War Vet Jeffry Sarver Says Hurt Locker Is Based On His Life

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March 3rd, 2010 by Castina

Tagged as: Movies

An Iraq War veteran is suing producers of Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar-nominated film The Hurt Locker, claiming the war drama's lead character is based on him and accusing filmmakers of cheating him out of "financial participation in the film."

According to Reuters.com, Master Sgt. Jeffry Sarver., a bomb disposal expert, says the main character, Will James, is based on him and that James' call signal, "Blaster One," was his during his tours of duty. Sarver also says he coined the phrase The Hurt Locker. Sarver plans to file a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Summit Entertainment, who produced the film, in Detroit federal court on Wednesday.

Summit Entertainment's issued a statement saying it hopes "for a quick resolution to the claims made by Master Sgt. Sarver."

The company says: "The film is a story about heroes depicting a fictional account of what brave men and women do on the battlefield. we have no doubt that Master Sgt. Sarver served his country with honour and commitment risking his life for a greater good, but we distributed the film based on a fictional screenplay written by mark Boal."

The suit is just the latest bit of trouble for the critcially-acclaimmed motion picture. on Tuesday, producer of the war story was banned from attending the Academy Awards because of emails he sent urging academy members to vote for the movie.

The Hurt Locker is nominated for nine Academy Awards, including best Picture and best Original Screenplay, at Sunday's 82nd annual Oscars.

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7 Responses to ""The Hurt Locker" Lawsuit — Iraq War Vet Jeffry Sarver says Oscar Favorite Is Based on his Life"

1. On March 3rd 2010, Richard wrote:

   This guy is a moron....first off the phrase ‘The Hurt Locker' has been around for many years. I served in the Navy for 11 years and it was a common term used to describe someone that was about to be in a world of hurt. whether they were in physical or disciplinary trouble. another money grubber that feels he's ‘owed'. If he was so smart why didn't he write a book or a screen play???

2. On March 3rd 2010, Castina wrote:

   Thanks for sharing, Richard.

3. On March 3rd 2010, Sarah Chino wrote:

   i was with him up until he said he coined the phrase "hurt locker". that's a term that's been around a while.

4. On March 4th 2010, Daggy wrote:

   The movie is an absolute dog. I'd be embarrassed to say it was based on me.

5. On March 4th 2010, Anon wrote:

   Look at who benefits the most from such a lawsuit! the plaintiff would only get a "token" settlement while the law firm and mr. Fieger gets a TON of free publicity – just before Oscar night – win or lose! the publicity must be worth at least a few million dollars.

6. On March 5th 2010, nellyconway wrote:

   Just where did mark Boal get the background information to write his "fiction"? It sounds like it came from the troops that were there.

7. On March 8th 2010, Matt wrote:

   If you read the legal suit document, he does nto say that he coined the phrase ‘hurt locker' but used it many times and Boal asked him what it meant, which Sarver explained to him.

   Honestly, reading the court document, and other reporting of this, its very hard to come to any other conclusion than it was based off him. did you know Boal also worte a playboy article specifically about Sarver before the movie? He did – and he also wrote this movie too. the similarities are stark and shocking. Shame on you Boal, shame Bigalow.

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War Vet Jeffry Sarver says Hurt Locker Is Based on his Life