10 Totally Confusing Hollywood Screenwriting Disputes

In the case of Leatherheads, a 2008 sports comedy about the early days of American football, director, producer, and star George Clooney did not dispute that original screenwriters and sportswriters Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly deserved credit for the screenplay.

However, their screenplay was written way back in 1991, and shortly before the film went into production Clooney completely rewrote all but two scenes in the script to turn it into a comedy. Clooney appealed to the WGA to receive co-writing credit along with Brantley and Reilly, but his request was denied. It was speculated that, as director, producer, and star, the union believed Clooney already received enough credit for the movie.

Furious, Clooney went “financial core” with the WGA, meaning that he all but resigned from the organisation and became a non-voting member (a full resignation would have caused issues with him working with writers who were part of the Guild in the future). To add insult to injury, Leatherheads received mediocre reviews and was a box office bomb.

Clooney has since been credited with co-writing the screenplay for The Monuments Men, though like Leatherheads it was also a flop.