The 2008 Black List scripts can be downloaded here.
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Vince GLIB Posts: 19 Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2006 5:53 pm Contact:
Post by Vince » Tue Dec 20, 2011 7:12 pm
I've got all 70 of the BlackList scripts and have begun reading them. There is lots of good stuff here. The number one script "The Imitation Game," is great. It has already been optioned for Leonardo DiCaprio and slated for 2014. If you can get your hands on these, I highly recommend reading them, as it gives great insight into the current writing trends. You can see what agents consider the BEST. You can also gauge different agents tastes and possibly pitch those agents your similar project. The most fascinating thing is how many screenwriting rules are broken. Writers are including emotions, camera angles and specific music in the scripts, which has long been a NO, No. Film executive Franklin Leonard has been compiling The Black List since 2005. He started it out of desperation. Then a development executive at Appian Way, Leonard had been drowning in a sea of bad screenplays. He turned to his counterparts in the industry for a life preserver, and his simple e-mail to 75 Hollywood execs asking for good script suggestions resulted in an avalanche of replies. He compiled those answers into a dossier he dubbed the Black List — part self-referential title [Leonard is African American] and part ironic nod to the 1940s and '50s Hollywood blacklist of suspected communists and communist sympathizers that on occasion derailed careers. A phenomenon was born. Today, over 300 people participate in compiling the list; those invited to participate contribute an unranked list of up to 10 of their favorite scripts of the year. While the number of participants has ballooned, Leonard says the purpose of the list remains the same: to recognize solid screenplays. In the past, the list has been responsible for bringing Oscar-winning films such as Juno, Slumdog Millionaire and The King's Speech to the attention of studios. The 2011 list consists of 74 screenplays that film executives have voted their favorite scripts yet to make it into production. This year, scripts had to receive at least six mentions to be included on The Black List. The Black List is not a "best of" list. It is, at best, a "most liked" list. Enjoy. #1. 133 Votes THE IMITATION GAME by Graham Moore The story of British WWII cryptographer Alan Turing, who cracked the German Enigma code and later poisoned himself after being criminally prosecuted for being a homosexual. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: JP Evans, Jacqueline Sacerio MANAGEMENT: The Safran Company MANAGER: Tom Drumm FINANCIER: Warner Brothers PRODUCER: Ido Ostrowsky, Nora Grossman #2. 84 Votes WHEN THE STREET LIGHTS GO ON by Chris Hutton, Eddie O’Keefe In the early 1980s, a town suffers through the aftermath of a brutal murder of a high school girl and a teacher. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Simon Faber, Sarah Self MANAGEMENT: Tariq Merhab Management MANAGER: Tariq Merhab PRODUCER: Imagine Entertainment #3. 59 Votes CHEWIE by Evan Susser, Van Robichaux A satirical behind the scenes look at the making of Star Wars through the eyes of Peter Mayhew who played Chewbacca. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Mike Esola MANAGEMENT: Industry Entertainment MANAGER: Jess Rosenthal #4. 53 Votes THE OUTSIDER by Andrew Baldwin In post World War II Japan, an American former prisoner-of-war rises in the yakuza. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Jay Baker, John Garvey MANAGEMENT: Anonymous Content MANAGER: Bard Dorros, David Kanter FINANCIER: Warner Brothers PRODUCER: Linson Entertainment #5. 43 Votes FATHER DAUGHTER TIME: A TALE OF ARMED ROBBERY AND ESKIMO KISSES by Matthew Aldrich A man goes on a three state crime spree with an accomplice, his eleven year old daughter. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: John Garvey, Stuart Manashil MANAGEMENT: Silent R Management MANAGER: Jewerl Ross FINANCIER: Warner Brothers PRODUCER: Pearl Street Productions #6. 33 Votes IN THE EVENT OF A MOON DISASTER by Mike Jones An alternate telling of the historic APOLLO 11 mission to land on the moon that examines what might have happened if the astronauts had crash landed there. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: David Kopple, JP Evans, Matt Rosen MANAGEMENT: The Gotham Group MANAGER: Lindsay Williams PRODUCER: FilmNation #7. 30 Votes MAGGIE by John Scott 3 As a “walking dead” virus spreads across the country, a farm family helps their eldest daughter come to terms with her infection as she slowly becomes a flesh-eating zombie. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Billy Hawkins, Dan Rabinow MANAGEMENT: Sly Predator MANAGER: Trevor Kaufman FINANCIER: Pierre-Ange Le Pogam PRODUCER: Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, Trevor Kaufman, Matthew Baer #8. 30 Votes THE CURRENT WAR by Michael Mitnick Based on the true story of the race between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to develop a practical system of electricity and sell their respective inventions to the country and the world. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Simon Faber MANAGEMENT: Fourth Floor Productions MANAGER: Jeff Silver #9. 29 Votes GALSPANIC by Paul Roc A shy flat chested girl must compete in the BIG breasted world of Wet T-Shirt contests in order to save her grandmothers bar from a religious nut. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Robert Newman MANAGEMENT: PW Media Group MANAGER: Michael Hutchinson #10. 28 Votes THE END by Aron Eli Coleite Four people - a veteran broadcaster in London, a sixteen year old girl and her boyfriend in Ann Arbor, and a devoted family man in Shanghai - each try to make peace with their lives before an interstellar event ends the world in six hours. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Matt Rosen, Martin Spencer FINANCIER: Warner Brothers #11. 27 Votes BEYOND THE PALE by Chad Feehan Teenage siblings suspect they’ve been ripped off by the town undertaker, but what they discover is much more sinister than either imagined. