The ongoing writers’ strike has seen many examples put forward of how Hollywood (and cinema in general) doesn’t value those who create the characters, settings, and stories we love. Writers deserve better, whether they’re scratching out a living on the breadline, or penning billion-dollar blockbusters.
As neat proof of how even top writers are treated, look no further than Star Wars Rebels, Rogue One, and The Book of Eli screenwriter Andy Whitta. 2010 Denzel Washington post-apocalyptic Western The Book of Eli is the top featured movie on Max right now, though Whitta has a bone to pick with the description:
The top theory is that this data is scraped from a source that’s had the wrong information added. We’d suspect this to be faulty IMDb information, although that correctly lists Whitta as the sole writer. But this is a Warner Bros. movie on a Warner Bros. Discovery platform, so it really should get this stuff right.
We will likely never know for sure, but it’s just another piece of evidence that Hollywood sees writers as a very low priority. After all, if we wouldn’t expect them to list the wrong stars for a movie, why should we accept the same for the writers?
Fortunately, the industry is once again realizing how crucial writers are, with many productions having to slam the brakes as scribes down pens and actors stay home. This situation cannot continue, so we expect to see the studios continuing to act bullish in public while desperately trying to negotiate an end behind the scenes.