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Apple TV+'s thriller show ‘The Hunt’ finally gets new premiere date after allegations of plagiarism

Benoît Magimel plays a hunter who mysteriously becomes the hunted in the upcoming TV series

Putting an end to a long wait, the French television series 'The Hunt' is finally cleared for its premiere on Apple TV. The streaming platform recently announced that the upcoming thriller will debut on March 4, 2026. This comes after the show's original air date of December 3, 2025, was pushed back following allegations that it wasn't based on an original story and bore similarities to a novel. The production company Gaumont, from whom Apple TV acquired the show, took the allegations into account and launched an investigation into the origins of the story. 

The show, known as 'Traqués' in French, was initially billed as an original title created by director Cédric Anger. It follows Frank, played by Benoît Magimel, and other members of his hunting party. Frank crosses paths with another similar outfit that starts targeting them without any apparent provocation or explanation. The trailer features a member of Frank's team getting shot, after which they strike back, "sending an attacker to the ground," as per the official synopsis. While the friends try to keep the incident a secret and go back to their usual lives, an unseen threat lurks in the shadows. Mysterious letters and car chases make Frank and his friends believe they are being watched and tracked as the hunters are now hungry for revenge.

The Gaumont investigation subsequently revealed that 'The Hunt' wasn't an original work and had several similarities with Douglas Fairbairn’s novel 'Shoot,' which was published in 1973 and was adapted for the screen in a 1976 movie. Gaumont released a recent statement that summed up their investigation, "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’s 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.” 

The six-episode series is now being correctly described as "a series by Anger based on the novel Shoot by Douglas Fairbairn, which was first adapted into a feature film of the same name, directed by Harvey Hart from a screenplay by Richard Berg.” The remaining cast members include Manuel Guillot, Frédéric Maranber, Cédric Appietto, and Damien Bonnard. Anger has directed five episodes, and the third episode in particular was directed by Guillaume Renusson. 'The Hunt' will debut with its first two episodes arriving together on March 4, followed by new episodes dropping every Wednesday until its finale on April 1, 2026.