One Of Netflix’s Biggest & Most Divisive Movies Is At The Center Of A New Lawsuit

Netflix’s divisive political satire Don’t Look Up has found itself the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit lodged against the streaming giant and director Adam McKay. Telling the story of two astronomers who attempt to warn society about an approaching comet set on a collision course with Earth, the black comedy uses the premise to poke fun at political and media indifference to warnings of climate change. Featuring an all-star cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, the movie received a limited theatrical release before moving on to become Netflix’s most watched English-language movie within the first week of its December 2021 release.

Per a new report from The Wrap, Louisiana-based author William Collier has filed a lawsuit with the Los Angeles Superior Court with Netflix, McKay, and his production company named as the defendants. Details of the suit allege that Don’t Look Up took its premise and plot from Collier’s self-published novel Stanley’s Comet. Collier also alleges that before publishing his book, he sent a copy to an executive assistant at Jimmy Miller Entertainment, a company run by McKay’s former manager and co-producer Jimmy Miller. Both McKay and Netflix have yet to comment on the matter.

Netflix Is No Stranger To Facing Copyright Lawsuits

While it is still far too early to predict how the streamer will handle this latest lawsuit, Netflix is no stranger to allegations of copyright infringement being leveled at some of its biggest and most popular streaming content. As the company continues to direct its efforts toward developing its own dedicated library of exclusive content, several of its movies and shows have found themselves subject to similar claims of plagiarism over the years.

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Not even the overwhelming popularity of Stranger Things could protect it from its own legal issues, with the hit show the target of two previous lawsuits. In 2018, filmmaker Charlie Kessler alleged that the Duffer brothers had stolen their idea for their show from his short film Montauk, though he would later drop the suit before the trial was due to commence. Then again, in 2020, Irish Rover Entertainment lodged its own suit alleging the show had plagiarized elements from a screenplay named Totem. That suit would also be dropped in August this year, one month before its trial was scheduled to begin.

Meanwhile, Netflix’s popular teen drama Outer Banks was once subject to an almost identical suit that is currently facing Don’t Look Up, with author Kevin Wooten alleging the show stole the plot to his novel Pennywise: The Hunt For Blackbeard’s Treasure!. However, Netflix would also claim victory in that fight, with the suit eventually dismissed one year after it was first lodged. Whether Netflix’s apparent legal streak will continue over their latest copyright furor remains to be seen, but it seems that the streamer is more than accustomed to battling lawsuits of this nature.