Oscar-Nominated 'The Holdovers' Accused Of Plagiarism, 'Luca' Writer Claims Story To Be Copied From His Unproduced Screenplay

Just days before the Oscars, a movie has found itself in controversy. Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdovers’ has been hit with accusations of plagiarism. Simon Stephenson, the writer of ‘Luca’, has come forward and has alleged that the script is similar to his unproduced screenplay, ‘Frisco.’ The movie has been nominated for Best Original Screenplay at Oscars 2024.

‘The Holdovers’ was written by David Hemingson. The story revolves around a history teacher. During Christmas break, the history teacher finds himself stuck with a bunch of teenagers who have nowhere to go during the holiday. He ends up forming an unexpected bond with the teenagers, a cook, and a woman who lost her son in the Vietnam War. Simon Stephenson has alleged that the script is similar to ‘Frisco.’

In a conversation with Variety, Stephenson spoke about ‘Frisco.’ The story revolves around a pediatrician who has been assigned to take care of a teenager. The script was recognized when it appeared on the 2013 Black List, which recognizes the top unproduced scripts in a year. The ‘Luca’ writer also produced a set of documents that show a similarity between his story and ‘The Holdovers’. He also took the matter to the Writers Guild of America in January.

One of the documents submitted by Stephenson said, “The meaningful entirety of the screenplay for THE HOLDOVERS has been copied from the FRISCO screenplay by transposition. This includes the FRISCO screenplay’s entire story, structure, sequencing, scenes, sequential sub-beats within scenes, the line-by-line substance of action and dialogue, characters, arcs, relationships, theme, and tone. A majority of this has been done line-for-line, and a large number of unique and highly specific elements created in FRISCO are readily and unequivocally identifiable in THE HOLDOVERS.”

Alexander Payne and David Hemingson have declined to comment on the matter.