The $4 million script

If you're a struggling screenwriter you might not want to read this post, but Nikki Finke reports that Akiva Goldsman is getting $4 million for the Da Vinci Code sequel, which is being made by Sony Pictures and Imagine Entertainment. And that's without a producer credit. Finke hears that this is an all-time high for a screenwriter. "The Da Vinci Code" generated $755 million at the box office. From her Deadline Hollywood Daily:

This is great news for Hollywood screenwriters, who continue to get screwed left and right in the moviemaking process, notwithstanding the WGA's supposedly best efforts to prevent that. The terrible news is that it's sad these bucks are going for the sequel to a movie which the critics roundly panned. Generally, the most in-demand screenwriters these days are getting between $2 mil and $2.5 mil per project. And Sony historically has been known to open its wallets a little wider for writers than most studios.