It's the "Number One Movie in America!" Again. Who wrote it? The "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" screenplay is credited to its star Kevin James and Nick Bakay, who also wrote and co-starred in some episodes of James' TV series, "King of Queens." Meanwhile, an anonymous tipster ("Nomen Nescio") who claims to have worked on the film has sent me a link to an award-winning, undated (but pre-2004) script named "Mall Cop" by a self-described ghostwriter named Alfred Thomas Catalfo, whose IMDb credits include the shorts "The Norman Rockwell Code" (2006) and "The Stag Hunt" (2008).
So, would you believe that "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" is based on an award-winning screenplay by an uncredited writer? What's the story? Or is there one? Surely more than two scripts have been written involving mall cops in "Die Hard" parodies. And maybe it's a coincidence that the movie was shot in New England, where Catalfo is also based....
UPDATE (2/5/09): Catalfo now tells The Boston Herald that he got a rejection letter from Adam Sandler's Happy Madison productions saying they prefer to develop their projects "in house."
I can't comment on the similarities (if any) between Catalfo's script and the movie (having not seen "Paul Blart: Mall Cop"), but I have contacted Catalfo via e-mail to see if he can enlighten. (See update below -- received minutes after I published this.)
People get paid, and paid well, for pitches -- like, say, "Die Hard" with mall cop. What's unusual and intriguing about Catalfo's "Mall Cop" is that the festival- and competition-award-winning script is hosted on a site called Scriptghost, "a professional screenplay ghostwriting service," run by Catalfo himself, who is described as a "screenwriter, director, producer, member of the Screen Actors Guild and attorney." From the Scriptghost homepage:
Everyone has an idea for a film script.
Not everyone has the time, writing experience, or the story structure and formatting knowledge to write a professional screenplay.
Best of all, when it's finished, YOUR name goes on it.
So, if you sell it to a studio or get a production deal or even win an Academy Award...
CONGRATULATIONS!
Let us write the next one for you, too!
Reviews indicate that 2009 Oscar nominations are probably not in the stars for "Paul Blart: Mall Cop." And if Catalfo & Co. did work on the script, any further comment may be contractually verboten -- but I sent my inquiries anyway. (No reply yet.) Maybe I'm naive, but I didn't know you could just go out there and advertise yourself as a Hollywood ghostwriter on the World Wide Internets! From the "How It Works" section:
Scriptghost™ functions as an author-for-hire and will take no copyright interest whatsoever in your project. It is important that you and Scriptghost™ feel secure in discussing confidential material. Therefore, prior to discussing or reviewing your idea, Scriptghost™ requires a standard submission agreement, which we will send to you upon request. We also strongly suggest that you copyright your story and/or register it with the Writers Guild of America prior to submission.
In conventional circumstances, it would be unusual under Writers Guild rules for the original writer to receive no credit at all unless virtually everything (story, dialog, characters, premise) were radically changed. Of course, it's incredibly common for many, many writers to polish, punch-up and/or totally re-write a studio script -- especially a comedy. (Did you know that Quentin Tarantino and Peter and Bobby Farrelly wrote drafts of "It's Pat: The Movie," though very little was in the final version? It's true!)
Can't wait to find out if there's more to this story. I'll let you know what I find out. Meanwhile, if you've seen "Paul Blart," please leave your comments on any resemblances (or lack thereof) to Catalfo's script.
Afterthought: What if "Mall Cop" is the ghostwritten script and "Paul Blart" is an earlier version? Or what if...
UPDATE: I received a reply from Catalfo's address, but all it said was: "Thank you for your message. May I ask who sent the link?" I responded that I shouldn't name the source, but it appeared to be from an anonymous e-mail address anyway.
A COUPLE HOURS LATER: Catalfo responds: "I can tell you that I wrote my script 'Mall Cop' in 2000 and that it was a winner and/or finalist in twelve major screenwriting competitions. I was not hired to ghostwrite "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" and only recently started my Scriptghost service."
UPDATE: A Google search turned up this blurb from Catalfo in praise of screenwriting analyst Robert Flaxman:
"I just got home from Canada and received some good news...MALL COP is one of eleven finalists out of more than 2500 entries in the Final Draft Big Break International Screenwriting Contest!
