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FINALLY Someone Notices 'Disturbia' IS 'Rear Window'
Tuesday, September 9, 2008


By: MrDisgusting
Comments

Even when the film was coming out, the studio was telling people that the teen-thriller Disturbia was basically a remake of REAR WINDOW, only re-imagined. This morning we caught wind of an article on THR where it was revealed that a lawsuit has finally been filed contending that DreamWorks' film is straight out plagiarism. We agree, let's see what the courts rule. Read on for the story.

DreamWorks' "Disturbia" is a rip-off of Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window," according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan federal court.

According to the Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust, which owns the rights to Cornell Woolrich's short story "Murder From a Fixed Viewpoint," Hitchcock legally obtained the rights to turn the short story into a big-screen thriller in 1953. However, the trust claims DreamWorks did not do the same.

The lawsuit contends that "Disturbia" and "Rear Window" are "essentially the same" stories. Both are murder mysteries solved by a man peering from his window and witnessing strange behavior by a neighbor.

The characters in the films -- as well as the short story -- are similar, and the plots unfold basically the same way, the lawsuit states.

"What the defendants have been unwilling to do openly, legitimately and legally, (they) have done surreptitiously, by their back-door use of the 'Rear Window' story without paying compensation," the lawsuit states.

Also named as defendants are Steven Spielberg, who declined comment through a spokesman. Reps for DreamWorks parent company Viacom did not immediately comment.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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Read 45 User Comments

Sean of the Dead
10:19am, September 9, 2008

It also ripped off Fright Night. Bits of dialogue taken from straight from Fright Night and scenes.


thedescent08
10:24am, September 9, 2008

For a PG-13 thriller, it was good. There are plenty of other movies that deserve lawsuits over this one. CHAOS, anyone?


Jacques
10:35am, September 9, 2008

This makes my day.


GI.Dan
10:42am, September 9, 2008

Shia LaBeouf must give great head to get as much work out of Steven Spielberg as he has.


CJ_01976
11:38am, September 9, 2008

And yet, no one has sued the filmmakers of "Abominable" yet. That one also ripped off "Rear Window".


Screamer
11:49am, September 9, 2008

The film has been out for a while now. It's just an excuse to have a lawsuit.


thedescent08
12:14pm, September 9, 2008

Death Race should have been sued. I watched Roger Corman's version on its release date, which I plan to do for Poltergeist. Google poltergeist petition to sign the petition.


deadlover
12:23pm, September 9, 2008

This is kind of dumb. Yeah. . . it took the concept from Rear Window, but so did Fright Night and The Burbs. And how about that new Sam Jackson movie "Lakeview Terrace"? It's like the same thing but with a cop being an ass instead of a killer. Hitchcock remade plenty of his own movies anyway, so he obviously wasn't opposed to the concept. I'm not saying Disturbia was better than rear window. . . but it WAS better than Fright Night. There are things far more deserving of a lawsuit in hollywood than this. Why wait till the movie has been out to do this? The people obviously don't care about any question of creativity, otherwise they would have tried to stop it sooner. And anywho, disturbia was good.


Evil Alien
12:24pm, September 9, 2008

it's nice to see the movie industry getting sued for a change lol


battletorn
12:29pm, September 9, 2008

While they're at it, how about suing all the movies that rip off Die Hard! Or hell, even Rambo!! Rocky!! The Exocist --- HALLOWEEN!


deadfactory
12:50pm, September 9, 2008

Hollywood thrives on plagiarism, they wouldnt have made a movie in the last 20 years without it.


thedescent08
12:59pm, September 9, 2008

hah I know. Lakeview Terrace has been made so many times before. almost everything PG-13 now basically sucks.


korollocke
1:01pm, September 9, 2008

death race was sued, by the man who a script called joust. how about lawsuits for all the romero ripp off zombie flicks?


madmondo13
1:16pm, September 9, 2008

How did no one notice when it came out? I said that then.


AfterTheAsylum
1:19pm, September 9, 2008

Umm... I think Rob Zombie should be sued for House of 1k Corpses for being a blatant rip from Texas Chainsaw.


DARKDECEMBER
1:22pm, September 9, 2008

This is kind of stupid.


GMLeviathan
1:30pm, September 9, 2008

What's even MORE amazing is how someone said that Disturbia is better than FRIGHT NIGHT!!! What has this world come to??


deadlover
1:44pm, September 9, 2008

I never really cared for Fright Night, but that doesn't mean the worlds coming to an end. I think that Fright Night. . . I've never cared all that much for cheese for cheeses sake(all though there are some exceptions), and Fright Night is all about the cheese.


paultree
1:54pm, September 9, 2008

What about one of the mimic movies? can't remember which one but that pretty much has the same concept but with a huge killer bug... haha. I liked disturbia too.. was fun to watch.


ronfrrll
1:55pm, September 9, 2008

Never saw it,don't intend on seeing it.


ophelia santi
2:01pm, September 9, 2008

Haven't seen it either but, if they successfully sue, there will be a whole lot more lawsuits, just look @ the tv trailers for Lakeview Terrace, can you say Unlawful Entry???


abone114
2:02pm, September 9, 2008

i really enjoyed disturbia. although ive never seen rear window. i dont see what the big deal is though really. every movie made today uses ideas that have been done before, this is just a ploy by the Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust to capitalize off others success. its bs.


ophelia santi
2:03pm, September 9, 2008

good call G.I. Dan


takingbacksados
2:15pm, September 9, 2008

You'd think they would've gotten the lawsuit started before the movie was released and made a good profit.


jkrouskop
3:04pm, September 9, 2008

Let's not miss the important part of this story - how it might affect screenwriters and filmmakers if the lawsuit is successful. It's easy to come to B-D and trash Hollywood for being unoriginal; far easier than creating a wholly original story/movie after a century of films and thousands of years of narrative tradition. DISTURBIA is an awful lot like REAR WINDOW. It's also different enough that if the lawsuit succeeds, it could open the door for a flood of similar claims, which could result in a lot of movies not getting made in the future. As a writer, I'm all for copyright laws and the protection they provide, but where is the line between plagiarism and coincidental or respectful similarity? Could Bob Clark's estate sue John Carpenter for plagiarizing BLACK CHRISTMAS with HALLOWEEN? Could Carpenter in turn sue Sean Cunningham for a piece of the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise, who might then want to sue the makers of MY BLOODY VALENTINE and countless others for copying his product? This lawsuit may be a legitimate claim, but it could also set a dangerous precedent, prompting studios to opt out of just about any project which might open them up to similar litigation due to superficial similarities to an existing work.


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