A screenwriter is suing filmmaker Alexander Payne, alleging in federal court that the script for the Oscar-winning comedic drama “The Holdovers” was based on his unproduced screenplay set at a children’s hospital, according to court papers obtained Wednesday.
Simon Stephenson took his allegations to the Writers Guild of America in 2024, but was advised that the union could not adjudicate the issue and was referred to a lawyer. Payne denied the allegations while attending that year’s Sarajevo Film Festival, saying Stephenson’s claim was “the stupidest thing in the world,” Variety reported.
The lawsuit filed last week in Los Angeles also names as defendants “Holdovers” screenwriter David Hemingson, producer Mark Johnson, Miramax, Focus Features and other corporate entities.
The suit contends there are 46 “matched incidents” in the two scripts. According to the plaintiff, Stephenson’s 2013 screenplay, “Frisco,” tells the story of a doctor at the hospital who must tend to a precocious teenage patient.
The pair develop a friendship on a trip to San Francisco, culminating in the doctor’s decision to quit his job and set off on a cross-country trek, according to the lawsuit.
Stephenson argues that the similarities with “The Holdovers” are more than coincidence, and that the structure and incidents of “Frisco” were “meticulously transposed into `The Holdovers,’ with surface cosmetic details changed,” the complaint alleges.
Stephenson’s credits include Pixar’s “Luca” and “Paddington 2.”
The lawsuit alleges that Payne received the “Frisco” script years before developing “The Holdovers” in 2023 and ultimately used its story structure without permission.
“The Holdovers” is set over the 1970 Christmas holiday at a New England boarding school. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, with Da’Vine Joy Randolph winning the best supporting actress trophy in 2024.