We're five for five in competitions so far! Thanks again for your exceptional guidance and direction. You've made me a much better writer."
Alfred Thomas Catalfo MALL COP
Script Magazine/Open Door - Finalist ScriptNotes - Semi-Finalist Writers Network - Semi-Finalist Austin Film Festival - Semi-Finalist Final Draft - Big Break - Finalist Nantucket Film Festival - Finalist Script P.I.M.P. - Finalist Chesterfield - SemiFinalist Monterey - Finalist Fade In - Finalist American Accolades - Finalist - Genre Winner NHFX/New England Screenplay - Winner
So I can submit an idea to these guys and they'll write it for me. Wow! Do they do this for blog posts too? And how about butt-wiping, because I'm getting kind of tired of wiping my own.
I'm totally sending in my idea of the sexy film blogger who saves the President. It's so totally awesome, I can only imagine how much Catalfo will improve it.
Actually, in all seriousness, do studios even buy ideas/scenarios or finished screenplays? And does anyone even read submissions anymore? I was under the impression that unless you're an independent filmmaker financing your own script, pretty much everything that comes out of Hollywood has been "commissioned" by the studio, so to speak, and written by the in-house staff.
JE: Salaried staff writers for features? Those were the days! (Before the '50s, anyway.) Usually uncredited writers are brought in to revise and re-write. Studios give "story" (or idea/concept) credits just to avoid lawsuits. So, if this "Mall Cop" script did indeed provide the germ of the idea for "Paul Blart," I wonder how it happened. Who came up with the idea, and how was it developed?
If Kevin James stole this guy's script (and from reading it it sure looks like he did), James is not only a thief but a stupid one. All he did was change the mall cop's name from "Art" to "Blart" and change the jewelry stores to a bank (which may explain why having a bank robbery in Paul Blart made no sense at all). Both scripts are about a mall cop who can't get into the police academy, lives at home with him mother and rescues hostages after a mall robbery goes bad. They both even have scenes set in the Rainforest Cafe! Maybe the sequel can be Paul Blart: Script Thief.
Jim,
Blart isn't even the only mall cop comedy on the slate for 2009. We also have "Observe and Report" coming up, described as a film about "a bi-polar mall security guard" starring some guy named Seth Rogen.
Must be something in the zeitgeist. Does the mall cop archetype speak to the American condition in a post-Bush world?
Well, there's no Segway. Other than that, it's the same damn story. Weirdly, this version is actually a hell of a lot better than "Paul Blart Mall Cop." If they were going to steal it they should have left it alone.
I'm reminded of that scene in "Waking Life," where Jesse and Celine talk about the interconnectedness of humanity and collective memory. To quote from the film:
"It's like there's this whole telepathic thing going on that we're all a part of, whether we're conscious of it or not. That would explain why there are all these, you know, seemingly spontaneous, worldwide, innovative leaps in science, in the arts. You know, like the same results poppin' up everywhere independent of each other. Some guy on a computer, he figures something out, and then almost simultaneously a bunch of other people all over the world figure out the same thing. So it's like once the answers are out there, people can pick up on 'em. It's like we're all telepathically sharing our experiences."
This WOULD explain the existence of the two scripts. Of course, Ockham might have a thing or two to say about it. But I always found him to be a stick in the mud, no?
Brian
Hey Jim,
Christopher has a good point about "Observe and Report" also being a mall cop comedy but the description of the Seth Rogen film on IMDB is much different than James's "Blart" or Catalfo's "Mall Cop". It kind of proves that it isn't the mall cop that makes them similar; it's the fact that these two scripts have identical storylines. I saw "Blart" last weekend and just read the Catalfo script online. I agree with Brian: it's the same story with the James-Blart version actually looking pretty bad compared to the original. I'm sure this kind of thing happens in Hollywood all the time but it's still kind of shocking when it's this blatant.
Catalfo also owns www.mallcopmovie.com (no actual content on it).
Here's three guesses:
(1) Catalfo sold his script and rights to be named (but is saying he didn't do it as part of his service.)
(2) It was stolen, Catalfo sued them (or knocked on their doors), and Catalfo got paid to shut up.
