Apple TV has removed the upcoming French thriller “The Hunt” (“Trêves”) from its December slate, and now we know why: Creator and director Cedric Anger has been accused of lifting the series’ story from Douglas Fairbairn’s 1973 novel “Shoot,” which was previously adapted into the 1976 film “Shoot.”
According to Apple Insider, which reported the news on Tuesday, the allegations were first revealed by French media expert Clément Garin.
French producer Gaumont confirmed in a statement Tuesday that “The Hunt” has been shut down pending an investigation into the allegations. Apple TV has removed all content about the show from its site as the show remains in limbo.
“The broadcast of our series ‘The Hunt’ has been temporarily postponed,” Gaumont said in a statement shared. Diversity“We are currently conducting a thorough review to resolve any questions related to our production, We take intellectual property matters very seriously,”
“The Hunt” was originally set to make its global debut on Apple TV on Wednesday, December 3, with the first two episodes, followed by one episode weekly every Wednesday until December 31. But Apple TV removed the show from its lineup last week.
Anger’s French-language thriller (“Next Time I’ll Aim for the Heart”) comes from executive producers Isabelle DeGeorges, Clémentine Vaudoux, Alexis Barkeiro and Sidonie Dumas from Gaumont (“Lupin,” “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld,” “Totems”). Benoît Magimel and Mélanie Laurent star.
‘The Hunt’ (‘Trêves’) also stars Damien Bonnard, Manuel Guillot, Cédric Appiateau, Angelina Denabe Mignot, Paul Beaurepaire, Yann Gouven, Sarah Pacaud and Patrick de Valette.
Here’s the logline: “Frank (Magimell) and his longtime friends enjoy spending their weekends hunting together, but one Sunday, they come across another group of hunters who begin targeting them without explanation. When one of their party is shot, Frank’s friends retaliate, sending an attacker to the ground. Barely managing to escape, the four friends keep the incident a secret. Tries to go back to his life as usual with wife, Crystal (Laurent), but over the next few days, he begins to feel like he and his friends are being watched, or worse, being tracked by predators who are now bent on revenge.
And here’s the description of “Shoot” from Goodreads: “Rex is an uber-masculine hunter who sets out on a hunting trip into the Canadian wilderness with four equally testosterone-addicted friends. But their weekend in the woods is cut short by a rival group of hunters, one of whom inexplicably attacks Rex’s party and decapitates one of his friends. Another of Rex’s friends retaliate, killing him. Rex and company flee from there and head back to civilization, betting that the rival hunters will respond in kind. However, this does not entirely satisfy Rex, who is sure to return to the crime scene. He recruits a small army and a real arsenal of firepower, where he is sure that Rex and his army set out into the snow-covered forest. However, appearances may be deceiving, and many of the guns will be fired – true to form.
Fairbairn was a writer who died in 1997. The 1976 film “Shoot”, based on his novel, was directed by Harvey Hart and written by Richard Berg, and starring Cliff Robertson, Ernest Borgnine and Henry Silva.
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