Guilty: Luc Besson plagiarized John Carpenter’s ‘Escape From New York,’ must pay $500K
Plagiarism can’t always be disguised in Hollywnnd and The Fifth Element filmmaker Luc Besson took some flack for the 2012 sci-fi film Lockout, which he co-wrote and executive produced (but didn’t direct), when folks started pointing out how similar the film’s plot was to John Carpenter’s 1981 classic Escape from New York
Yahoo reported that Besson has been ordered to pay $500,000 to Carpenter as a result of being found guilty of plagiarism.
Carpenter sued Besson for Lockout which starred Guy Pearce and revolves around a man framed for a crime he didn’t commit, who is offered his freedom in exchange for rescuing the President’s daughter from a space jail overrun by criminals.
The basic premise is similar to Escape from New York, and the judges pointed out that the heroes of both films “got into the prison by flying in a glider/space shuttle, had to confront inmates led by a chief with a strange right arm, found hugely important briefcases and meet a former sidekick who then dies.”
Besson, for his part, denied the allegations, and it must be noted that he co-wrote the film alongside directors Stephen S. Leger and James Mather, although Besson is also given a “story by” credit on the picture.
The judges found that the similarities between the two movies were impossible to ignore, and thus ruled in Carpenter’s favor.
