Filed under: Comedy, Universal, Celebrities and Controversy
You might think Judd Apatow's Knocked Up is a pretty "universal" story, right? (And I don't mean just the production company.) A booze-fueled one-night stand leads to an unexpected pregnancy, which in turn leads to an uncomfortable courtship and ultimately ... love. Pretty basic, right? Conventional even? Don't tell that to author Rebecca Eckler, because she's about to sue Mr. Apatow and Universal Pictures for stealing her story without credit, consultation or financial renumeration.Aside from the basic similarities (which were first mentioned in the comments section of Erik's review), both the movie and the book share the same title. In the movie, the main female character is an aspiring television entertainment reporter; in the book she is an aspiring newspaper reporter. Both the film and the book also feature a "Jewish Dad" character. The similarities seem to end there, according to CBC Canada, but unfortunately it looks like Ms. Eckler definitely has a case here. How fortunate for her that she waited until the flick's $30 million opening weekend before expressing any concerns.*
Anyone out there read Knocked Up? Is this just a collision of common tales and coincidence? Or do we actually believe that Universal / Apatow knew all about the book and blatantly cribbed from it anyway? Seems like a pretty short-sighted thing to do, if you ask me. My guess is that a quick little out-of-court settlement is on the horizon.
* UPDATE: One commenter informs us that Ms. Eckler has indeed been writing about this situation in Macleans Magazine. Read her side right here.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