(3) Its currently in legal proceedings.
I would be ashamed to be associated with the script of this movie.
They have ghostwriters for episodic as well.
I ran across a website several months back while looking for a script reader job that was hiring ghostwriters for screenplays. I sent in a resume and never heard back!
There's also a fellow, whose name I can't recall who makes a nifty living off of selling loglines to studios. That's all he does. Two or three sentences. I think I read about him in a Creative Screenwriting issue.
SB and Jose both might be on to something. Maybe the writer sold it or it was stolen and when he saw what they did to it, he asked that his name be removed as part of the deal. It says Catalfo's script won a bunch of awards and it doesn't seem like the Kevin James version could have been an award-winner, especially in some of the contests your article mentioned.
This should be investigated by the WGA to preserve the integrity of its own system. Maybe nothing happened here but it seems strange enough to warrant a closer look. Every writer deserves that kind of protection.
I've seen Paul Blart and just read the Catalfo script. Sure, the plot set-up is the same -- Die Hard in a mall. Yes, both have scenes in Rainforest Cafe, Victoria's Secret, etc. Yes, the lead character in both lives with his mother and has thwarted dreams of being a police officer.
But all due respect, guys, these similarities are not actionable. If you told 10 writers to write a mall cop comedy, every one of them might well come up with those elements.
Film-Geek, you're flat-out wrong. There are more differences than similarities in the characters and plot specifics -- way too many to enumerate here. As I said, the only real similarities are the non-actionable ones. I'll be shocked if this goes to court and Catalfo wins. It absolutely does suck for him that his good idea got beaten to the screen by two other films, but it's quite common, even when no theft is involved. Hollywood makes films according to tried-and-true formulae, so EVERY screenwriter can point to at least one film that is similar to a script or pitch they worked on.
Even if James and Bakay actually did read Catalfo's script before doing their own, they had enough sense to change it drastically enough to avoid legal ramifications. But I'm inclined to give them (and Rogen) the benefit of the doubt. Remember the late '80s when Big, Vice Versa, Like Father Like Son and 18 Again all came out? I don't recall any lawsuits.
jbryant, I think you may be the one who's flat-out wrong and, respectfully, a bit naive. These cases NEVER go to court. Hollywood studios can't take the risk of a jury coming back with a huge award or having their film accounting practices scrutinized. If no lawsuit has been filed when the two scripts are this similar it almost surely means that the claim was handled quickly and quietly.
Who cares who wrote Mall Cop. It was a great movie, I've never laughed so much in a long time. The Die Hard parodies became apparent as the movie progressed and as I love Die Hard I was thrilled. Apparently lots of people love it, because it's been the No. 1 movie for 2 weeks. I can't wait to see it again. We even went to the Rainforest Cafe afterwards. Luv You Kevin.
Peter: So you read the Catalfo script and saw the Blart film? Don't you think the similarities are all in the basic plot? Schlubby mall cop thwarts robbery/hostage crisis in mall. All the characters are different, the tactics the mall cop uses against the villains are different, the romance is different, the climax is different, dozens of details are different.
I agree that many plagiarism cases probably never go to court, perhaps most for the reason you state. But the only real similarities in Mall Cop and Paul Blart are the kind you'd find in just about any script written to the Die Hard template. Should Catalfo be sued by the writers of Die Hard? Hostage crisis; lone hero stuck in the building stealthily fighting the bad guys; cops and FBI waiting outside.
I'm no lawyer, but I just don't think there's a case here. Even if there's proof that James, Bakay or someone involved in the production saw Catalfo's script, I don't think that basic plotline is copyrightable. Perhaps someone with a background in entertainment law can enlighten us.
I think we're chasing ghosts a bit on this one.
I had an idea about a year ago to write a script about a young boy that befriends a young girl who turns out to be a bit of a vampire (though not quite). A serious coming of age story. He was going to be picked on by bullies. It was going to be very wintery out.
Not all of my elements were going to be exactly like "Let the Right One In", and I'm still going to write it, because it's different enough. But who knows, if I had started on it when I wanted to, after a 2nd or 3rd draft, it may have turned out exactly like "LtROI". Now it won't.
