A West End-bound musical based on a hit Suffolk movie is at the centre of a bitter dispute over writing credits.
The stage adaptation of the 2019 film Yesterday, directed by Danny Boyle and inspired by the music of The Beatles, is currently in development.
But American screenwriter Jack Barth claims his role in creating the story is being erased by British film-maker Richard Curtis and his wife, broadcaster Emma Freud.
The couple live on the Suffolk coast and have been branded "arrogant pigs" by Mr Barth.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Barth said: "I feel it's rather despicable of them to have gotten this far without ever contacting me.
"Though if you read the backstory, you'll see this has been a pattern from the beginning.
"They've done everything in their immense power to obscure my contribution and divert all the credit for my ideas over to Mr Curtis."
READ MORE: Everything we know so far about West End version of hit Suffolk movie
Mr Barth wrote Cover Version in 2012, about a struggling musician who discovers he is the only person alive who remembers The Beatles and passes their songs off as his own.
The concept was later developed into the film Yesterday, which starred Himesh Patel, Lily James, and Ed Sheeran.
Mr Barth received a joint "story by" credit with Mr Curtis, who was credited as the sole screenwriter.
He claims he has not been contacted about the stage adaptation and fears his contribution will be further overlooked.
He added: "Curtis and Freud come from such immense privilege and power and have achieved a level of success so incommensurate with their actual abilities that they have come to believe that all they took from me was a one-sentence pitch.
"And often they don't even credit me for that."
Mr Boyle, who directed the original film, is returning to direct the stage version, which is currently in the workshop phase.
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