Movie ‘Masquerade’ under fire for plagiarism

Comparisons between the recent box office hit ‘Masquerade‘ and the 1993 Hollywood film ‘Dave‘ have caused some controversy.

On the 28th, Dong-A Newspaper reported that after the release of ‘Masquerade’, several movie-related sites and blogs have commented on the similarity between the two films. ‘Masquerade’ takes place during the Chosun era when a replacement for King Kwang Hae Geun is found when he does not wake up. ’Dave’ is about a man who takes the place of the US President, who falls into a coma, in order to save the country from chaos. Also, in both movies, the “switch” is kept secret from the Queen or First Lady.

There are also those who state that even the characters are similar. Do Seung Ji, the eunuch who runs the palace, and the head secretary in ‘Dave’ have a similar role. The Queen in ‘Masquerade’, who has grown apart from the King, and the First Lady in ‘Dave’, who has become fed up with the President’s constant cheating, are similar as well. In both movies, there is also a body guard who becomes so attached to the replacement King/President that they are willing to risk their own lives.

Usually when an existing movie’s story is used as inspiration, the rights are bought and a remake is made. However,CJ E&M, the company that funded the film, stated that they did not buy the rights to ‘Dave’ as they had not referred to the movie in any way. “Though the overall theme may seem similar, we believe that they are two different stories.”