A Greek writer, Odysseus Lappas has sued the makers of Justin Timberlake's sci-fi thriller In Time, saying they stole his idea.

Odysseus Lappas is demanding $4.5m (£2.8m) from 20th Century Fox and New Regency as he claimed to have written an "uncannily similar" synopsis in 1996, which was filed with the Writer's Guild of America, with the title as Time Card.

In Time was set in a future world, where humans stop aging at 25, and must buy, borrow or steal time from other people - otherwise they die.

In the film, the protagonists' remaining time on earth counts down via a clock on their arm.

According to Lappas legal case, it was "an action-adventure love story about a man and a woman who live in a future world wherein the human life span had changed and people would die after reaching their 25th birthday".

"Specifically, the Time Card synopsis outlines the main character as being broke and out of time, yet in love with a very rich woman who is virtually immortal which is very similar to In Time.

Report has it that Lappas had said he met with a representative from 20th Century Fox, who offered to buy the rights to his idea for £80,000 (£49,733), in which he refused, as he wanted to either write or produce any film arising from his story. Although, it was said that the two parties entered into an "implied-in-fact contract", suggesting he would be compensated if his synopsis was used.

In Time was released by Fox in 2011, and it made about $173m (£107.5m) worldwide. It was credited to screenwriter/director Andrew Niccol, who previously penned the scripts for The Truman Show and Gattaca.