Stephen Boyd

Question: I'm really confused by the fact that Syriana was nominated in the Original Screenplay category — am I crazy, or wasn't it based on a book by someone who used to be in the CIA?

I recently noticed that Gladiator was nominated for best original screenplay, when in fact it was virtually a scene-by-scene remake of The Fall of the Roman Empire, starring Stephen Boyd and Christopher Plummer. Why did it qualify as an original script? — Sami

Answer: The on-screen credit for writer-director Stephen Gaghan's Syriana screenplay says that it was "suggested by the book See No Evil by Robert Baer." Baer was a high-level, Middle East-based CIA officer, and his 2002 nonfiction book generated a lot of controversy by ta read more