You read about agents and producers getting hundreds of exactly the same story lines and plots in the scripts they receive. They say specifically, "Don't send a script about a video game player that gets sucked into the video game..." And will lay out specific plot points, because they get 10's of 20's of these exact types of scripts, and hate them.
If cases like this even make it to court, most studios win. If they had gone to court, the burden of proof would have been on the writer. These sorts of cases hardly win. I doubt anyone involved in the writing of "Paul Blart" was shaking enough in their booties to warrant just handing over money as an out of court settlement. That's the reality for writers. It's very, very difficult to prove any of this. From "Rocky" to Eddie Murphy's "The Nutty Professor", these sorts of law suits are very difficult to win, and if they do, it's over the course of a several year battle. Paul Bart just came out. No money has exchanged hands.
JE: Ah, but what are ghosts for, if not to chase them? Because "Mall Cop" existed, and had won several script competition awards, in the early '00s, stories have been circulating (and the tip I got said) that the studio purchased it for the star to re-write. The unusual thing is that the original writer (who now runs a ghostwriting business, where he's posted his award-winning "Mall Cop" script as an example of his work) didn't get any screen credit -- but that would probably have entitled him to residuals. Just one of many possible examples of how films can get made...
Jim...ghosts scare me...
JE: Circus clowns scare me. And bishops who are Holocaust deniers.
There is also the fact that they paid the original writer for the script, rewrote it to such an extent that the original writer no longer got screen credit. That happens all the time, no lawsuits necessary. Or did someone already say that. I could just be an echo.
JE: That's a possibility. I don't know if it ever went through WGA arbitration. If it did, and "Mall Cop" was the original version, the writer may have been entitled to at least a "story by" (or "based upon") screen credit, since from accounts here the story and main characters are similar. It usually would have to be otherwise unrecognizable (a comedy about body-switching; a comedy about a mall cop) for the WGA not to favor the original writer.
Usually they do that...unless the writer is an artist and absolutely hates where a script has gone, or just want the money and don't like the finished product. Both examples I was going to shout out fell through...so I got nothing for ya. So i could just be making stuff up.
What really scares me? My unhinged imagination. I scare myself more than anything else. Oh, and Telle Tubies, especially the sun with a baby's face in it...that only giggles...no thanks.
I know nothing about the backstory on this thing. If Catalfo sold his Mall Cop script to the studio (or prodco or whatever), they of course had every right to rewrite it. If this is the case, a Story By credit for him might well be warranted. I think the WGA favors original writers in such cases. But Catalfo could refuse credit or use a pseudonym if he wished, as Phillip mentioned.
The weirdest recent case I know of is Evan Almighty. If I recall correctly, two guys wrote an original spec with the modern Noah plot. The studio bought it, thinking it would be a good set-up for a Bruce Almighty sequel featuring Steve Carell's character. The script was drastically changed by other writers. The two original guys got a nice payday, and the film exists only because of their spec, but they get no credit and no residuals. The Bruce Almighty writers get credit and residuals because they created Evan.
One might think that the two guys' Noah plot would be enough for a story credit, but it's a basic concept that's been around a while. There was a Tony Danza TV movie, and I read a similar spec about 15 years ago.
The issue here is NOT the degree of substantial similarity. The two scripts appear to be similar enough to sustain that burden. If the writer was not hired to ghostwrite Paul Blart as you indicated, the question is simple: Did any of the Paul Blart production entities have PRIOR ACCESS to the Catalfo script? If the answer is yes, he is entitled to credit and compensation pursuant to Writers Guild rules and California law. This is not a complicated question.
They had access to it! keep in mind he could not have been a ghostwriter he submitted this from 2000-2005 in several contest and production companies trying to get the movie made! Catalfo is a lawyer and no dummy!
too bad they did not leave the original alone it is a better version!
Mall Cop UPDATE: According to a story on The Boston Herald web site:
http://tinyurl.com/dmqxwn
(Tip: Jonathan Foster)
Mr. Catalfo has written many, many good and award winning scripts. Probably more than Kevin James, who apparently can't seem to act or write his own way out of a paper sack. It is a shame that it has come to this, but the general public has a right to know the truth. The WWW has a way of leveling the playing field because it is out of Kevin and Adam's hands.