Just one day before the 96th Academy Awards, a surprising accusation has surfaced about one of the ceremony’s contenders.
As reported exclusively by Variety on Saturday, screenwriter Simon Stephenson (Pixar’s “Luca,” “Paddington 2”) says that Best Picture nominee “The Holdovers” is “plagiarized line-by-line” from a decade-old screenplay for a film that was never made.
Stephenson claims that while “The Holdovers” only has one credited screenwriter, David Hemingson, director Alexander Payne very likely read the script back in 2013 when it was moving around Hollywood as part of “The Black List” (a yearly survey by industry executives of the “most liked” scripts making the rounds during that year).
At that time, Stephenson’s unmade film “Frisco” was no. 3 on the list and Variety’s report appears to indicate through emails that Payne — who has said he helped shape the final “Holdovers” script — read the “Frisco” script or knew of it.
Variety reached out to both Payne and Hemingson for comment, though both declined. The outlet says Stephenson verified the emails in the report are authentic.
According to Stephenson, the “Frisco” script follows a harried children’s hospital worker who gets saddled with watching after his 15-year-old student. In “The Holdovers,” Paul Giamatti plays dissatisfied classics teacher Paul Hunham, who re-evaluates his life during a Christmas break with troubled student Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and cafeteria manager Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).
Variety reports Stephenson first notified the Writer’s Guild of America on Jan. 12, where the issue was allegedly discussed. Stephenson also meticulously details numerous other ways he believes “The Holdovers” plagiarizes “Frisco” in the report, including key scenes, sequences and dialogue. Stephenson says he was contacted by WGA board members in March who said the issue was still being considered even though the guild does not investigate these kinds of situations.
“The copying is so comprehensive that it seems likely ‘The Holdovers’ was created by importing ‘Frisco’ into screenwriting software and directly overtyping the transposition on a line-by-line basis,” Variety’s report reads.
Stephenson also lays out that “only” five “Holdovers” elements are not present in his script — including, ironically, a backstory about someone getting away with plagiarism.
Ultimately, Stephenson says a WGA associate counsel referred him to a Los Angeles law firm as the WGA may be unable to help but in the counsel’s view, “a lawsuit remains the most viable option under these circumstances.”
To read the full report, visit Variety.
Stephenson’s claims come on the eve of the 96th Academy Awards, where “The Holdovers” is nominated in five categories, including Best Original Screenplay. Director Payne previously won two Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay for his films “Sideways” (2005) and “The Descendants” (2012).
“The Holdovers” can currently be streamed on Peacock, in addition to rented or purchased across most digital video marketplaces. Nexstar’s Russell Falcon rave-reviewed “The Holdovers” back in November, calling the film “a Christmas movie for people who aren’t interested in watching Christmas movies.”