Apple TV isn’t going on “The Hunt” anytime soon. The new French thriller, which was set to premiere on Wednesday, Dec. 3, is now being pushed by the streamer following allegations of plagiarism.
“The broadcast of our series ‘The Hunt’ has been temporarily postponed,” production company Gaumont said in a statement. We are currently conducting a thorough review to address any questions related to our production. We take intellectual property matters very seriously.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter (via French journalist Clement Garin), “The Hunt” is essentially an uncredited adaptation of “Shoot,” a novel written by Douglas Fairbairn in 1973, which had already been adapted into a film in 1976.
A future release date for the series is obviously pending. “The Hunt” was originally slated for a double-episode premiere on Dec. 3, followed by individual weekly episodes through its Dec. 31 finale.
Created by Cédric Anger, “The Hunt” stars Benoît Magimel Mélanie Laurent, Damien Bonnard, Manuel Guillot, Cédric Appietto, Frédéric Maranber, Angelyna Danabe-Mignot, Paul Beaurepaire, Yann Goven, Sarah Pachoud, and Patrick De Vallette.
The decision to postpone the premiere of “The Hunt” comes just a few months after Apple TV postponed another one of its projects, the Jessica Chastain-fronted drama “The Savant,” amid concerns over releasing the series — about infiltrating online hate groups and stopping domestic terrorists — in such a charged political climate. Chastain expressed her disapproval with Apple’s move, confirming that she and the streamer were “not aligned on the decision to pause the release.”