Entertainment

Did Universal Rip Off 'James Bond'?

by Alanna Bennett

Enough with all that "Katy Perry hates Miley Cyrus for sticking her tongue in her mouth" talk of celebrity "feuds" — let's talk studio feuds! They're more interesting, trust us: Just take a look at the current one going on between MGM and Universal. Apparently, MGM is very mad at Universal, because MGM is claiming that Universal allegedly ripped off the idea for James Bond — and are now lying about it. Drama!

It's no secret that studios blatantly "borrow" from each other all the time under the guise of following the trends. That's why Friends With Benefits and No Strings Attached came into public existence at the same time, and the reason that Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror Mirror both exist. Originality has been in short supply in Hollywood for a long while.

But apparently a recent case of the beg-borrow-steal model has gotten MGM all worked up, because the studio is suing Universal for the development of a project called Section 6, which they claim infringes on their copyright for the James Bond franchise. According to The Wrap :

The historical spy thriller chronicles the formation of British intelligence agency MI6 around the time of World War I – before any of the Bond movies took place. It also examines its first director, George Mansfield Cummings, the inspiration for M in the James Bond series.

MGM is alleging through the suit that "instead of creating something original, Universal and [screenwriter Aaron Berg decided to take an easier path," essentially summing up 75 percent of how Hollywood's worked for the past 30+ years.

Image: MGM