What will spooky dan do when there are no repo movies to latch on to?

I could get past the barcode and the similar story line. I could shrug it away and go “meh, it happens in films.”

But dude. Stealing the whole concept of the murdered wife whose name CONVENIENTLY starts with an M? An addictive pain-killer/anti-rejection drug that has a rarely used letter for its initial? A FUCKING GRAVEROBBER.

Come on now. That’s just silly. If you’re gonna rip someone off, don’t take the whole fucking plot, that’s just giving yourself away, silly.

And besides. Copyright records at the U.S. Library of Congress prove who was first. Bitchesssss. Repo! The Genetic Opera wins. And this shit should be taken to court.

Lionsgate, it’s up to you now.

I agree with a lot of these but I don’t really know where you’re getting the idea that Nathan somehow intentionally killed Marni. Poison was switched in for medicine, a point which is made very clear, and he unknowingly killed his wife. He thinks he simply made a medical error. That’s really not on par with a blatant murder.

I like the fact that you’re trying to call attention to the blatant plagiarism (which is very clearly an issue) but I think some of your points are stretching a bit. Your argument would probably hold more weight if you cut out some of the more casual or incidental coincidences (such as the advertisements and taglines).

That said, Eric Garcia apparently has no shame. What kind of a person rips off such a great movie?

You got a lot of typos there, son.

I’m not saying you’re wrong – I believe you. I’m just saying. A loooooooot of typos.

Ahh Spooky…I love you so hard for this. I kind of want to read the book and compare for myself, just because I can get my hands on the book without giving funds to this blasphemy. Hopefully this will open the eyes of people who keep swearing that they are two separate things completely.

Much love <3
Cheese

Wow, Dan. This is amazing. I never even dreamed that it would go that far. WOOOOW. Good reporting, even though it’ s really sad to see!!!

i always knew “repo men” was a rip-off when i saw the trailer , its just like “repo opera” and after reading this it made it more clear ,

repo opera came from a stage show into a movie , and the writers and director of the stage performance worked really hard on it and to have there original idea taken and butchered into hollywood crap , that is just sick.

I heard about this a long while ago and I was so pissed. This guy so blatantly ripped off just about every idea from Repo he could. How could he get away with this? What’s even worse is that Repo Men (the movie) is going to be much more widely advertised and released.

I’ll bet the world that the creators of Repo Men are nowhere near as dedicated to bringing their movie to the world as the guys of Repo are! Down with this bull!

This is ABSOLUTELY disgusting – i am so angry about this terrible rip off that im actually shaking right now!!

the worst thing is we are powerless, all we can do is tell everyone and anyone what has been done.

-rages-

Honestly, Spooky…. this whole thing just makes me so pissed off, I’m not even sure how to respond. I know you feel the same way, so I don’t think I even need to tell you LOL I think what really got me was the Sanitarium Square comparison and the Graverobber comparison. We new the basics were similar between the two, but to read, side by side, all these little details that have come out of the (published after Repo! was in theatre’s) novel… it is just sickening. I’ve been avoiding getting a copy of the book because I don’t want to give any of my money to that man. Thank you for doing the dirty work for us Repo! fans.

Repo! The genetic opera is the right one, who ever wrote that crap stole from Repo enough said.Plagerised. Repo! will always rule all.

This was studio execs in the room going “Remember that repo opera flick, I bet we could sell it again if we took all the music out of it”.

Just proves once again that there is little to no creativity in Hollywood anymore. Just remake, remake, remake. They even remade “Death at a Funeral” which was only made 3 years ago. Pretty soon we’ll have remakes of movies that came out the week before.

#$#$#%$ RIP OFFS!!!! I mean, REPO! TGO has been arround WAY BEFORE this crackhead descided it was a good idea to rip it off! Darn it! I used to love Universal…
But they are just a complany in the end… ans money is the only thing they seem to value… Pfft… :S

This really irks me. My fiance and I boo the commercial each time it is on. This is a straight out rip off of an idea. I’m quite surprised Terrance Zdunich hasn’t said anything.

Have you noticed that all the “differences” between Repo Men and Repo! seem to come directly from Equilibrium? ( You know, that other movie where the top agent of an evil organization has a change of heart and is hunted by his former partner) Seriously, look at the promotional material.

http://www.impawards.com/2002/posters/equilibrium.jpg

http://photogallery.filmofilia.com/data/media/201/repo_men_poster_01.jpg

You are seriously stretching so hard for some of these, it’s almost ridiculous.

I would like to know what terrence thinks of this shit.

I agree that the similarities are a bit close for comfort but the key difference & really the only thing that matters is REPO! is an over the top, campy as fuck musical and MAMBO looks to be like a straight up action movie. You(spooky) & Darren Bousman have gotten way to worked up about this whole thing imo. you could do these types of comparisons to literally hundreds of films, books, & tv shows. btw I love REPO! I have the soundtrack & the dvd.

Hey Spooky,

This irritates me beyond belief. I have no idea how anyone can just go along saying, “It’s just Hollywood and ideas get taken all the time.” I mean, come on! “Q” instead of “Z” and “The Outsider” instead of “Graverobber” Wtf?! Thanks so much for analyzing and compare the film to the book. It’s about time someone shown light onto this.
Hope to see you at the next Amber’s Sweets show!
Much love,
Meg

-.- the Q got me. Same with Ashbury and the Marni bullshit.

GAH I NEED TO SICK NATHAN WALLACE ON THIS GUYS ASS!

uh… Anthony Stuart Head…. that’s your cue buddy.

Wow… and I thought I was angry before. This is ridiculous, I don’t understand how they can get away with this….

SERIOUSLY!?!?! I don’t give a rats ass how similar it is. One is an musical, one isn’t. Who cares how similar they are! Nothing and i mean NOTHING can replace Repo! at all. you people need to go to this site http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_17257.html and read what the director of Repo! has to say about it. for all you Repo! fans out there, I’m pretty sure you’ll understand how i feel when you read his response to this “Rip-off” bs.

Really?
Scalpels? 90-day time frames? Barcodes? Recruiting for employees?
Are we going to call rip-off because it has people who have two arms and two legs next? Because it has a “company” with “employees”?

Then again, you noted that he references music. Because no one has done that before.

You had a point with the drug, but lost it by saying “ooh they both have colours and they are both a substance!”
Really? Are you sure? Can you describe for me a drug that is NOT a substance and DOESN’T have a colour?

Seriously.

There’s a case to be made, but you just turned it all into absurd nonsense in your anger.

I saw the preview to “Repo Men” a few days ago, I believe that it is a rip-off and shouldn’t be allowed to make it any further out into the world. Somehow, someone needs to stop it’s release. Can’t the makers of “Repo/Opera” do something?

Wow Spooky. Thank you for posting this, I am sure you have by now heard about the AMCtv blog that went up myself and several Repo Soldiers rose up and pointed out how what was written wasn’t total bs. We are waiting for said person to post her retraction blog shortly I think perhaps We should if you don’t mind repost the link here so all can see and help spread the word that has been written here. I have done so already on my face book and am about to as well on my my space. I hope more poeple do the same Rememer like has been said by several people WE STARTED THIS OPERA SHIT!!!

Wow, Dan. Thank you, as Miranda said, for doing the dirty work. Not only will I be linking this on my FB, but I’ll probably be talking to you in the next couple of days about permission to format this into a brochure/flyer-type thing that the Repo Army can use! TESTIFY!

