'Knocked Up is a knock-off'
2007-06-07 16:30
Toronto - A Canadian journalist is suing
the director and the studio of the new hit comedy Knocked Up,
arguing that she's the rightful parent of the tale behind the
movie.
In a suit filed against writer-director Judd Apatow, and
against Universal Studios, Calgary-based Rebecca Eckler says
there are too many similarities between the movie and her book
about her accidental pregnancy to be a coincidence.
"I don't doubt, purely based on the screenplay, that he
(Apatow) had a copy in his office somehow of the book," Eckler
told Reuters.
"A lot of people, I'm sure, will say, 'Well, getting drunk
and knocked up, it could happen to everybody.' Well, the fact
is, it doesn't happen to everybody, and no one had written
about it before I did. And he (Apatow) didn't sell the
screenplay until after I did."
'Many similarities'
Eckler's book, Knocked Up: Confessions of a Hip
Mother-to-Be, was published in the United States in 2005, and
Eckler said she wants credit and compensation.
The story of an up-and-coming reporter who gets drunk and
pregnant is the premise behind both the film and Eckler's book.
She said other similarities include the fact that both fathers
are Jewish-Canadians, and both mothers took a huge number of
pregnancy tests to confirm a baby was on the way.
Apatow contends the two stories are very different.
"The book is about a woman who gets pregnant by the fiancé
that she loves on the night of her engagement party," he said
in a statement.
Copyright infringement lawsuit
"The film is about a one-night stand between a
pot smoking slacker and an ambitious young woman that leads to
a pregnancy and their attempts to get to know each other.
"Anyone who reads the book and sees the movie will
instantly know that they are two very different stories about a
common experience."
Eckler said she filed her copyright infringement lawsuit in
January. The trial is set to begin in March 2008.
The movie opened in North America on June 1 and stars Seth
Rogen as pot-smoking daddy Ben Stone and Katherine Heigl as the
mom-to-be, Alison Scott. It earned an impressive $30.7m
in its first weekend.
"I can see why the movie's successful. It's funny," said
Eckler.