‘Luca’ Writer Claims ‘The Holdovers’ Plagiarized His Black List Script

Simon Stephenson, who has a story by credit on “Luca” and contributed to “Paddington 2” and “Wonka,” has alleged that the Academy Award-nominated “The Holdovers” was heavily plagiarized from his script, “Frisco.” “The Holdovers” has five 2024 Oscar nominations, including for Best Original Screenplay. Its script is credited to David Hemingson.

In an email to the Writers Guild, reported by Variety and confirmed to the outlet by Stephenson, the British writer wrote, “The evidence ‘The Holdovers’ screenplay has been plagiarized line-by-line from ‘Frisco’ is genuinely overwhelming — anybody who looks at even the briefest sample pretty much invariably uses the word ‘brazen.’”