Haven't seen Ex Machina yet, but it seems to be very closely related to The Machine. Also, the AI in it is called Ava which threw me for a loop. Dealing with similar themes and characters, it just seems to be a more claustrophobic, less action version of this.
shareIt appears that there are three works which could be about the same subject.
The first is a book called The Indigo Project written by Matthew Valle and published (on Amazon) on January 12, 2013. The second is a film called The Machine, released November 21,2013. The third is a film called Ex-Machina, released January 21, 2015.
Whilst the Indigo Project appears to be about someone who is kidnapped and placed into a machine, a cyborg and attempts to solve what happened to her, the Machine is about an AI that is created to be the perfect soldier. Ex-Machina is a purer AI drama about a machine achieving self-awareness and then wanting to survive.
The author of the Indigo Project has indicated on the You-Tube comments to the Trailer that The Machine was stolen from his movie. If this statement is true, then he will sue. That might be difficult though, as although the book was published in January 2013 and the movie was released in November the same year, the digital effects must have taken some time to produce. So it's difficult to tell if the script was written before the book, or vice versa.
Ex-Machina appears to be a far more cerebral treatment of the subject. The director has a exceptional talent as a screenplay writer and the movie appears to approach the subject in a far more thought provoking way.
I plan to check out both. Hope I'm delightfully surprised.
-- Sent from my 13 year old P.O.S. Desktop®
Proving someone "stole" a science fiction concept is a tricky business. Even a clearly original idea can be appropriated by another writer or producer, as long as the plot is different. SF is full of movies and books borrowing from other movies and books.
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