John Carpenter Sues Luc Besson for Plagiarism, Actually Wins You might recall that director Luc Besson (he of The Fifth Element and Taken fame, among many others) released a sci-fi action flick called Lockout back in 2012, starring Guy Pearce as an unjustly convicted prisoner who is offered a chance at freedom if he can rescue the president's daughter from a prison in outer space. The film was a financial flop, but perhaps more importantly, bared a striking resemblance to Carpenter's 1981 cult classic Escape From New York, wherein Kurt Russell was tasked with rescuing the President of the United States from a dystopic prison in Manhattan. Carpenter took Besson to court -- and more specifically, French court -- to argue the similarities between the films, and believe it or not, he actually won his case. Why would Carpenter be so irked about a 30-year old movie of his being ripped off? Well, because Carpenter happens to currently be executive producing a remake of Escape From New York for 20th Century Fox. (Like I said, originality in Hollywood is a dying concept.) Besson's production company, Europacorp, was ordered to pay 50,000 Euros to the rights owner, 20,000 to Carpenter and 10,000 to his co-screenwriter, Nick Castle, as a result of the ruling. But personally, I just hope for Besson's sake that no one attempts to call him out for ripping off every female-centric action movie ever with Columbiana.