According to Simon Stephenson, author of “Luca” and “Paddington 2,” the script for “The Holdovers” bears strong similarities to his 2013 screenplay “Frisco,” which has not yet been made into a film.
Stephenson recently contacted the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the joint union of writers in the film and television industry in America, as Variety now reports.
The subtle difference: pediatrician vs. boarding school teacher
The difference between the two works is probably more in the details or in the job: Stephenson’s “Frisco” is about a middle-aged pediatrician who has to look after a 15-year-old patient, while Paul Giamatti in “The Holdovers” is a boarding school teacher (middle-aged) who is supposed to look after a 15-year-old student during the holidays.
Simon Stephenson claims The Holdovers director Alexander Payne read Frisco in 2013 and again in 2019, but both times rejected the script as his next directorial project. Around 2019, Payne began developing The Holdovers with screenwriter David Hemingson.
Alexander Payne is said to have read Simon Stephenson’s script twice
In a letter sent to the WGA board of directors on February 25, Stephenson said: “I can demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that the entire script for a WGA-sanctioned film currently on track to be a screenplay Winning an Oscar was plagiarized line for line from a popular, unproduced screenplay of mine. I can also demonstrate that the director of the impugned film received and read my script on two separate occasions before the impugned film went into development.”
According to Variety, the WGA initially told Stephenson that the organization would not get involved and instead recommended that he hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit. However, last week members of the WGA board informed the author that the matter was still being discussed internally.
Oscar wins for “The Holdovers”
“The Holdovers” was nominated for five awards at this year’s Oscars – Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. Only Da’Vine Joy Randolph was able to take home the award for “Best Supporting Actress”.