Apple TV has pulled upcoming French thriller “The Hunt” (“Traqués”) from its December slate, and now we know why: Creator and director Cédric Anger has been accused of ripping off the series’ story from the 1973 novel “Shoot,” by Douglas Fairbairn, which previously was adapted into the 1976 film “Shoot.”
According to Apple Insider, which reported the news on Tuesday, the allegations were first surfaced by French media expert Clement Garin.
French producer Gaumont confirmed in a statement Tuesday that “The Hunt” has been shelved as it investigates the allegations. Apple TV has removed all materials about the show from its site as the show sits in limbo.
“The broadcast of our series ‘The Hunt’ has been temporarily postponed,” Gaumont said in a statement shared with Variety. “We are currently conducting a thorough review to address any questions related to our production. We take intellectual property matters very seriously.”
“The Hunt” was originally set to make its global debut on Apple TV on Wednesday, Dec. 3, with the first two episodes, followed by one episode weekly, every Wednesday through Dec. 31. But Apple TV removed the show from its lineup last week.
The French-language thriller from Anger (“Next Time I’ll Aim for the Heart”) comes from executive producers Isabelle Degeorges, Clémentine Vaudaux, Alexis Barqueiro and Sidonie Dumas for Gaumont (“Lupin,” “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld,” “Totems”). Benoît Magimel and Mélanie Laurent star.
“The Hunt” (“Traqués”) also stars Damien Bonnard, Manuel Guillot, Cédric Appietto, Angelyna Danabe Mignot, Paul Beaurepaire, Yann Goven, Sarah Pachoud and Patrick de Vallette.
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Here is the logline: “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.”
And here is the description of “Shoot” from Goodreads: “Rex is an uber-macho hunter who together with four equally testosterone-addled buddies embarks on a hunting trip in the Canadian wilderness. But their weekend is cut short by a rival band of hunters they encounter in the forest, one of whom inexplicably take a potshot at Rex’s party and grazes the head of one of his buddies. Another of Rex’s friends returns fire, killing the shooter. From there Rex and company scurry off and head back to civilization. Rex decides not to contact the authorities about the killing, betting the rival hunters will react the same way. To confirm this he looks up the murdered man’s identity and tracks down his widow. She reveals that her deceased hubbie’s buddies claim he was killed by a ‘stray bullet.’ This doesn’t entirely satisfy Rex, however, who becomes convinced that the dead man’s companions are going to come after him and his friends. Rex makes plans to head back to the scene of the crime the following Saturday, where he’s positive the rival hunters will be waiting for them. He recruits a small army and a veritable arsenal of firepower as accompaniment. The fateful day arrives. Rex and his mini-army, guns at the ready, set out into the now snow covered forest. It appears deserted. Appearances, however, can be deceiving, and before the day is done lots of guns–true to Rex’s predictions–will be fired.”
Fairbairn was an author who died in 1997. The 1976 film “Shoot,” based on his novel, was directed by Harvey Hart and written by Richard Berg, and starred Cliff Robertson, Ernest Borgnine and Henry Silva.
From Variety US