'M3GAN' Writers Sued for Allegedly Ripping Off Script

"M3GAN" needs a good lawyer ... not to defend her murderous rampage, but to defend her creators from allegedly ripping off another movie.

Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Pictures, James Wan and screenwriter Akela Cooper have been sued by a man named Carl Watts -- a former airline pilot and amateur filmmaker -- who claims their movie bears numerous similarities to his movie "Paranormal Adoption," released in 2012.

According to Watts, both films feature a girl orphaned at a young age who develops a strong attachment to a doll that grows violent toward other people in the girl's life when they try to get in between the doll and the girl.

Watts also points to the sequel potential of both films -- leaving the possibility of more rampage open at the end of each film -- as another defining characteristic.

As to how Wan and Cooper allegedly read the script or saw Watts' movie ... Watts claims he submitted the script to a production company back in the day, which was absorbed by Lionsgate.

Watts claims Joshua Cozine worked for Lionsgate at the time and even emailed with him about the film ... and, Cozine attended USC's film program at the same time as Cooper years earlier -- which Watts claims creates the basis for a "reasonable possibility" Cooper had access to the film.

Watts also cites Wan's past comments about being a "creepy doll aficionado" as potential evidence he saw "Paranormal Adoption."

Watts is suing all the defendants for copyright infringement. He's asking the court to award him at least $5 million.