A ‘Disturbia’ Money-Grab

Steven Spielberg finds himself facing a lawsuit. The legendary director is accused of stealing the plot from Alfred Hitchcock’s film Rear Window and using it in his movie Distrubia which was released last year.

Rear Window was based on a 1953 short story called Murder from a Fixed Viewpoint. The rights to that book are held by the Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust. Now the trust company has decided to sue DreamWorks, Viacom, Universal Pictures and Spielberg for copyright infringement and breach of contract. It’s unclear how much the trust is seeking in the lawsuit.

Give me a break. As far as I’m concerned this is a bogus lawsuit and amounts to nothing more than a money-grab by the the trust company. This is pretty much showing up a day late and a dollar short.

Where have these people been for the past year?

The lawsuit alleges that Disturbia, which starred Shia LaBeouf, and Rear Window are basically the same films. Each flick centers on someone confined to a room who spies on his neighbor engaging in strange behavior. The person looking out the window believes his neighbor is a murderer. But, no one believes him. Disturbia which was really a sub-par movie, grossed $80 million dollars domestically.

Where were these people a year ago? Have they just now decided there were copyright issues? Or, or they simply seeing this lawsuit as a way to make a quick buck? According to the Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust, they claim none of the defendants obtained the rights to the story in order to make the film. The lawsuit claims the filmmakers engaged in “back-door use of the Rear Window story without paying compensation.” Alfred Hitchcock and Jimmy Stewart, who starred in Rear Window, acquired the film rights to the story.

But, here’s where, in my opinion, this whole lawsuit falls apart. Aside from the fact the trust company is looking for a quick cash-grab, the makers of Disturbia said from the get-go that the movie was based on Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Nothing was hidden here. In the production notes for the flick, the filmmakers say the Spielberg movie is based on Rear Window. That being the case, where in the world does this company get off saying they need to be paid? Again, I believe it’s sour-grapes and a cash-grab. Secondly, not only did the filmmakers say Disturbia was based on Hitchie’s Rear Window, but pretty much every movie critic and reviewer said the same thing.

Disturbia was not a strong movie, but it did gather quite the following among teens. When I reviewed the movie I described it by saying Disturbia is disturbing. The movie features a high-strung and excitable LeBeouf running all over his house, and pretty much freaking out at things that go bump in the night. It’s disjointed, and verges on nothing more than voyeurism as LeBeouf’s character at times is more of a Peeping Tom than anything else watching a teenage girl next door dress and undress.

While the movie Disturbia was disturbing, this lawsuit is laughingly disturbing. The judge in the case needs to do the right thing, and throw it right out of court.

Avoid the show!
Dr. Rus