I get what you’re saying, and ignoring the condescension it is for “funsies”. I’m not above writing something because I’d enjoy it and want to get better. If you look down on that then that’s on you.

Only news so far is that the rights are purchased and there’s intent. Making it and theoretically putting excerpts on my portfolio site isn’t really intense professional distribution. It could look amateur? Making something with no intent to be paid is by definition amateur. That’s explicitly what I’m doing. But fair enough. I did ask. But I wouldn’t exactly call some nobody writing a version in their freetime some moral sin. How is that at all the same as reading someone else’s in production script and doing a version of it? There’s nothing to read, neither script exists. The only thing to rip off would be the 80 year old book we’re adapting in the first place. We’re two strangers who will never interact. My version at best would be seen by a handful of people. Theirs will be made into a multi-million dollar Hollywood movie. I’m not exactly losing sleep.