Complex ‘X-Men: First Class’ Screenplay Credit Dispute Resolved
I’ve been involved in numerous WGA credit determinations, both as a writer and as a judge, but this one may take the proverbial cake:
After an unusually complicated credit dispute, WGA arbitrators determined Tuesday that Sheldon Turner and Bryan Singer deserve story credit and Ashley Miller & Zack Stentz and Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn will share screenplay credit on the Fox/Marvel franchise film, set for release in the U.S. on June 3. In an odd twist, Josh Schwartz and Jamie Moss, the first two writers on First Class, were left out even as Turner, who never wrote on the script, was included. (Though a potential appeal is still in the offing.)
I can’t even begin to summarize the convoluted history of this project, you’ll just have to read it yourself. But these type of determinations are no small matter for a writer. Why?
…the stakes are high because credited writers typically become eligible for bonuses and royalties if the films do well (as they often do).
I have an upcoming Reader Question about residuals and royalties in which I will attempt to shed some light on the subject. Suffice to say, a movie credit can result in a lot of income for a writer. And it’s special revenue in that you receive it for decades after you’ve finished writing.
A couple of interesting notes about the X-Men: First Class project:
Miller and Stentz were brought on after Moss. Then Vaughn, who had been attached to direct both X-Men: The Last Stand and Thor, came aboard to direct in May 2010, bringing his collaborator Goldman with him. The four of them worked on the shooting script in London before Vaughn and Goldman took over. Simon Kinberg, who is also a producer, did revisions during filming but didn’t seek credit (nor did Goyer).
Schwartz did want credit, and he and Moss could appeal the result, but only if they can point to something improper in the process. Schwartz’s original screenplay apparently hewed very close to the X-Men: First Class comic miniseries from 2006–07 that focused on characters from the first trilogy of films, such as Jean Gray, Beast and Cyclops, as teenagers. Most of those characters were ultimately booted in favor of a focus on the early relationship between Professor X and Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto. That didn’t stop Schwartz from pre-arbitrating the credit situation in April of this year, so the argument may not be over. (As one of the participating writers cracked, “If you have a dog in the hunt, you go for it.”)
You may ask why did some writers seek credit ala Josh Schwartz & Jamie Moss, while others did not (Simon Kinberg and David Goyer)? Could be several reasons at work:
* Kinberg and Goyer may have been involved so late in the writing process, there was no point to seek credit because the majority of the story — at least what would be the focus of a credit dispute per the WGA — was already settled.
* In many cases, ‘script doctors’ and writers brought in late on a project are hired with the stipulation or understanding they will not seek credit. They just get paid handsomely for their efforts.
* On the other hand, a writer like Schwartz, who would presumably be quite well off if only for the success of one of his projects, the hit TV series “The O.C.,” may be pushing to receive credit based mostly on the principle of the thing: On the face of it, it’s absurd that the first writers on the project did not receive credit, especially if, as per Guild guidelines, every subsequent writer who adopts or adapts pre-exisiting material, those pages have to be credited — at least by some percent — to the initial writers.
* Or he may figure he does have a dog in the hunt, so why the hell not push the credit arbitration as far as possible. No downside with potential serious financial upside.
As much grief as the WGA takes for credit determinations, it’s important to remember how it used to be before the studios agreed to let the Guild handle this issue. Historically a studio could assign credit to anyone, regardless of how much they wrote on a film — and sometimes (reportedly) not at all.
For more of the article, go here.
UPDATE: The arbitration appeal is final and the credits stand as is despite this:
X-Men guru Bryan Singer is frustrated by a WGA decision over the writing credits for the summer tentpole X-Men: First Class.
“I don’t understand the decision but I will respect it,” Singer tells THR in his first public comments on the complicated arbitration that ended with Singer sharing “story by” credit with Sheldon Turner, who never officially worked on First Class. (The teams of Ashley Miller & Zack Stentz and Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn will share screenplay credit.)
Singer believes writer Jamie Moss, who penned an early draft of First Class from a treatment by Singer, should have received credit instead of Turner, who wrote a scrapped Magneto spinoff, elements of which were incorporated into First Class. But a WGA appeals panel made its final ruling today upholding its previous decision excluding Moss after he and Singer made a last stand in a hearing this morning.
“I know where my ideas came from and none of them came from that script,” Singer says. “I never read it. The story I created came from myself and the [X-Men] comic books.” Sources told THR that one element of the WGA decision was that both Magneto and First Class feature a Nazi doctor as a villian.
It is one of the crazier credit determinations as Turner gets credit on a movie he never officially worked on.