I’m honestly not sure how much Repo Men/The Repossession Mambo is a rip off of Repo! the Genetic Opera as inspired (and aided to the screen by the popularity of) Repo!. Obviously they take place in similar worlds, and deal with similar themes, but then so do Predator and Alien, and neither is considered a rip off of the either. First of all, the stories, the actual stories, that is, the plot, the focus, etc. are fairly different:
Repo! deals with the imminent death of a business tycoon, his search for a suitable heir, a fallen hero’s search for sanity, family and forgiveness, while his villainous alter ego thoroughly enjoys the chance to play, and an ailing, melodramatic young woman’s transition to womanhood while feeling oppressed and smothered by her misguided father, which all acts as the backdrop, foreground, and overall surroundings to a star who was given a transplant by GeneCo in return for promoting them. When she decides she wants to retire, they call her contract done and immediately decide she has defaulted and is fair game for repossession.
Repo Men, as far as I can tell from trailers, deals with a man who traditionally sees people, other than friends, as “things” and a way to make a living, by killing them. When he suffers an on the job accident, his company “graciously” implants one of their products to “save” him. He then goes on the run to avoid being killed when he defaults on his forced loan.
Now, granted, I haven’t read The Repossession Mamba, let alone seen a movie that’s not out yet, but it seems pretty clear to me that maybe the only real plagiarism that could be said to have taken place is the idea of an evil medicorp that finances organ replacements that wants to kill one of it’s own.
But let’s look at the points put forth by SpookyDan Walker who says it’s a complete rip off.
• Fine Print
o Yes, both works mention fine print. You know what also mentions fine print? Bedazzled. Dogma. Fight Club. All of those mention fine print. Does this mean that Repo! ripped them off? No, it doesn’t. Because any time you’re dealing with contracts, agreements, or legal text, there will be a mention of fine print. Whether it’s a deal with the devil, a covenant with god, or a warning from a guerilla civil deconstructionist. Or evil organ replacement financing corporations.
• Drugs
o Another sigh moment. First, you can’t claim that a work which deals with drug addiction is a rip off of another. If it dealt with addiction to soul sucking sex aliens, maybe, but not drugs. Why? Because drugs exist, whether the specifically mentioned ones do or not, and drug addiction is a serious problem. This is another case of “if Repo Men is a rip off of Repo!, then Repo! is a rip off of other things.” Things like RENT (Hey, the first two letters are even the same! And they’re both rock operas!), Across the Universe, A Scanner Darkly, and, well, pretty much everything else on Wikipedia’s list of Drug Films (aside from movies which depict a character smoking a joint once or twice…). So, another point of plagiarism with extremely shaky justification.
• Bar Coded Heart.
o I’ll… give ya this one. Despite the fact that the heart is among the more instantly recognizable organs, pretty much all corporate products have bar codes these days, and the fact that a heart is actually red and blue makes it quite vivid and exciting… But, movie posters are similar. It happens a lot, especially with in genres.
• Titles (which really should have been called “Job Titles”)
o Well, what would you call people whose job it is to repossess a company’s product from people who haven’t paid? Just be glad they didn’t take the actual unique title of “legal assassin” or something. Besides, even that’s not that unique, just within context. A government sanctioned assassin, such as Al Simmons from Spawn, could be referred to as such. Bio-Repo Men is no more a rip off of Genetic Repo Men than Genetic Repo Men is of “Repo Men,” you know, those actual people who go around repossessing items that haven’t been paid for in entirety.
• Scalpel
o I’d have to see the relevant text of the book, but… this one I’m uncertain on. A scalpel is the logical tool for organ removal, as the accuracy of the small, razor sharp blade minimizes possible harm to the organ in question. But on the other hand, Remy isn’t a doctor, as far as I’m aware, so his decision to use a scalpel for precision is almost as arbitrary as the alternative of a buck knife for penetrating bone. Another possible point, but again logic throws some doubt.
• Recruiting Repo Men
o Hmm. Part of me says you may have a point, but part says “well, what would you expect a large company who personally employs skilled repo men to do for recruitment? Send out kittens? (And let’s not dwell on the possibilities of that method…). Possible point number 3.
• Evil Corporation
o So they both have evil corporations. So does Erin Brockovich (sorta). As does Resident Evil. The Alien Series also, aside from AVP, where the corp hadn’t turned evil yet. Another “If A is a rip off of B, than B is a rip off of C-Z.”
• Artificial Eyeballs.
o Cyberpunk, a table top role playing game, has various cybernetic optics, some of which have the spiraling, camera lens focusing “thing.” Same goes the table top role playing game Rifts. Beast Wars, a spin off of the old Transformers stuff, has a character who turns into a hawk, and her eyes spiral when she zooms in and out. It’s nothing new, and not only that, but it’s based on actual artificial optics, such as binoculars and cameras.
• Organ Financing
o Logical conclusion of a fictional society that turns organ replacement into big business. Hell, I think Futurama made a joke about it in one episode…
• Estranged Children
o …Shiloh’s estranged? Wow, 90% of teenagers must be, then. Also… this is what is known as a “trope.” “Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members’ minds and expectations.” (thank you TV Tropes). This specific one is also what is known as “Older Than Dirt,” meaning it appears in stories from before the Roman Republic. I’m thinking specifically the parable of the Prodigal Son from the Bible, Hercules (along with most of the various demigods, from Gilgamesh to the characters of the Percy Jackson series), Oedipus, Cain, and things that aren’t so old, such as King Lear.
• 90 Day Delinquent
o Delinquencies are usually figured in 30 day multiples, thirty days, sixty days, ninety days, etc. It’s another thing that comes from the subject matter, credit contracts.
• Whores
o Remember what I said about drugs? Yeah, just because they both have whores doesn’t make one a rip off of another. Also, from what you say, whores do not make appearances as major or minor characters in Repo Men. I’m pretty sure that the whole San Diego Red Light District thing is just supposed to be a “look, it’s the future!” Albeit clumsily done.
• Circus for Body Parts.
o …point.
• Dumpster Diving
o I suppose the fact that most people in both movies are fully clothed also makes Repo Men a rip off? Dumpster diving happens. Besides, Repo Men’s character dumpster dives to legitimize his carrying around a stolen item, Grave Robber dumpster dives because it’s not like he can go through legal channels to get his vials and zydrate guns.
• Skin Grafts
o Another logical conclusion of a cosmetic surgery driven culture. Look at the cosmetic gene splicing of Transmetropolitan and the futuristic setting of Batman Beyond. Different technologies, same basic effect.
• Discreetly Remove Celebrities
o It’s a logical set piece, similar to how organized crime might deal with leg breaking a high profile person to collect gambling debts. But, point.
• Ether- Tear Gas
o …That’s a stretch. Besides, Repo! has zydrate being used as an anesthetic, and Ether being used as tear gas for apprehending criminals. Defaulted clients in Repo! don’t get anything, they’re conscious until they bleed out, die of shock, or lose something vital.
• Music
o Eh, might have a point with this one, though I’m hesitant to consider this intentional plagiarism, and possibly more a case of the author just liking music. Don’t know though, another possible point.
• Animated Dead As Comic Relief
o Hm. No, not a point. As a broader term, it’s what is known as “black comedy,” which is comedic satire of distasteful, taboo, sensitive, or plain “icky” topics. Topics like corpse desecration, or animated corpses (like, for instance, Ivan in Hellboy). It also incorporates the humour of the misplaced appeal to a leaving lover.
• Commercials
o Anything that deals with megacorps and their products will show at least a commercial or two. Witness trailers for the first Resident Evil movie, the ad posters shown in the early FMVs of the first Oddworld game, Abe’s Oddessy, and, well, most works that deal with megacorps.
• Melinda – Marni – The Repo Man Kills His Own Wife
o Hm. So did Hercules. I’m at a loss for other stories where the hero was forced/tricked into killing his wife. Another one I’m not sure on, though it’s implied that Melinda was killed for being delinquent on artiforg payments, or that’s what I gather from your blog post. But, ok, both repo men killed their own wives, though for different reasons.
• The Outsider – The Gravedigger
o I’d say… the Outsider is a person who’s found a way to make money by Robin Hooding (after a fashion, he’s not a charity, it seems). The Grave Robber is not a vigilante. Pretty as he is, he’s a drug dealer, and his product comes from the dead, that’s it. He makes a good living himself off of the people he sells to, and he really doesn’t care who they are. They’re both characters molded from the Underground Criminal Scoundrel archetype, though the Grave Robber is, some how, possibly the better person, being that he tries to help people (as long as it doesn’t affect his profits) and he doesn’t size people up like money trees. Using an archetype is not plagiarizing, using the “Everybody Calls Him Barkeep” trope isn’t either.
• Repo Men on the Run
o Corporate Employees on the run isn’t anything new, but… alright, I’ll give you the fact that this was quite possibly lifted from Repo!
• Flying Performers
o Not buying it. It’s something that exists, there are circus performers that “fly.” There are rock performers that do wire works at concerts. Hans and Edward =/= Mag.
• The Big Set Up
o My question is, why did The Union set up Remy? That might help in deciding if this is truly a case of plagiarism. As it is, I’m actually somewhat inclined to think there may have been some plagiarism here, but I’m not sure.
Alright, so that’s eight possible points. I originally set out to convince people that Repo Men wasn’t a rip off, but, now I’m not sure. My gut tells me it takes a lot more than a year to get a novel written, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t plagiarism. I’m more inclined to think of Repo Men as inspired by Repo!, but maybe it was more than that. Thank you for reading my own argument on the subject.

