I've had the following e-mail from Paul Auster's assistant:
"Hello. I'm hoping that you might be able to help with the confusion around THE CENTER OF THE WORLD. You'll understand when you read the letter from the film's producers (I'm pasting it onto the end of this email). I'm contacting you with the hope that you can make the necessary corrections to your website, as well as help us spread the word about this matter. Paul and Siri feel very strongly about making it clear that their involvement in the film was early and limited."
"As producers of THE CENTER OF THE WORLD, the new film by Wayne Wangcurrently in release, we would like to correct a number of erroneousstatements that have appeared in the press concerning the attribution of credits.
The film is not a collaboration between Wayne Wang and Paul Auster, as some reviewers have suggested, nor was the screenplay written by Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt. At Mr. Wang's request, Mr. Auster and Ms. Hustvedt contributed some general story ideas at an early stage of the project, but neither one of them was involved in the making of the film. The final screenplay was the result of many contributors' work, including internet entepreneurs, sex industry workers, other writers, the actors, as well as Miranda July and Wayne Wang himself. To accurately reflect such wide and varying sources, the screenplay credit was assigned toa pseudonym.
The confusion was no doubt created by the fact that Wayne Wang and Paul Auster collaborated on two earlier films, SMOKE and BLUE IN THE FACE. Those screenplays were indeed written by Mr. Auster. The screenplay of THE CENTER OF THE WORLD was not.
Peter Newman and Greg Johnson
Producers
THE CENTER OF THE WORLD"