French Series Pulled From AppleTV+ Amid Plagiarism Claims

A French production company has pulled an upcoming series ahead of its U.S. premiere on AppleTV+ following allegations of plagiarism. 

The Hunt (or just Traqués in French) was supposed to be released on AppleTV+ on Dec. 3, but the show has since been pulled from the streamer’s website (as have old press releases promoting the series). Gaumont, the French production company behind the series, confirmed in a statement shared with Rolling Stone that it had “temporarily postponed” the show’s premiere as it investigates the plagiarism allegations. 

The Hunt is accused of improperly basing its story off of Douglas Fairbairn’s 1973 novel, Shoot, which was turned into a 1976 movie of the same name. Per a previously-released synopsis, The Hunt was set to follow a group of friends who, while out hunting, are unexpectedly targeted by another group of hunters. After a shootout, the friends escape and decide to keep the incident a secret, but they soon feel like they are being watched and tracked by the people they encountered in the forest.

Based on available descriptions of Shoot, the novel centers around a guy named Rex, who heads out on a hunting trip with his friends, only to encounter another group. After someone in the other party fires a potshot that grazes the head of one of Rex’s fiends, another buddy returns fire and kills the original shooter. In the aftermath of the fight, Rex and his friends decide not to tell the police about the incident. But they grow concerned that the rival group will come after them, setting up a second showdown in the forest. 

In its statement regarding the alleged similarities between the series and novel, Gaumont said: “We are currently conducting a thorough review to address any questions related to our production. We take intellectual property matters very seriously.” 

The Hunt was spearheaded by Cédric Anger and was set to star Benoît Magimel and Mélanie Laurent. The plagiarism allegations were first reported earlier this week by Clément Garin, a French media journalist, on his Substack.