PLEASE tell me there is legal action being pursued on this

Utter madness. It’s depressing how blatant plagiarism can go unpunished and essentially ignored once a disclaimer’s written.

To add insult to injury, I just hopped over to my deviantArt account and discovered a *Repo Men CONTEST* to design an Artiforg. -.-;

I say we should keep reposting this link. I thought that Repo Men was supposed to be a non musical remake or something, but this is ridiculous. If the guy can’t be sued for copyright he should at least be for being an uncreative moron.

wow…i heard about this recently and couldnt believe that Terrence is letting him get away with this. I know he knows about it because while he was at WickedFaire, he spoke of it. Thanks for pointing all this out…that is disgraceful to an original work of art. This man should be sued even though he tried to cover his ass.

I CANT WAIT TO UNLEASH THIS AND MARKET REPO VS REPO ON 3/19!

God what a fucking rip-off! Thank you so much for posting this, spooky.

Stuck it on my blog at devTART – http://piishii-isdzan.deviantart.com/ – keep spreading the word. Plagiarism is ILLEGAL.

Interesting, to be sure, but a lot of this I feel is merely far-fetched, over-emotional fan ranting. I have heard that Repo the Genetic Opera had originally approached Universal with their script, but Universal rejected them based on the fact that it wasn’t targeted enough to a mass audience. That being said, Repo Men would be Universal’s adaptation of the Genetic Opera script.

So yes, I suppose you could call this plagiarism (even though the story line for Repo Men is really not the same as Genetic Opera, even with its similarities), but no one will care because it’s not *copyright infringement*. For example, a lot of movies emulate the Romeo and Juliet model. Or even better, recently, James Cameron’s Avatar, by your standards, plagiarizes Pocahontas (the Disney movie, not the true story) pretty much exactly, more so than this Repo Men/Genetic Opera comparison.

In other words, same (or in this case similar) story written for a different audience in a different media. -shrug- I’ve yet to feel inclined to scream fan-boy murder over it. If anything, the fact that it was similar to the Genetic Opera is what got me interested at all.

I’m glad Something public, and classy is being said about this by scions of the community. Brava! The last thing we need is a call to war, we need valid arguments. Thank you Dan.

This is so obviously a rip off, and I will be boycotting the pile of cheap imitation. I work in a video rental shop, and when it makes it to DVD, lets just say, more people will be pointed in the direction of Repo! as opposed to Repo Men.
Repo! will always be the original and best!
x

Please bear in mind that Darren Bousman, the director etc., does NOT want us to swear, to get angry at it, in fact, he wants us to spread our Repo love, show the world why we adore it as much as we do. Fighting over it will be pointless. You can find this all in a blogish form on the Repo forum.

Befor when I found out I was just Ticked, now I’m full blown PISSED. can’t the big bad universal movie makers get their own damn ideas.

This makes me so mad
It’s obvious they ripped off repo the genetic opera!
I wish I knew if I could do anything, I can’t stand seeing flilthy scum getting popular for an idea that wasn’t even theirs…

Dude, who’;s in for showing up to opening night of this blasphemy, dressed as characters from the REAL REPO.
I’m not saying go watch it. Just show up, and tell everyone going to seeit, about the REAL deal.

… wow… It really pisses me off when good pieces are ripped off by idiots who can’t get an original idea. People need to use their brains and become creative.

Guess what sweetie.
Repo! The Genetic Opera came after…
Repo Man (1984)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087995/

they are all just REMAKES.
get your effing facts right.

It’s disgusting that they can get away with that.

Not everything is exactly the same, but there were some that I think could hold up in court. I don’t care if he has some sort of “disclaimer” in the paperback (if that isn’t a red flag anyway I don’t know what is!) as to how he got the ideas, it’s just way too close to Repo! the Genetic Opera. I can see him getting away with it in the public because Repo! wasn’t very popular and wasn’t in all theaters (and is predominantly still a play), but that doesn’t mean they should get away with this. Unfortunately copyright is about execution and not ideas, and he deliberately changed a lot of details so that it wouldn’t hold up in court. But his story is basically a “paraphrase” of Repo! which is outrageous!

I CANT BELIEVE IT! I heard they were making another movie, and at first I was excited because I thought it would be the sequel. THEN I heard it was a copy or whatever and I was like WTF!!!! That is such a rip-off! I couldn’t believe it…

I read Reposession Mambo in January and had a running “Opera vs. Mambo” checklist running in my head the entire time. You caught some stuff I hadn’t noticed though.
It’s funny, I read the book in an attempt to get Garcia off the hook in my mind, but I ended up convinced more than ever that he ripped off Genetic Opera.

during the preview me and my friends were shouting rip off in the theatres we have thought about protesting the movie in our repo! garb

I’m with Miranda. This makes me so mad, I’m speechless. The resemblance is nearly identical. I can’t believe that he’s getting away with this! >:-O

We should go see Repo Men and sing, “REEEEPO MAAAAN!” whenever he’s shown on camera. lol

._. why the FRICK would ANYONE rip off repo! i say grab the torhes and pitchforks folks!

I will point out that prior to the film of Repo being produced, the same Director and Producer, as well as one of the major actors (Terrence Zdunich) had been involved in a stage version for nigh on a decade…

you may have something with the Plagiarism Schtick, but it ain’t the Genetic Opera copying the Repossession Mambo

Guys, let’s get a handle on this. I’m as big a RGO fan there is, but you’re driving yourselves crazy. They hashed this shit out already and showed the book predated the opera over on Aint it cool. You’re kinda showing your crazy lines, is all I’m saying. Let RGO be awesome and this thing suck.

