Simon Stephenson sues Alexander Payne for plagiarism over 'The Holdovers

Alexander Payne’s film “The Holdovers” is being sued for copyright infringement by Simon Stephenson, a screenwriter credited on Pixar’s 2021 feature “Luca.” The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on March 9, 2024, just hours before the Academy Awards ceremony, and alleges that Payne’s drama, which opened in December 2023, lifts key plot points, dialogue and character arcs from Stephenson’s original screenplay for the animated coming‑of‑age story. The complaint seeks damages and an injunction to halt further distribution of the film.

The case matters because “The Holdovers” has become a major awards contender, earning nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. The film’s success has drawn attention to Payne’s reputation as a filmmaker who often adapts literary sources, and the lawsuit raises questions about the thin line between inspiration and infringement in Hollywood. “Luca” was praised for its heartfelt storytelling and was nominated for Best Animated Feature, making Stephenson’s claim that his work was appropriated by a live‑action drama especially striking to industry observers.

In the filing, Stephenson’s attorneys cite specific scenes—a grieving teacher confronting a reluctant student over a holiday tradition and a snowbound boarding school setting—that mirror sequences in “Luca” involving a mentor figure and a seaside town’s cultural rites. They also point to nearly identical lines of dialogue about “the weight of memory” that appear in both scripts. Payne’s legal team responded with a standard denial, stating that any similarities are “generic storytelling tropes” and that the film is an original work based on a novel by author David Crouse. The Writers Guild of America has said it will monitor the dispute but has not taken a formal position.

The lawsuit will now move to a discovery phase, during which both sides must exchange evidence and may call expert witnesses on copyright law. If the case proceeds to trial, it could delay the film’s Oscar campaign and affect its distribution deals, especially in international markets that are sensitive to legal challenges. Industry analysts say the outcome could set a precedent for how studios protect or contest claims over story ideas that cross genre lines, and it may prompt other creators to scrutinize the provenance of scripts before green‑lighting projects.