm did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

"The defendants' alleged misappropriation and downright theft of Mr. Ryder's protected creative work to create the third highest-grossing movie of all time is blatant and egregious, and it cries out for compensation," Ryder's attorney Daniel Saunders said in a statement.

According to the complaint, Ryder's story "KRZ" and the "Avatar" series both feature "anthropomorphic beings, a vast oceanic setting, and a sinister, Earth-based corporation engaging in environmentally harmful mining operations on the moon of a gas giant planet called Europa."

Ryder also alleged that "The Way of Water" centers on "the harvesting of an animal-based substance that when refined can extend human life," a plot element that appeared in "KRZ" but not in the original "Avatar" film.

"While this animal-based, life-extending substance is just one of many examples of infringing content in Avatar 2, its use as a foundational plot device is central to Defendants' appropriation," the lawsuit said.

The case is Ryder v. Cameron, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, No. 2:25-cv-11854.