Thank you so much for pointing all of these out to me. I have told all of my Repo! fan friends that there was a movie called Repo Men coming out and that it was a HUGE HUGE rip off of Repo! I have promised that I would never watch that movie! I watch the Trailer to it and instantly saw the similarities. Thank you so very much for writing this I will be pointing my friends in this direction!

What a fucking rip off!!! That movie should be destroyed and heavily sued! Thanks for clearly bringing this to everyone’s attention. ^_^

OMFG! I knew this was a fucking rip-off from the get go, but really?! This angers me beyond no end.

I’m trying to rally my shadowcast to hand out flyers for Repo! after the showings of Repo Men…the idea being “You saw this BS, now come see the original” I’m hoping other casts do the same.

Wow, Miranda said exactly what was on my mind: Hearing about the similarities was maddening enough, but reading just how similar they are is disgusting.

Way to go, Spooky, for posting this!

Wow.When I first heard about this movie,I posted a video rant about how evil I thought it was of someone to rip-off repo,but I had no idea the plagiarism went this far.This makes me so sad I could cry.But thank you for posting this.I can’t believe the stance Darren and Terrance have chosen to take on this,honestly.

‘My guess is that Universal forced him to include this, to stop the Repo Opera fans from crying RIP-OFF.’

Let’s assume for a moment that this is even remotely feasible. Would it stop the fans from crying? I highly doubt it.

Coincidences happen in all forms of media. I wonder if something similar happened in the 40s when Warner had Sylvester + Tweety cartoons, while Tom + Jerry also existed. They were around at the same time and had a cat trying to eat a smaller animal. They both features grey dogs. When there was a kangaroo on Slyvester cartoons, he was brown, JUST LIKE JERRY. Someone print me out an apology!

Just sayin’.

Okay, when I first heard about this movie, I was the first one to jump up and say “okay everyone calm down, it’s just a coincidence”. These sort of dystopian ideas and concepts have been around since the dawn of sci-fi.

Oh but this. THIS?

I believe in coincidence, I believe in cosmic alignments. But this? No way. This is too much. I’m calling plagarism.

It’s bullshit.

So here’s my stance.

I like the writer of the novel, I do. It’s good stuff. But fuck him for being an unethical rip-off artist.

The people who made the movie? They prolly have no idea what a genetic opera is. So I’m not going to condemn them. They did it because either it was a job, or they loved it. I’m not going to malign someone for doing something if they feel it’s right, or they don’t know better. So I wish the cast and crew nothing but the best.

The studio? The ad agency? You’re fucking scam artists. Die in a fire. You should no better, shame on you.

Me? I’m not going to flood blogs. I’m not going to scream protests. I’m going to do what I think is the right thing. I’m going to completely ignore “Repo Men”, watch it tank at the box office, ignore the rental rack, and celebrate a year later when everyone’s forgotten about it, and the Repo! scene is not only still going strong, but growing in leaps and bounds.

And welcome into our theatrical arms people who accidently find Repo! because of “Repo Men”.

And show em what repossession is all about.

P.S. Oh, and the night Repo Man comes out? I’ll be in line at the theatre. For Repo! Testify!

repo the opera is SHIT. i dont know what your issue is. this new movie looks MUCH better. better actors, NO singing, and it looks like it plays the plot line better than the opera could. get over it. this shit happens, and you can guarantee its not a rip off. its similar, but not a rip off. i cant believe youre this pissed about the opera…it really is shit.

Being a huge REPO! fan this whole REPOMEN movie angers me greatly. What even angers me more are people who think that one isn’t ripping off the other. Though what really takes the cake is when big social communities that are suppose to be about originality and creativity opt to support this movie. DeviantART has just announced it’s contest to support the REPOMEN movie (http://news.deviantart.com/article/110075/). I know I’m very upset by this and have taken up arms against this site. You can bet that they will not be getting a DIME from me ever again.

Great post. Great article. Great comparison. Thank you so much!
With love and loyalty to the REPO! ARMY,
Mel aka cosplayer Windofthestars

I was going to agree with you 100% but then decided to read into it a bit more myself before making a decision. I thought Repo! The Genetic Opera came first…but it turns out that the writer of Repossession Mambo was approached by the directors back in 2003 to turn the book he was then writing (Repossession Mambo, based on his short story from 1997) into a movie. They started filming during the same time that Repo! started shooting…so I really don’t know which to believe came first.

Allow me to offer counterpoints to these very ragtag and almost irrelevant points. If i consider it not a plagiarism i will post it to make sure everyone gets my point:

Fine Print: Since when is taking two words directly plagiarizing especially since it’s from the common phrase of “Check the fine print” meaning don’t forget there may be other terms that are in effect but are generally forgotten about. Not plagiarism.

Drugs: I’ll let you have this one. It’s fair enough.

Bar-coded hearts: This is very weak. It’s kinda pointless seeing as it’s only for advertising and both are about buying body parts so I would assume that they would both have bar-coded body parts and since the heart is symbolic for life and vitality it would be logical for both to use it. Not plagiarism.

Titles: They both involve people who repossess things. Repo-man is the generally accepted nickname for them. What else are they suppose to call them? “The men who repossess organs” the entire movie? Not very catchy. Not plagiarism.

Scalpel: They repossess organs. Doctors use scalpels to do surgery because it makes it easier. I would assume someone who has to do surgery constantly would use a scalpel… Not plagiarism.

Recruitment: So they both decide to advertise their businesses? Should every movie about a business and shows an advertisement about it complain about all the other movies? Not plagiarism.

Evil Corporations: The premise of both are repossessing organs by companies that sold them… Of course they are both going to have an evil company. Secondly your reason 2B is merely copy-pasted from 2A. Nathan did not have any organs removed and replace in Repo! This is redundancy.

Artificial Eyes: Well you have artificial everything, why bash them for both having artificial eyes? That’s like saying McDonalds ripped off Burger King for having french fries… The only credible thing in here is that both have holographic capabilities. That seems a bit fishy.Most details not plagiarism except for the holographics.

Organ Financing: This is again the premise of the movie, we know how this is similar to Repo! You’re trying to prove it through things other than core story parts, but you can’t do it by constantly repeating the core elements.This is redundant.

Estranged Children: This one is true.

90 Days Delinquent: Well yea same time frame, but that’s really all that it is… There’s no plagiarizing of words, just the time frame. And seeing as most loans have a 90 day grace period, I would assume that both would follow that rule. Not plagiarism.

Circus: Yea, I guess. It’s a bit flimsy though seeing as Repo!’s was only for the Opera. And it’s also called advertising something every company does but I will agree this does get very close to each other.

Dumpster Diving: Wow. Just wow. this is like saying every romance movie plagiarizes the previous because the main couple kissed… Not plagiarism.

Skin Grafts: I would assume that if we can replace body parts we can also get skin grafts. This is natural technology evolution and idea. Not plagiarism.

Discreetly Remove Celebrities: This is evolutionary thought. If a famous and well-known celebrity was killed in public by a company, that company would quickly be hated… Of course both would have this. Not plagiarism.

Ether-Tear Gas: Jeez, you know that tactic is in use today to ensure that criminals aren’t harmed when they are apprehended, it would make sense if they still used that tactic in the near future. Unless we gain the technology to have laser stun guns, I’m sure we’ll use that tactic forever. Not plagiarism.

