Sarah Palin movie 'Game Change' sparks dispute over sources

Tiffany Zappulla, set designer, left, and Michael Corenblith, production manager, are working on the HBO film "Game Change," which is filming in Baltimore. (Barbara Haddock Taylor, Baltimore Sun / May 26, 2011)

By Dave Rosenthal

4:47 p.m. EST, March 7, 2012

Sarah Palin isn't getting many headlines these days amid the slugfest for the Republican presidential nomination, as Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum fight for the delegates. But the release of the HBO movie "Game Change," based on the book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, is sure to raise her profile again.

The movie, starring Julianne Moore as Palin, recounts the failed McCain/Palin campaign in 2008. It airs Saturday at 9.

There has been some controversy over the genesis of the script, according to Huffington Post's Michael Calderone. He writes that the authors of "Sarah from Alaska," have questioned whether the movie contained scenes that were in their book but not in Halperin and Heilemann's. Screenwriter Danny Strong said that most of the material in the movie was taken from the "Game Change" book, and was supplemented by news reports, other books and independent reporting.

This is not an academic argument. The movie will surely drive book sales -- just as the upcoming "The Hun! ger Game s"movie is giving another bump to Suzanne Collins' popular series. Having "Sarah from Alaska" hitched to HBO's publicity machine would mean lots of money for co-authors Scott Conroy and Shushannah Walshe.

For now, though, the biggest bump is likely to go to the "Game Change" book.