Genre: Horror/Family/ComedyPremise: A recently downsized father moves his family into a dying town, only to find out that it’s infested with killer mutated insects. About: This script made the lower third of the 2009 black list. It sold to Paramount earlier that year. The writer, Marc Haimes, used to be an executive at DreamWorks. He [...]
Genre: Horror/ThrillerPremise: A man slowly comes to discover his girlfriend is literally working for the devil and has to find a way to escape.About: Underling finished in the lower third of the 2009 Black List. I believe this is the writing team’s first screenplay together. One of the writers, Ben Shiffrin, is currently working with [...]
Genre: DramaPremise: A young emergency response driver with Tourette’s syndrome falls in love for the first time.About: If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s one of the winners of last year’s Nickel (sic) competition. Yes, we have a real live winner here. Writer: Andrew LanhamDetails: 108 pages (This is an early draft of the script. [...]
Genre: ThrillerPremise: (from writer) A humanitarian army nurse conscripted against her will uncovers secrets surrounding the government’s classified Manhattan Project and risks her life to stop the impending holocaust at Hiroshima. About: King’s script has made the quarterfinals of this year’s Nicholl competition and is still in play to keep advancing. — Every Friday, I [...]
And you thought yesterday was the apocalypse… For those fans of Jersey Shore, you know the term “GTL” well. Of course, I don’t watch Jersey Shore so I had to get my “GTL” definition from someone else. But from what I understand, it means “Gym, tan, laundry.” These are the things your average Guido (their [...]
Genre: Thriller/Sci-Fi/Drama Premise: A man must race across the US to save his pregnant wife as the apocalypse rains down around him. About: I think this is a brand-new writer. The script appeared in the lower third of the 2010 black list. It was picked up by a small production company soonafter. Writer: Brooks McLaren [...]
I wanted to send out a quick congratulations to F Scott Frazier for getting Ben Affleck attached to direct and possibly star in his new screenplay, Line of Sight. He indicated that he had something special to announce soon and I can only imagine that this was it. If you missed our interview, you can [...]
Genre: DramaPremise: A war photographer is the only witness to a huge massacre in Pakistan. An ex special ops soldier with ties to the massacred party hires him to travel to Afghanistan and enact revenge on the men responsible.About: This script came together as an idea by Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, upcoming Superman movie) who [...]
It’s going to be a great week here at Scriptshadow. We have an Impressive script and a new Top 25 script. In fact, I might even make it a Top 10 script. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I read it. So, is today that script? Read on to find out… [...]
Genre: Period/Historical/AdventurePremise: The year is 1627: A headstrong Highlander, together with his uncle – an embittered veteran who hates him – must struggle across war ravaged Europe to rescue his young sister after she is kidnapped by a band of ruthless mercenaries,About: I’ve just been informed that this script made the semi-finals of the Page [...]
A while back, I wrote an article about surprise box office hits and what we as screenwriters can learn from them. I love trying to figure out why some movies succeed and others fail, and especially how those successes and failures relate to screenwriting, so I thought it would be fun to tackle a new [...]
Hello everybody. Today is a little nuts so I’m not going to get the article up until later. I’ll try to have it up by 11 AM Pacific time but if I miss that then it will probably be three or four hours later. Hang tight.
Genre: Romantic Dramedy?/Sci-FiPremise: As his wedding approaches, a young man gets a visit from an older gentleman claiming to be him from the future. The man tells him that whatever he does, he cannot get married.About: David Gilbert and George Ratliff worked most recently on the film Joshua, starring Sam Rockwell and Vera Farminga. They [...]
Genre: Sci-Fi AdventurePremise: The last human on earth, a young girl, is protected by an army of robots against an even bigger army of zombies.About: Zombies vs. Robots (Inherit the Earth) is yet another graphic novel that has been translated into a screenplay. The geek-tastic set up feels like a kissing cousin to All You [...]
Genre: Romantic ComedyPremise: Two best friends, Daphne and Henry, sign up for an online dating service only to find out that they’re each other’s perfect match.About: Yet another 2010 Black List script, and yet another pair of brand-new writers. “Match” finished on the lower half of the list with 10 votes and was purchased by [...]
Genre: ComedyPremise: A young man begins to suspect that his bosses are monsters – real monsters.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, and why I should read [...]
“Writing Movies for Fun and Profit” is one of the more interesting books to come along in the screenwriting community in a while. Its authors, the writers of such movies as Night at the Museum and Herbie Fully Loaded, seem to take the opposite approach when it comes to writing than mainstays such as Robert [...]
“Writing Movies for Fun and Profit” is one of the more interesting books to come along in the screenwriting community in a while. Its authors, the writers of such movies as Night at the Museum and Herbie Fully Loaded, seem to take the opposite approach when it comes to writing than mainstays such as Robert [...]
Genre: Slow Burn Drama/Thriller/Comedy Premise: When a college kid discovers a million dollar jewel in their tourist cave, the owner accidentally kills him, and forces his brothers to help cover up the murder.About: This script finished fairly high on the 2010 blacklist. I don’t know much about the writer but I believe this is the [...]
Genre: ThrillerPremise: As a pianist readies to play his concert, he is told that if he misses a single note, he will be killed.About: Chazelle optioned a script last year titled “The Claim.” He went out wide with this spec in June but it didn’t sell (for those counting, roughly 25% of specs that have [...]
