The Hunger Games - Battle Royale
The Hunger Games – Battle Royale
In The Hunger Games, a bunch of teenagers from a dystopian future are rounded up from their families and forced to fight against each other to the death on television in a sort of über-violent version of Survivor. It’s an irresistible premise, a young adult version of The Running Man or Death Race 2000, and the film’s box office was enormous. The only issue is Japanese film Battle Royale used pretty much the same premise in 2012.
Already a cult classic when The Hunger Games was released, Battle Royale has gained an even bigger following in the West in the years since the blockbuster young adult film started breaking box office records in 2012. Kinji Fukasaku’s film is more violent and less accessible than the teen-friendly Hunger Games franchise, but it’s also a more thought-provoking study of the role that violence plays in society.
Partner – Hitch
For decades, Bollywood has been blatantly ripping off Hollywood films, and not just the blockbusters. Even the more-or-less forgotten comedy My Cousin Vinnie from 1992 was remade in India as Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai. Jason Reitman’s Juno became Teree Sang. Christopher Nolan’s Memento became Ghajini.
But even by the standards of Bollywood, Partner is exception… because they got caught. The film, which borrowed liberally from Hitch, starring Will Smith as a dating expert, was threatened with a $30 million lawsuit, which would have been the first time that an international company sued a Bollywood company for copyright infringement. The lawsuit never came to pass, but Sony did acquire the film for international satellite broadcasting. In the following years, Hollywood has been more diligent about preventing Bollywood companies from stealing their intellectual property.
[/nextpage]
Comments