The Netflix original, ‘Stranger Things,’ quickly became a favorite among fans and recently completed its second season. However, a new lawsuit is alleging that the creators of the show, Matt and Ross Duffer, “stole the idea for the show from a short film by director Charlie Kessler.” The lawsuit itself was filed by Kessler, though the Duffer brothers have so far denied the allegation and their attorney, Alex Kogner, called the lawsuit “completely meritless.”
The Netflix original, ‘Stranger Things,’ quickly became a favorite among fans and recently completed its second season. However, a new lawsuit is alleging that the creators of the show, Matt and Ross Duffer, “stole the idea for the show from a short film by director Charlie Kessler.” The lawsuit itself was filed by Kessler, though the Duffer brothers have so far denied the allegation and their attorney, Alex Kogner, called the lawsuit “completely meritless.”
When discussing the lawsuit, Kogner said:
“Kessler had no connection to the creation or development of ‘Stranger Things.’ The Duffer Brothers have neither seen Mr. Kessler’s short film nor discussed any project with him. This is just an attempt to profit from other people’s creativity and hard work.”
However, Kessler pushed back claiming the hit Netflix show was in fact based on his own short film entitled ‘Montauk,’ which “premiered at a film festival in 2012 and was meant as a teaser for a feature-length film, ‘The Montauk Project.'” Additionally, Kessler said he “shared the idea of the two films with the Duffer brothers during a Tribeca Film Festival party in 2014.”
What was Kessler’s film about? Well, to put things into perspective, Kessler’s film was set in New York and focused on an “abandoned military base called Camp Hero and a young boy, Michael, who is drawn to the military base by an unknown force.” According to a film description attached to the lawsuit, Kessler’s character, Michael, “walks to Camp Hero and stops at lifeless radar tower on the base… The radar tower suddenly lights up, the sky swirls with clouds, blue lights flash, and the boy disappears into thin air.” In addition, according to Kessler, ‘Stranger Things’ was “originally sold to Netflix as ‘The Montauk Project.’”
‘Stranger Things’ allegedly shares many similarities with Kessler’s film. For example, many episodes in the first season “involved the strange events at a government laboratory and the disappearance of a young boy.”
In addition to accusing the Duffer brothers of stealing his original idea, he also argues in the lawsuit that, at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival party, “there was an implied-in-fact contract when he spoke to the Duffer brothers about his film.” Understandably, Kessler is upset about what has transpired, and stated the following in the lawsuit:
“After the massive success of Stranger Things…Defendants have made huge sums of money by producing the series based on Plaintiff’s Concepts.”
For now, Kessler is seeking an injunction that would force the Duffer brothers to “stop using and destroy all materials related to his concepts.” On top of that, he is also seeking restitution for lost profits and punitive damages.
Sources:
‘Stranger Things’ creators respond to lawsuit alleging they stole the idea for the hit sci-fi series
Lawsuit claims concept for ‘Stranger Things’ was stolen by the Duffer brothers
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