Netflixis caught in the middle of yet another legal dispute. This time, the streamer and director Adam McKay are being taken to task over the 2021 movieDon’t Look Up– again. Not content with having a self-published author claim that the film stole its plot from his 2012 novel, “Stanley’s Comet,” another author is now claiming that the story was actually taken fromhisself-published novel. They say things come in threes, so this may not be the last of these cases.
This time around, the suit, from author Darren Hunter, claims thatDon’t Look Up, which became an incredible success for Netflix with its all-star cast and end of the world story,plagiarized the plot, characters and thematic elements from the 2015 novel “The Million Day Forecast.”For those who believed the new lawsuit against Mattel claiming $5 million for emotional distress caused bytheir Wicked doll packaging errorwas a little extreme, Hunter is claiming no less than $1 billion in damages, which with additional fees and compensatory amounts totals $3 billion.
PerVariety, according to the claimant’s attorney, Larry Klayman, McKay and those who worked on the movie are responsible for displaying “deceit and greed” in stealing the work of his client and passing it off as their own. In his words, this is“unfortunate testament to the current state of some in Hollywood.”In the suit, it is claimed that both stories feature “young, determined female protagonists who must warn the world of a looming catastrophe.” The lawsuit continues:
“The themes of apocalyptic political satire, dark comedy, and the challenges of mobilizing collective action in the face of imminent danger are central to both works. These undeniable similarities indicate that the movie has taken key literary elements from the book without Plaintiff’s consent and authorization.”
Does This Lawsuit Hold Any Weight?
The last lawsuit againstDon’t Look Upwas only dismissed last month, when a judge decided that the novel by William Collier had similarities that were “too generic” to proceed. From the details revealed about this latest claim, the new lawsuit does not seem to offer many more specifics than the previous case. In total, the lawsuit includes 34 causes of action, including everything from copyright infringement to violations of the Florida unfair trade practices law.
Why Don’t Look Up Was an Important Failure of a Film
A brilliant and urgent concept doesn’t save Adam McKay’s surprisingly unfunny and overlong all-star misfire.
While the novel was self-published by Hunter, he also claims that he gave the book to “various individuals and entities within the entertainment industry.” Considering the details released, the case seems little, if no, different to the one that preceded it. If all this sounds like it is not something Netflix is going to be losing any sleep over, and it is hard to see this lawsuit ending any differently to the last. Netflix can no doubt rest easy.
Don’t Look Up