Music: This is actually the point where your article completely lost it’s credibility to me. Music has been around since we could bang two things together. Yes both would have at least a portion of music in it. Not plagiarism.

Talking Dead: Ehhh yea. I’m going say sure because I really have nothing for or against it.

Commercials: A company advertising???? OH EM GEEE!!!! Not plagiarism.

Repo Man Killing his Own Wife: Well i agree half and half. It is credible, but the fact that Repo Men’s was intentionally and merely a side story and Repo!’s was unintentional and integral part of the story makes me sit on the fence on this one.

Outsider – Graverobber: Well seeing as most thriller movies that involve someone running from someone include a helper, I’m going to say as evolution of thought. Plus both outside characters are far too different. Not plagiarism.

Repo-Man on the Run: I’m going to say that this is your least favorite one seeing the emoticon. Since the whole plot of Repo Men is how he is on the run and for Repo! is merely for story continuation it seems kinda just there. Why they are on the run and since this is actually where the story manages to diverge from Repo! I’m not going to say this is plagiarism but I can see where you get it from. Not plagiarism.

Flying Performers: Again, this is a pointless one. Mag is not a flying artist. The two trapeze artists are. Mag’s flying show is how a lot of operas are. Trapeze artists are suppose to be flying performers. The fact that both are marked are kinda credible but that’s it. Not plagiarism.

The Big Set Up: You have an actual good one here.

Covering His Ass: Big ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh here. Seeing as this is being released a few short months before the movie is coming out, I would find it logical for him to put in a section about the books career and how it came into a movie. And really since it doesn’t show similarities, it really can’t be counted.

Totals:
For plagiarism: 5.5 (.5 for the eyeball one since only half of your argument is valid)
Against: 17.5 (again .5 for the eyeball)
Redundant or Pointless: 3
Not sure: 1

A lot of your points that revolve around ideas in the movies do seem like plagiarism but in order to create full and living worlds you have to do something called evolution of thought or thinking through the consequences of a portion of the story. In a genetic enhancing world a lot these things would come in no matter how you create it. It’s just creating the world and the consequences of its actions. Also your redundant points are taken from the premise of the movie. That is like a volcano-volcano movie comparison. “Wow they’re about volcanoes erupting! Wait that one’s plagiarizing because the volcano is erupting!” Same thing with the evil company and organ financing… The funny thing is I love Repo! I have the full soundtrack on my iPod to tell you the truth, but unless I see a lot more similarities than the 5 or 6 you gave where it shows that they plagiarized not that they tried to create a believable world then I will agree that this movie plagiarizes.

yeah…. dont get too worked up its coming out and people will watch it

Time to call in the troops. Good thing my future-coroner friend is handy with a scalpel…

I honestly don’t know what to say- I knew the two were suspiciously similar, but I didn’t know just how similar. I do think some of these are coincidences, but some- like the estranged children- are just too close.
Like I said on DLB’s blog, I hope that Repo Men will at least lead people to check out our beloved Repo!

This is absolutely disgusting and outrageous.
But, let’s try to be civil, and just show people how wonderful our little opera is compared to this awful thing.

I agree with Oz.
Go tot the movie and sing “REEEPOOOO MAAAN!” every time THEIR Repo shows up on screen.
It will be viral.

Matt, don’t bother. Everyone wants to go crazy and whip themselves into a froth and frenzy, and won’t listen to any kind of reason, so forget them, let them look like crazed idiots, and we’ll be the sensible people who enjoy the movie but don’t get worked up over this shit.

The word “fan” may be a shortening of “Fanatic” but nowadays, there’s a difference, and when you’re a fanatic for a work of fiction, it’s just bad.
So let the “fanatics” piss and moan, and yes, say we’re not real fans. Whatever. Apparently nothing is going to convince them to be reasonable.

As long as its better that Repo the genetic opera then i’m fine with it, it’s such a interesting concept but Repo the genetic opera wasted it, its a really terrible film. I hope this Repo turns out good.

I am just seriously discusted. When i saw the trailer for this Repo Men movie, i was like WTF?! I knew from the beginning that it was a blatant rip off. Not to mention that the book was not out all that long ago either, so it’s not like they can claim that it was adapted from some book that came out a decade ago or anything. Anyone who knows about Repo! The Genetic Opera knows that eventhough the movie is not all that old, Terrance had been putting the play on for YEARS before! But unfortunately because his movie didn’t have a buttload of A list stars or publicity no one is going to know of this horrible fucking injustice!

I agree with Matt’s testimonial. As much as I love REPO! I will say that some of your arguing points are a little weak. Even if he tried to avoid copying REPO! as much as possible, some of these things are just unavoidable such as the scalpel and the dumpster diving. Best thing to do is to ignore the movie, for it’ll be just any old movie we’ll forget 2 months later, or do what I’m doing and cosplay Shilo while giving a disgusted face in front of a Repo Men movie poster X3

as for bjork *cough* actually lot of plaigarism happened with old cartoons, that being a good example of some…

I totally agree with Matt. 90% of your points are very weak.

In intellectual property law there’s something called “scenes a fair” (scenes to do). That is, scenes and elements that are integral to a genre or story line (car chases in action movies, kisses in romantic comedies, etc.). You cannot sue a guy because his script about a hostage situation had a scene where the negotiator walked into the bank to talk to the robbers and your script had that scene too!

90% of your points are either vague (music! trapeze artists mentioned somewhere!) or fall under the scenes “a fair” category.

While a lot of those side-by-side comparisons have to be a bit vague in order to fit, it’s frightening to consider the number of them.
Especially since Repo! TGO has a 10-year history to it…

There are more similarities than I was originally aware of, so thank you for writing this, Nothing can stop the movie from coming out, and nothing can stop the thousands of people who will buy tickets and undoubtedly love it… but at least the word can get out there about the ORIGINAL Repo.

Whats really dumb is that Repo Men will probably become uber famous because its by a big studio and it has Jude Law. It’s ridiculous.

wow. you’re lame. can’t you just man up and accept that the movie is coming out and they are not exactly the same? ohnoes! a movie set in the same general reality as another! someone call the popo! no. suck it up. it’s a legitimate piece of cinematographic art and it deserves better treatment than this. it’s fine if you think that repo! is better, but you can’t compare a musical to a regular film and you can’t completely trash someone for being inspired by repo!. if anything, you should feel slightly elitist for finding repo! first and knowing another side of the similar universes.
on second thought, you shouldn’t feel elitist. you should feel like the biggest doucher in the world because that’s what you’re acting like. pansy.

Wow…just wow. I really wished TGO creator would press charges. Although, I doubt he has the $ to take on a major Studio. … What a shame.

I dont understand why some people dont understand why REPO was riped off. The concept is GENIUS! They took a movie that didnt do as well as it should of and made it more MARKETABLE. Its just buisness.
Also, if the similarities get enough publisity it might actually make the REPO! more famous/popular then the new version. They might actually be able to make this work to their bennifit.

first of all I want to voice three things before I start.
1. I am not here to voice my own personal opinion of the two films, but I imagine you will already know I am a Repo! fan from the way I speak.
2. I am not interested in getting involved in the petty shit slinging amongst fans…though I kind of encourage it in some form but wish it was a bit more organized. (i shall explain)
3. I put my facebook link on here so that I might make friends who feel similar to myself and no other reason…save your drama for someone who truly cares.

now we can continue.

