The people who own the copyright to Godzilla are suing the producers of Anne Hathaway's new movie, "Colossal" for using the movie monster to promote their film.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Voltage pictures was sued by Japanese rightsholders, Toho for using the Godzilla character without their permission. The movie "Colossal" has been described as "'Godzilla meets 'Being John Malkovich'" by the people behind the movie.

The "Les Miserables" star plays a woman named Gloria, who gets laid off from her job and gets dumped by her fiance. This prompts her to move from New York city to relocate to her hometown. But when she gets there, reports reach her that a giant lizard is terrorizing Tokyo, and Gloria slowly learns that she is somehow connected to these events through her mind. To save the world from the rampaging lizard, Gloria has to discover why she, of all people, has an influence on what is happening in Japan. 

In the court papers filed Tuesday in a California federal court, Toho claimed that Voltage were "brazenly producing, advertising, and selling an unauthorized 'Godzilla' film of their own."

They cited an interview with writer director Nacho Vigalondon, where he described his script as being in fact, a "Godzilla" movie. "It's going to be the cheapest 'Godzilla' movie ever, I promise," Vigalondo said. "It's going to be a serious 'Godzilla' movie, but I've got an idea that's going to make it so cheap that you will feel betrayed."

Toho's lawsuit zeroed in on the promotional efforts of the producers for "Colossal," which they claimed were using copyrighted material.

"The Director's Notes also make clear that Defendants have not only taken the Godzilla Character as their own, but that they also intend to use the Godzilla Character in precisely the same way that Toho used the character in its initial film - attacking Tokyo,"  the complaint stated.