If Your Story Got Made Into a Movie

[RetroFan]

In the early 2000s movie 'Big Fat Liar', slack high school student Jason Shepherd under threat of being banished to summer school actually does write a story for his English class by the deadline, but nobody will believe him when his story is stolen by a guy on the way to school. Months later, Jason is dismayed to find out the guy who stole his story is a movie producer, and sees the trailer for the upcoming film advertised at the cinema. In the sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother', Ted takes his new girlfriend to see a romantic comedy called 'The Wedding Bride', only to find out to his horror that the movie is based on him being dumped on his wedding day by his former fiancee Stella several years earlier.

On a similar note, what would your reaction be if you found the premise of one of your stories (with the erotic parts obviously removed or toned down) had been made into a mainstream movie? There's lots of threads about people's stories appearing on other websites, but this is kind of different. If it happened to me (not that it has or would), in an odd way perhaps I would be kind of flattered, at least I wrote something worthwhile. And of course there's very little I could do to stop it happening. It would be interesting to read other's perspectives.

 

[KeithD]

Not a movie, but it's happened to me with play scripts. I went to a performance by a semi-pro theater troupe where I had taken a playwrighting class a few years earlier. They were doing playlets (standalone one scenes). I was sitting there enjoying the plays, when one I'd written for the class popped up on stage--and then another. I was both flabbergasted and thrilled. I'd given them the rights to the plays, so that didn't upset me. I was a little put off that they hadn't notified me they were on the menu, though. I had bought tickets to the play. I may never have known they were staged otherwise.

I do think there are a lot of stories floating around here that, if filmed well, could expand the number of high-quality erotic movies out there.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Well, that depends. If they cast Morena Baccarin as the FMC, I would forgive them all and happily come to the premiere. Otherwise, I would go to Hollywood and burn the fucking studio down. The nerve on them not to cast her!

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I think it would be a weird mental process.
Hear about the movie, and I'm sure it would cross my mind," Hey my story xyz has a similar premise."
As I watched it and I'd probably think the first few similarities were just coincidences.
Then I'd probably start getting pissed.

 

[StillStunned]

If someone was making money from my story without at least crediting me, I'd be pretty annoyed. Flattered as well, of course. Then I'd see whether anyone would be interested in paying me for more stories.

 

[TheLobster]

I’d be preparing my Academy Award speech, of course.

 

[StillStunned]

I’d be preparing my Academy Award speech, of course.

You'd better end it with "And be sure to check out more of my stories on Literotica!" Hopefully the cameras will show all the Hollywood stars digging out their phones and looking you up. Preferably with one or more taking a quick toilet break shortly afterwards.

 

[AchtungNight]

Ever seen the film Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back?

I’d be Silent Bob. Taking volunteers for Jay.

 

[intim8]

what would your reaction be if you found the premise of one of your stories (with the erotic parts obviously removed or toned down) had been made into a mainstream movie?

About a year before The Matrix came out, I started writing it. The details were different, but the basic premise that we were all involuntarily living in some VR was there, and that some people wrre trying to escape it. In my case, it was regular recreational drugs that let you see the "real" world, which was why they're illegal.

I never finished it, but when the movie came out, my gut reaction was to be encouraged that my ideas had some potential commercial merit. I didn't feel jealous or anything, because it is execution that matters, and I never executed.

Though I think my premise of why we were all put into VR was better. I mean, human batteries, really? In mine, we were being used as kind of an organic AI, to process... stuff... Didn't get as fat as fulky fleshing out what.

 

[intim8]

what would your reaction be if you found the premise of one of your stories (with the erotic parts obviously removed or toned down) had been made into a mainstream movie?

These days, the might not have to strip all that out, or at least not as drastically. Mainstream(ish) movies are getting more graphic and even unsimulated. Especially foreign ones.

 

[MillieDynamite]

My father was a ghostwriter from the late 1970s through the early 1990s. He worked for three different writers: one wrote westerns, one did mysteries, and one was a screenwriter. Sometimes, Dad wrote entire books, and other times, parts of books. Other times, he'd read a book for the screenwriter and do a treatment for the screen and nothing more. Other times, if an idea a story was sold, he would do the first draft of a screenplay. He said it wasn't hard to ignore the books and not say, I wrote that. But sitting through a movie with friends and being unable to say, I worked on that, was painful. He said on time, an action scene he wrote didn't make it into the story—no big deal. Several years later, that scene (and the dialog between the characters) appeared in another movie, and he got angry. Yes, he'd already been paid for it. But he didn't feel it was right to reuse it in a different film with different actors and characters. He saw it opening night, a Friday, and fumed until Monday when he received a check from the screenwriter with a note, "I'm a bit late with this." And all was well with the world, but he still couldn't tell anyone about his involvement. NDAs have no expiration dates.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Though I think my premise of why we were all put into VR was better. I mean, human batteries, really? In mine, we were being used as kind of an organic AI, to process... stuff... Didn't get as fat as fulky fleshing out what.

I gather that was actually the original intention in The Matrix too, but somebody thought it was too high-falutin' and demanded it be dumbed down to "batteries".

 

[NoTalentHack]

I'd be pissed if someone was getting paid for something I wrote and I didn't get a taste.

At the same time... there's a comic character called Mr. Terrific who's sort of a second-stringer off-brand Batman. He has hovering gadgets called T-spheres that he uses for scouting, sending messages, defense, etc. At one point, Batman sends out a bunch of things that are essentially copies of the T-spheres for some event or another, recruiting various backup heroes for a big dustup. Mr. Terrific doesn't receive an invite, but one of his teammates does. Another one asks him, "doesn't that piss you off?" "Are you kidding? Batman copied my design. I'm ecstatic!"

