The big-budget action film "Sahara" may have scored at the box office this weekend, but a legal sandstorm is brewing behind the scenes between the film's producers and the man who wrote the book it's based on.

Bestselling author Clive Cussler has accused Crusader Entertainment of changing the story of his novel "Sahara" without his consent, and sued the company for breach of contract in January 2004, seeking $10 million in damages.

Crusader claimed Cussler's vicious attack on the movie version of "Sahara" undermined its profitability, and responded with a $40 million countersuit.

The blockbuster film, featuring Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz, grossed $18 million in its debut weekend.

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Both suits are tied to the movie's success, which means the stakes stand to get a lot higher as Cussler and Crusader are expected to go to trial in November.

"Sahara" follows Cussler's recurring hero, Dirk Pitt, as he tries to stop the assassination of a U.N. scientist, played by Cruz, and discovers an African gold mine that is rumored to hold a sunken American Civil War ship and answers to questions about Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

Clive Cussler has sold 125 million books.

Cussler claims he had the right to change any discrepancies between his novel and the screenplay, but Crusader altered the plot without his approval.

"I can't see the possibility of any settlement. They just didn't give him the rights that they promised him," said Bert Fields, Cussler's attorney.

Cussler and Crusader agreed to adapt two of his Dirk Pitt novels to film, with the option of a third film, Fields said.

But the author contends Crusader lost the right to option a third novel because it violated part of the agreement. Cussler says he approved an early screenplay of "Sahara" in 2001, but Crusader later changed it without his consent.

The final version used for the film differed from the novel in 15 significant ways, Field said.

Cussler first considered trying to block the movie's release, but realized such a move could ruin the franchise.

"If this film diminishes the value [of the franchise], that could be an enormous loss," Field said.

Instead, Cussler filed the civil suit — and if the movie's success continues, Fields said, the damages could grow to as much as $80 million.

Crusader's countersuit claims that Cussler acted to destroy the film's reputation and delayed the production process by rejecting a version of the screenplay he had never read.

"Cussler's public campaign to disparage and harm both Crusader itself and its film Sahara ... have reduced 'Sahara's current value, its profitability and its appeal to Crusader's potential business partners," the countersuit says.

Cussler wanted to be hired as the screenwriter, and when he wasn't, he tried to deprive Crusader of the rights to any more of his novels, according to the countersuit.

The production company hoped to make the character Dirk Pitt into a marketable and reliable franchise, such as James Bond or Indiana Jones.

Another film company turned one of Cussler's books into a film in 1980.

"Raise the Titanic" did poorly at the box office, and Cussler has been quoted as saying that the film's failure soured any hopes of further optioning his novels.