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Matt Rosen, Jacqueline Sacerio MANAGEMENT: Management 360 MANAGER: Guymon Casady, Mary Lee FINANCIER: Vendome Pictures PRODUCER: The Fort #12. 27 Votes EZEKIEL MOSS by Keith Bunin A mysterious stranger who possibly has the power to channel the souls of the dead changes the lives of everyone in a small Nebraska town, especially a young widow and her 11-year-old son. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Rowena Arguelles MANAGEMENT: Kaplan/Perrone MANAGER: Alex Lerner, Sean Perrone PRODUCER: A Likely Story, Mandalay Pictures #13. 24 Votes GRACE OF MONACO by Arash Amel Grace Kelly, age 33 and having given up her acting career to focus on being a full time princess, uses her political maneuvering behind the scenes to save Monaco while French Leader Charles de Gaulle and Monaco’s Prince Rainier III are at odds over the princi¬pality’s standing as a tax haven. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Rich Green, Matt Rosen FINANCIER: Pierre-Ange Le Pogam PRODUCER: Pierre-Ange Le Pogam #14. 24 Votes HE’S FUCKIN’ PERFECT by Lauryn Kahn A social media savvy girl who is pessimistic about love finds the perfect guy and decides to use her internet research skills to turn herself into his perfect match. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Cliff Roberts FINANCIER: Fox 2000 PRODUCER: Gary Sanchez #15. 23 Votes BETHLEHEM by Larry Brenner A group of people struggling to survive a zombie apocalypse make an alliance with a vampire, trading themselves as food in exchange for protection since zombies don’t eat vampire. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Martin Spencer, Jacqueline Sacerio MANAGEMENT: Magnet Management MANAGER: Mitch Solomon PRODUCER: Roth Films #16. 20 Votes THE THREE MISFORTUNES OF GEPPETTO: by Michael Vukadinovich A prequel to the story of Pinocchio in which Geppetto endures a life of misfortune, war, and ad¬venture, all to be with Julia Moon, his true love. AGENCY: ICM AGENT: Ava Jamshidi FINANCIER: Fox PRODUCER: 21 Laps Entertainment #17. 20 Votes POWELL by Ed Whitworth Based on the true story of Colin Powell questioning the Bush administration leading up to his United Nations presentation where he made the case for going to war with Iraq. AGENCY: WME AGENT: David Karp, Cliff Roberts, Dan Cohan MANAGEMENT: Circle of Confusion MANAGER: Ashley Berns PRODUCER: Spirit Dance Entertainment #18. 19 Votes THE KNOLL: by Christopher Cantwell, Christopher Rogers A rookie cop and his potential flame witness JFK gunned down from the grassy knoll on November 22, 1963. Within hours, they’re on the run from the murderers who desperately need them silenced. AGENCY: ICM AGENT: Aaron Hart MANAGEMENT: Management 360 MANAGER: Jennifer Graham, Chris Huvane PRODUCER: Management 360 #19. 17 Votes HOW TO DISAPPEAR COMPLETELY: by Ed Solomon A child prodigy tries to take control of his life away from his demanding parents. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Jay Baker, Todd Feldman, David O’Connor FINANCIER: Sony PRODUCER: Escape Artists #20. 17 Votes DESPERATE HOURS by E Nicholas Mariani A small town crippled by WWI and the Spanish flu finds itself facing major moral questions and a brutal invading force when a young girl shows up on a rancher’s doorstep covered in blood. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Charles Ferraro, Jenny Maryasis MANAGEMENT: Circle of Confusion MANAGER: Britton Rizzio FINANCIER: GK Films PRODUCER: Infinitum Nihil #21. 17 Votes A MANY SPLINTERED THING by Chris Shafer, Paul Vicknair When a charming heartbreaker finally meets a girl he can’t have, he discovers the true meaning of love by living out other people’s love stories and writing his own. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Jon Huddle, Jason Burns, Max Michael MANAGEMENT: Brillstein Entertainment Partners MANAGER: Missy Malkin PRODUCER: Wonderland Sound and Vision #22. 17 Votes FLARSKY by Daniel Sterling A political journalist courts his old babysitter, who is now the United States secretary of state. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Julien Thuan PRODUCER: Point Grey Pictures #23. 17 Votes BLOOD MOUNTAIN by Jonathan Stokes After his team is ambushed and killed in Pakistan, a young army ranger must escort the world’s most wanted terrorist over dangerous terrain in order to bring him to justice. While being hunted by both of their enemies, they must find a way to work together in order to survive. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Ramses Ishak, Michael Sheresky, Geoff Morley MANAGEMENT: Energy Entertainment MANAGER: Brooklyn Weaver #24. 17 Votes BASTARDS by Justin Malen Two brothers, raised to believe their biological father died, find out their mother slept with many powerful and famous men in the 1970s, and the siblings hit the road to find their real father. AGENCY: Verve AGENT: Bill Weinstein, Rob Herting MANAGEMENT: H2F MANAGER: Chris Fenton FINANCIER: Paramount PRODUCER: The Montecito Picture Company #25. 17 Votes CRAZY FOR THE STORM by Will Fetters The true story of Norman Ollestad’s relationship with his father, who thrust the boy into the world of extreme surfing and competitive downhill skiing at the age of three. But it was that experience that allowed an 11-year old Norman to survive a plane crash amidst a blizzard in the San Gabriel mountains. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Elia Infascelli-Smith MANAGEMENT: 3 Arts Entertainment MANAGER: Oliver Obst FINANCIER: Warner Brothers PRODUCER: Billy Gerber #26. 16 Votes THE SLACKFI PROJECT by Howard Overman A hapless and broken hearted barista is visited by two bad-ass soldiers from the future who tell him mankind is doomed, and he alone can save them. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Julien Thuan FINANCIER: Sony PRODUCER: Matt Tolmach Productions #27. 14 Votes THE MUSEUM OF BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS by Natalie Krinsky Lucy, a twenty-eight year old junior curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, is sleeping with her boss. When he dumps her she begins a collection of “break up items” and starts a blog which goes viral. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Jessica Matthews MANAGEMENT: The Gotham Group MANAGER: Jim Garavente, Jeremy Bell #28. 