‘Yellowjackets’ accused of ripping off 2015 survival thriller in new lawsuit

Showtime and Lionsgate have been stung by a new lawsuit claiming that the hit TV series Yellowjackets ripped off a 2015 film titled Eden.

In a complaint filed Friday in California federal court and reviewed by Entertainment Weekly, plaintiff Eden Film Production LLC claims that Yellowjackets is a “substantially similar” enough work to the movie to have violated its copyright and merit litigation. The suit names Showtime, Lionsgate, series creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, and two production companies as defendants.

The complaint points to “plots, setting, mood, pace, stories, characters, sequence of events, themes, and scene/dialogue similarities” allegedly demonstrating that Eden and Yellowjackets, both thrillers about soccer teams that crash in the wilderness and resort to cannibalism to survive, “in most respects are identical.”

Showtime and Lionsgate didn’t immediately respond to EW’s request for comment.

Not to be confused with this year’s Ron Howard film of the same name, the 2015 Eden was directed by Shyam Madiraju and stars Ethan Peck, Nate Parker, Jessica Lowndes, Diego Boneta, James Remar, and Sung Kang. The film was also written by Parker, the actor and filmmaker whose career became embroiled in controversy in 2016 when his 1999 rape case resurfaced in the news. (Parker denied the allegations against him and was acquitted.)

Eden follows a men’s soccer team that crashes on a Malaysian island and deals with such hazards as land mines and sharks. Yellowjackets, released six years later, centers on a high school girls’ soccer team that crash-lands in a Canadian forest. Yellowjackets is more supernatural in its horror than Eden, and also alternates between two time periods: the immediate aftermath of the crash and years later, as the survivors still grapple with the trauma.

The complaint asserts that both Yellowjackets and Eden feature six core team members, a “seasoned assistant coach,” a “nurse-like” side character, and two love ancillary characters of the opposite gender, one being a love interest for a member of the core cast.

Though the suit claims that the “substantially, strikingly similar elements leave little doubt that most substantive elements of Yellowjackets are copied from Eden,” both properties also echo the true story of a 1972 plane crash in the Andes. That incident stranded 16 survivors, mostly members of a Uruguayan amateur rugby team, for 72 days among the snowy peaks, and they turned to cannibalism to survive.

Lyle told NPR in 2021 that she was “absolutely” inspired by the Uruguayan team’s story, which was portrayed in the the 1993 Frank Marshall film Alive, as well as by the classic survival tale Lord of the Flies. “I think both of those were pretty formative for me,” she said.

The Eden team is seeking a jury trial and asking the court to enjoin the defendants’ ability to infringe their copyright further. The complaint argues that the plaintiffs incurred “substantial” financial loss from the creation of Yellowjackets, and it calls for any and all gains and profits derived from the alleged infringement be “held in constructive trust.”

Yellowjackets, which stars Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Christina Ricci, Lauren Ambrose, Juliette Lewis, is set to return for a third season in 2025.

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