Frank Darabont May Want Credit On Indy 4
Posted by Rodneyon 13. 11. 2007in News Chat
It looks like Frank Darabont has got wind about the new Indy Script, and he suggests that it may contain ideas from his work that was left on the cutting room floor. We get the juicy dish from MTV Movies Blog:
Seven months after calling his work on the then-untitled “Indiana Jones 4” script “a waste of a year,” director Frank Darabont told MTV News that he’s moved on from earlier resentment. His script, favored by Spielberg, was ultimately rejected by George Lucas. And yet, to listen to Darabont, one gets the impression that there very well might soon be a feud of sorts — over credit. Insisting that he still hasn’t read “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls” (scripted by “Spider-Man” writer David Koepp), Darabont again indicated that there may be more than a passing resemblance to his efforts, echoing statements he made to MTV in August.
“I haven’t read the script, [but] at a certain point I will because I’m sure there will be an arbitration over writing credits,” he revealed. “I keep hearing from people who are near the production and they keep saying, ‘You know, they’re using more of your ideas here than you may have thought.”
I love the smell of lawsuits in the morning! I do not who is to blame here, only Lucas, Speilberg and Darabont will really know the real deal right now, but once the movie is released if Darabont sends his script around the interweb it will be possible for all of us to make the connections, if any.
I hope Darabont has accurate info from the inside of production, otherwise these allegations may blow up in his face. I am not sure of this, but I would suppose that going to court with George Lucas and Steven Speilberg is never a good time, I hear they have robot lawyers.
What I will say is that if Darabont is correct in his allegations, and if his inside information is accurate, then I wish him all the luck in the world. Ideas are how he pays the bills, and he deserves his fair shake if they were ripped off. Either way Darabont has balls of legend.
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Here’s to hoping they use the Indy-vs-aliens angle.
Actually, if there’s any ‘argument’ over credit, this isn’t going to go to ‘court’, and no lawyers will be involved. There’s a set procedure in place for credit disagreements via the WGA. They’re the ones who decide these things, not judges, by way of an arbitration panel. This isn’t going to be an Art Buchwald vs Eddie Murphy, ‘Coming to America’ thing.
& what big balls indeed. go for yours Frank.
Pielberg & Lucas aren’t beyong the law refardless of how much power they wield.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Christ, these people suing each other at the drop of a dime just annoys me. You already have more than enough money. Just stop already, people!
Nobody is “suing” anybody.
While it’s great to have TMB back (and with interesting new additions!) it isn’t great that one of the new posts upon arrival is slightly misleading.
Probitionate’s above comment is more accurate. In fact, int’l friends -and that means you, too, Doug- this sort of thing happens all the time and sometimes, the writers “credited” may not have been part of the final studio film presented, but ‘one or two’ ideas may have been used while rewriting…or sometimes not. Writers do haggle over credit from time to time, but nobody “sues”. It is left up to arbitration.
It has nothing to do with money. It has to do with screen credit. Nothing more, nothing less. What could be used is anything from an idea to a character the writer created/wrote dialog for.
Granted, arbitration is an odd bird- every now and then you could have a credit of scribes a mile long. Some are given “strory by” credit without given the “screenplay by” credit. Or, instead of a writing credit of some kind, a meaningless “co-producer” credit is given, not by the WGA but by the filmmakers who wish to give a nod to a contributing writer whose work is significant but went uncredited by the WGA arbitration.
It happens.
This is the third time I’ve tried to post this…
Um… With all due respect to Kristina, this has absolutely nothing (well, little) to do with money. We writers toil as most cannot fathom. It’s us, a blank page…and words. An endless choice of words. Trying to sling them together ‘just so’.
Darabont refers to a wasted year. Not just a wasted year of effort that never came to see the light of day…but one, purportedly, that’s seeing the somewhat-light of day…with another writer getting credit.
Within their industry, writers get less respect than they’re due on a daily basis. (For more insight into this, check out http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/showrunner-explains-why-hes-on-strike/) If what’s happened to Darabont is true, this is adding insult to injury.
‘Walk a mile in their shoes’ and all that is what I’d suggest to those outside the creative world before lobbing guffaws.
(Great comment, Darren.)
I think everyone’s missing the big point here – Spielberg LOVED Darabont’s script, while Lucas hated it.
If they ARE indeed using ideas that Darabont came up with, and *if* those ideas are as awesome as Spielberg thought they were, this *may* be FANTASTIC news for the movie as far it not sucking.
Either way, I’ll be there opening day regardless, first in line.
Darabont is the one of THE “go-to” script-doctors in Hollywood; alot of films have been worked on by him than people might realize.
Not to mention, that man has ALOT of friends in the business ranging from heads of studios and big-name directors to grips and production assistants.
So…I don’t think ol Frank would be running his mouth publicly unless he had good enough reason to suspect this was all happening.
Let’s just wait and see what Darabont’s attitude is to towards this when we find out whether it’s a good script or not. The fact that it’s written by David Koepp is not getting me excited at all.
I am teh SUper Joo