The estate of Harper Lee, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird, is suing the creator the Broadway version for not adhering to the story as was agreed upon apparently. Aaron Sorkin, the screenwriter of the play, has contended that there isn’t time or room enough to make the kind of changes that were spoken of after he presented the script to Lee, who disapproved of the changes that were made to the story. So far there hasn’t been any resolution as both sides are holding firm to their stories, but the play is set to come out in December so it would seem that something needs to be settled soon.
Changing a story when it is given over to a different venue is something that tends to happen. From book form to movie or TV there are a lot of changes that typically take place, but from book to play it seems that there should be every effort to make the transition work without any huge snags along the way. But in this case it sounds as though Sorkin might have made a few too many change to the story that didn’t sit well with the original author. Lee passed away in February of 2016, but before she did there was a contract written up between her and Sorkin that stated what was to happen if he wanted to write a screenplay based on her story. As Sorkin’s side would tell it he has stayed faithful to the story as was outlined in the contract, but Lee and her estate have contended since before her passing that there were simply too many changes and that the main characters were not as well-represented as she’d made them.
On the one hand, and as a writer, it is easy to understand the frustration of someone attempting to rework something that has taken a great deal of time and effort to bring forth. Stories are in some cases like children as they take a lot of patience and time to develop. To have someone change so much that was important to the original story is almost as though they’ve just insulted your family and attempted to rework the world that you took so much time to create. On the other hand however adapting a story to a different venue could be assumed to be one person’s representation of a classic story set in a slightly different light. However if Lee’s estate still held all the rights then Sorkin might need to back up a few steps and remind himself just where the original story came from.
It doesn’t seem likely that those handling Lee’s estate would seek to halt the production, but the argument of how much needs to be changed could be one that continue onward until the announced premier. If things aren’t concluded by then it might be a toss up as to whether it will be released or if there will be any legal action that can be taken to prevent it. At this point it’s a guessing game as to who will prevail.
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