By Yuriy Andriyashchuk
Hip-HopVibe.com Staff Writer
“What Men Want” has been one of the most entertaining films of 2019 as it starred Taraji P. Henson and Tracy Morgan. The plot featured Henson as a rising sports agent who ended up receiving the ability to read men’s thoughts after taking a drink which gave her that power. The drink was given by the legendary Erykah Badu who appeared in the film as well. We also saw athletes such as John Collins from the Atlanta Hawks, Devonta Freeman from the Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Mavericks team owner Mark Cuban, Atlanta Hawks part-owner and Hall of Famer Grant Hill, and HOfer Shaquille O’Neil.
A screenwriter named Joe Carlini apparently had plans for the same concept of What Men Want, according to The Blast. He is suing Paramount Pictures, producer Will Packer and BET for copyright infringement. Way back in 2014, he supposedly wrote a screenplay titled ‘What The F Is He Thinking?’ which had the same plot and idea to bring in famous athletes as well.
Court documents stated “In 2014, Plaintiff began writing an original screenplay for a feature- length film along with David Collins (“Collins”), which had as its central plot point a woman obtaining the ability to hear men’s thoughts. By 2015, Plaintiff and Collins had written a complete draft of the screenplay, titled “What The F Is He Thinking?”
“What The F Is He Thinking?” started to get shopped around to different production companies, studios, financers, and actors. Weinstein Company (now Lantern Entertainment), Montage Films, and Bloom were among the production companies and studios where the film was pitched to. In July of 2017, Carlini met with a representative from Bloom where the screenplay and business plan was growing into a solid business relationship.
Nobody ended up picking up this film and Carlini believes that one of the defendants approached Henson to star in film with the plot that he created. He added that there was no screenplay proposed when Henson heard about the film.
“At the time Henson was approached, there was no screenplay for the proposed film, which ultimately became the film, What Men Want. Principal photography for What Men Want started around five months after the meeting with Henson and started without a complete script.”
Carlini is seeking “unspecified damages and all profits made” from What Men Want. The film ended up grossing $72 million worldwide. Check out the trailer for the film below.
Follow Hip-HopVibe.com @HipHopVibe1.