I imagine if the right director was attached to the project, that might be my reaction, at least in private.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I’d be preparing my Academy Award speech, of course.

Keep in short. Your work in the movie should speak for itself. We don't need to hear about your first grade teacher.

 

[Great_Scot]

Art imitates life. It would be a box office flop.

 

[MillieDynamite]

First, I'd have to say the real honor is being nominated with such fine actors as those other losers sitting in their seats. Then I'd have to mention my wife, so she doesn't realize I've been bonking my costar, getting blow jobs from my makeup lady, and fucking every extra I can lay my hands on. Next, I'd say a few words about my fucking thankless kids or look like the giant-sucking asshole I am. I'd have generous words about the jerk-off supporting actor that I cannot stand. Mention my costar I'd fucked the shit out of, and have kind words for the director that can't be sober for ten seconds of any given day. I'd make a derogatory comment about a political figure or two in a good-natured backstabbing to please the powers that be in Hollywood. Then I pontificate about some obscure niche vogue, show my support for the LGBTQ(and other letters), and call out any person who can get me press for calling them out. Then I would say, "Thank you, thank you very much," in my best Elvis impersonation. Be led off the stage by some brainless bimbo model and let her suck my dick while they take my golden boy to get my name engraved on it and ask them to apply three coats of wax.

Keep in short. Your work in the movie should speak for itself. We don't need to hear about your first grade teacher.

 

[intim8]

I gather that was actually the original intention in The Matrix too, but somebody thought it was too high-falutin' and demanded it be dumbed down to "batteries".

Damn. I really nailed it...

 

[StillStunned]

Damn. I really nailed it...

Did you ever explain your plot on the phone in a public place? Were you ever writing it on your laptop in a crowded Starbucks, with someone sitting suspiciously close behind you? Did you experience a frequent sense of déjà vu, as if there was a glitch in the Matrix?

 

[intim8]

Yeah, I was pretty sure it was something like that. And since I talk about story ideas with my wife, with our phones siiting right there, I expect ALL my ideas to be in theaters soon.

Aaand, now I have another idea to add to my slush pile.

 

[gunhilltrain]

First, I'd have to say the real honor is being nominated with such fine actors as those other losers sitting in their seats. Then I'd have to mention my wife, so she doesn't realize I've been bonking my costar, getting blow jobs from my makeup lady, and fucking every extra I can lay my hands on. Next, I'd say a few words about my fucking thankless kids or look like the giant-sucking asshole I am. I'd have generous words about the jerk-off supporting actor that I cannot stand. Mention my costar I'd fucked the shit out of, and have kind words for the director that can't be sober for ten seconds of any given day. I'd make a derogatory comment about a political figure or two in a good-natured backstabbing to please the powers that be in Hollywood. Then I pontificate about some obscure niche vogue, show my support for the LGBTQ(and other letters), and call out any person who can get me press for calling them out. Then I would say, "Thank you, thank you very much," in my best Elvis impersonation. Be led off the stage by some brainless bimbo model and let her suck my dick while they take my golden boy to get my name engraved on it and ask them to apply three coats of wax.

I can't act at all and I can't direct, so the only chance I'd have is the screenwriting award. And who really notices that? A few people direct the movies they write, but that's not common. As Joe Gillis says in Sunset Boulevard, "Audiences don't know somebody sits down and writes a picture; they think the actors make it up as they go along." He's deliberately being too cynical there, but he's certainly frustrated with his profession. Norma doesn't care. "We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!"

 

[MrHereWriting]

I don't know, but I'd start with something like...

and go from there.

 

[gunhilltrain]

My father was a ghostwriter from the late 1970s through the early 1990s. He worked for three different writers: one wrote westerns, one did mysteries, and one was a screenwriter. Sometimes, Dad wrote entire books, and other times, parts of books. Other times, he'd read a book for the screenwriter and do a treatment for the screen and nothing more. Other times, if an idea a story was sold, he would do the first draft of a screenplay. He said it wasn't hard to ignore the books and not say, I wrote that. But sitting through a movie with friends and being unable to say, I worked on that, was painful. He said on time, an action scene he wrote didn't make it into the story—no big deal. Several years later, that scene (and the dialog between the characters) appeared in another movie, and he got angry. Yes, he'd already been paid for it. But he didn't feel it was right to reuse it in a different film with different actors and characters. He saw it opening night, a Friday, and fumed until Monday when he received a check from the screenwriter with a note, "I'm a bit late with this." And all was well with the world, but he still couldn't tell anyone about his involvement. NDAs have no expiration dates.

Why didn't he write anything under his own name to see if that would work? I suppose the people he wrote for were better known than he was?

 

[gunhilltrain]

Art imitates life. It would be a box office flop.

If it got made at all. From what I've heard, there are way too many scripts out there compared to the number of films produced. I suspect that many people delude themselves into thinking that writing a movie or TV show is easier than it looks (compared to say novels and short stories).

Anyway, some scripts do get sold but never get produced. A few writers are involved where their film is being shot, but that is probably the minority.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

If it got made at all. From what I've heard, there are way too many scripts out there compared to the number of films produced. I suspect that many people delude themselves into thinking that writing a movie or TV show is easier than it looks (compared to say novels and short stories).

Anyway, some scripts do get sold but never get produced. A few writers are involved where their film is being shot, but that is probably the minority.

Writing the script for a TV show or movie is rather easy.
Actually getting the script made into the movie or TV show is something altogether different.
There's a reason the term "development hell" exists.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Writing the script for a TV show or movie is rather easy.
Actually getting the script made into the movie or TV show is something altogether different.
There's a reason the term "development hell" exists.

That's sort of what I meant. The ratio of scripts around to actual projects - I don't know what it is, but it must be huge. Studios and talent agencies have huge slush piles of unsolicited manuscripts.