A look inside Hollywood and the movies : ‘What’re You Working On?’ ‘What!? So Am I!’

You’re a studio-aligned producer looking to launch a hit movie sequel within six months or so. You’ve hired a top-drawer writer but there’s no guarantee you’ll have a shootable script fast enough. Or that you won’t have to hire a stream of re-writers. Or that your fickle star won’t jump ship and commit to another film before the script is ready to go.

How to better the odds? Some studios and producers of sequels, as well as those making feature spinoffs of hit TV shows, have recently resorted to hiring more than one writer simultaneously, apparently on the assumption that more hands will yield more options in less time. One writer-director describes these situations as “development derbies.”

Marvin Levy, spokesman for Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, notes that “this is something that is apparently happening more and more.” Levy confirms that “multiple teams” of writers were hired to execute simultaneous drafts for Universal’s upcoming release “The Flintstones.” Other derbies have occurred, are occurring or are optional strategies under the aegis of 20th Century Fox (the next “Die Hard,” “The Beverly Hillbillies”), Warner Bros. (the next “Lethal Weapon”), MGM (the next James Bond movie), and Disney, where doubling or tripling up on writers is “standard practice,” according to a prominent screenwriter.

From the point of view of producers, hiring multiple writers makes practical sense. The strategy has the potential of reducing the time normally spent improving a script on a draft-by-draft basis. And it allows them to either pick the best script or blend the best parts of each. The practice also has a certain historical appeal, given the precedent of studio moguls of the ‘30s and ‘40s often assigning teams of writers to work on the same script.

“This was absolutely a standard practice under the studio system,” says Aljean Harmetz, who has written books about the making of “The Wizard of Oz” and “Casablanca” (“Round Up the Usual Subjects”). “(MGM production chief Irving) Thalberg, in particular, was in the habit of putting several writers on a single project. The difference today, of course, is that writers are working on a free-lance basis, whereas before they were under studio contract.”

Several writers contacted for this article find the current trend appalling. “This is probably going to make things a lot worse in a situation in which a lot of movies aren’t making basic sense anyway,” says Jonathan Lawton, who wrote Disney’s hit romantic comedy “Pretty Woman.”

Oscar-winning screenwriter Dan Taradash (“From Here to Eternity”) says: “It seems to me a great way to continue the slide downhill, as far as the craft of making movies is concerned.” Then again, says Robert Pool (“The Ultimatum”), “With a sequel, it’s not that crazy to team up on writers. They usually know which way to go on sequels. But in general, unless they know exactly what they want--which is rare--it’s an insane procedure.”

According to Writers Guild spokeswoman Cheryl Rhoden, simultaneous hirings are permissible under guild regulations as long as writers are informed about them by their employers. The guild also requires the writers to inform each other of such arrangements.

Simultaneous drafts were a recent strategy in the development of “Die Hard 3” by Cinergi’s Andy Vajna and 20th Century Fox, who hired Doug Richardson (“Die Hard 2”) and John Fasano (“The Three Musketeers”) to bang out a new adventure for John McClane (the character played by Bruce Willis in the first two installments), which Vajna and Fox had hoped to get into theaters by next summer. Willis, however, passed on both Richardson and Fasano’s scripts about two months ago, says a source close to the project, which has left “Die Hard 3” “in limbo.”

Vajna (who declined comment) is now considering trying to launch the scripts on their own merits without the “Die Hard” tag, the source adds.

A two-man derby is now behind the development of Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver’s upcoming “Lethal Weapon 4.” Scripter Jonathan Lemkin (“Demolition Man”) is working on the sequel while another as-yet-unhired writer will tap out “Lethal 5.” According to Silver, both scripts may be filmed back-to-back or “we may fold the best elements of both into one script . . . we’re keeping our options open.”

Doubling up on writers appears to be at least a backup strategy behind MGM and Panjaq Productions’ development of the next James Bond thriller, the 17th in the series. Michael France (“Cliffhanger”) is writing the script, which, it is hoped, may result in a Bond vehicle hitting screens by late ’94. But Richard Smith (“Lockup”) and John Cork were also hired to write script treatments, which Panjaq spokesman Jerry Jurow says may be used for subsequent Bond films.

The head of a reputable talent agency confides that “two teams” of writers worked simultaneously on Fox’s “The Beverly Hillbillies,” which is now in post-production. A senior Fox executive says that “there may have been an overlap” in the work periods of two of the writing teams, Alex Hershlag and Rob Schneider and Jim Fisher and Jim Stahl. CAA’s Tory Metzger, who represents a third “Hillbillies” writing duo, Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, declined comment. An arbitration dispute over screen credit is now being weighed.

There are several examples of this happening at Disney, according to writers. One of them involves the 1990 sequel “Three Men and a Little Lady,” which sources contend had as many as three pairs of writers working on it simultaneously. A more recent Disney episode involves the next in the “Honey, I Shrunk The Kids” comedy series. Touchstone executive Michael Roberts last year commissioned two sequels, one by Steve Kampmann (“Back to School”) involving Rick Moranis switching personalities with the family dog, and another called “Honey, It’s Our Turn,” in which Moranis and wife Marcia Strassman are shrunk down to the size of gnats. Disney execs reportedly preferred the latter concept, although neither has gotten the go-ahead. “This is not a Disney practice any more than it is at other studios,” one literary agent in town qualifies.