Doug Ellin, creator of the hit HBO series Entourage, has accused the creators of Billions of stealing his idea. Ellin shot to fame as a screenwriter in 2004 after the release of Entourage, and has since then enjoyed a career in Hollywood with highlights including a BAFTA win, three Emmy nominations, and a spot on the board of the Greenwich International Film Festival. Entourage, which follows the career of young actor Vincent Chase in his efforts to chase fame in Hollywood, ran for eight seasons and helped net Ellin an eight-figure contract to continue producing television for HBO. Ellin attempted to capitalize on the success of his hit show in 2015 by releasing a movie adaptation of the series, and in recent years, has campaigned for a reboot of Entourage.
Ellin has been no stranger to controversy in the past decade. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, critics have argued that the Harvey Weingard character in Entourage bears striking resemblance to Harvey Weinstein, the convicted sex offender and former producer. Ellin responded to criticism of his show by dismissing it as “PC culture.” He has recently started the podcast, Hollywood Wayz, which aims to bring audiences everything they need to know about life in Hollywood. It was on the show’s latest episode that Ellin publicly discussed his feelings over the production and recent renewal of Billions.
Ellin argues on Hollywood Wayz that, as Entourage was finishing, he had come up with an idea for a hedge-fund themed show, and had sought out two friends to help him write it. Ellin then claims they “sold it to HBO,” who ended up “passing on it.” Two years later, he met Andrew Ross Sorkin, who expressed a desire to make a show “set in the hedge fund world.” Ellin claims he then decided to set Sorkin up with the two friends he had worked with previously, on the condition that he would get involved later as a producer. Ellin supposedly never heard from the trio again, until one of them informed Ellin that he was “doing a show set in the hedge fund world called Billions.” Despite all of this happening years ago, Ellin’s opinions on the matter were strong:
“This was like kind of as low rent, lowlife s--t as can possibly be done...I want nothing out of this. I want the universe to take care of itself and burn them in f---ing hell.”
Ellin refused to name names during the discussion, however, he did drop one major hint by claiming those involved wrote the 1990’s drama, Rounders. If this is true, Ellin is likely referring to Brian Koppleman and David Levien. Both are credited as writers on Rounders, and as two of the three co-creators of Billions alongside Andrew Ross Sorkin. Ellin’s comments come over half a decade after Billions’ debut, which may explain why he stated that he wanted “nothing” out of this. Despite this, his comments indicate the matter is still an emotional one for the writer and producer.
Hollywood is no stranger to large-scale and highly-publicized intellectual property disputes. Only recently in 2019, Sony and Disney battled it out over Spider-Man and his place in the MCU, a dispute which reportedly almost caused the web-slinger to be pulled from all future MCU projects. If Ellin's comments are true, they demonstrate just how intense and cut-throat the world of writing and production in Hollywood can be. Even if he wants nothing from the situation, Ellin’s story tells a great deal about the way in which Hollywood makes its movies and TV, and how fame as a writer and producer can be won and lost on a dime as a result, even for the writer of a hit series like Entourage.
Source: Doug Ellin