The biggest anger about this film is that it is a mainstream film coming out after a cult film which stands to be bigger and make more money.

Cult films catering to more of a darker sort. I myself have been classified more than a handful of times as “the goth chick” I don’t know if I would say as though I am, but if your definition of Goth is different, finds pleasure in dark things and wears a lot of black lace…then yeah ok I fit that.

Mainstream films cater more to Barbie and Ken looking for a cheap thrill on a friday night. no?

do you see my point? Goth vs. Mainstream. It’s not a new battle it’s not a new thing to be an underdog when you’re classified as “cult” or “goth” nor is the bad names “goth” or things of a “goth” nature receive when a small group of rejects feel the need for unfounded chivalry and lash out in unorganized chaos and anger. These are the things that give us a bad name and the “mainstream” lashes back at us only in ways that are always much more severe than we truly are. If you are to call me a Goth then I would have to say I am mainstream in the regard that have heart and loyalty and emotions that do also include anger and feelings of injustice. But I am also a peace seeker and I mean no harm and I do my best to not cause it. Most “Goths” are exactly that. But then again i’m 29 I come from an older school of Goths, before it seemed to hit the trend wagon and the lines became even more blurred on what the true definition may be.

The people who brought us Repo! have asked us to be peaceful and suffer the injustice, (and yes, i do feel it’s an injustice) with dignity so that the film they worked so hard to give us could remain intact with it’s story and it’s legacy, not it’s controversy, speaking for itself. Anything less than that scars it’s image and pushes people who may well have seen it away from it. Ask yourself how many times you might have been interested in something but some shitty person ruined it for you? Then ask yourself if you love Repo! enough to believe in it and focus your efforts on promoting it and letting it stand alone…bad publicity is still good publicity you know…this is a chance for us to bring Repo! mainstream even if it sucks that we must capitalize off the success of an unworthy advisory.

Me personally, I’m happy that my Repo! is not a mainstream production. I like that I’m the one that’s been telling my friends “man you gotta see this it’s great, sorry paris hiltons in it…but her face falls off so there is a silver lining!” (heh heh) Let mainstream have their Repo Men it’s really OK I promise. Mainstream blows 90% of the time anyway.

So why do I care at all? Good question to ask right? Well simple. I’m not a fan of mainstream. But I am a fan of promoting artistic and talented individuals who devote their lives to suffering, struggling for something they believe in. Waking up in the morning knowing they are going to eat, shit & breathe their creation til they bring it to it’s full potential solely for my entertainment. And to watch someone else swoop in and take that credit away is the most bitter of tastes in my mouth and that is what leaves me wanting a say and a voice and I wish that those involved in something i love and enjoy can receive what their just desserts.

With that in mind I offer you Repo! fans perhaps not a solution, but a constructive platform to at least try.

Instead of your flyers of protests to hand out to movie goers and your angry words on message boards nobody but other pissed off fans and angst filled teenagers will read. Why don’t you focus your attentions on perhaps getting a petition going and petition and appeal to those involved with bringing Repo Men and try to hold them accountable…make THEM face you with their answers and in doing so perhaps corner them into admitting some fault and perhaps extending some royalties to those originally involved in the idea that we love.

Even if that does not work, it is much more peaceful, direct and productive than shouting your two cents at every tom dick and harry that just wants to go see a damn movie and has no deciding factor on what is fed to them. Because that’s what mainstream is after all…a fed market…so why go after the junkies when you need to be going after the source?

If you pride yourself in loving Repo! then pride yourself in knowing that the underdog is usually the higher class because they don’t stoop to underhanded methods to achieve their success and therefore their success is not as large scale as those who will. When you stoop to the level of someone you cannot beat you only make yourself look horrible and in doing so for a film or group of people you had no hands on involvement with, even with noble intentions you stand to hurt the ones you tried to help. Lest we forget the story of Sophie Lancaster? A girl beat down and murdered for no reason other than the fact that she was a Goth because of preconceived notions ignorance gave to society. Don’t fuel fires. Prove them wrong.

And I ask you to consider one last thought. Repo! did come first yes but the dvd has been out for a while and aside from the here and there word of mouths of true fans there isn’t much more in the way of publicity for our dear rock opera is there? Instead of lashing out perhaps we should be saying “you think you’d like Repo Men? well man you should check out Repo! it’s fucking amazing It came out 2 years ago and I still watch it all the time!” Post stuff like that around the internet…spark other peoples interest get a buzz going “ooh what’s this?” don’t bash because then you get other people that didn’t like the film bashing back and then you get confused crowd that’s going to say screw it. make sense? I hope at least some of what I said did. But if it doesn’t….then please just disregard it and walk away. I am only a voice on the internet and I don’t care if you agree with me in the large scheme of things.

Take Care
Becks.

P.S. Repo might just survive if it undergoes surgery…surgery… And I believe the doctor may have just stepped in (yeah ok I had to heh)

Here is my take on the issue. I did not know about either the movie or the opera until my sister and her fiance invited me to see Repo Men when it comes out. I love both campy films as well as Mainstream, big budget productions.

I really think that Korbl hit it on the head, there are a lot of things in life that are represented in movies, in this world of digital technology and instant gratification, you can find that just about anything is a copy of something that came before, weather songs, music, stories, poems, movies, computer games, etc.

People bring up the big one, the artificial organs.. well, Ghost in The Shell the characters have artificial organs.. so did both of these movies plagiarize that idea?

Well, what about how the people who own Willy the Wizard suing J.K. Rowling over Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire?

I’ve even written some stories that people have asked me if I took the idea from some author/novel I’ve never heard of. It’s not so much of a lack of creative thinking, it’s gotten to the point that there are few if any truly creative ideas left to be thought. Why do you think there are so many re-makes of movies? We are close to the point of saying “Everything that could be thought of, has been thought of.”

It really comes down to the point of presentation anymore. Repo The Genetic Opera, was a conversion from a stage play, it was a rock opera/musical. Generally speaking most opera’s and musicals are not going to be attractive to the mainstream.

Repo Men is slated to be an action/adventure movie, targeted at the largest audience possible.

It really all is in presentation – many of you campy movie lovers I am sure have seen the movie (or I at least hope so), The Little Shop of Horrors.. How many other movies have used giant man-eating plants in it? Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Day of the Triffids, Attack of the Killer Tomatos, Return of the Killer Tomatos, (As well as a couple other Tomato movies)

Out of those both Little Shop of Horrors and Invasion of the Body Snatchers has been produced more than once. Why one might ask? Presentation, Presentation, Presentation…

Other Movies that can be called Rip-Offs/Plagarism
The Lion King – Kimba the White Lion
Hangover (New Movie) vs. Dude, Where’s My Car?
Mr. & Mrs. Smith v Prizzi’s Honor
District 9 v Alien Nation
The Matrix v Ghost In The Shell (Remember I also mentioned Ghost in the Shell due to the artifical organs)
Hey, even Harry Potter vs Star Wars has a ton of similarities..

So where does it stop?

Hey Spooky. Thank you for shedding more light on this discussion. As a Repo! fan, I have refused to read the Repo Men book or see the movie when it comes out but I do appreciate you highlighting the issues with detailed accounts. This probably makes me more pissed off than I was before. I don’t understand how anyone can consider these similarities a coincidence. I really hope that all goes well for us and that Repo! will come out of this victorious. Again, thanks for supporting Repo! The Genetic Opera. I know it is among the greatest masterpieces in film and I really hope that more people realize that. Thanks again!

