Showtime and Lionsgate’s Entertainment One have prevailed in a lawsuit claiming their hit series “Yellowjackets” stole ideas from a 2015 film called “Eden.”
In court documents obtained by TheWrap, U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson dismissed the November 2024 lawsuit, saying that the television show and film – both about soccer teams that crash in the woods on the way to a game, and begin to lean into cult-like behavior, ultimately resorting to cannibalism – were not similar enough to constitute copyright infringement.
“There can be no serious dispute that escape attempts by shipwrecked or stranded survivors are prevalent throughout fiction and history, from Odysseus, Robinson Crusoe and Gilligan to Shackleton and the Uruguayan rugby team,” Pregerson wrote. “Instances of competition, tribalism and factionalism in disaster scenarios or in response to resource scarcity are nearly as commonplace, from ‘The Tempest’ to ‘Survivor’ to much of the post-apocalyptic genre, such as the ‘Mad Max’ films or any of a number of zombie stories, to, most archetypically, ‘Lord of the Flies.’”
The dismissal added that the similar themes of the two stories would lead to an obvious overlap. It explained, “It is difficult to imagine how any serious drama involving a descent into ritualized cannibalism, and its aftereffects, could possibly exclude elements of solemnity and brooding contemplation.”
Another sticking point for Pregerson was the setting for the two stories. “Yellowjackets” takes place in the Canadian woodlands while “Eden” is on an uninhabited island.
“Moreover, the ‘desolate area’ setting highlighted by Plaintiff is a common element of survival stories, including historical events such as the travails of the Uruguayan rugby team in the Andes or the Donner Party in the Sierra Nevada,” he wrote.
In the original filing, Eden Film Productions alleged that the series beared “strikingly similar elements” to the film.
“In both works, the survivors, which include various players and the coach, among others, must fight for their lives against the harsh elements, starvation through dwindling resources and the psychological toll of isolation in the form of growing darkness within themselves,” the complaint stated. “As they struggle to survive, tensions rise, alliances form, dark secrets emerge and moral boundaries are pushed to their limits — blurring the line between good and evil.”
The survival series continues to be a major hit for Showtime. The recently wrapped third season was the most-viewed yet. The finale secured 3 million global cross-platform viewers during its first seven days of availability. That number marks a 19% increase compared to the overall viewership for Season 2’s finale as well as a 54% increase in the streaming audience for that episode.
Showtime did not immediately response to TheWrap’s request for comment.
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