So I'm doing Dario Argento's Opera. Dario already has 2 writing credits (I'm still in the opening credits for reference). "Written, Produced and Directed by", then "Screenplay by", and now one more:

"Based on an original idea by"

Can an idea be OMB? Everything has to start as an idea I guess...
I'm torn and could argue for or against including this. What does everyone else think?

If including, then as OMB.

But personally I wouldn't include it, because if someone has a idea of an movie with a "kind of a bird man with a little beak like nose.  yellowish flesh with blue or green feathers.", this wouldn't be a credit to catch imho.

I think the writter was inspired of an idea of someone else (friend, neighbor or whoever), but these is imho too less for a credit we catch. An OMB for example a movie based on a book is much more creditable.

Quoting Dr. Killpatient:

Quote:
OMB is an idea that has been written down and fleshed out.  Does an idea count as much?  Can you have a friend say "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if a computer became sentient and launched nuclear missiles to kill humanity?" and then you turn it into Terminator count?

Now that you mention it, someone owes me lots of royalities!   Not only did I have the Terminator idea, but also Predator, Aliens Vs Predator, Feast, New Nightmare, Pulse and dozens of other movies are a little too close to ideas I've had well before they came out or even went into production. Oh yeah, Nightmare on Elm Street 3 raped my mind for it's plot, straight up raped, right down to the junkie girl and dorky wizard guy (and Patricia Arquette, although I didn't know that before seeing it ).

So I'm claiming Lobo vs Predator right now (the idea is from 95 or 96 though). Here it is, in print online, legally binding. Lobo vs Predator, best movie that will never happen but I'll hope for at least a comic series someday. Frag on that you bastiches!    

I would include it as OMB.  The filmmakers apparently thought that the "idea" was significant enough to give it an on-screen credit.  That's good enough for me.

Quoting hal9g:

Quote:
I would include it as OMB.  The filmmakers apparently thought that the "idea" was significant enough to give it an on-screen credit.  That's good enough for me.

This ^

That fact that it's the same name being repeated in the credits tends to trivialize things, but if it was worth mentioning on screen then it's worth documenting.  More to the point, if a completely different person from the screenwriter had the idea and got a screen credit, I think OMB would be fairly obvious then.