14 Votes ST VINCENT DE VAN NUYS by Ted Melfi When a twelve year old boy in need of a babysitter moves in next door to a misanthropic aging retiree whose life mainly consists of gambling, hookers, and drinking, the elder becomes an unlikely mentor to the boy. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Ramses Ishak, Michael Sheresky MANAGEMENT: Infinity Management International MANAGER: Jon Karas FINANCIER: Fox PRODUCER: Chernin Entertainment, Crescendo Productions #29. 14 Votes DJANGO UNCHAINED by Quentin Tarantino A freed slave named Django is trained as a bounty hunter by a German dentist named Schultz, and the two men set out to find Django’s enslaved wife. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Mike Simpson FINANCIER: The Weinstein Company, Sony PRODUCER: Double Feature Films, The Weinstein Company #30. 13 Votes THE ACCOUNTANT by Bill Dubuque The Treasury Department pursues a brilliant, autistic accountant who doubles as an assassin and “problem-solves” with precision in more ways than one. AGENCY: Paradigm AGENT: Trevor Astbury MANAGEMENT: Zero Gravity Management MANAGER: Eric Williams PRODUCER: Silverwood Films #31. 13 Votes SAVING MR. BANKS by Kelly Marcel The story of how Walt Disney got the rights for Mary Poppins. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Phil Raskind, David Karp PRODUCER: Ruby Films #32. 12 Votes BRIDGES ON THE FORT POINT CHANNEL by Chuck Maclean An Irish family in the 1970s, dealing with the loss of their father and the busing of black kids into white neighbor-hoods, decides to blow up all the bridges in Boston. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Billy Hawkins MANAGEMENT: Oasis Media Group MANAGER: Allison Doyle, Ben Rowe #33. 12 Votes THE BIG STONE GRID by Craig Zahler A cop is pulled into an underworld organization that brutally murders people to extort money out of others. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Julien Thuan, Emerson Davis MANAGEMENT: Caliber Media MANAGER: Dallas Sonnier FINANCIER: Sony PRODUCER: Michael De Luca Productions #34. 12 Votes CITIES OF REFUGE by Brandon Willer A former FBI psychologist is called in to investigate when a young girl goes missing after the apparent murder of her father and brother by two strangers in a small Oklahoma town. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Phil D’amecourt, Jeff Gorin MANAGEMENT: Benderspink MANAGER: Jake Weiner PRODUCER: Tower Hill, Benderspink, Charlize Theron #35. 12 Votes GOOD KIDS by Chris McCoy Four overachieving high school students in Cape Cod reinvent themselves during the summer after graduation. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Simon Faber, Jeff Gorin, Sharon Jackson MANAGEMENT: The Gotham Group MANAGER: Shawn Simon PRODUCER: Depth of Field #36. 11 Votes LEAVING PETE by Ali Waller, Morgan Murphy A recently divorced author is stunned when his ex writes a popular book about their breakup, and he has to keep that fact secret from his new girlfriend, who works for the book’s publisher. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Bill Zotti, Andy Elkin #37. 11 Votes HIDDEN by Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer An elevated horror-thriller about a family hiding in a bomb shelter after escaping a mysterious outbreak. AGENCY: Paradigm AGENT: Chris Smith MANAGEMENT: MXN MANAGER: Mason Novick FINANCIER: Warner Brothers PRODUCER: Mason Novick, Roy Lee, Lawrence Grey #38. 11 Votes DIRTY GRANDPA by John Phillips A young groom engaged to a demanding woman is forced to spend the week before his wedding with his half-blind, half-crazy, and wholly horny grandfather. Through this wild journey, his grandfather shows him how to take life by the balls and lead with his heart. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Jon Huddle, Steven Fisher FINANCIER: Universal PRODUCER: Josephson Entertainment #39. 11 Votes GRIM NIGHT by Allen Bey, Brandon Bestenheider A family has to defend themselves from the Grims, strange creatures who attack Earth and kill thousands one night every year. AGENCY: Verve AGENT: Bryan Besser FINANCIER: Universal PRODUCER: Marc Platt Productions, Unbroken Pictures #40. 10 Votes WATCH ROGER DO HIS THING by Michael Starrbury A retired hitman gets roped back into his old trade in order to save his friend’s life and quickly finds himself caught in a struggle trying to finish the job, and get his family out of Chicago alive at the same time. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Bill Zotti, Dan Rabinow MANAGEMENT: Caliber Media MANAGER: Dallas Sonnier, Julian Rosenberg PRODUCER: Tripp Vinson, One Race Films #41. 10 Votes THE FLAMINGO THIEF by Mike Lesieur Grief stricken over his wife leaving him, a man finds solace in an odd activity… swiping figurines of flamingos. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Rich Green, Adam Kanter MANAGEMENT: Kaplan/Perrone MANAGER: Sean Perrone PRODUCER: Kaplan/Perrone, Red Hour #42. 10 Votes TWO NIGHT STAND by Mark Hammer After an extremely regrettable one night stand, two strangers wake up to find themselves snowed in after sleeping through a blizzard that put all of Manhattan on ice. They’re now trapped together in a tiny apartment, forced to get to know each other way more than any one night stand should. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Carolyn Sivitz MANAGEMENT: The Safran Company MANAGER: Tom Drumm #43. 10 Votes SEX TAPE by Kate Angelo When a married couple make a sex tape to spice up their relationship, it disappears, and they are frantic to get it back. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Jason Burns FINANCIER: Sony PRODUCER: Escape Artists #44. 10 Votes THE GUN EATERS by Alex Paraskevas, Jordan Goldberg Four hardened New York detectives race to apprehend a relentless spree-killer who’s executing victims from Queens to Southampton in the span of a single day. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Rebecca Ewing, Keya Khayatian MANAGEMENT: Oasis Media Group MANAGER: Ben Rowe PRODUCER: Oasis Media Group #45. 10 Votes LITTLE WHITE CORVETTE by Michael Diliberti A down and out brother and sister go to Miami to sell a duffel bag of cocaine that they found in the trunk of a corvette left them by their dead father. