Alexander Payne Discusses ‘The Holdovers’ Plagiarism, ‘Election’ Sequel & TV Return

Alexander Payne has vehemently denied earlier reports this year that his five-time Oscar-nominated film, The Holdovers, directed from a script by David Hemingson, was plagiarized.

Speaking at the Sarajevo Film Festival, Payne addressed the Variety report that surfaced just before the Oscars. The report involved accusations from Luca screenwriter Simon Stephenson, who claimed that The Holdovers was plagiarized from his 2013 Black List screenplay Frisco.

“It was the stupidest thing in the world,” Payne remarked. “It was irresponsible of Variety to report on that without having read the scripts and comparing them themselves. Do you think The New York Times would have done that?”

Payne continued, “I haven’t heard anything more about it and I wish him [Stephenson] well but there was just no merit to it. I didn’t even pay attention to it because kooky accusations come out of the woodwork all of the time. But then it kind of kept coming up, I thought, ‘Well, that’s dumb.’”

Payne openly declared where he got the idea for The Holdovers: “Meanwhile, I’ve spoken openly about the film I did steal the idea for The Holdovers from, and it was a 1935 French film [Marcel Pagnol’s comedy-drama Merlusse]. That’s where I stole it from – I didn’t steal it from that guy.”

During his time at the Sarajevo Film Festival, Payne also discussed future projects, including a sequel to his well-received film Election and a Western project with Hemingson. Payne and his Election co-writer, Jim Taylor, are currently in the early stages of writing the sequel. “Jim and I are still conceiving it,” Payne mentioned, confirming that Reese Witherspoon will reprise her role as Tracy Flick.

When asked if the sequel would be released on Paramount+, Payne was clear: “All I know is the deal was made for Paramount+, which is for streaming, and I don’t want to do that anymore. I like theatrical. You know, everybody gets dollar signs in their eyes when they hear about streaming, and I’m more interested in theatrical movies.”

Regarding the Western with Hemingson, Payne quipped, “We’re about 20 bad pages in.”

Payne reflected on the current state of the theatrical market, admitting that it has always been a struggle for the “more human films” he is known for, such as Sideways and The Descendants. He believes that the system feels “upside down” when it comes to which films succeed at the box office.

“In the 1970s, when I grew up, it was the car chase movies that were the B pictures,” Payne observed. “Now they’re all making Roger Corman films. They cost $200 million and make a billion. And what used to be the A pictures are now the shrink-wrapped arthouse films. So, the whole world is ‘upside down’ that way. But every year, a few are allowed to the table.”

In television, Payne has directed the pilot for the HBO series Hung, and also served as an executive producer for the show. When asked if he would consider returning to TV, Payne stated, “I wish someone would offer me a great series to direct because I would do it. But in terms of conceiving stuff for myself, my brain still defaults to movies.”