Steven Spielberg is one of the most legendary visionaries in the entirety of Hollywood’s entertainment industry, and a lot more than just his works speaks volumes to testify to the same.
As creative as he is as one of the most praiseworthy directors of all time, the mastermind really is one of a kind, as he somehow manages to pull decisions beyond others’ wildest imagination.
This is evident from all the stunts he has pulled over the years that have left pretty much everyone confounded. Like the time he realized that The Incredible Hulk TV show used footage from one of his greatest movies without his permission—something that apparently annoyed and bugged him so much that he decided to change his Universal contract following the same!
The Incredible Hulk used footage from one of Steven Spielberg’s greatest films
Among his numerous masterpieces, one of Steven Spielberg‘s movies from the early stages of his career still hits as iconically as ever: Duel (1971). A road action-thriller TV film, it centered on a traveling salesman, who overtakes an old truck while traveling for a meeting. But the man he overtook turns out to be a psychopath who finds his actions offensive enough to kill him.
Despite being the brainbox’s first movie, it has since gone on to be considered somewhat of a cult classic. But less than a decade after its release, the critically acclaimed flick still held the status of a television special, and thus, it ended up becoming fair game for use in The Incredible Hulk television series, since both of the said projects were under Universal’s umbrella.
Back when it was released, the use of CGI wasn’t that prolific. This is why using stock footage of an explosion or natural disaster served as a time and cost-cutting measure, and being a standard practice in the film and TV industry back then, it was used in Spielberg’s film as well. So for Duel, the movie’s “stars” were the car and truck for the same reason.
However, things went awry when The Incredible Hulk series decided to use around 10 to 12 minutes of footage from the movie. Per producer George Eckstein, this included “one eight-minute sequence. It used approximately 218 cuts out of our film. The material was instantly recognizable, including the whole climax of our picture.” (Via the New York Times.)
Since this happened in 1978, the creator of the said series, Ken Johnson, said in his defense, “Certainly most of the audience would not remember a seven‐year‐old movie… I was just trying to save money and shooting time, both problems in a six‐day television show.” He also added, “In retrospect, we probably used too much and would be more cautious in the future.”
Further voicing his disappointment, Eckstein said, “The principals in our film were the car and the truck. Just as the shark is a principal in Jaws. I guess I’m most upset because there are not too many things you do on television that you can take pride in.” That said, it’s unarguable that this usage of their footage without their permission really stung. But Spielberg didn’t just sit back.
Steven Spielberg changed his Universal contract following this turn of events
Of course, from George Eckstein’s words alone, who served as the producer for Duel, it’s clear that The Incredible Hulk television series’ mere usage of footage from one of Steven Spielberg’s greatest films of all time didn’t sit well with any of the masterminds behind the television movie. Thus, the director went as extreme as changing his Universal contract following the same.
Since Eckstein and Spielberg couldn’t fight the use of the segment from their film on legal grounds, as both projects were under Universal at the time, the mastermind decided to modify his contract instead so that “no one can cannibalize my films and regurgitate them into some other show.”
In fact, he didn’t hesitate to reveal how much he hated it, saying:
I’d hate to see the mother ship from Close Encounters land on Laverne and Shirley five years from now.
Needless to say, this more than just makes it clear how infuriated Spielberg must have been about his work being used by someone else without his permission. But the clever way to prevent it? Truly exceptional.
Well, what else do you expect from a genius like Steven Spielberg?
Duel can currently be streamed on Prime Video.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
