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Old 08-12-2004, 06:53 AM   #1
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M. Night Shyamalan ripps off a children's book
http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/...age-suit_x.htm

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — Simon & Schuster Inc. is reviewing its legal options against Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and writer-director M. Night Shyamalan over what the author of a children's book says are similarities between its plot and the film The Village, a spokeswoman for the publisher said Monday.

The Village, the latest thriller by Shyamalan, took in $50.8 million at the box office in its first weekend, the best opening this year for Disney, which has failed to produce any other major hits. (Related: Review of The Village)

The film, which slipped to second place last weekend, has grossed $85.6 million. Last week reports circulated that its plot and surprise ending parallel Margaret Peterson Haddix's first book Running Out of Time, published in 1995.

Haddix told Reuters that she heard about the similarities last week when when fans — and then journalists — began calling and e-mailing her and her publisher to ask if she had sold the book to Shyamalan. She said she has never spoken to The Sixth Sense director or to Disney.

"It's certainly an interesting situation," Haddix said. "I'm just examining what my options are."

In a statement, Disney and Shyamalan's Blinding Edge Pictures said they "believe these claims to be meritless."

Shyamalan has battled a copyright lawsuit brought by a Pennsylvania screenwriter who said the plot from the 2002 film Signs mirrored his unproduced script Lord of the Barrens.

In Running Out of Time and The Village, adults in a bucolic 19th century town keep the same secret from their children, and a plucky tomboy journeys through dangerous woods to get medicine.

Haddix said she optioned the book twice — once to Viacom-owned Nickelodeon, which allowed the option to expire in May 2003 without making a film.

She saw The Village last week but declined to discuss her opinion of the film. "Let's just say that I saw the same similarities that other people have pointed out," she said.

Lawyers for Simon & Schuster also were reviewing their legal options, spokeswoman Tracy van Straaten said.

"This is a children's book ... that sold more than half a million copies and won prizes, so it's not an obscure book for us," van Straaten said. The book was nominated for an Edgar Award, the nation's top prize for mystery stories.

Haddix, who said she got the idea for Running Out of Time while working as a journalist in Indiana, has published 16 books, including the popular Shadow Children series.

Simon & Schuster is the publishing arm of Viacom (VIA).
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Old 08-12-2004, 06:58 AM   #2
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http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,14684,00.html




(Warning: Major spoilers ahead in black .)

"It was the fans that really pointed it out in the first place," says van Straaten. "The book is about a young tomboyish girl in a rural village in the 1800s who comes to learn that, in fact, it is a historical preserve in 1996 and that the adults have kept that secret from the children of the village. She finds that out when her mother sends her out to get medicine. But she learns it pretty early on in the book and then discovers all sorts of other intrigue."

Shyamalan's plot, on the other hand, centers around an innocent, blind tomboy (Bryce Dallas Howard), who must venture out of her close-knit 19th century village and into a haunted wood beyond its border to obtain medicine for the one she loves. Along the way, she discovers that the elders have their own secret that they've kept from the younger people in their community, and things aren't what they seem.
Haddix could not be reached for comment Tuesday. But she did tell the New York Times that she saw The Village and noted that "the spoiler ending is the thing that is the biggest similarity."

Disney and Shyamalan's Blinding Edge Pictures were quick to dismiss any suggestions of plagiarism.

"Whatever claims are being made of similarities between the book and the movie have no merit," says a statement from Disney's Buena Vista Pictures, which distributed the picture.

Shyamalan, whose previous mind-bending thrillers include his blockbuster breakthrough The Sixth Sense followed by Unbreakable and Signs, is in Europe on a promotional tour for The Village and was unavailable for comment.

Shyamalan remains locked in a legal battle with Pennsylvania screenwriter Robert McIlhinney, who claimed Signs ripped off McIlhinney's unproduced script for a film titled Lord of the Barrens: The Jersey Devil.

Running Out of Time is a hugely popular title among the 8-to-12 set, says van Straaten, noting that it has sold well over half a million copies and was nominated for an Edgar Award--the nation's top prize for mystery stories (it's named after Edgar Allen Poe).

"It's is a terrific seller for us," she adds.

Haddix has since gone on to write the best-selling Shadow Children series, also published by Simon & Schuster.
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Old 08-12-2004, 11:29 AM   #3
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Golly mister, this has never happened before.
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Old 08-12-2004, 12:15 PM   #4
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Well, this is the same guy who thinks that putting a lame twist at the end of the movie justifies making a shitty movie over and over again.
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Old 08-12-2004, 12:48 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Adder
Golly mister, this has never happened before.
That doesn't make it any less newsworthy.
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Old 08-12-2004, 12:51 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by House of Pancakes
Well, this is the same guy who thinks that putting a lame twist at the end of the movie justifies making a shitty movie over and over again.
Actually his films have all impressed me
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Old 08-12-2004, 01:43 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by ct2k
Actually his films have all impressed me
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Old 08-12-2004, 03:53 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Adder
Golly mister, this has never happened before.
If stories were covered only because they never happened before, there'd be no news at all.
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Old 08-12-2004, 04:02 PM   #9
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Yeah. OMG! Crime! It's been done before.
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Old 08-13-2004, 11:49 AM   #10
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I haven't seen anyone yet discussing this story.

Tell me if you thought the movie was a rip off of the book. You have read the book right?
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Old 08-15-2004, 05:31 PM   #11
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I have not read the book, but it sounds a little too coincidental to me.

Shyamalan is over-rated anyways.
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Old 08-16-2004, 02:59 AM   #12
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Shyamalan was on 60 minutes telling people how it's wrong to download movies
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