Snakes on a plane

maestrowork · Apr 19, 2006

Here's the story I heard from a friend. He knows a copyright lawyer named David Dalessandro, who a few years ago wrote a script called "Venom" and optioned it to Paramount. Eventually Paramount passed and the option ran out. He was in the process of finding another deal when he heard that another studio (New Line?) was making a film called "Snakes on a Plane." It was his story, but apparently they rewrote the whole script. Samuel L. Jackson liked the name and the script and signed up for it, then later they wanted to change the name to Flight 121 and Samuel L. Jackson made them change back to SoaP. Anyway, David Dalessandro went through arbitration with WGA and he won, and now he's credited as "story by." Not sure if he got any monetary compensation for it, though. And now, everyone is talking about the movie.

I wonder if that kind of things happen a lot, or is it just isolated case? It's a good thing that Dalessandro is a lawyer. But what about writers who are not in the know?

dpaterso · Apr 20, 2006

Interesting story, but alas I don't know if it happens a lot.

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WritingFool · Apr 21, 2006

Very interesting.
Id bet it happens more than we' like to know it.
I did a google search to try finding more, couldnt. But did see Writers name sharing credit, so he should be compensated somehow....shouldnt he?

But a nip here, tuck there, and the rewards for all that sacrifice, time and effort goes to the person with the better lawyer.
Its a tough biz out there, with plenty of pitfalls. So beware all, protect yourself, protect yourself, protect yourself.
Even then, youll have about a 50/50 chance swimming with them sharks

clockwork · Apr 21, 2006

I heard nobody liked the SOAP title until fan sites appeared on the web demanding it be changed back from Flight 121. Once the popular vote was behind it, Jackson et al jumped on board saying they liked SOAP much more all along.

Whatever the case, I think we can agree Snakes On A Plane is better title than Flight 121.

Haven't heard anything about the rip-off thing but maybe that's the way people want it. I'm sure that kind of thing happens but I would have thought it'd be easier to pay someone WGA minimums for a script and then rework it rather than hire someone new to emulate the tone, characters, pace etc.

La-la-la, who knows...

Chesher Cat · Apr 22, 2006

That kind of thing happens a lot but most writers don't pursue legal action - too costly and difficult to win. Not to mention, you get labeled.

The tile debacle and more is covered on Josh Friedman's blog: http://hucksblog.blogspot.com/

JAlpha · Aug 19, 2006

Now that the movie is out, here's a bit of a follow up on Ray's initial post as to who should get the credit for creating the original concept for this movie and how often does this sort of thing happen in Hollywood.

http://www.fangoria.com/fearful_feature.php?id=2505

I saw the movie last night, and I have nothing original to say by way of a review, so I'll just paraphrase some lines from the reviews that have already been written that I tend to agree with . . .

Leave your brain at the door when you go see Snakes on a Plane. The movie is over exploited, gimmicky, cultish, puny, marvelously stupid, absurd, twisted, and choke-full of gratuitous gore and nudity. It delivers exactly what it promises in the concept title, nothing more, nothing less.

I loved it

It was the perfect diversion for me right now while I chew my nails waiting for a senior editor at Knopf to weigh in on my manuscript. I truly did leave my brain at the door when I entered the theater last night, and I'm a calmer person for it today. Sometimes bad movies can be a good thing :ROFL:

xhouseboy · Aug 19, 2006

It happens more often than you would imagine. I once posted a link that covered this very subject. But for anyone interested, Google Maureen Plantagenet - it should be a valuable lesson to always copyright your work before submitting.

three seven · Aug 19, 2006

maestrowork said:
David Dalessandro went through arbitration with WGA and he won, and now everyone is talking about the movie.

No, Ray. Everyone's talking about it because it's called 'Snakes on a Plane' and it's got Samuel L Jackson fighting with snakes. On a plane. Genius pitch, genius title, genius viral campaign. If it's not the greatest film of all time, I'll... well, I don't know what I'll do.

maestrowork · Aug 19, 2006

Three, you misunderstood me. I didn't say everyone was talking about the movie because of David Dalessandro. Actually, not many people knows who he is. I only recently saw his name mentioned as one of the "writers." What I meant was that he had to go through arbitration to get his name back on the production, and if not, he would have been completely ignored, and it would have been horrible for him now that the movie is one of the most overhyped films in history. Everyone knows why the film has so much hype. I am not a frigging idiot.

Haven't seen it yet, but I am sure it's great. It's one of those movies that know EXACTLY what they're doing and what their target market is.

I happen to have a copy of Delessandro's contract with Paramount. He went through a lot and he's doign the talk circuits about the film and copyrights (he is a copyright lawyer). Interesting. He was at Oaks Theater in Pittsburgh on Friday. He's now a celebrity here now. His pitch and original concept were brilliant, but they did completely rewrite the film (with new characters, too). His original pitch was "Indiana Jones with snakes on a plane."

three seven · Aug 19, 2006

Yeah, I figured that was what you meant. I just wanted to talk about Snakes on a Plane.

Goodwriterguy · Aug 19, 2006

WritingFool said:
But did see Writers name sharing credit, so he should be compensated somehow....shouldnt he?

Credit = compensation.

No credit, no compensation.

According to the Guild's Minimum Basic Agreement, a "story by" credit is worth 25 per cent of a script's sale value.

