Highlights
- Screenwriter Gary Whitta complains about The Book of Eli streaming without giving him writing credit, highlighting the mistreatment of writers during the ongoing strike.
- Despite initial mixed reviews, the film has gained popularity on home streaming platforms, benefiting everyone involved except Whitta, who was the sole writer.
- Whitta's tweet about the writing credit issue blames both the original studio and streaming service Max, reflecting the larger plight of writers in the industry.
The Book of Eli screenwriter Gary Whitta took to social media to complain about how the film has soared to the top of a streaming service’s featured list without crediting him. This slight on the writer occurs while the Writers Guild of America is still on strike concerning ill-treatment such as this.
Directed by the Hughes Brothers and first premiering in 2010, The Book of Eli is a neo-western action movie set in post-apocalyptic North America. The film follows the journey of El, a nomad on a mission to deliver a mysterious manuscript to a safe haven on the West Coast of the United States. However, his journey is hounded by the minions of a Warlord who seeks to use it to control people. Despite opening to mixed reviews, the film was a commercial success that almost doubled its $80 million budget with an audience turnout attributable to leading man Denzel Washington, who has starred in and directed many critically high-ranked movies.
While The Book of Eli seemed destined to go down as one of Washington's more underappreciated movies, the film has resurged in popularity with the home streaming medium. This would be good news for everyone who worked hard on the project, save for one massive flaw. For the film’s writing credits, the names of the Hughes brothers and Washington are given, completely glossing over the contributions of Whitta, the sole writer for the Book of Eli, who was forced to take to social media to vent his frustration about the situation.
"THE BOOK OF ELI is currently the #1 featured movie on â¦@StreamOnMax which is great," reads the post, which featured a smartphone-taken picture of the credits on a screen. "Not so great? The writing credit still lists three people who were not writers of the film, while omitting me, the sole writer of the film. #WGAStrike." While engaging in discussion in the comments, Whitta blamed the original studio’s attribution and the streaming service Max, which recently set about removing all traces of Zack Snyder's Justice League from its library.
Whitta is not an unknown entity in the industry who could be easily overlooked by accident, as his credits include projects like Rogue One, The Walking Dead, Star Wars Rebels, Batman: Fortress, and Gundog. This incident is a clear example of the sort of issues that plague writers, leading to the current strike action being undertaken by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild, with even largely independent and unscripted content like Dimension20 and Critical Role being affected. Whether or not Whitta's tweet will be able to resolve this particular situation remains to be seen.
The Book of Eli is streaming now on Max.
Source: Gary Whitta/Twitter