Quentin Tarantino slams ‘The Hunger Games’ as a “rip off”
Quentin Tarantino has hit out at Suzanne Collins’ global phenomenon, The Hunger Games, for completely copying another, earlier movie.
Chatting on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast with the American Psycho author, Tarantino began naming the movies that he believes are in the top twenty of the 21st century, naming his picks for the 20th to the 11th spot.
As he rattled through the list, he finally landed on Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale. He has been vocal about his love for that project numerous times.
The 2000 dystopian movie is based on Koushun Takami’s novel of the same name. It focuses on a group of students in junior high school as they are forced to fight each other to the death by Japan’s totalitarian government.
The similarity to The Hunger Games franchise was not lost on the director. The first book was published in 2010 and the first movie was released in 2012.
Speaking on the distressing similarities, the Kill Bill director said, “I do not understand how the Japanese writer didn’t sue Suzanne Collins for every fucking thing she owns.”
He continued, “They just ripped off the fucking book! Stupid book critics are not going to go watch a Japanese movie called ‘Battle Royale,’ so the stupid book critics never called her out on it.”
Empassioned, Tarantino added, “They talked about how it was the most original thing they’d ever fucking read. As soon as the film critics saw the film they said, ‘What the fuck! This is just Battle Royale except PG!”
Tarantino also shared on the podcast that he was one of the first people to see the 2000 movie. While in Japan doing preliminary scouting for Kill Bill, Fukasaku invited him to a private screening.
Reminiscing on his experience, he shared, “I had no idea what the fuck I was about to see. And holy fucking shit! I don’t even know what I saw.”
A little while later, the film was shared with more audiences. Tarantino went on, “It was so wild… three months later I was at the Seattle Film Festival. They were going to be showing Battle Royale at midnight. Nobody had seen this in America yet.”
He added, “I got to the midnight screening and that was one of the most exciting screenings as I waited for the movie to start. I knew what they were going to see. This is going to deliver more than they even know! They are not prepared for how this is going to deliver. To have that knowledge was power.”
Watch the divisive trailer for Battle Royale below.
Never Miss A Take
The Far Out Quentin Tarantino Newsletter
All the latest Quentin Tarantino content from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.