It’s a rumor that has swirled throughout Hollywood for a couple of years: did Paul Thomas Anderson do uncredited script punch-ups for Martin Scorsese‘s “Killers Of The Flower Moon” and Ridley Scott‘s “Napoleon“? Now, a definitive answer from Anderson himself, courtesy of a new interview with Dazed: yes, he did.
“I love to contribute in any way I can if somebody reaches out for help,” the “One Battle After Another” director told the outlet. “Both of those things were a thing with Joaquin [Phoenix], a thing with Leo[nardo DiCaprio], and obviously with Marty and Ridley. It’s always a privilege to say, ‘Let me tell you my thoughts on the script.’” Well, that settles that. Anderson also cited his friendships with late directors Robert Altman, Jonathan Demme, and Robert Downey Sr. as influences for providing that kind of behind-the-scenes help. “They made me feel encouraged and confident,” he continued.
Anderson’s involvement with both films has had a whisper campaign among journalists for a while now, to the point that crew from either movie were asked about it in interviews. For example, “Killers Of The Flower Moon” DP Rodrigo Pietro skirted the topic on Marc Maron‘s “WTF” podcast. Months afterward, THR confirmed that “Napoleon” star Phoenix reportedly demanded Anderson be brought in for script rewrites, threatening to leave the historical epic if he didn’t. All the while, Anderson remained silent about the rumors, presumably because he was busy with his latest film. Now, he confirms the rumors are true.
Is this really that scintillating a story, though? Uncredited script changes have always been common in Hollywood, a part of the intricate process of getting a project “just so” before it’s shot and cobbled together in the editing room. And sometimes, a script is a work in progress even as production on a film begins, or a Frankenstein’s monster of different story ideas sewn together. Anderson admitted as much in the Dazed interview about his script for “One Battle After Another.” Yes, it’s a loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon‘s 1990 novel “Vineland,” but the film also takes inspiration from two other scripts Anderson wrote over the years: one about a bounty hunter, and the other about a young female activist.
In that sense, sometimes it takes several ideas, and several creative voices, to get a movie script where it needs to be. So Anderson punched up a Ridley Scott movie and a Marty Scorsese movie; so what? That’s all part of the labor that goes into making a film come together; how many hands tinkered with Quint’s USS Indianapolis speech in “Jaws” before Robert Shaw delivered it again?
Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” hits theaters today. Read The Playlist’s review of the film here.
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