Filmmaker Charlie Kessler is suing “Stranger Things” show creators Matt and Ross Duffer for allegedly stealing ideas for their hit Netflix show after he pitched a similar project to them. According to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles, Kessler met the brothers at a Tribeca Film Festival party in April 2014 and introduced the concept of a feature based on his supernatural short film “Montauk” that had premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival two years earlier. He later handed over the script, ideas, story and the short film to the siblings. Now, Kessler claims they took his ideas without his permission or knowledge. “Stranger Things,” which originally was titled “Montauk” when it was sold to Netflix, has become a huge hit and a third season in the works. The filmmaker is now seeking damages and lost profits. Both “Montauk” and “Stranger Things” followed The Montauk Project: Experiments in Time, a 1992 science fiction book about secret government experiments.
Editorial credit: CarlaVanWagoner / Shutterstock.com