Duffer Brothers say Stranger Things plagiarism law suit is 'completely meritless'

Update: Duffer brothers dismiss Kessler's claim

The Duffer brothers have responded to Charlie Kessler's lawsuit that claims the Stranger Things writers and directors based their hit Netflix show on an idea he says he presented them with.

On Wednesday a lawyer for Ross and Matt Duffer said: "Mr Kessler’s claim is completely meritless.

"He had no connection to the creation or development of Stranger Things. The Duffer Brothers have neither seen Mr Kessler’s short film nor discussed any project with him. This is just an attempt to profit from other people’s creativity and hard work."

After airing on Netflix last summer, Stranger Things transformed from a small-budget sci-fi series to one of the streaming service's flagship shows with a third season due later this year. Its success has also turned Ross and Matt Duffer, the brothers who wrote and directed Stranger Things, into major Hollywood heavyweights.

Now, though, the Duffer brothers face a jury after another director, Charlie Kessler, claims that they based the series on a concept he pitched to them at a party. Kessler's lawsuit also claims that he subsequently presented "the script, ideas, story and film" to the Duffer brothers, upon which, he claims, they based Stranger Things. 

In 2012, Kessler released his short film Montauk, which told the story of a young boy who went missing. Montauk also featured a monster from another dimension and a nearby military base, which was known for conducting experiments on children. 

Stranger Things, as its viewers will know, also features all of those things. It was even originally called Montauk and set on Long Island. But that's not necessarily because the Duffer brothers copied Kessler. Rather, both Kessler and the Stranger Things creators were inspired by Project Montauk, a supposed secret US military base that conducted human experiments. 

In 1992, writers Preston B Nichols and Peter Moon released the book The Montauk Project: Experiments in Time, which detailed such events taking place at the Long Island camp. The book has never defined itself as either true or science fiction.

Kessler's suit, however, specifically claims that the Duffer brothers were inspired by the encounters the three men had. In particular, Kessler's suit says that he pitched the Montauk concept to the brothers in April 2014 at a Tribeca Film Festival, before presenting them with “the script, ideas, story and film”. 

Kessler is suing for breach of implied contract and seeking monetary damages and a jury trial. The suit reads: “After the massive success of Stranger Things that is based on Plaintiff’s concepts that Plaintiffs discussed with Defendants, Defendants have made huge sums of money by producing the series based on Plaintiff’s concepts without compensating or crediting Plaintiff for his Concepts.”

The suit doesn't mention Netflix, only the Duffer brothers. The Duffer brothers are yet to comment on Kessler's claims.