The movie MS1: Maximum Security, released in 2012 and starring Guy Pearce, has been at the center of a legal controversy after being accused of plagiarism by the renowned director John Carpenter.
Carpenter argued that the premise of ‘MS1’, which revolves around the rescue of the daughter of the President of the United States trapped in a space prison, shares remarkable similarities with his work ‘1997: Escape from New York’. This accusation took shape in 2015 when Carpenter filed a lawsuit in Paris against Luc Besson, the creator of ‘MS1’.
The court ruled in favor of Carpenter, initially imposing a compensation of 80,000 euros on Besson. However, upon appealing the ruling, Besson faced an even harsher penalty in 2017, when it was determined that he had to pay a total of 450,000 euros.
A mediocre movie that ended up paying for plagiarism
Despite the arguments of his defense, which highlighted his status as one of the great talents of French cinema, the court concluded that ‘MS1’ had taken “a large number of key elements” from Carpenter’s work.
The case has sparked an intense debate about the limits of plagiarism in the film industry and the protection of intellectual property. Although Besson is seen as a renowned creator, his defense did not succeed in exonerating him from the irregularities pointed out in his film.
Despite the mediocrity of ‘MS1: Maximum Security’, which grossed only 32 million dollars against a budget of 20 million, the film has been etched in cinema history due to this notable litigation.
Interestingly, Carpenter decided not to take legal action against Hideo Kojima for the video game Metal Gear Solid, despite also seeing similarities with Escape from New York.
In Carpenter’s words, the good prior relationship with Kojima influenced his decision. Currently, ‘MS1: Maximum Security’ is not available on streaming platforms, while ‘1997: Escape from New York’ can be found on Filmin.