Apple TV Pulls Upcoming Thriller Series 1 Week Before Release After Plagiarism Allegations

There’s been a shocker at Apple TV. The streamer has abruptly removed its upcoming French thriller The Hunt (Traqués) from its December lineup, and the reason has now been revealed: the series is facing allegations that its story was lifted from Douglas Fairbairn’s 1973 novel Shoot, which was previously adapted into a 1976 film. Yikes. The accusations were first brought to light by French media expert Clement Garin and subsequently reported by Apple Insider on Tuesday. Within hours, French production company Gaumont the studio behind the series confirmed the show has been shelved while an internal investigation is underway. In a statement shared with Variety, Gaumont said: “The broadcast of our series The Hunt has been temporarily postponed. We are currently conducting a thorough review to address any questions related to our production. We take intellectual property matters very seriously.” Is ‘The Hunt’ a Rip-Off? Here’s the official logline for The Hunt: “Franck (Magimel) and his longtime friends enjoy spending their weekends hunting together, but one Sunday, they come across another group of hunters who start targeting them without explanation. When one of their party is shot, Franck’s friends strike back, sending an attacker to the ground. Barely managing to escape, the four friends keep the event a secret. Franck tries to go back to his life as usual alongside his wife Krystel (Laurent), but in the next few days, he starts to feel like he and his friends are being watched, or worse, tracked by hunters who are now hell-bent on revenge.” Now, that sounds quite good, right? The problem here is that the storyline is almost identical to the plot of Fairbairn’s 1973 novel Shoot. For comparison, here is the Goodreads description of Shoot: “Rex is an uber-macho hunter who. embarks on a hunting trip in the Canadian wilderness. But their weekend is cut short by a rival band of hunters who. graze the head of one of his buddies. Another of Rex’s friends returns fire, killing the shooter. Rex decides not to contact the authorities. but becomes convinced that the dead man’s companions are going to come after him and his friends. He recruits a small army and a veritable arsenal of firepower. Appearances, however, can be deceiving, and before the day is done lots of guns. will be fired.”.
https://collider.com/apple-tv-thriller-series-the-hunt-pulled-from-release-plagirism-allegations/