Emerging as one of the finest directors the independent film scene has to offer, it’s been nearly wo years since Kelly Reichardt debuted her sparse western Meek’s Cutoff. Although things were seemingly set for her eco-terrorist drama Night Moves, which would bring together Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard, it may be stopped before production even begins.
With the film set to shoot next month, The Hollywood Reporter brings news of a lawsuit filed last week by Edward R. Pressman Film. The plaintiffs indicate that Night Moves is plagiarizing Edward Abbey ‘s The Monkey Wrench Gang, a novel which also features some similarities in plot with Reichardt’s upcoming film, due to both focusing on environmental terrorists.
Pressman, who produced such films as American Psycho and Thank You For Smoking, announced this summer that he would be directly adapting the original 1975 work, after picking up the rights, with Catfish directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman at the the helm. Check out a briefing of what the lawsuit entails:
“By way of example only, both works feature the targeting of a dam for destruction by means of ammonium fertilizer-laden boats. In the Novel, the principal bomb-maker is a beer-guzzling veteran who served overseas as a Green Beret, where he acquired his knowledge of explosives. The bomb-maker in ‘Night Moves’ is a beer-guzzling veteran who served overseas as a U.S. Marine, where he acquired his knowledge of explosives. Both the Novel and ‘Night Moves’ also feature a 20-something woman who starts out as a companion of another member of the group but develops a sexual relationship with the bomb-making veteran, despite his initial objections to her participation in the group’s illegal activities.
While the styles of each separate project would likely produce much, much different works based on the directors attached, the connection has been apparent since early announcements. One wonders how this didn’t come up sooner, but with Night Moves gearing up for production soon this certainly throws a wrinkle in things. If the lawsuit goes through, we would never be able to see a film made from the screenplay, but hopefully it passes and we see a new film from Reichardt sooner than later.
What do you make of the lawsuit? Do you think its warranted?