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Phil Raskind, Simon Faber MANAGEMENT: New School Media MANAGER: Brian Levy PRODUCER: Scott Aversano Productions #46. 9 Votes JANE GOT A GUN by Brian Duffield After her outlaw husband returns home shot with eight bullets and barely alive, Jane reluctantly reaches out to an ex-lover who she hasn’t seen in over ten years to help her defend her farm when the time comes that her husband’s gang eventually tracks him down to finish the job. AGENCY: Gersh AGENT: Devra Lieb, Bob Hohman, Bayard Maybank MANAGEMENT: Circle of Confusion MANAGER: Zach Cox, Noah Rosen #47. 9 Votes THE LAST WITNESS by Stefan Jaworski An FBI Agent interrogates an amnesiac, sole survivor of a Boston bombing in order to prevent future terrorist attacks. AGENCY: Paradigm AGENT: Trevor Astbury, Valarie Phillips, Ida Ziniti FINANCIER: Fox PRODUCER: Davis Entertainment #48. 9 Votes MURDERS AND ACQUISITIONS by Jonathan Stokes The world of high-stakes finance collides with that of high-priced hitmen when an ousted CEO decides to hire an assassin to kill the corporate raider who stole his company. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Ramses Ishak, Michael Sheresky, Geoff Morley MANAGEMENT: Energy Entertainment MANAGER: Brooklyn Weaver FINANCIER: Warner Brothers PRODUCER: KatzSmith Productions #49. 9 Votes FLASHBACK by Will Honley A former NASA pilot with amnesia — also the first person to travel the speed of light — realizes he has the ability to travel back in time and along the way rediscovers his love for his wife. AGENCY: Verve AGENT: Adam Levine MANAGEMENT: Nuclear Entertainment MANAGER: Nick Fariabi, Jesse Silver #50. 9 Votes THE LAST DROP by Brandon Murphy, Phil Murphy A fully functioning alcoholic meets the girl of his dreams and soon discovers that there’s a lot more at stake than love if he doesn’t clean up his act. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Rich Cook MANAGEMENT: Mosaic MANAGER: Langley Perer FINANCIER: Mandate Pictures PRODUCER: Greg Shapiro #51. 9 Votes FRIEND OF BILL by Harper Dill After a humiliating episode in New York, a young woman returns to her hometown to try to deal with her alcoholism. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Sarah Self, Jeff Gorin, Sharon Jackson MANAGER: Mike Dill PRODUCER: Marc Platt Productions, Neda Armian #52. 8 Votes DEAD OF WINTER by Sarah Conradt A teenage girl heads to a remote cabin in the moun- tains with her father and new stepmother - an expe- rience the father hopes will bond the two ladies. But when a mysterious wounded Park Ranger shows up, family bonding will be the least of their concerns. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Jacqueline Sacerio MANAGEMENT: Hopscotch Pictures MANAGER: Sukee Chew FINANCIER: Lionsgate [distrib], Wind Dancer [financing] PRODUCER: Sherryl Clark, Hopscotch Pictures #53. 8 Votes ON A CLEAR DAY by Ryan Engle When a powerful and mysterious force invades an American city, a young father must traverse the battle-torn city in an effort to save his wounded wife and rescue their stranded children. In the process, our hero becomes the target of an enemy who will stop at nothing to kill him. AGENCY: Original Artists AGENT: Chris Sablan, Matt Leipzig MANAGEMENT: Mosaic MANAGER: Michael Lasker, Langley Perer PRODUCER: Ombra Films #54. 8 Votes HOME BY CHRISTMAS - BOB HOPE IN KOREA by Ben Schwartz Young Larry Gelbart goes on tour with his idol Bob Hope in the middle of the Korean War and learns the true price of patriotism. AGENCY: The Nethercott Agency AGENT: Gayla Nethercott PRODUCER: Jon Shestack Productions, Pink Slip Productions #55. 8 Votes THE PRETTY ONE by Jenee LaMarque When a woman’s identical “prettier” twin sister dies, the woman assumes her sister’s identity, moving into her apartment and the big city. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Carolyn Sivitz MANAGEMENT: Management 360 MANAGER: Mary Lee, Daniel Rappaport PRODUCER: RCR Pictures, Steven J Berger #56. 8 Votes BAD WORDS by Andrew Dodge The bastard child of the organizer of the national spelling bee gets his revenge by finding a loophole and attempting to win the bee as an adult, only to find friendship in a young Indian contestant. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Carolyn Sivitz MANAGEMENT: Fourth Floor Productions MANAGER: Jeff Silver FINANCIER: Darko PRODUCER: MXN #57. 8 Votes JURASSIC PARK by Imran Zaidi A high school couple and two of their friends ditch school to catch a special preview screening of JURASSIC PARK. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Jason Burns, Jenny Maryasis MANAGEMENT: Management 360 MANAGER: Darin Friedman #58. 8 Votes GASLIGHT by Ian Fried Secretly imprisoned in a London insane asylum, the infamous Jack the Ripper helps Scotland Yard investigators solve a series of grisly murders whose victims all share one thing in common: dual puncture wounds to the neck. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Dan Cohan, Mike Esola MANAGEMENT: Prolific MANAGER: Will Rowbotham #59. 7 Votes SUBJECT ZERO by Dave Cohen A Frankenstein-like tale of a scientist who develops a powerful new drug that brings his son back to life after he dies in a terrible car accident. Unfortunately, the desperate experiment of a loving father leads to the creation of a flesh-eating zombie epidemic with horrific consequences. AGENCY: ICM AGENT: Kathleen Remington, Emile Gladstone MANAGEMENT: Generate MANAGER: Jeremy Platt #60. 7 Votes THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD by Tom O’Connor The world’s best bodyguard must protect his arch nemesis, the world’s top assassin…so he can testify against a brutal dictator and save his wife. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Charles Ferraro, Barbara Dreyfus, Emerson Davis MANAGEMENT: Industry Entertainment MANAGER: Andrew Deane, Jess Rosenthal PRODUCER: Skydance Productions #61. 7 Votes CRISTO by Ian Shorr A man is unlawfully sentenced to an infamous prison and escapes, then transforms himself into the mysterious Cristo and systematically destroys the men who manipulated and enslaved him. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Charles Ferraro, Jason Burns MANAGEMENT: Mosaic MANAGER: Langley Perer FINANCIER: Warner Brothers PRODUCER: Bellevue Productions, Langley Park Pictures #62. 