The Shape Of Water’s co-producer has defended the film against a copyright suit ahead of the Oscars.
The son of Pulitzer-winning playwright Paul Zindel has claimed the film nominated for 13 Academy Awards is “in many ways identical” to 1969’s Let Me Hear You Whisper.
But J Miles Dale on Friday said the lawsuit is “baseless” and that its timing was “opportunistic” to coincide with Oscar voting.
“It’s really baseless, if you look even a little bit into it, look at the two, the similarities are not that great,” he told the Press Association in Los Angeles.
“We’re pretty confident that it’s just going to go away and it’s pretty baseless. We’re not worried about it.
“It doesn’t worry us as much as it’s disappointing that the timing would be so opportunistic with Oscar voting beginning the next day.”
The playwright’s son David Zindel disputed the timing of the lawsuit was to coincide with Oscars voting, saying he approached Fox after first watching the film in mid-January but was met with “inertia.”
“After weeks of Fox ignoring the overwhelming similarities, and after it was made clear Fox had no interest in finding some kind of solution, we had no choice but to enforce my dad’s copyright and protect his legacy,” he said.
He added: “Baseless? There are many people around the world who have seen or read Let Me Hear You Whisper and have posted online how upset they are that Shape used so much of dad’s play, without crediting him.”
Lawyers for Mr Zindel filed the complaint in California against director Guillermo Del Toro and Fox Searchlight last month, claiming they had “brazenly” copied the story.
Lawyer Marc Toberoff said there are at least 61 similarities, including that they are both 1960s Cold War stories regarding an unmarried janitor and her relationship with an aquatic creature in a secret laboratory.
Fans have also drawn similarities on social media.
Del Toro's "The Shape of The Water" is basically Paul Zindel's play "Let Me Hear You Whisper" with The Creature From The Black Lagoon/Abe Sapien subbed in for the dolphin, and sex.
— Andrew Paul Wood🤔😒 (@AndrewPaulWood) January 27, 2018
The new del toro movie reminds me of Paul Zindel's "Let Me Hear You Whisper" a one act play about a janitor and an experimental dolphin
— 🍊🏮🍜 jonathan yee 🍜🏮🍊 (@jonathanhouyee) July 20, 2017
Del Toro and Fox Searchlight denied the allegations about the Golden Globe-winning movie starring British actress Sally Hawkins.
The director told industry website Deadline: “I’d never heard of this play before making The Shape Of Water, and none of my collaborators ever mentioned the play.”
Fox Searchlight said it would “vigorously” defend the “ground-breaking and original film”.
The Shape Of Water is up for best picture at the Academy Awards on Sunday, while Hawkins is up for best actress for her performance.