Was Melissa Mathison a hack writer?

posted 4 years ago by TMC-4 (20124)

She's been accused of plagiarizing an unproduced script titled The Alien written by Satyajit Ray in 1967. And among the 10 works that she that she wrote, only ET was an original screenplay.

https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/25/movies/writer-loses-a-round-in-lawsuit-over-et.html

The Black Stallion - adaptation of a book

ET - original screenplay

The Escape Artist - adaptation of a book

The Twilight Zone Movie - adaptation of an earlier episode of the series

Son of the Morning Star - based on real events

The Indian in the Cupboard - adaptation of a book

Kundun - based on real events

The Emperor's New Clothes: An All-Star Illustrated Retelling of the Classic Fairy Tale - sequel

Ponyo - wrote the English script for the Japanese film

The BFG - adaptation of a book

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/07/21/melissa-mathison-the-life-and-death-of-spielbergs-right-hand-wom/

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/gyckmi/i_watched_et_again_recently_its_a_great_film_for/