Star Wars: Dark Jedi director accuses Disney of 'stealing' lightsaber duel he shot for 2019 fan-film
A movie director who made a Star Wars fan-film more than five years ago has accused Disney of ‘stealing’ one of his action scenes.
In 2019, Lorenz Hideyoshi wrote, directed and starred in Dark Jedi: A Star Wars Story, set canonically in the Second Great Schism, which divided Jedi between the light and dark sides of the force.
The film culminates in a high-octane lightsaber fight, which was choreographed on-set and edited with some quick camera cuts to maintain the pace of the scene.
Now, Hideyoshi has claimed that this scene has been ‘stolen’ by Disney for an episode of Star Wars Visions.
Posting on Instagram, the filmmaker his scene side-by-side with one from season two, episode seven of Visions, which appears to have not only a similar choreography, but identical camera angles and cuts - at the exact same speed.
Speaking to NationalWorld, Hideyoshi said: “I’m not angry - just disappointed that these things happen in the industry.
“It’s also hard to say who is to blame. It’s a huge pipeline. Disney itself is probably not even aware of this.
“It is absolutely lifted from my work, there is no doubt about that. The similarities are clear for anyone seeing it.”
Since making Dark Jedi, Hideyoshi has gone on to work as a stunt performer on John Wick: Chapter Four, and as Timothee Chalamet’s stunt double in the Dune movies.
Disney have been approached by NationalWorld for comment, but have not responded at the time of publication.