Remakes and the "Written by" credit

Cafe Society
1

I’ve just seen The Good Thief, which I understand from IMDb is a remake of Bob le flambeur. Further, my understanding is that the WGA has very stringent rules regarding the use of the “Written by” credit. Which leads me to wonder exactly what those rules are as they pertain to remakes, for I couldn’t help noticing that (IMDb’s credits notwithstanding) director Neil Jordan credits himself as the writer of The Good Thief.

How does all that work again?

(BTW, I give it a 6 out of 10.)

2

However close the remake sticks to a non-English original, somebody has to write the English dialog as well as the unspoken action. That somebody deserves a new “written by” credit. The IMDB also gives Jean-Pierre Melville a credit.

3

I guess I expected the guy to at least give the original writers a “Story by” credit or something, which I don’t remember seeing.