The X-Men series, which began in comic book format and is now the subject of two successful films with others on the way, tells the story of mutants who, rejected by society, find their way to a special school for mutants and develop a superhero team capable of saving the world.
Revolutions Studios’ film, Zoom, which has yet to start production, is a comedy based on a graphic novel, Zoom's Academy for the Super Gifted, by Jason Lethcoe. The movie is expected to star Tim Allen, Chevy Chase and Courtney Cox. It tells the story of an ex-superhero who has to turn a band of misfit kids into a new generation of superheroes.
Zoom's Academy was published the year after the first X-Men movie. While Fox and Marvel appear to accept that the comic does not infringe their copyrights in the X-Men franchise, they say that the movie proposal does.
Reuters reports that Fox and Marvel have asked a California court to order the removal of any infringing material and to ensure that the film is not marketed in such a way as to take advantage of the X-Men series.
The suit also alleges unfair competition on the part of Sony and Revolution, in bringing Zoom's release date forward to 12th May 2006 – two weeks before Fox is due to release the third of its X-Men films.
