Writing.Com General Discussion

Okay, if you take the story beats whole heartedy, even if you change the characters and setting, then it is a grey area, and it depends entirely upon the author/creator whose work you have "borrowed" / "appropriated" / "stolen" as to whether you will be accused of plagiarism, and the matter taken further.

That's not to say it can't be done. The Magnificent Seven was a beat-for-beat copy of Seven Samurai, just in a different genre, and Kurosawa was not unhappy with that concept (though Battle Beyond The Stars did annoy him greatly). Star Wars borrows from everywhere. In literature, Twilight was essentially Dead Until Dark for teenagers who didn't know what good writing was. So, what it boils down to is how original the spin you put on it is.

However, like I said, an original author still has the option of trying to prevent it going anywhere. Universal made sure that Hammer Studios only used elements from the book Frankenstein, and nothing they had invented for their film. Disney does the same with their films - if it's from the original story, okay(ish... even though The Lion King is Hamlet with Furries), but if it is something they've invented - see you in court.

Because of that, the majority of publishers I work with and have worked with will not take stories that could be problematic. It is simply not worth the hassle when there are so many other stories out there.

TL;DR: it's a grey area, but it has been done often in the past; however, publishers could well be reluctant to take a risk.

Good luck going forward.