The global debut of the French thriller The Hunt, scheduled for December 3 on Apple TV, has been abruptly canceled. The series was pulled from the streaming platform after allegations emerged that its story was plagiarized from a 1973 novel. Production company Gaumont has confirmed the postponement and launched an internal investigation into the claims.
Why ‘The Hunt’ Was Pulled
Apple TV removed all traces of The Hunt from its service and marketing channels in late November. The decision came after French media expert Clément Garin publicly raised concerns about the show’s plot. He alleged that creator and director Cédric Anger copied the story from Douglas Fairbairn’s 1973 novel Shoot, which was previously adapted into a 1976 film.
Gaumont, the studio behind the series, released a statement addressing the situation. The company stated, “The broadcast of our series The Hunt has been temporarily postponed. We are currently conducting a thorough review to address any questions related to our production. We take intellectual property matters very seriously.”
Sources indicate that neither Apple nor Gaumont were previously aware of the potential similarities to the novel Shoot during the development process.
The Story at the Center of the Dispute
The plot similarities between the accused series and the original novel are striking.
The official description for The Hunt follows a man named Franck and his friends whose weekend hunting trip turns deadly when another group of hunters targets them without reason. After one of Franck’s friends is shot, his group fights back, injuring an attacker. They escape and swear to secrecy, but Franck soon becomes paranoid that they are being hunted for revenge.
The description of Fairbairn’s novel Shoot describes an “uber-macho hunter” named Rex who, with his friends, has his wilderness hunting trip interrupted by a rival group. One of the rivals takes a shot at Rex’s party, leading a friend of Rex to return fire and kill the shooter. The group returns home, but Rex becomes convinced the dead man’s companions are coming for them, leading to a final armed confrontation.
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The Fallout and Investigation
The Hunt was set to star French cinema stars Benoît Magimel and Mélanie Laurent. The eight-episode series was scheduled for a weekly release through December 31. All promotional materials, including the official trailer, have been scrubbed from Apple’s platforms.
This is the second Apple TV series to be pulled before its premiere recently, following the indefinite delay of the Jessica Chastain series The Savant in September. According to reports, the cast and crew of The Hunt have been instructed not to discuss the project while the internal review is ongoing. The future of the series remains uncertain as Gaumont untangles the intellectual property dispute.
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