I agree with what your saying. I stumbled upon Repo! The Genetic Opera while watching another movie. I loved it ever since. Yet, when I saw the trailer for Repo Men, my friends and I basically threw a fit. Some people believe that “Repo Men” did nothing wrong.Although there wasnt too much puplicity for our dear opera. Wouldnt that make it easiar to copy? If only a few people know of something great, it makes for an invitation for someone to copy it, and get rich.

My friend would also like me to point out that she hopes the creators od Repo! (mostly Terrence Zdunich) goes amazing Graverobber on their asses.

If you actually look at the press releases for Repo Men, they date back to a year before Repo! The Genetic Opera was released. There is only the slightest chance the writers of Repo Men read the Repo! script, or saw the original stage performance or short film.

And those performances, and that short film, barely contain any similarities besides the concept of Repo Men going after organs. I mean, come on guys. Also, have you read these? Repo Men coming after ninety days after? Isn’t that what Repo Men do? Ninety Days is a common grace period for large loans.

My friend Meg linked me to this. …wow, I had no idea Repo Men was THIS similar to The Genetic Opera. I’m havin’ mixed reactions of pissed off, and a little bit sad and disappointed.

As somebody else said, I’m just gonna avoid the hate fest among fans and try to ignore the Repo Men movie/book. >_>;

I’m holding a protest where I live. The group is dressing up as characters and making signs. Testify!

Testify against Repo Men! This movie pisses me the hell off, especially when people text saying “Hey, I just saw a preview for that Repo Men movie, is that the movie you like” and I have to say “No, its the rip off of the movie I like. Eff them.”

Although they are somewhat similar, some of it is reaching. Some of it seems like typical things in a movie/sci-fi movie, however some is just too oddly similar. It’s just the way the world works, I suppose, and no one has really said/done anything to change it unless it’s blatant plagiarism. However, considering the movie is coming out after Repo!, it’s probably safe to say that some of the more similar visual and script-related occurrences were/will be re-imagined in order to save someone’s ass.

Your a freaking dumbass and give journalist a bad name.

wtf. i’m pisssssssssssssssssssssed.
my god.
anyone who can’t see that this is an obvious rip-off, is just ignorant.
this is ridiculous.
i’m ill.

I understand the imitation = flattery angle, and that there are differences.
There are just far too many similarities for me to overlook.

Wow, I knew there were similarities, but I had no idea it was this bad! These people are so pathetic, how can they do this?? Ugh but I guess it doesn’t matter anyways…they could never make a movie better than REPO…. I just hate that this movie is getting so much advertisement and REPO didn’t, I mean there are so many people who don’t even know that it exists! So in order to help I am trying to show all of my friends Repo! The Genetic Opera so they can help spread the word

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5za9sWYeps

When I first saw the preview for Repo Men, I knew right away it was a rip off from the original, Repo! The Genetic Opera. The original will always be the better one, because it came out first 8D After reading all these comparisons, It just makes it more clear that Repo Men is a rip off. I was so mad when I saw the preview for Repo Men. I think the only reason they were able to get away with making it is because they hired mainstream actors. But yeah it’s a complete copy of Repo! The Genetic Opera. What is world coming to? Can people not think of original ideas anymore so they have to steal from others or remake movies? COME ON PEOPLE! USE YOUR HEADS!

If you want to get this technical, then wouldn’t Repo! TGN be a rip off of Equilibrium?

Wasn’t REPO! first shopped around to Universal and they said they’d do it if it wasn’t a musical? That is enough for me right there…

Indeed there are way too many similarities to be overlooked….the reason they wsill probably get away with it… If Lionsgate holds the copyright… they’re not suing Universal… too much politics involved… and all these protests the fans are trying to come up with… doesn’t do much with the promo for Repo Men being everywhere….I mean….REPO MEN IS BEING ADVERTISED ON THIS VERY PAGE! Hopefully it will get bad reviews anyway and then fall back out of the spotlight…..

Here is Darren Bousman’s( Repo! creator) myspace blog about this blatant rip off.
Okay, lets get this out – I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT REPO MEN! In fact, I am really let down. All it takes is one viewing of the trailer to see how similar our movies are. Come on, Organ Repossession? Cheesy commercials selling organs? An EVIL corporation? A bar code logo which is scanned by REPO MEN? A street drug – the corporation turning on their main REPO MAN – The mere name – REPO MEN?!? Yeah – all too familiar.

But that is the exact reason I want you to not bash this movie. Think about what that says for our little opera? We have a bunch of angry bitter fans, ready to spam message board, and preach hate… THAT is not what our REPO is about.

What I do want you to do is talk about REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA! Talk about what you love about it, talk about how it affected you. Talk about the friends you have made from it. Talk about experiences you have taken from being apart of the community!

I have not seen REPO MEN! But I can almost promise you – it will not STILL be in theaters ONE YEAR after it’s release. I can almost PROMISE you people will not make road trips thousands of miles away to catch a screening of the movie. I can almost PROMISE you fans won’t form bonds, have parties, and even have ‘themed REPO MEN weddings. I can almost guarantee you people will not dress up as characters from REPO MEN for Halloween. All things REPO! The Genetic Opera accomplished in a mere six months after it’s release.

The world is big enough for both of us to exist… So let us EXIST TOGETHER – and instead of talking how pissed and angry we are – just continue to show people why REPO! THE GENETIC OEPRA is important to you… To your friends… Talk… no SCREAM about why REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA is important – not why REPO MEN suck!

THE GENETIC OPERA has been around since the late 90′s – starting as a small stage show – playing at rock clubs. And we will continue to be around until 2056!

Never forget – “WE STARTED THIS OPERA SHIT!”

Now, go have a Happy Holiday!

sorry guys i meant director not creator I know its Darren S and Terrence Z are the writers/creators

The moment i saw the preview for Repo Men i was pissed off. I am a huge fan of REPO! and it took just seeing the logo to know what was going on. The only reason this movie is being seen is because Jude Law and Forest Whitaker…the only real stars but when you think about it….REPO! had stars better than that in the movie that is, Paul Sorvino, Anthony Head, Paris Hilton, Alexa Vega, Bill Moseley and of course Terrance Zdunich. Even tho some arent mainstream anymore the casting is way better.

Y’know I never knew just how similar they were; but this is just sick. And the worst part is that Terrance and Darren have to sit back and allow it because they pretty much know they’re the “little guy” and stand no chance if they went to court :/ He said the best thing to do is just not see it; don’t sit and shout out to people as they won’t listen anyways, if anything just tell them something similar to “if you liked it, you should watch repo! it’s much better” or something along those lines…

Oh also, although it’s a small detail, note that Repo men takes place in 2057, one year after Repo!

And lastly, I’d heard that reportedly Terrance and Darren went to Universal at some point when they were finding a studio to pick up Repo! and were laughed out of the place… It’s rather “ironic” how Universal came up with this after that no? They sicken me

One thing that I noticed was how it seemed to have inverses at some points (I haven’t read through all the comments, so I don’t know if someone already said something).

The drugs. Both are fairly unused letters, and they’re inverses of sorts. Shiny and sparkly, blue and red (while the technical inverse of blue is orange, rivals are normally marked as red and blue. It’s about as common as black and white nowadays). Also, the substance type. There’s two types of drugs, as far as I know- powder, and liquid. Once again, it’s an inverse, or you could say opposite. No one has brought that up yet, although I don’t know if it could be used as valid.

