The film follows teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), student Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), and cafeteria manager Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) as they spend their Christmas break at the boarding school Barton Academy, with the uncomfortable dynamics gradually transforming into one of found family. In addition to Best Picture, the 2024 Academy Awards nominated the movie for Best Actor (Giamatti), Best Supporting Actress (Randolph), Best Original Screenplay (David Hemingson), and Best Film Editing (Kevin Tent), with Randolph winning in her category.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, a lawsuit has been filed in California federal court by Luca writer Simon Stephenson accusing The Holdovers director Alexander Payne of plagiarism. Stephenson alleges that major elements of his Frisco screenplay, which Payne read in 2013 and 2019, were taken without permission by the director and used in The Holdovers script written by Hemingson.
Payne, Hemingson, producer Mark Johnson, production companies Gran Via, Honost Scholar, Miramax, and distributors Focus Features and Universal Home Entertainment are all named in the lawsuit. Stephenson is seeking unspecified damages and a court order barring exploitation of the movie. The complaint states, “Screenplays are often called the blueprint for a film. The defendants built their film using Frisco as their blueprint.”
In 2013, Stephenson's Frisco screenplay was added to The Black List, which recognizes the best unproduced screenplays of the year. The story revolves around an irascible pediatrician who becomes responsible for looking after a teenager, while Giamatti's character, Paul, is tasked with overseeing Angus, a student "held over" at the boarding school during Christmas break.
Payne read Frisco in 2013 because Stephenson sought him out to direct it. In the lawsuit, Payne's producing partner Jim Burke is quoted as saying the filmmaker “did like it but was not interested in producing or directing it.” He read it again in 2019 on behalf of Netflix when the movie was submitted to them.
Along with the basic premise, Stephenson alleges Frisco's "stylistic traces" were plagiarized in The Holdovers, including the use of structuring the story with day cards such as “Day 1 – December 18, 1970.” The screenwriter's lawyer, Julia Cherlow, wrote that “a term used incorrectly, and consistently, is more telling than a preference: it is a habit particular to a writer, not a choice any writer might make."
This isn't the first time that Stephenson has accused Payne of plagiarizing Frisco, having done so shortly before the 2024 Academy Awards and taking the dispute to the WGA. It was decided by the WGA that they were not suited to determine if there was copyright infringement since such claims are not arbitrable through them.
Alongside Enrico Casarosa and Jesse Andrews, Stephenson co-wrote Luca, which is a well-received Pixar movie, having gotten a "Certified Fresh" 91% critics' score and 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Another one of his credits is Paddington 2, which has a near-perfect 99% Tomatometer score and 89% Popcornmeter score.
More to come...
Release Date
November 10, 2023
Runtime
133 Minutes
Director
Alexander Payne
Writers
David Hemingson
Seacia Pavao/©Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection
English (US) ·