Script Leaks Through History
Its Friday, so here is some light reading material. Just kidding, let’s take a look at some of the most infamous script leaks throughout history.
Its no secret that newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst tried his hardest to stop the production of Orson Welles’ masterpiece Citizen Kane. Due to Welles basing his rich, apathetic, somewhat despicable character largely on Hearst, the millionaire wanted nothing more than to see this film buried. The chance came when screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewizc, so enamored with his own work, sent it to his friend Charles Lederer, nephew of Marion Davies, who was Hearst’s mistress at the time. (Interestingly enough, Citizen Kane character Susan Alexander was loosely based on her.) Davies sent the script straight to Hearst who had his lawyers block the premier of the film at Radio City Music Hall, which led to its commercial failure. Fortunately, the film has since become known as one of, if not the greatest of all time. Take that, Hearst.
Lesson #1: If you think your script is so good that a tenuous relative of an infamous rival must see it, talk to your collaborator first.
In the early days of the Internet, it was easy to lose sensitive material. It still is, so use Rchive to share your script. But when a draft of Wes Craven’s sequel to the popular Scream film was distributed online, screenwriter Kevin Williamson hustled to change the script, incorporating the leaked ending as part of a red herring to fool in-the-know audiences.
Lesson #2: Don’t upload your script to whatever 1996′s version of Reddit was. Alta Vista, maybe?
A full year before the film’s release, an unidentified script thief began shopping around a finished Avengers script. “How much would you pay for The Avengers script?” read the subject line. It turns out that Samuel L. Jackson’s assistant had copied it from an email to print. Someone found the script in the printer, stole it, and attempted to furnish it throughout the Internet. Fortunately, Marvel and Disney were able to track the thief down and stop this person from selling the script, precluding the need for rewrites.
Lesson #3: If you’re going to share your script, share it securely.
Ironic that a film about leaks would suffer one of its own. The script for The Fifth Estate, Bill Condon’s take on the trials and tribulations of Julian Assange, was sent to Assange himself, who declared the film a “mass propaganda attack against WikiLeaks, the organization (and) the character of my staff.” Interestingly enough, the condemnation by Julian Assange only fueled the film’s marketing; it did fairly well for an indie dramatization of current events.
Lesson #4: If you’re going to leak a script, maybe don’t send it to the subject of the script. Or do, if you want to draw controversy.
This one is my favorite. Possibly the biggest Breaking Bad fan out there, or just a random carjacker nabbed the script for BB’s finale out of none other than Bryan Cranston’s car, during filming in New Mexico. Xavier Macafee was charged with attempted burglary for stealing a number of personal items, as well as the script to one of the last episodes of the hit AMC show. Hopefully he got “Better Call Saul” Goodman to represent him in Albuquerque court.
Lesson #5: If you’re filming a show about violence, theft, and drug cartels in the place where the violence, theft and drug cartels are happening, lock your car doors.
Almost all of these leaks could have been prevented with Rchive, so when sharing your script with friends, collaborators, and others, share securely.
Rchive: The Secure Screenplay Platform
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