7 Votes UNTITLED HLAVIN HEIST by John Hlavin An American thief living in Paris is coerced into pulling off a complex heist in order to save his kidnapped wife. AGENCY: UTA AGENT: Jason Burns FINANCIER: DreamWorks PRODUCER: Film Rites #63. 7 Votes LINE OF SIGHT by F Scott Frazier After a military coup takes out the executive branch of government, the country’s survival depends on a Navy Seal sniper extraction team getting the Speaker of the House from Washington DC to New York. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Dan Cohan, Mike Esola MANAGEMENT: H2F MANAGER: Chris Fenton, Chris Cowles FINANCIER: Warner Brothers PRODUCER: Silver Pictures #64. 7 Votes PINOCCHIO by Bryan Fuller A wooden puppet, Pinocchio, dreams of becoming a real boy. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Phil D’amecourt FINANCIER: Warner Brothers PRODUCER: Dan Jinks Company #65. 7 Votes THE WEDDING by Andrew Goldberg A group of couples deal with their respective issues as they attend a wedding. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Rich Cook MANAGEMENT: Underground Films and Management MANAGER: Josh Turner Maguire FINANCIER: CBS Films #66. 7 Votes 77 by David Matthews Two stories from 1974 are linked together - the unsolved murder of an LAPD officer and the nationally televised shootout in South Central Los Angeles between the Symbionese Liberation Army and the LAPD where 50,000 rounds of gunfire was exchanged. The events will be seen through the eyes of a pair of police partners, one black and one white. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Roger Green, Elia Infascelli-Smith MANAGEMENT: The Schiff Company MANAGER: Nicole Romano PRODUCER: Wolf Films #67. 6 Votes GUYS NIGHT by Christopher Baldi Sick of brunches, bosses, and light beer, four co-workers set out on the mother of all guys nights in an attempt to rediscover their manhood. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Bill Zotti MANAGEMENT: New Wave MANAGER: Mike Goldberg, Josh Adler FINANCIER: Millenium Films PRODUCER: Jim Valdez, Matt Bass #68. 6 Votes SELF/LESS by Alex Pastor, David Pastor An extremely wealthy elderly man dying from cancer undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness to the body of a healthy young man but everything may not be as good as it seems when he starts to uncover the mystery of the body’s origins and the secret organization that will kill to keep its secrets. AGENCY: CAA AGENT: Stuart Manashil, John Garvey MANAGEMENT: Kaplan/Perrone MANAGER: Alex Lerner FINANCIER: FilmDistrict [distrib], Endgame Entertainment [financing] PRODUCER: Ram Bergman #69. 6 Votes HYPERDRIVE by Alex Ankeles, Morgan Jurgenson When a tough cop recruits a geeky sci-fi author to help him track down a mysterious murder witness, they find themselves in the middle of a space opera playing out here on Earth. AGENCY: CAA/APA AGENT: Bill Zotti [Ankeles], Ryan Saul [Jurgenson] MANAGEMENT: Kaplan/Perrone [Ankeles] MANAGER: Aaron Kaplan [Ankeles], Jonathan Hung [Jurgenson] FINANCIER: Paramount PRODUCER: Disruption Entertainment #70. 6 Votes BEFORE I FALL by Maria Maggenti When a popular teen girl is killed in a car crash, she relives the critical day seven times and makes changes in an attempt to affect the outcome; in the process, she herself changes as she tries to make up for previous heartless, self-absorbed behavior and gains a better understanding of herself and others. As she evolves and makes the connections necessary to save a bullied, depressed girl’s life, she comes to accept her own fate. AGENCY: Paradigm AGENT: David Boxerbaum MANAGEMENT: Madhouse Entertainment MANAGER: Robyn Meisinger FINANCIER: Fox 2000 PRODUCER: Jon Shestack Productions #71. 6 Votes BREYTON AVE by J Daniel Shaffer A group of teens living without adults and under their own social order in a small fenced-in neighborhood are forced to face what they fear is the inevitable physical danger beyond the fence. AGENCY: Verve AGENT: Bryan Besser, Rob Herting MANAGEMENT: Management 360 MANAGER: Mary Lee, Jill McElroy PRODUCER: Unbroken Films #72. 6 Votes EL FUEGO CALIENTE by Ben Schwartz A remake of SOAPDISH, a desperate telenovela star dreaming of Hollywood stardom has her life implode, making her real life crazier than the insane show she made famous. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Rich Cook MANAGEMENT: Tom Sawyer Entertainment MANAGER: Jesse Hara, Rachel Miller FINANCIER: Paramount PRODUCER: Reiner-Greisman #73. 6 Votes THE DUFF by Josh Cagan Adapted from Kody Keplinger’s novel THE DUFF, the travails of a seventeen year old girl who believes she is the “designated ugly studly friend.” AGENCY: WME AGENT: Rich Cook MANAGEMENT: H2F MANAGER: Chris Fenton PRODUCER: Wonderland Sound and Vision #74. 6 Votes UNTITLED ARIZONA PROJECT by Luke Del Tredici A satirically dark comedy about a homicidal foreclosure victim kidnapping a real estate agent and planning to kill her in the housing development where she finagled money from customers like him. AGENCY: WME AGENT: Roger Green MANAGEMENT: Mosaic MANAGER: Christie Smith
PRODUCER: Rough House Pictures
TheButcher ZONE NEWS DIRECTOR Posts: 17417 Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:02 am Location: The Bureau of Sabotage
Post by TheButcher » Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:06 pm
The Black List 2008
BuckyO'harre wrote:Compilation of popular scripts. AKA- The Black List
A few oddities/standouts of possible interest: [Note- Don't bitch about what I did or didn't include, you effers. Post them yourself.THE BLACK LIST was compiled from the suggestions of over 250 film executives, each of whom contributed the names of up to ten of their favorite scripts that were written in, or are somehow uniquely associated with, 2008 and will not be released in theaters during this calendar year. This year, scripts had to receive at least four mentions to be included on THE BLACK LIST. All reasonable effort has been made to confirm the information contained herein. THE BLACK LIST apologizes for all misspellings, mis attributions, incorrect representation identification, and questionable “2008” affiliations. It has been said many times, but it’s worth repeating: THE BLACK LIST is not a “best of” list. It is, at best, a “most liked” list.
