Frank Darabont Wants Credit For Indy 4

By Josh Tyler: 2007-11-14 04:29:29

Something I’ve always loved about Frank Darabont is his willingness to… well… shoot off his mouth. For instance, one of the very best episodes of John Favreau’s old show Dinner For Five features Darabont basically bitching about all the stuff he’s written and not gotten credit for over the years. Well now Darabont has a new movie coming out in The Mist, and that means he’s back out saying whatever the hell he wants again. And he’s not happy.

A few years ago Darabont was hired to write a script for Indiana Jones IV. He did it, handed it in, and Steven Spielberg loved it. Infamously, George Lucas did not, the script was scrapped. Frank’s response at the time was one of vocal irritation and annoyance. He thought he’d done great work, and everyone but Lucas seemed to agree. So they went a different direction. Or at least that’s what Frank Darabont was told.

Now though, Frank suspects they may be using parts of his original Indy 4 script without crediting him. He tells MTV: “I haven’t read the script, [but] at a certain point I will because I’m sure there will be an arbitration over writing credits… I keep hearing from people who are near the production and they keep saying, ‘You know, they’re using more of your ideas here than you may have thought.”

The script for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is currently credited to David Koepp, who was brought in to write an entirely new take on Indy 4. It’s unlikely that Koepp would have stolen anything from Darabont, but Lucas or Spielberg, having read both versions, could well have made some changes to Koepp’s script to add some elements from Darabont’s back in. Or, this could all just be one big coincidence. If Frank’s smart, he’ll wait to see if Indy 4 is any good before he tries to take any credit for it. Oh who am I kidding, it’s Indiana Jones. It’s going to be awesome. Go get em Frank!

Latest Headlines:

Even More Alice In Wonderland Images

Strange Patriotism: The American Flag's Weirdest Moments On Film

Inglourious Basterds Banners

View-Master: The Movie

Tony Stark's Iron Man 2 Race Car

Superman May Be Done With Brandon Routh

First Look At Eminem in Funny People

Public Enemies Poll: Tell Us What You Think

Jessica Biel In Thor?

See Kristen Stewart And Dakota Fanning As The Runaways

Comment on “Frank Darabont Wants Credit For Indy 4”

Note: This website is not meant for use by minors. The views expressed in the comments section below are not our own. This section is intended for discussion of the topic in the post above. Disagreement is encouraged, however comments which attack, insult, or threaten the author in a personal manner won't be published. Similarly, comments that we deem to be poorly worded, or wildly off topic will also not be approved and may be mocked. For free, uncensored, unfettered, and possibly dangerous discussion visit our forum.

Subscribe to topic comments

0 0 / 0
y n

Rosie
June 17, 2008 at 13:12

I've read some of Darabont's rejected script. It seemed more like a rehash of RAIDERS than something new.

Thank goodness Lucas and Spielberg rejected it.

Reply
0 0 / 0
y n

bobbafett
June 9, 2008 at 14:52

Welp. After just seeing Indiana Jones 4, if any of that GARBAGE was stolen from Darabont, I certainly would be ashamed. He should count his blessings. Indy 4 is a pile of JUNK!

BB

Reply
0 0 / 0
y n

Dorkman
November 14, 2007 at 15:25

It's not about credit so much as it is about residuals. The WGA allows for up to six credited writers on any given movie -- even if there were more -- and up to six credited writers under "story by".

Basically, if your name ain't on it, you ain't getting residuals, and if you contributed a significant number of ideas to the movie, you kind of deserve them. It doesn't matter if the movie is any GOOD, if you wrote it, you want your name on it. In this case, Darabont has enough other credits to weather a bad one, and as you said, it's Indy 4 so even if it sucks (which I'm sure it won't) it'll still make truckloads of money, so he's gonna want his name on it.

Although I don't see why this should be a big deal. It's not like arbitration is some archaic process hidden in the by-laws of the WGA and only invoked every 50 years or something. Pretty much every movie released in Hollywood that has more than one writer (i.e. pretty much every movie released in Hollywood) goes through an arbitration to determine credits. Especially when the movie is guaranteed to make a bajillion dollars. This shouldn't surprise anyone.

Reply

Subscribe to topic comments

Please login or sign up to post reply

Back to Frank Darabont Wants Credit For Indy 4

Frank Darabont Wants Credit For Indy 4

Comment on “Frank Darabont Wants Credit For Indy 4”

Leave a Reply