This particular incident could have resulted from sheer bureaucratic bungling as opposed to an intentional plagiarism. The guy's script had been around for while, optioned, let go ... so someone picks it up one day and the title page has been ripped off that copy and they read it and six months later write a piece and subconsciously draw upon the thing they read months before and have forgotten about. Maybe they choose to forget about it.

Anything is possible.

scififan · Aug 19, 2006

I heard that about LOST. I can't remember it that well and don't know if it was ever proved true.

icerose · Aug 19, 2006

Snakes on a plane sounds and looks like the stupidest movie ever made. Just my take.

maestrowork · Aug 19, 2006

It was called "Venom" when Delessandro optioned it. Then it became "Snakes on the Plane" and Sam Jackson was interested because it just sounded so "beotching." Then they tried to make it less "stupid" and changed the title again and Jackson had a hissy fit (pun intended). He said SoaP was a kick-a$$ name and you'd know exactly what you're getting into and why change it to some silly a$$ "Venom" or "Wait Till You Die" or whatever. Also, they had to reshoot and rewrite to make the film R instead of PG-13. I think Jackson said, "if you're surrounded by 500 poisonous snakes, you're going to say m******f****** every two seconds and you're going to see some m*****f***** deaths." He has a point, you know?

JAlpha · Aug 19, 2006

maestrowork said:
I think Jackson said, "if you're surrounded by 500 poisonous snakes, you're going to say m******f****** every two seconds and you're going to see some m*****f***** deaths." He has a point, you know?

Jackson wasn't the only one in the theater last night that delivered the m*********f*****lines, nearly the entire theater chanted the cult line along with him.

I swear most of the people in that audience were waiting throughout the whole movie just so they could spit out that line. I think for me, all the audience participation throughout the whole film added to the whole entertainment factor of the night. The cheers, boos, screams, hisses, applause, etc. etc. were nonstop, and I nearly choked on my popcorn twice from laughing so hard, and outside the context of that movie, watching someones tit or penis get bit by a snake isn't really that funny--or is it :Shrug:

Goodwriterguy · Aug 19, 2006

scififan said:
I heard that about LOST. I can't remember it that well and don't know if it was ever proved true.

I heard some stories about that show too, but I know of one case that was plagiarism pure and simple and that was "China Syndrome." Guy I know wrote a treatment of it and six months later he hears that Fonda is doing it. He rushed to Fonda's people waving his treatment, yelling "Theft!" He won the case before the Guild's arbitration committee and went on to create "Starman," which had a reasonably good run, three years or something as I recall. He also published a book on Three Mile Island, which I tried to get the screen rights for but he had already sold them. Bummer!

maestrowork · Aug 20, 2006

JAlpha said:
Jackson wasn't the only one in the theater last night that delivered the m*********f*****lines, nearly the entire theater chanted the cult line along with him.

I swear most of the people in that audience were waiting throughout the whole movie just so they could spit out that line.

Yup... that's why I think this film is going to do so well on opening weekend, then probably drops (unless people keep coming back for more). The best audience-participation movie I'd gone to (other than Rocky Horror) was South Park. The theater was packed with college kids and we had such a great time! It wasn't the same watching it on DVD at home by myself. LOL.

Akuma · Aug 20, 2006

I liked the movie, regardless of how it came about. There's just something about people dying in humiliating ways and having bites on embarrassing/grotesque body parts.
Oh, yeah, and there's Samuel L. Jackson cussing and yelling at everyone. You just can't dislike that.

icerose · Aug 20, 2006

Akuma said:
I liked the movie, regardless of how it came about. There's just something about people dying in humiliating ways and having bites on embarrassing/grotesque body parts.
Oh, yeah, and there's Samuel L. Jackson cussing and yelling at everyone. You just can't dislike that.

What are people doing? Running around the plane naked?? I hope I never fly on a plane like that.

JAlpha · Aug 20, 2006

icerose said:
What are people doing? Running around the plane naked?? I hope I never fly on a plane like that.

Think OCCUPIED

English Dave · Aug 20, 2006

JAlpha said:
Think OCCUPIED

Think 'I know what you did last Summer'. It's a brain dead but entertaining movie. But there is a market for brain dead entertaining movies.

Don't knock 'em. It's what pays for your life changing drama.

JAlpha · Aug 20, 2006

English Dave said:
Think 'I know what you did last Summer'. It's a brain dead but entertaining movie. But there is a market for brain dead entertaining movies.

Don't knock 'em. It's what pays for your life changing drama.

Knock 'em

I was the first person to post a postive review of the movie. I thought it was very entertaining, and for the record I don't write life changing drama, I write life mocking satirical drama

English Dave · Aug 20, 2006

JAlpha said:
Knock 'em I was the first person to post a postive review of the movie. I thought it was very entertaining, and for the record I don't write life changing drama, I write life mocking satirical drama

'Kay then.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 20, 2006

Snakes

Snakes on a Plane is all that's wrong with Hollywood. Brain dead doesn't begin to describe it. I don't know why anyone would want to see it, or how anyone could manage to sit through it without first getting a frontal lobotomy.

My youngest wanted to go see it, so I took him. I walked out after twenty minutes. This movie is for people with an IQ of. . .no, this movie is for people without an IQ.

maestrowork · Aug 20, 2006

Just saw it. It was a fun, popcorn movie and some of the death scenes were really funny. But I was disappointed, especially after all the hype. I think the concept was spot on, but the execution was a little lacking, and Sam Jackson didn't kick as many snake butts as I'd like... it's very entertaining, no doubt, but also quite formulaic.

Snakes on a plane

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