'Shape of Water' ripped off 1969 play, lawsuit alleges

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - The son of playwright Paul Zindel filed a lawsuit on Thursday alleging that The Shape of Water was based on Zindel's 1969 play, Let Me Hear You Whisper.

David Zindel contends that the similarities between the two works are so striking that The Shape of Water should properly be seen as an adaptation of his father's play. The suit accuses Fox Searchlight, director Guillermo del Toro, and producer Daniel Kraus of violating the copyright that now belongs to the playwright's children.

The play features an introverted female janitor who forms a bond with a dolphin while working in a military laboratory during the height of the Cold War. According to the suit, the janitor learns that the dolphin is to be dissected, and so hatches a plot to kidnap it in a laundry cart and release it into a river. In The Shape of Water, a mute janitor in a military lab forms a bond with an Amazonian river monster, and hatches a plot to kidnap it to spare it from death.