Quentin Tarantino Calls Out ‘Hunger Games’ as ‘Battle Royale’ Rip-Off

Quentin Tarantino recently appeared on “The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast,” and during the conversation he talked about his list of favorite movies from the 21st century. But the part that really stood out was what he said about copycat stories, especially when he compared “The Hunger Games” to the Japanese film “Battle Royale.”

Tarantino has admired “Battle Royale” for years, so it made sense that he picked it as one of his top films. He explained that he first saw it in Japan when director Kinji Fukasaku showed him a private screening.

He remembered being blown away by how intense it was. Later, when he saw it again at the Seattle Film Festival, he said he knew the audience wasn’t ready for what the movie would deliver.

When the conversation shifted to how similar “The Hunger Games” is to “Battle Royale,” Tarantino didn’t hold back. He said he could not believe the creators of “Battle Royale” never took legal action against Suzanne Collins, who wrote “The Hunger Games.” According to him, the two stories share the same basic idea of young people being forced to fight to the death.

He said, “I do not understand how the Japanese writer didn’t sue Suzanne Collins for every f***** thing she owns. They just ripped off the f**** book!” He also criticized book critics for not pointing out the similarities, saying, “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. They talked about how it was the most original thing they’d ever f**** read.”

Tarantino added that film critics reacted very differently once they saw “Battle Royale,” explaining, “As soon as the film critics saw the film they said, ‘What the f***! This is just ‘Battle Royale’ except PG!’”

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!