Gary Goldman (screenwriter)
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Gary Leon Goldman (born 17 September 1953) is an American screenwriter. His film credits include '' Big Trouble in Little China'' (
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...
), '' Total Recall'' (
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
) and '' Navy SEALs'' (
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
).


Career

Goldman's first big screen writing credit was for John Carpenter's fantasy martial arts film, ''Big Trouble in Little China,'' which he co-wrote with David Weinstein. Originally set in the old west, the script was later adapted by Carpenter's former classmate at USC film school,
W. D. Richter Walter Duch Richter (born December 7, 1945) is an American screenwriter, film director and film producer. He is best known for adapting ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'', directing ''The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension ...
, to take place in modern times. Goldman's next major writing job came in 1989 for the
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
''Total Recall,'' starring
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
. Originally written by
Ronald Shusett Ronald Shusett (born June 1935) is an American motion picture screenwriter and producer, usually in the science fiction genre. He wrote the original story for ''Alien'' (1979) with Dan O'Bannon and later ''Alien vs. Predator'' (2004). In 1974 ...
and
Dan O'Bannon Daniel Thomas O'Bannon (September 30, 1946 – December 17, 2009) was an American film screenwriter, film director, director and visual effects supervisor, usually in the science fiction and Horror fiction, horror genres. O'Bannon wrote the scr ...
, director
Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...
had problems with the third act and hired Goldman to help fix the screenplay. According to the director, the problem was that the last forty minutes of the film was one long action sequence and had abandoned the "mental theme." Working with Shusett, Goldman was able to reintroduce this mental theme by adding a plot twist where the audience discovers that Schwarzenegger's character, who is assumed to be a good guy, had his memory wiped and is actually a bad guy. Shortly after the success of ''Total Recall'', Goldman and Shusett co-wrote a screen adaptation of
Philip K. Dick Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928March 2, 1982), often referred to by his initials PKD, was an American science fiction writer. He wrote 44 novels and about 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his l ...
's story, '' The Minority Report'', to serve as a possible sequel to the film. Although their screenplay was not used, the
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
film, ''
Minority Report Minority Report may refer to: * Minority report (Poor Law), published by the UK Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress 1905–09 * "Minority Report", a 1949 science fiction short story by Theodore Sturgeon * "The Minority Report ...
'', has a sequence set in a car factory, which was adapted from their early script. In the end, Goldman didn't receive a writing credit, but was listed as an
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...
of the film. By 2003, Goldman's career had slowed down, and manager Lenny Beckerman suggested that he adapt another Philip K. Dick story. Goldman had a good relationship with the Dick estate and was able to acquire the rights to his 1954 short story, ''
The Golden Man "The Golden Man" is an 11,600-word science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was received by the Scott Meredith Literary Agency on June 24, 1953, and first published in the April 1954 issue of '' If'' magazine. The story ...
''. The completed script was sold to Nicolas Cage's production company, Saturn Films, and eventually became the 2007 film, ''
Next Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...
'', directed by
Lee Tamahori Warren Lee Tamahori (; born 17 June 1950) is a New Zealand filmmaker best known for directing the 1994 film ''Once Were Warriors'', the 2001 film '' Along Came a Spider'', and 2002's James Bond film ''Die Another Day''. Upbringing and early career ...
and starring Cage, along with Julianne Moore and
Jessica Biel Jessica Claire Timberlake (née Biel ; born March 3, 1982) is an American actress and model. She has received various accolades, including a Young Artist Award, and nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Biel be ...
. Unfortunately, the film was not a great critical or financial success.


Lawsuit

On March 21, 2017, Goldman filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Disney over the film ''
Zootopia ''Zootopia'' (titled ''Zootropolis'' in various regions) is a 2016 American computer-animated buddy cop action comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 55th Disney animated feature film, ...
''. According to the suit, Goldman pitched a concept to Disney for a live-action film titled ''Looney'', centered around an animator's creation of a TV cartoon called ''Zootopia''. Goldman twice pitched the concept, featuring the same title, in 2000 and 2009. Disney began pre-production on a film titled 'Zootopia' — a term never having previously appeared in Disney's creative work — in 2013. Disney's film centered on a theme that the lawsuit alleged to be similar to Goldman's initial pitch, depicting a society of animals who could "pursue their dreams no matter their species." Goldman's suit alleged that the company had reproduced the name, themes, settings, and character tropes offered in his pitch. Goldman also filed graphics of concept artwork of characters claimed to have been appropriated by Disney's character portrayals, including Nick Wilde, Flash, Chief Bogo, and Judy Hopps (appearing in Goldman's pitch as a squirrel modeled after his wife, Judith). U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald dismissed the infringement claims on November 8, 2017. As stated in the final review, "...Goldman's effort to make the plots of ''Looney'' and ''Zootopia'' seem similar were strained. All the purported similarities between the two works were themes, not plot points or sequences of events, that were too general to be protected by copyright law." Goldman appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where it affirmed the lower court's dismissal, finding that " he Walt Disney Companymay have copied the idea of a zoo-utopia but their expression of that idea bears almost no resemblance to Plaintiff’s expression".


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldman, Gary 1953 births 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American screenwriters American male screenwriters Living people 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers