The rejected, a film with five nominations for the 2024 Oscars, has been accused of plagiarism. The complaint was made by screenwriter Simon Stephenson, credited for films such as Luca, The adventures of Paddington2 AND The Electrifying Life of Louis Wain.
Stephenson contacted the Writers Guild of America (WGA) reporting that he had encountered “a credit issue on a high-profile project covered by the WGA.” According to the screenwriter, “proof that the remaining script was plagiarized line for line from Frisco It’s really overwhelming.
He was referring to his own screenplay, a drama centered on a middle-aged, world-weary pediatric doctor and a 15-year-old patient he is forced to care for. The rejectedwritten by David Hemingson was one of the nominees for the Oscar for best original screenplay, won by Anatomy of a fall.
In 2013, Frisco it was one of Hollywood’s most popular screenplays and came in third place Blacklistan annual survey of Hollywood’s best unproduced screenplays, founded by Franklin Leonard.
Simon Stephenson argues that Alexander Payne had access to the production’s script in 2013 and again in late 2019, shortly before the director spoke to David Hemingson about the film project. The rejected.
The plagiarism accusation is supported by emails involving several Hollywood agencies and producers. On August 28, 2013, Verve founder Bryan Besser sent an email to several people, including Stephenson, saying: “Quick update: We gave FRISCO to Alexander Payne’s producing partner, Jim Burke, who we brought it for lunch yesterday. Our opinion is that in an ideal world this is the best way to get into Searchlight.”
Months later, a representative from talent agency UTA indicated that Payne had read the script. In an email, he said: “I spoke directly with Alexander Payne executive Jim Burke some time ago and he said Payne liked [do roteiro]but I wasn’t interested in producing or directing it.”
After an initial failed attempt to appeal to the WGA, Stephenson sent another email to the board in February of this year, in which he stated that “story, characters, structure, scenes, dialogue” of The rejected are the same as those of Frisco. “Many of the major scenes are effectively unchanged and are even visibly identical in page layout,” she wrote.
Payne and Hemingson have so far declined to comment. Stephenson confirmed the authenticity of the emails, but declined to comment further on the case.
The rejected
The post-Oscar-nominated film is accused of plagiarism and first appeared on Olhar Digital.
Source: Olhar Digital
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
