Author Harlan Ellison has filed a lawsuit claiming that the Justin Timberlake film In Time copies his 1965 sci-fi story Repent, Harlequin! Said The Ticktockman .

The New Regency movie is distributed by 20th Century Fox and alsꦑo stars Amanda Seyfried a༺nd Cillian Murphy.

Elli𓄧son filed the lawsuit in California on Wednesday and names Regency and ♛director Andrew Niccol as defendants.

In Time is due to hit cinemas in the US on 28 October but Ellison has also requested an injuncti🃏on to halt the ﷺrelease and demanded that all copies of the film are destroyed.

Ellison's company, The Kilimanjaro Corporation, began developing its own script based on the short story in 2010 and the author says In Time jeopardises the production of that movie.