THE BEAVER by Kyle Killen “A depressed man finds hope in a beaver puppet that he wears on his hand.” BUTTER by Jason Micallef “A small town becomes a center for controversy and jealousy as its annual butter carving contest begins.” GALAHAD by Ryan Condal “A revisionist twist on the King Arthur legend from the knight Galahad’s perspective.” NOWHERE BOY by Matt Greenhalgh “The story of John Lennon’s rise from lonely, Liverpool teenager to iconic rock star.” THE MANY DEATHS OF BARNABY JAMES by Brian Nathanson “A teenage apprentice in a macabre circus for the dead yearns to bring his true love back to life, but not before encountering the many dangerous and mysterious gothic characters that stand in his way.” FOXCATCHER by E Max Frye & Dan Futterman “Based on the true story of John du Pont, a paranoid schizophrenic who was heir to the du Pont fortune. After building a wrestling training facility named Team Fox on his Pennsylvania estate, Du Pont shot and killed Olympic gold medal-winning grappler David Schulz.”
THE PHANTOM LIMB* by Kevin Koehler
KNIGHTS by Nick Confalone & Neal Dusedau “A kickass British adventure where knighted celebrities [an entrepreneur, a soccer player, a musician, and an actor] are called upon to defend their country.” JONNY QUEST by Dan Mazeau “Young Jonny Quest travels the world with his scientist father, adopted brother from India, Bandit the bulldog, and a government agent assigned to protect them while they investigate scientific mysteries.” THE KARMA COALITION by Shawn Christensen “A professor embarks on a quest to uncover the truth behind his wife's death before the world ends.” KEIKO by Elizabeth Wright Shapiro “A white teenage girl, who was adopted and raised in Japan by Japanese parents, travels to America to find her long lost father, comedian Dana Carvey.” ROUNDTABLE by Brian K Vaughan “In modern day, Merlin attempts to assemble a bunch of knights to battle an ancient evil.” THE GARY COLEMAN –EMMANUEL LEWIS PROJECT by Dan Fogelman “Emmanuel Lewis and Gary Coleman save the world from an evil madman.”
“A troubled private detective uncovers a blackmail scam involving a gangster who runs a brothel that caters to amputee fetishes [and other taboo sexual interests] and the doctor who performs the body modifications.” * embiggened for havok's sakeCHILD 44* by Richard Price
THE HERETIC by Javier Rodriguez “The Roman Catholic Church asks a former inquisitor to assassinate rebel monk Martin Luther.”
“Based on the novel by Tom Rob Smith. An officer in Stalinist Russia’s secret police is framed by a colleague for treason. While on the run with his wife, he stumbles upon a series of child murders and launches his own rogue investigation.” * enlargified for the OLEGers.SLEEPING BEAUTY* by Julia Leigh
A TALE OF TWO CITIES by Beau Willimon “Based on the novel by Charles Dickens.
“A haunting erotic fairy tale about Lucy, a student who drifts into prostitution and finds her niche as a woman who sleeps, drugged, in a ‘Sleeping Beauty chamber’ while men do to her what she can‘t remember the next morning.” * guess whoBOBISM* by Ben Wexler
THE HOW-TO GUIDE FOR SAVING THE WORLD by Ben David Grabinski “A loser discovers a book on how to stop an alien invasion and is thrust into action to stop a real one.” HEARTSTOPPER by Dan Antoniazzi& Ben Shiffrin “A romantic comedy, with a serial killer.” SAMURAI by Fernley Phillips “Set in Japan during the 150 Year War, a ronin out for justice teams up with a ninja and a green-eyed English boy to rid Japan of an evil Lord. Their partnership becomes the stuff of myth.” THE MURDERER AMONG US by Lori Gambino “Based on true events. Legendary filmmaker Fritz Lang contends with a mounting police investigation into the death of his first wife, the growing threat of the Third Reich, and a caustic relationship with his female collaborator; all leading to the production of the film M.” SERIAL KILLER DAYS by Mark Carter
“A shy college student discovers that life in one thousand years will be based on his blog–and he has to stop aliens from the future who want him dead.” * for our monkey professor of Bobology“A dark comedy blending stories of teen love and municipal corruption set against the backdrop of a town plagued by a serial killer that decides to profit the only way it can -by creating a festival and economy around the fact that they have a serial killer.”
