Will Smith in legal 'hot water' amid lawsuit that could cost the actor millions of dollars

Over a celebrated 40-year entertainment career, Will Smith has picked up an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and four Grammy Awards for his work on screen and in the recording studio. Smith, who first came to national prominence as the star of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" in the early 1990s, has long been a box-office hit and was rewarded for his lengthy career with a Best Actor nod at the 94th Academy Awards -- where he infamously slapped comedian and host Chris Rock for an unscripted joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

But three years before "the slap heard 'round the world", Smith starred in the box-office flop "Gemini Man" -- a science fiction flick which grossed roughly $175 million against a $138 million production budget. Distributor Paramount lost millions of dollars as the film bombed, and Smith could stand to be a little lighter in the wallet himself in light of a new lawsuit filed in response to the five-year-old film.

Smith "dragged" into lawsuit over "Gemini Man"

According to In Touch Weekly, Smith has been named as one of several defendants in a $1.7 million lawsuit filed by attorney and science fiction writer Kissinger Sabanda.

Sabanda has alleged that Smith, Skydance Productions, Gemini Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and others stole his idea for "Gemini Man." Sabanda claims that he shared the idea -- centered on a 2011 book he wrote titled "The Return to Gibraltar" -- with one of Smith's stunt doubles before sending it to William Morris Endeavor, one of Hollywood's top talent agencies.

Officially, "Gemini Man" was written by screenwriter Darren Lemke, based on a concept he had been developing since the 1990s. Sabanda and his attorneys allege that the film would not have been made without "The Return to Gibraltar", which coincided with a "change in marketing strategy" that ended in the film finally getting the green light to enter production.

Smith and his reps have yet to respond to the suit, which could make a small dent in the 55-year-old's estimated $350 million net worth. Smith and co-star Martin Lawrence recently reprised their roles as Miami cops Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett respectively in "Bad Boys: Ride or Die", which grossed over $400 million against a $100 million budget.