Hollywood’s latest plot twist isn’t playing out on the silver screen — it’s unfolding in a courtroom, darlings. Power couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco (who, let’s be honest, have been absolutely everywhere since their Netflix anthology series dropped last month) are facing accusations that have tongues wagging from Sunset Boulevard to Park City.
The drama? Their Sundance sensation “Together” might be less original than those tear-stained standing ovations would have us believe.
Here’s the tea: Writer Patrick Phelan claims the Franco-Brie passion project bears an uncanny resemblance to his 2023 film “Better Half.” And honey, we’re not talking about the kind of surface-level similarities you’d find in those AI-generated scripts flooding studio inboxes these days. The parallels are more identical than those matching Valentino numbers at last week’s Golden Globes.
Flash back to 2019. Phelan crafts “Better Half,” and by 2020, WME dangles a modest $20,000 offer in front of Franco and Brie. The couple passed — faster than that juice cleanse trend that swept through Beverly Hills last summer. But here’s where it gets juicy: both films feature couples who become physically fused together (serving major “body horror meets rom-com” energy), complete with matching references to Plato’s Symposium. Because nothing says “modern love story” quite like ancient Greek philosophy, right?
The similarities don’t stop there. Both narratives apparently spiral through medical interventions and — wait for it — chainsaw solutions. (Somewhere, the “Evil Dead” franchise is feeling very seen.) But the cherry on this possibly purloined sundae? Both films supposedly wrap with their conjoined couples finding solace in a Spice Girls’ “Spiceworld” vinyl moment. If that’s coincidence, then those rumors about the upcoming Marvel-DC crossover must be true.
WME’s response has been predictably dismissive — Hollywood speak for “new phone, who dis?” Their spokesperson declared the lawsuit “frivolous and without merit,” which ranks right up there with “creative differences” in the industry’s book of standard denials.
The case raises fascinating questions about creative ownership in an era where even ChatGPT is pitching scripts. (Remember that AI-written sitcom pilot that made rounds last fall? Yikes.) Can two creative teams independently arrive at the same bizarrely specific conclusion involving physical fusion and ’90s girl groups? Or is this another case of Hollywood’s “inspiration” crossing the line from homage to straight-up ctrl+c, ctrl+v?
As the industry braces for another headline-grabbing legal battle (as if the streaming wars weren’t giving us enough drama), one thing’s crystal clear: Hollywood’s relationship with original ideas remains more complicated than explaining why we’re getting another Batman reboot. With a jury trial on the horizon, this story’s far from over — though unlike the films’ protagonists, these parties won’t be stuck together forever.
And darlings, isn’t that just the way the cookie crumbles in Tinseltown? Pass the popcorn.
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