Last edited by TheButcher on Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
TheButcher ZONE NEWS DIRECTOR Posts: 17417 Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:02 am Location: The Bureau of Sabotage
Post by TheButcher » Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:06 pm
From Deadline:
The Black List 2010: Screenplay Roster
NIKKI FINKE wrote: A screenplay titled College Republicans by Wes Jones based on true events about then aspiring politician Karl Rove running a dirty campaign for national College Republican Chairman under the guidance of Lee Atwater, his campaign manager, tops 2010's THE BLACK LIST. Once again, Deadline Hollywood is first to post in its entirety THE BLACK LIST, which for the uninitiated is film executive Franklin Leonard's hot unproduced screenplay pecking order which he began in 2004. Compiled every year from the suggestions of hundreds of film executives, each contributes the names of up to ten of their favorite scripts that were written in, or are somehow uniquely associated with, 2010 and will not be released in theaters during this calendar year. THE BLACK LIST does catapult dozens of scripts into production and screenwriters out of oblivion. Diablo Cody's Juno, Nancy Oliver's Lars And The Real Girl, Scott Neustader's and Michael Weber's 500 Days Of Summer, are just some of the screenplays which appeared on The Black List and then were made. I've noticed that it's also a "big dick" measuring contest for the Hollywood agencies and their motion picture lit departments. Problem is, some screenwriters think this list isn't on the up-and-up and accuse junior studio execs and assistants along with self-interested agents and managers of getting together to push their own clients on projects even if already abandoned. Also, if you spot inaccuracies, take it up with Franklin: I do not alter his list. Anyway, climb off the ledge if you're not on THE BLACK LIST. And, if you did make the cut, then congratulations:
TheButcher ZONE NEWS DIRECTOR Posts: 17417 Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:02 am Location: The Bureau of Sabotage
Post by TheButcher » Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:07 pm
THR, Esq. EXCLUSIVE:
Fox Lawyers Trying to Stop Black List Script Leaks
From THR:Today brings the Black List, Hollywood's annual annointment of the best unproduced screenplays. Will it also bring lawsuits against websites posting unauthorized copies of the scripts on the list?
We've learned that lawyers for Twentieth Century Fox are zeroing in on websites such as MediaFire, which is hosting PDF copies of all 76 of the copyrighted Black List screenplays in their entirety, including many owned by Fox. Lawyers for the studio are preparing to send MediaFire a cease-and-desist letter as part of a larger campaign to clamp down on script-trading online. The letters demand that the site owners immediately take down the scripts or face legal action from the studio.
Screenplays on this Year's Black List
Lindsay Powers wrote: Franklin Leonard sent out his sixth annual Black List Monday, christening the best un-produced screenplays, as weighed in by a number of development executives. Read the full list here. No. 1 on this year's list is Wes Jones' College Republicans, a fictionalized tale of Karl Rove's collegiate days. No. 2 is Jackie by Noah Oppenheim, which takes place in the days following President John F. Kennedy's assassination. The list also includes Stoker, which is about a teenage girl who must deal with her mysterious uncle after her dad dies. It's Prison Break star Wentworth Miller's screenwriting debut. Dante Harper's All You Need Is Kill, the adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka's 2004 sci-fi alien novel that has already purchased by Warner Bros. for seven figures, has also been named. J.C. Chandor's Margin Call, which chronicles the last 24 hours at now-defunct investment bank Lehman Brothers, also made the list. The Kevin Spacey and Paul Bettany starrer will debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January. [Per the list's rules, the film can't be released in theaters in the same calendar year it's been nominated.]
Lars and the Real Girl, Juno, The Kite Runner, State of Play, The Social Network and Things We Lost in the Fire made the list in years' past
TheButcher ZONE NEWS DIRECTOR Posts: 17417 Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:02 am Location: The Bureau of Sabotage
Post by TheButcher » Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:08 pm
//blcklst.com/
From Deadline:ABOUT US THE BLACK LIST is a snapshot of the collective taste of the people who develop, produce, and release theatrical feature films in the Hollywood studio system and the mainstream independent system. An annual list of Hollywood's most liked unproduced screenplays published on the second Friday of December each year, THE BLACK LIST began in 2004 as a survey with contributions from 75 film studio and production company executives. In 2009, over 300 executives contributed their opinion. Since its inception, dozens of screenplays that appeared on the list have been optioned, produced, and released, many to great commercial success. Two of the top three screenplays on the inaugural 2005 list - JUNO by Diablo Cody and LARS AND THE REAL GIRL by Nancy Oliver - went on to be nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 2008 Academy Awards, with JUNO winning the Oscar. CONTACT US For general questions about the Black List, contact us at:
For support related inquiries or to report a problem, contact us at:
For press related inquiries, contact us at:
The Black List 2011: Screenplay Roster
Last edited by TheButcher on Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
TheButcher ZONE NEWS DIRECTOR Posts: 17417 Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:02 am Location: The Bureau of Sabotage
Post by TheButcher » Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:09 pm
Deadline Hollywood: The Black List Launching Web Site That Tracks Most Popular Scripts In Real Time
NIKKI FINKE wrote: EXCLUSIVE: Film executive Franklin Leonard has maintained The Black List for the past six years to champion hundreds of talented screenwriters and unproduced scripts. Well over 125 screenplays have been made into movies, and they’re responsible for 20 Oscars and roughly $10 billion in worldwide grosses. Today Leonard expands The Black List by launching a website that tracks Hollywood’s most popular scripts in real time. Blcklst.com bases its info on polling hundreds of high level studio and production company executives who are directly involved in moviemaking. The subscriber-only web site [$20 a month] will expand the pool of movie professionals to include agents and directors who will identify the scripts they like best. Blcklst.com algorithms will sort them by a number of criteria: most popular, and most popular dramas or comedies of the past week, month or whatever. For example, on Tuesday night, I broke news of the sale to Warner Bros of The Imitation Game about math genius Alan Turing. It has been the most popular available new script among several hundred beta-test users of Blcklst.com over the past couple of months. One thing, though, Leonard’s website will not be open to the general public, however. Verified membership will be expanded to include agents, managers, directors, actors, and writers who will rate scripts according to what they like best. Additionally, the verified subscription format is designed to prevent data manipulation. Interestingly, there will be no “worst of” categories. [Gee where’s the fun if there’s no trashing or bashing?] The parameters are strictly based on what members like best and why. Leonard hopes the site will expand on what The Black List has already accomplished and help make the movie market more effective by pinpointing great screenplays with creative and profit potential as well as attract major talent. In addition, The Black List has brought in a pair of bloggers under the blog.blcklst.com umbrella, Scott Myers at gointothestory [now gointothestory.blcklst.com] and Xander Bennett at Screenwriting Tips… You Hack [now screenwritingtips.blcklst.com]. Bennett’s book based on his blog of the same name went on sale today from Focal Press.
