Stranger Things Creators Deny Plagiarism

The creators of Netflix’s runaway hit series, Stranger Things have denied stealing ideas for their series. Matt and Ross Duffer are being sued by a director who claims they stole plotlines from one of his short films, which was released in 2012.

Charlie Kessler, who is suing, claims he pitched Montauk and feature film script The Montauk Project in 2014 and that the ideas were then used in the Netflix original.

The Duffer brothers have dismissed his claims as ‘completely meritless’.

The lawsuit claims that ‘script, ideas, story and film’ were talked about to the brothers whilst at a party for the Tribeca Film Festival. It states Matt and Ross Duffer made ‘huge sums of money’ from Kessler’s ideas. He is seeking damages and suing for breach of implied contract. It is not clear which elements the show copied, if any, thus far.

Lawyer, Alex Kohner, said to the Press Association, that:

‘Mr Kessler’s claim is completely meritless. He had no connection to the creation or development of Stranger Things.’

The sci-fi show has gone on to be one of Netflix’s most popular shows. It stars Millie Bobby Brown and David Harbour, who will star as Hellboy next year.

‘The Duffer Brothers have neither seen Mr Kessler’s short film nor discussed any project with him,’ continued Mr Kohner. ‘This is just an attempt to profit from other people’s creativity and hard work.’