Acclaimed filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan addressed plagiarism accusations involving his show Servant. On Wednesday, January 22, he testified that neither he nor his team copied anything from Francesca Gregorini’s 2013 film, The Truth About Emanuel. The film, like Servant, features a woman with a baby doll, but Shyamalan called the claim
Clearly, 100% a misunderstanding, This accusation is the exact opposite of everything I do and everything I try to represent.”
and added,
When asked if he had taken anything from the movie, he firmly replied, “Absolutely not.”
Advertisement Francesca Gregorini filed a lawsuit against Apple, M. Night Shyamalan, and others involved in making Servant shortly after the show premiered in 2019. She claimed the series copied important elements from her 2013 film, The Truth About Emanuel, saying they were taken directly from her work. After years of delays, the trial started on January 14. On the first day, Gregorini testified that she was “shocked” when she saw the trailer for Servant. She said,
I couldn’t believe what I was watching. It was like they had taken my film and… remade it.
Francesca Gregorini stated that certain scenes and shots from her film, The Truth About Emanuel, were copied in Servant. Even though some industry peers advised her not to file a lawsuit, she chose to move forward.
I realized that in doing the suit, I would be fighting for myself, for what happened to me, but also for the other people who perhaps, for whatever reasons, were not able to get their day in court, You cannot take someone else’s work, repurpose it, call it your own, and not give credit or compensation to the person who made it.
Gregorini said
Servant, which premiered in 2019, starred Lauren Ambrose as Dorothy Turner, a news reporter from Philadelphia and a grieving mother. Dorothy believed her late infant son was still alive and used a doll, Baby Jericho, to cope with her loss.
Toby Kebbell played Sean, Dorothy’s husband, while Rupert Grint appeared as Julian, her alcoholic brother. Nell Tiger Free portrayed Leanne Grayson, a mysterious nanny with supernatural secrets central to the show’s story. The series received positive reviews after its debut, and later seasons gained even more praise. Its fourth and final season holds a 90% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
You can watch Servant right now on Apple TV+.
Source: Variety