An unknown writer, a fast-rising feeding frenzy, and a true multimillion-dollar deal. It’s enough to make executives or aspiring screenplay authors dream of the heady spec script deals of the 1990s.

Writing a screenplay isn’t necessarily some big mysterious artistic process. For some people who do it successfully enough times, it just becomes work. Flowery literary spices such as “inspiration” ...

“The Holdovers,” Alexander Payne’s Oscar-nominated film, is being accused of plagiarizing its script “line-by-line” in a “brazen” way, screenwriter Simon Stephenson says in multiple emails obtained by ...