Hollywood cloned our clone movie, say cult film-makers
Dan Glaister in Los Angeles
Thursday August 11, 2005
The Guardian
An independent film company is alleging that a big Hollywood studio has cloned its film about clones.
In The Island, released tomorrow in Britain, a man played by Ewan McGregor goes on the run after discovering that he is part of a colony of clones being kept as spare parts for the rich and ailing.
In The Clonus Horror, released in 1979, a man played by Timothy Donnelly goes on the run after discovering he is part of a colony of clones - kept as spare parts for the rich and ailing.
One film cost DreamWorks and Warner Bros $125m (£73m) to make; the other cost Clonus Associates $250,000. One film has been derided by critics and has turned into the box-office flop of the year in the US. The other has been ignored by critics but become a cult classic.
Now the two films are to meet in a New York court after the production company behind The Clonus Horror filed a lawsuit against the producers of The Island alleging 90 instances in which the later film was identical to The Clonus Horror.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1546669,00.html