Lawsuit Says “Disturbia” Ripped Off “Rear Window” — Duh!

Lawyers representing the estate of Sheldon Abend claim that Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks and parent company, Paramount Pictures broke copyright infringement law when they made the movie “Disturbia,” the serial killer film that starred Shia LaBeouf, David Morse and Carrie-Ann Moss. The suit states that their film is a rip-off of the Cornell Woolrich short story, later purchased by Sheldon Abend, according to E!Online. Both men are now dead.

Abend’s story was turned into a hit film in 1954 titled “Rear Window,” which starred James Stewart, Grace Kelly and Raymond Burr and was directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

The story is a gripping tale about someone who sees his neighbor killing someone in his house across the street. In “Rear Window” it was the adult James Stewart holed-up in his apartment after a leg injury who sees Burr kill his wife from the balcony of Stewart’s apartment. “Disturbia,” directed by D.J. Caruso, has teenager LaBeouf on house arrest, after a minor altercation with the law, who spies on his neighbor (Morse) killing people. When LaBeouf’s mom (Moss) starts seeing the neighbor the young man becomes frantic causing quite a stir.

The 1954 film was a huge movie hit while the 2007 release was only moderately successful. Caruso openly admits that the short story and Hitchcock film was his inspiration and gave him a place to start, however, he insists “Disturbia” is not a remake of “Rear Window.”

“I embraced it [the Hitchcock film] instead of running away from it,” stated Caruso. “But I didn’t want it to be a remake because that would be silly. You can’t remake ‘Rear Window’.”

The current lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages. When contacted for comment, Spielberg, DreamWorks and Paramount all indicated that they will not make public comments while the suit is pending.