Apple TV sets new release date for 'The Hunt' series after resolving plagiarism accusations

The French series The Hunt (original title Hunted) obtained the March 4, 2026 as its new release date in Apple TV.

In November 2025, Apple TV surprised by removing the premiere of the series scheduled for December of that same year from its programming, after accusations of plagiarism surfacedwhich were immediately investigated by Gaumontthe French company that produces The Hunt.

In a statement from Gaumont, obtained by Deadline, it detailed the sequence of events and revealed the result of its review of the series' intellectual property:

“Originally scheduled for December 2025, the premiere of The Hunt was postponed after it was identified in November 2025 that the project, presented as an original work, was based on an existing work, Shootby Douglas Fairbairn.

“As soon as Gaumont, producer of the series, became aware of this information, it immediately took the necessary measures to identify the rights holders and obtain the necessary authorizations.

“Respect for works and copyright is a fundamental principle for Gaumont, which can only be exercised with the trust and transparency of the creators”.

The plagiarism was first reported by the French journalist Clement Garinwho reported that The Hunt It seemed like a direct adaptation, not accreditedof the novel Shoot of Douglas Fairbairn of 1973. In 1974, Shoot was translated as The Hunt. The book was adapted to film in 1976, with the feature film title Shootdirected by Harvey Hart and written by Richard Berg.

Regarding the series, the director Cedric Anger, no longer has credit as creator. Anger was credited as the creator when Apple acquired the project as an “original project.” Once the platform learned of the plot similarities between The Hunt and the novel Shoot of Fairbairn, the streaming service notified Gaumont and put the series' release on hold two weeks before its scheduled debut.

Apparently, the similarities were clearly significant, since The Hunt It is now being promoted as “a series by Cédric Anger based on the novel Shoot by Douglas Fairbairn, which was initially adapted into a film of the same name, directed by Harvey Hart from a script by Richard Berg».

This change comes after the agreements that Gaumont has closed with the owners of the rights to the book and the film (Fairbairn died in 1997 so the conversations were carried out with those in charge of his estate).

The information about The Huntwhich had been removed from Apple's official sites following accusations of plagiarism, has now been restored on Apple with revised credits.

The main cast is made up of Benoit Magimel, Melanie Laurent, Damien Bonnard, Manuel Guillot, Cedric Appietto, Frédéric Maranber, Angelyna Danabe-Mignot, Paul Beaurepaire, Yann Goven, Sarah Pachoud y Patrick De Vallette.

The series The Hunt from Apple TV, follows Franck (Magimel) and his hunting companions, who, one day, encounter “another group of hunters who start attacking them without explanation. When one of their group is shot, Franck's friends fight back, taking down an attacker. Barely managing to escape, the four friends keep the event a secret. Franck tries to return to his normal life with his wife Krystel (Laurent), but in the following days, he begins to feel that he and his friends are being watched, or worse yet, tracked by hunters bent on revenge.

The series is made up of 6 episodes, each one hour long.

The executive producers are Isabelle Degeorges, Clémentine Vaudaux, Alexis Barqueiro y Sidonie Dumas.

Los first two episodes of The Hunt will premiere on March 4 on Apple TV worldwidefollowed by a new episode each week, until the season finale on April 1.