We’ve learned (via the Hollywood Reporter) that Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid franchise was at one point in the crosshairs of the legal team behind John Carpenter’s classic film, Escape From New York.

When speaking with the Hollywood Reporter, Carpenter made an interesting note regarding the game, and how it’s “kind of a rip-off of Escape From New York.”

“[CanalPlus] wanted to also go after the video game Metal Gear Solid, which is kind of a rip-off of Escape From New York, too,” Carpenter said, “but I told them not to do that. I know the director of those games, and he’s a nice guy, or at least he’s nice to me.”

CanalPlus is the company that recently won a plagiarism suit against French director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, Léon: The Professional) for his recent outing, Lockout, which also ripped off Escape From New York.

“Look, CanalPlus is the company that, with me, owns Escape From New York. They came to me and said, ‘Luc Besson ripped you off on Lockout.’ Or Lockdown, whatever the hell that was. And they sent me the movie, and yes, he did. It’s the same story. (Laughs) I mean, you can’t do that, can you? You have to change a couple things. He’s after the president’s daughter? Come on. So I took him to French court.”

It’s worth mentioning that Carpenter and CanalPlus won an €80,000 settlement (CanalPlus was seeking €3 million), of which €20,000 went to Carpenter.