For the uninitiated, The Black List is Leonard’s hot unproduced screenplay pecking order which he began in 2004 and compiled every year from the suggestions of hundreds of film executives, who each contributes the names of up to ten of their favorite scripts that were written in, or are somehow uniquely associated with, that calendar year and will not be released in theaters that calendar year, either. The Black List catapults dozens of scripts into production and screenwriters out of oblivion. Diablo Cody’s Juno, Nancy Oliver’s Lars And The Real Girl, Scott Neustader’s and Michael Weber’s 500 Days Of Summer, are just some of the screenplays which appeared on The Black List and then were made. I’ve noticed that it’s also a “big dick” measuring contest for the Hollywood agencies and their motion picture lit departments. Problem is, some screenwriters think this list isn’t on the up-and-up and accuse junior studio execs and assistants along with self-interested agents and managers of getting together to push their own clients on projects even if already abandoned.
DennisMM NOT PARTICULARLY MENACING Posts: 16813 Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2005 5:02 pm Location: Watchin' the reels go 'round and 'round Contact:
Post by DennisMM » Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:08 am
I hope most of those 2011 scripts read better than their synopses, because plenty of the synopses are dreadful.
TheButcher ZONE NEWS DIRECTOR Posts: 17417 Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:02 am Location: The Bureau of Sabotage
Post by TheButcher » Fri Feb 14, 2014 6:13 pm
Black List 2013: Full Screenplay List
1969: A SPACE ODYSSEY OR HOW KUBRICK LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LAND ON THE MOON Stephany Folsom With NASA’s Apollo program in trouble and the Soviets threatening nuclear war, a female PR operative conspires with NASA’s Public Affairs Office to stage a fake moon landing in case Armstrong and Aldren fail, the goal being to generate public excitement that will aid the U.S. in winning the Cold War. But the op is faced with the biggest challenge of all: Filming the fake lunar landing with temperamental Stanley Kubrick. Management: Kaplan/Perrone Manager: Aaron Kaplan
THE MAYOR OF SHARK CITY
Nick Creature, Michael Sweeney When a difficult film shoot spirals hopelessly out of control into a living nightmare, an ambitious young director must face his greatest fears to turn a troubled production into the biggest movie of all time. Set on Martha’s Vineyard during the summer of 1974, this is the untold story of the making of Jaws. Agency: Rothman Brecher Agent: Jim Ehrich Management: Heroes and Villains Entertainment Managers: Markus Georg, Mikhail NayfeldA BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Alexis C. Jolly Set in 1950s Manhattan, Fred Rogers journeys from a naive young man working for a NBC to the host of the beloved children’s TV show, Mr Rogers’ Neighborhood. Agency: APA Agents: Adam Perry, Chris Ridenhour Management: Echo Lake Entertainment Managers: Zadoc Angell, Dave Brown, James Engle, Amotz ZakaiFinancier/producer: Treehouse Pictures
TheButcher ZONE NEWS DIRECTOR Posts: 17417 Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:02 am Location: The Bureau of Sabotage
Post by TheButcher » Sat Dec 24, 2016 4:43 am
Sony Wins Auction For Jon Spaihts Sci-Fi Script ‘Passengers’
Jennifer Lawrence in Talks for Sci-Fi Drama ‘Passengers’ [Exclusive]Mike Fleming Jr wrote: EXCLUSIVE: In its second major material buy this week, Sony Pictures emerged from a competitive situation with the rights to Passengers, the script by Doctor Strange scribe Jon Spaihts that is a big science fiction love story, set in deep space. Production president Michael De Luca oversaw the deal and Neal Moritz and Ori Marmur will produce through the Original Film banner along Michael Maher for Start Media and Stephen Hamel of Company Films.
Sony, which has been going through an agonizing period since computers at the corporation were hacked and documents released, has forged ahead. Earlier this week, the studio acquired the hotly contested rights to turn the NYPD corruption documentary The Seven Five into a narrative feature. Passengers takes place on a spacecraft transporting thousands of people to a distant colony planet has a malfunction in one of its sleep chambers. As a result, a single passenger is awakened 90 years before anyone else. Faced with the prospect of growing old and dying alone, he eventually decides to wake up a second passenger, marking the beginning of what becomes a unique love story. Spaihts’ scripting credits include Prometheus, The Mummy reboot and Doctor Strange, the latter of which has Benedict Cumberbatch firmly set to star for Marvel.
Passengers has created a frenzy before. It once had Keanu Reeves and Rachel McAdams attached along with Game Of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire helmer Brian Kirk. Before that, Reese Witherspoon had been expected to play the female lead, and The Weinstein Company bought in a big deal at 2012 Cannes. All the while, Moritz had been tracking it and when it became free, he and De Luca were all over it. They are starting from scratch with the elements as none of those stars or the filmmaker is attached now.
Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt in Talks for Sci-Fi Romance ‘Passengers’ [Updated]Justin Kroll wrote: Jennifer Lawrence is in early talks to star in Sony’s space drama “Passengers,” with “The Imitation Game” director Morten Tyldum to helm.
Jon Spaihts, writer of “Doctor Strange,” is penning the script. Sony bought rights to “Passengers” in December.
Last edited by TheButcher on Sat Dec 24, 2016 4:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
TheButcher ZONE NEWS DIRECTOR Posts: 17417 Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2005 7:02 am Location: The Bureau of Sabotage
Post by TheButcher » Sat Dec 24, 2016 4:45 am
SPOILERS
/film:
Let’s Discuss The ‘Passengers’ Ending And How The Script Was Different From The Movie
Peter Sciretta wrote: With ten years of development, you’d be surprised how much of Jon Spaihts’ original Passengers script made it on screen in the new film. If I were to estimate, I’d say it’s 85-90% the same story and characters that are seen on the screen. So how was the Passenger ending in the original script different from the one that made it to the screen?