Oscar Contender ‘The Holdovers’ Faces Accusations of Script Theft

A film writer has claimed that the Oscar-nominated screenplay for “The Holdovers” stole from a script he wrote more than a decade ago.

Simon Stephenson said that his verbiage is unknown because he’s not sure what’s going on with the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) as he emails work on “Luca” and “Paddington 2.

Stephenson says that director Alexander Payne, Creevy, and former distribution executive Jeremy Barber may have come into contact with his script “Frisco” during its circulation on the Hollywood “black list” in 2013. The Hollywood “black list” shows the most liked unproduced screenplays by Hollywood executives, with “Frisco” hitting the third spot. In emails obtained by Variety, Stephenson says the “Holdovers” screenplay “has been plagiarized line-by-line” from “Frisco.”

Stephenson gave numerous examples of transcribed scenes, vital sequences, and dialogues in the films to substantiate his charges. “I can prove beyond any doubt that the entire screenplay for a film with WGA-approved credits, currently in contention for a screenwriting Oscar, has been copied line-for-line from my popular yet unproduced screenplay,” said Stephenson in an e-mail to the WGA. 

He further stated that the director of “The Holdovers” received his script well in advance and read it twice before the film entered into development. “The Holdovers” was widely popular and acclaimed. Pete’s script had five Academy Award nominations, one for Best Original Screenplay and four for Best Motion Picture.