Look, we're not going to lie to you – most of the time, when a big streaming series comes to one of the best streaming services on the planet, the story of how it got made doesn't contain much drama. Sure, you get the odd passion project or funding situation, but it's normally a bit uninteresting to normal folks.
Things are way more complicated and intriguing for upcoming Apple TV series The Hunt, a French-language show about a group of hunters who get targeted by other gunmen while out in the wild. It was originally meant to come out back in December 2025, but got put on hold at the last moment when allegations of plagiarism started to swirl. Now it's back with a new trailer and release date.
You see, some students of film history noticed a pretty huge issue when they first got wind of The Hunt; namely, that its plot was incredibly similar to a 1973 novel by Douglas Fairbairn called Shoot, and a film made with the same title three years later. When this was pointed out by French journalists, the French production house behind the series, Gaumont, pulled it from release and started an internal investigation into what had gone on.
That investigation is seemingly now finished, and perhaps unsurprisingly has ended with the production getting the right permissions and authorisations for the rights holders of Shoot (although we don't know whether that means a buy-out or not). This means the series is back up for release, and will come to Apple TV on 4 March.
Gaumont's statement on the matter is pretty interesting:
"Originally scheduled for December 2025, The Hunt‘s release was postponed after it was identified in November 2025 that the project, presented as an original work, was based on an existing work, Douglas Fairbairn’s Shoot.
As soon as this information came to its attention, Gaumont, the series’ producer, immediately took the necessary steps to identify the rights holders, and obtain the required authorizations.
Respect for works and authors’ rights is a fundamental principle for Gaumont, which can only be exercised with the trust and transparency of creative artists."
That suggests it's not best pleased with how this played out, and while the series looks like it could be a taut and tense bit of work, we're imagining there's been some tension between its creators and the sources of money they used to make it. It's way more behind-the-scenes drama than you normally get, that's for sure.
So, will the show itself live up to the interest it's attracted? The trailer looks pretty great, so if you're into your European crime capers, it's sure to have plenty of twists and turns on its way to a stressful ending.
