Movies
FINALLY Someone Notices ‘Disturbia’ IS ‘Rear Window’
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.
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are reteaming for the long-awaited 28 Years Later horror sequel trilogy, with Cillian Murphy on board as executive producer. But will Murphy, who of course starred in 28 Days Later, be reprising his role? It sounds like the answer is a big YES.
Speaking with Deadline this week, Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman was flat out asked if Cillian Murphy will be back to star, and his answer suggests that is indeed the plan.
“Yes,” Rothman answered, “but in a surprising way and in a way that grows, let me put it that way.”
He continued, speaking more generally about 28 Years Later, “This is Danny at his best, combined with a very commercial genre, like we had with Edgar Wright and Baby Driver. Sometimes when you put a real signature director into a commercial arena, it elevates it.”
Cillian Murphy played protagonist Jim in 28 Days Later back in 2002, a bicycle courier who ends up being one of the few survivors of the apocalyptic events of the hit infection movie.
28 Years Later arrives in theaters on June 20, 2025 from Sony. The cast also includes Jack O’Connell (Amy Winehouse: Back To Black), Jodie Comer (Alone in the Dark, “Killing Eve”), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter), and Ralph Fiennes (The Menu).
Alex Garland will write the first film and Boyle will return to direct. Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels) will direct the second installment in the trilogy from Sony Pictures.
The original movie in 2002 starred Cillian Murphy and was written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle. In the smash hit horror film, “Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.”
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