Judge: "Syriana" Isn't the Same
Syriana may have been hard to follow, but it was hard to follow in its own way.
A French court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a writer who claimed that Syriana "borrowed largely" from a script she completed in 2002. Stephanie Vergniault was seeking $2.5 million in damages from Warner Bros.; George Clooney's production company, Section Eight; and Syriana writer-director, Stephen Gaghan.
Although Gaghan's screenplay qualified as an original work--enough to be nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Oscar earlier this year--the film was also inspired by ex-CIA agent Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism.
The judge ruled that the two stories, though both about the CIA and oil company intrigue in the Persian Gulf, were "obviously different" and that any overlap was coincidental. (Apparently, there are enough sordid tales about the oil industry to go around.) He also said that Vergniault failed to accurately prove her claim that she had sent her script to a Canadian production company that supposedly had close ties to Warner Bros.
With this lawsuit behind them, the minds behind Syriana can consider their venture a success. Clooney won an Oscar for his role as a beleaguered CIA agent who has seen too much and knows too much, making the spinal injury he suffered during filming as a result of his 35-pound weight gain almost worth it.
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