The creators behind the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things” are being sued for allegedly stealing concepts for their show.
“Montauk” director Charlie Kessler claims he pitched his idea for the show to “Stranger Things” creators Matt and Ross Duffer at a party in 2014. He keeps mum on the specifics but claims he told the Duffers about his idea to expand on his short film “Montauk,” which deals with themes like “various urban legends, and paranormal and conspiracy theories.”
Kessler says he told the brothers that he wanted to expand on his original idea with a sci-fi type series that followed kids who grew up outside an abandoned military base.
But now, Kessler claims the Duffer brothers took his idea and ran with it, leaving him out of the project. His attorney, Michael Kernan, claims that Kessler’s pitch to the Duffers in 2014 should be counted as an “in-fact” contract and follows along with “industry norms” in Hollywood.
“After the massive success of Stranger Things … Defendants have made huge sums of money by producing the series based on Plaintiff’s Concepts,” Kernan wrote.
Kessler has demanded that the Duffer brothers destroy all content based on his ideas and provide restitution for all the profits they made using his concepts.
This comes just days after it was reported that some of the show’s headlining stars have renewed their contracts for astronomical salaries. Millie Bobby Brown, who plays the character Eleven, stands to make $3.2 million next season.
Neither Netflix nor the Duffers have offered a statement on the matter.
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