Genre: Drama Premise: A young janitor at MIT solves an impossible math equation, which leads to a unique relationship with a reclusive psychologist. About: Good Will Hunting was originally purchased by Rob Reiner at Castle Rock for 675,000 dollars. The script at that time was a straight thriller about a math genius recruited by the [...]
First of all, shame on all you people who e-mailed me months ago telling me Source Code screenings had gone terribly and the movie was bad enough to go straight to video and you never understood why I loved the script in the first place . The movie is playing like gangbusters for critics made [...]
Genre: Historical EpicPremise: In 1804, before America has any cachet in the world, a rogue U.S. diplomat arrives in the savage city of Tripoli to demand the release of American prisoners. About: Tripoli was famously about to begin production in 2003 (2004?) when at the last second the studio pulled out. Ridley Scott, the director [...]
Genre: ComedyPremise: A young man about to get married to the wrong girl gets stuck down in Florida for a week, babysitting his newly widowed grandfather. About: Hip hip hooray, the spec sale lives! This script just sold a couple of weeks ago to Universal for mid six figures. The writer, John Phillips, is a [...]
Genre: Sci-Fi/FantasyPremise: In the future, where every minute is kept track of by a time dictator known as the Ticktockman, one man decides to fight the system and help the public seize back their lives. About: J. Michael Straczynski, through the blessing of his friend Harlan Ellison, who wrote the original short story which won [...]
Genre: ComedyPremise: (writers’ logline) A film producer known for remaking some of Hollywood’s biggest movies becomes the subject of a posthumous investigation by Entertainment Tonight.About: Last week’s comments section for Amateur Friday was a disaster. I want to rebound here. Remember what Amateur Friday is about. It’s about identifying the problems in an amateur screenplay [...]
I’ve reviewed a lot of scripts here on Scriptshadow, and one of the unfortunate things about the way the blog is constructed, is that whenever I come across a good script that’s been lost amongst the glut of endless projects weighing down the Hollywood sign and everything around it, it’s forgotten less than a week [...]
Genre: Romantic DramedyPremise: A frustrated 35 year old magazine columnist forms a friendship with a 16 year old female blogger while researching her for an article. About: Point A landed on the 2010 Black List. It’s written by Chris Rubeo, who wrote and directed the 2003 Indie “Hale Bopp,” but has been kicking it underground-style [...]
Genre: Love Story/Drama/Comedy?Premise: After eternal ladies’ man, Todd, falls in love for the first time, he must learn to get along with his new girlfriend’s overbearing father, Harry. About: Honeymoon With Harry is a project that’s been kicking around Hollywood for awhile, and is thought to be one of the better unproduced screenplays out there. [...]
Genre: Horror/ThrillerPremise: A teen gang in South London defends their block from an alien invasion.About: Attack The Block has gotten a lot of love recently as it won the audience award at the South By Southwest Film Conference. Writer-Director Joe Cornish is the creator of the iconic “The Adam and Joe Show.” This is his [...]
Edit: Feeling like his best work was not on display here, Stephen has asked if I would post a more recent script of his that he feels more confident in. Since some of you were asking, this is his script that placed Top 100 in the Nicholl. I present to you….Dead Even. Genre: Thriller (Horror?)Premise: [...]
Although I’m a staunch supporter of classic screenplay structure and the core “rules” of screenwriting (three acts, a main character, clear goal, stakes, immediacy), that doesn’t mean I don’t like films that take chances and do things differently. In fact, I love breaking down films that ignore this classic approach (and still manage to be [...]
Genre: ComedyPremise: An uptight secret service agent is assigned to the worst former president in U.S. history, who becomes the target of an assassination attempt. About: Spec script El Presidente was picked up by Warner Brothers late last year, but I could’ve sworn this script was kicking around a couple of years ago with Tom [...]
Genre: Action-AdventurePremise: Indiana Jones goes in search of the famed “The Lost City Of The Gods,” which is supposed to hold inside it all the knowledge in the universe.About: Before Spielberg’s go-to writer David Koepp wrote Crystal Skull, super screenwriter Frank Darabont worked on a draft of the script. Darabont, like many who took on [...]
Genre: DramaPremise: The real life story of a vacationing family’s struggle to find each other after the infamous 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.About: Thought this script was somewhat relevant considering Friday’s horrible events in Japan. I’m also reviewing it as a reminder to help out if you can. Please donate to a relief fund if possible. [...]
Genre: Period/Drama/ThrillerPremise: A young drifter infiltrates a married couple’s home, roping them into an insurance scam that results in disaster. About: Every Friday, I review a script from the readers of the site. If you’re interested in submitting your script for an Amateur Review, send it in PDF form, along with your title, genre, logline, [...]
Whoa, I’m not usually nervous while writing up Scriptshadow posts but this one’s got me a little jittery. Outside of the prequels, I don’t think there’s been a more documented breakdown of a film’s failure to deliver on an audience’s expectations than that of Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. The thing [...]
Genre: Romantic ComedyPremise: After a woman spills her secrets to a stranger during a turbulent plane ride, she shows up at work to discover that he is the recently returned CEO of her company.About: Can You Keep A Secret landed on the bottom half of the 2010 Black List and is an adaptation of a [...]
Genre: FantasyPremise: The death of the king’s right hand man results in a reclusive knight being recruited to replace him. Not only is the world he’s about to join filled with backstabbing and murder, but is threatened by the looming reemergence of a mysterious ghost-like species to the north.About: Game Of Thrones is the new [...]
Genre: Sci-Fi/ComedyPremise: Every man in the world is dead except for a young slacker and his pet monkey, leaving a world entirely populated by females. About: Brian K. Vaughan is a comic book writer, a TV writer (Lost), and has sold a few spec screenplays. This is an adaptation of Vaughan’s own comic book, Y [...]