Also, the subject of the eyes; both characters in both of the franchises seem to be used as minor characters, if not more important. I have not read the book or seen Repo!, so I can’t say if they are or not, and it might just be because the idea of synthetic eyes is cool, but that’s too much of a coincidence for me to believe that he didn’t directly base the book off the film or the stageplay it originated as.

I knew it!
I just Knew this could not be the same.
Rotti Largo is a Union now and the Graverobber got uglier.

How sad– They should sue the stupid new movie

Thank you very much for writing this! I love Repo! The Genetic Opera and when I learnt of Repo Men my heart sank. What a shameless ripoff.This needs to be said loud and clear and this article certainly does that!

Screw Repo Men!! I sincerely hope that this movie turns out to be a total flop!!!!

@Saturnia:

Copyrights would help, if it was possible to Copyright ideas.

Terrace and Darren Copyrighted the Script, Score, Lyrics, and Characters of Repo!TGO. So, unless Repo Men literally lifts music or lines from the movie, Lions Gate doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on (not to mention going against Universals gargantuan army of lawyers would be legal suicide).

So, until Jude Law says “I’m the Repo, legal assissin!”, we really can’t do anything to stop Repo Men.

Here:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=365777883126

Is where a lot of us Repo!TGO are rallying right now to try and figure out some way to give our full support to Terrance and Darren, and protect the real Repoman. If anyone has ideas that could help, join and give us a hand! Shilo took down GeneCo almost single-handed – we can handle one mainstream copycat, right?

IM SO GLAD IM NOT THE ONLY ONE.
When i first saw it i called rip off to my bf.
he was like, its different and i was set to prove him wrong.

AND WITH THIS I DID.
Ty.

Okay, I have a simple argument to comments above.
1) Repo Man, from 1984, was nothing like this movie. That was about repossessing cars, as traditional (non sci-fi) Repo Men do.

2) The book may have been being written in 2003, but the play of Repo! The Genetic Opera! Was around in the 90s, in which the author DID go to see (you can research this, this is true) and which the movie was based off of, and the book Reposession Mambo without permission of the original makers of the play.

3) Your points are a bit stretched, but most of htem are legit.

Everytime I see the Repo Men commercial when I watch TV with my mom upstairs I have to say, “Fuck you Repo Men”

I’m sorry, it cannot be helped. My mom asked me why I keep saying that, I showed her the DVD copy I bought when I first got home from Kansas last summer and explained to her that Repo Men is a rip off of Repo! The Genetic Opera.

She never watched Repo! cause she doesnt like blood and gore films but now she says fuck you repo men too and it makes me lol.

Repo! Is forever in my heart <3 Tomorrow night I'm watching Repo! just to spite Repo Men.

Oh oh and Mother fuckin testify!

okay i saw RTGO last year and at first when I saw the trailer for ReMen I was immediately reminded of it, but I was not going to shout RIP-OFF just yet. Now I haven’t read Repossession Mambo and from the similarities you’ve posted between the book and RTGO I’d have to say that there does seem to be a lot of similarities, but unless Garcia used exact wording from RTGO plagiarism can not be claimed ( I mean I read the synopsis for the book the Host by Stephanie Meyer and immediately thought of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but the creators of IBS *haha makes me think irritable bowel syndrome* can’t sue Meyer because while it’s extremely similar I highly doubt she made everything exactly the same (i don’t know I haven’t read the book nor do I plan on it) All this being said maybe the contents of the book do rip off RTGO, but after seeing Repo Men earlier today and looking at the similarities I can tell you that Repo Men the movie does not contain everything Repossession Mambo does and some things are changed (as what happens when most books are turned into movies)

*Drugs – there is a reddish substance that I guess could be “Q” but it’s never actually addressed

*Recruiting Repo Men – the closest thing I can recall from the movie of this is Jake stopping one of the costumed organs in the Union building telling him something along the lines of “keep your head up and one day you could be on repo” (don’t remember the exact quote)

*Artificial Eyeballs are only mentioned once in the movie and that’s when the ‘whore girl/ who in the movie isn’t exactly a whore (at least it’s not addressed that she is, it’s more understood that she was a junkie) talks about hers…there is nothing in the movie about Remy wanting them or them watching a recording of a repossession.

*Remy’s son is not estranged. He’s a boy of somewhere between 6 and 8 and from the time the two have on screen together they have a pretty good father/son relationship.

*Dumpster Diving – okay I don’t think this is shown in the same way in the movie as it appears in the book. In the movie he and the ‘girl’ are living in an abandoned building to hide from the repo men and they are seen finding things around the building (including clothes and a typewriter) so I suppose this could be considered a form of dumpster diving

*Skin Grafts aren’t mentioned

*Ether/Tear Gas – in the movie the repo men use taser guns to knock out their victim

*Animate Dead as Comic Relief – does not occur in the movie

*the Outsider is not in the movie

*Killing his wife – Remy does not kill his wife in the movie, rather she wants him to transfer to sales, but when he does another repo job she decides to leave him

*The Big Set Up – okay there is a set up in the movie but it isn’t the same as it appears it is in the book. He wasn’t set up to BE a repo man, rather he was set up to stay a repo man. When Jake, Remy’s friend and fellow repo man, finds out that he’s actually serious about transferring to sales he rigs a defibrilator (or some sort of machine that Remy uses on a client) and that’s when the heart is transplanted into Remy, and they say it had a wiring problem with it. Towards the end is when we actually find out Jake had been the one to set it up, thinking that Remy would go after more jobs to pay for his and that the two would continue working together. (If this is the exact same as the book then you can leave this one out cause seeing as how I haven’t read it I wouldn’t know)

With all this said and done, I can understand the book being called a rip off, but I’m not entirely sure about the movie since it has it’s own differences from the book it was based off of.

Finally, as a fan of RTGO I can honestly say that I enjoyed Repo Men. It was well acted, especially Jude Law and what scenes there were with Liev Schreiber and consisted of some pretty good action sequences.

I get what you’re saying, but hardly any of the comparisons you list are in Repo Men (the film). So yes, the book is a rip-off, I totally agree, but the film? Not so much, just the main concept (which is no technically a rip-off).

You shouldn’t lead people to believe that the film is exactly like the book it’s based on, because let’s face it, films rarely are anyway.

Having seen Repo Men last night, I can say without a doubt that a substantial chunk of the movie is derived from Repo! Regardless of the changes between book and movie (which seems to be intentional to escape comparisons) there’s no doubt in my mind where the inspiration came for Repo Men.

That said, I don’t see Repo Men as a threat to Repo! — aside from Forest Whitaker’s always amazing presence, and a decent soundtrack, the movie is boring and predictable. How can a 2 hour action movie seem to drag more than a 3 hour dramatic biopic? It just felt s.o.f.u.c.k.i.n.g.s.l.o.w.

I could got into more detail and criticism of the movie, but it’s just not worth my time. Even if it weren’t ripped off, it’s not a very good movie at all, and I’d hate it on that basis alone.

Also, interestingly enough – I noted that the writer had previously written Matchstick Men… a movie that I’d panned when it came out, and criticized for being far too similar to Paper Moon. Is this a habit for this idiot?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-stranahan/irepo-meni-vs-irepo-the-g_b_505173.html

Dude you rock! This new movie is a total rip-off of the original opera!!

So much love and hugs and thanks,
FurryRepoFolf

I hope someone (Terrence Zdunich or Darren Smith) takes this shit to court!!!!