The series was due to premiere next week but has been “temporarily postponed” as production company Gaumont investigates.
The French production company has delayed the upcoming series ahead of its US premiere. AppleTV+ after being accused of plagiarism.
Hunting (or just TruckAndWith in French) was scheduled to premiere on AppleTV+ on December 3, but the show has since been removed from the streamer's website (as have old press releases promoting the series). Gaumont, the French production company behind the series, confirmed this in a statement provided by Rolling Stone that he had “temporarily delayed” the show's premiere as he investigated allegations of plagiarism.
Hunting accused of incorrectly basing his story on Douglas Fairbairn's 1973 novel, Firewhich was adapted into a 1976 film of the same name. According to a previously published synopsis, Hunting was supposed to follow a group of friends who, while hunting, suddenly became the target of another group of hunters. After the shootout, the friends run away and decide to keep the incident a secret, but soon feel that they are being watched and tracked by the people they encountered in the forest.
Based on available descriptions from FireThe novel centers on a guy named Rex who goes hunting with his friends only to meet another group. After one of the enemy fires a shot, grazing the head of one of Rex's enemies, another friend returns fire and kills the first shooter. After the fight, Rex and his friends decide not to tell the police about the incident. But they are worried that a group of rivals will come after them and have a second fight in the forest.
In a statement regarding the alleged similarities between the series and the novel, Gaumont said: “We are currently conducting a thorough review to resolve any issues related to our production. We take intellectual property issues very seriously.”
Hunting It was headed by Cedric Anger, and the main roles were to be played by Benoit Magimel and Melanie Laurent. The plagiarism allegations were first reported earlier this week by Clément Garin, a French journalist, in his Substack.
