Netflix is once again facing legal action over its 2021 film Don’t Look Up, with a second self-published author accusing the streaming giant of stealing his ideas. Darren Hunter, a writer from Harleysville, Pennsylvania, filed a lawsuit on Thursday, claiming that the film plagiarized key elements from his 2015 novel The Million Day Forecast.
The lawsuit alleges that the Adam McKay-directed film, which centers on a comet threatening to destroy Earth, copied plot points, characters, and themes from Hunter’s self-published work. The case follows a similar lawsuit filed in 2023 by William Collier, a Louisiana author who also accused the film of being based on his 2012 book Stanley’s Comet. That case was dismissed last month after a federal judge determined the similarities were too vague to support a copyright claim.
Hunter’s attorney, Larry Klayman, is seeking over $3 billion in damages. In a statement, Klayman criticized McKay and his team, calling their actions a “deceitful and greedy” reflection of certain elements in Hollywood today. The lawsuit was filed in a Florida state court in Orlando, where Klayman outlined several parallels between The Million Day Forecast and Don’t Look Up, including their shared themes of apocalyptic political satire, dark comedy, and the struggle to rally the public against an impending disaster.
Both works, according to the lawsuit, feature young female protagonists who are determined to warn the world of an approaching catastrophe. Hunter’s legal team argues that these similarities point to a clear case of literary theft, with
Don’t Look Up borrowing significant plot elements from Hunter’s novel without permission.
The complaint includes 34 allegations, including copyright infringement, false advertising, and violations of Florida’s unfair trade practices law.
Netflix has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
Hunter’s author page on Amazon reveals that his inspiration for The Million Day Forecast came after a visit from an entity claiming to be from the galaxy Centaurus A. According to the suit, Hunter distributed his book to several industry professionals, including those connected to the filmmakers behind Don’t Look Up, though it does not specify who they were.
In a separate matter, Larry Klayman, the attorney representing Hunter, is currently facing a suspension of his law license in Florida due to past misconduct, following a suspension in Washington, D.C. Klayman is appealing the decision to the Florida Supreme Court.
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