I’m not sure what I was expecting from a January horror film. But it certainly wasn’t what I got. Everybody say it with me: “MA-MA.” Genre: Horror Premise: (from IMDB) Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years…. but how [...]
A spec screenplay with no Black List play makes a strong late-year debut and asks the screenwriting community, “How could you miss me?” Genre: Sci-fi Premise: A top secret deep space crew comes upon a strange deserted futuristic ship. After boarding, key members of the crew start experiencing time loops. About: Echo Station was recently [...]
Today’s screenplay has been gaining a lot of heat lately since the attachment of Bill Murray. But is the main character too unlikable to save the sweet character piece? Genre: Dramedy Premise: When a struggling single mother and her oddball son move next door to an aging angry neighbor, the son and the neighbor form [...]
Can it be true? Has a new amateur screenplay sliced and diced its way to an elusive “impressive” ranking? Genre: Drama/Horror Premise: (from writer) A secluded boy’s way of life is threatened when he befriends Rose – the girl whom his parents have imprisoned in the family attic. About: I’ve started to include 5 amateur [...]
Hello everybody. Like a lot of you preparing for Thanksgiving, today is a travel day for me. I’m heading back to Chicago. Do not fear, however. One of Scriptshadow’s new consultants, Alexander, will be taking over review duties. I’d link you to his bio so you could learn more about him but I’m still at [...]
Genre: Tarantino Premise: (from IMDB) With the help of his mentor, a slave-turned-bounty hunter sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner. About: This is the next Quentin Tarantino film, coming out Dec. 25. Django Unchained stars Jaime Foxx as Django, Christoph Waltz as Dr. Schultz, Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie, [...]
Today I’m taking the day off. However, longtime Scriptshadow reader Christian Savage, who often critiques scripts in the comments section better than I do, will be kicking major ass with a review. And what is he reviewing? None other than “The Flight Of The Nez Perce,” from Desperate Hours writer, E. Nicholas Mariani! Yay! Genre: [...]
Genre: Drama Premise: A strange cult kidnaps a girl from a small town and uses a local radio talk show to promote their twisted beliefs. About: This is the duo who wrote one of my favorite scripts from last year, “When The Streetlights Go On” (finished #2 on last year’s Black List). Not sure if [...]
A spoon full of sugar wasn’t needed to make today’s screenplay go down. It looks like we have a new entry into the Top 25! Genre: Drama Premise: The story of how Walt Disney got the rights to Mary Poppins. About: This script finished on last year’s Black List with 13 votes, so somewhere in [...]
Have we just found the next Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind? Be prepared for a screenplay experience that’ll warp your mind 16 ways to Sunday. Genre: Comedy Premise: After an unplanned night of drinking, a man wakes up to realize he’s stuck in a movie. About: This script finished on the 2009 Black List. [...]
Subtle Screenwriting Scratches that Itch. “How bout this? Shut your mouth. Or I’ll kick your teeth down your throat and I’ll shut it for you.” Genre: Crime/Action/Thriller Premise: A stunt driver moonlighting as a getaway driver gets caught up in a job that’s over his head. About: Drive is adapted from James Sallis’ novel of [...]
A million dollar screenplay with a little help from Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. Genre: Comedy Premise: A woman uses her amazing internet skills to stalk and seduce the perfect guy. About: This script finished Top 10 on the Black List and I believe Top 3 on the Hit List (list of best spec screenplays [...]
Genre: Romantic Comedy Premise: Finding it more difficult to kill himself than he thought it would be, a depressed man offers a cash-strapped woman his life insurance money if she’ll marry him and make sure the suicide succeeds. About: This spec sold to Lionsgate last year. The writer, Corinne Kingsbury, was actually an actress and [...]
Genre: Drama Premise: (from Black List) In the early 1980s, a town suffers through the aftermath of a brutal murder of a high school girl and a teacher. About: This script finished Number 2 on this year’s Black List. Drew Barrymore has been attached to direct. It’s unclear to me if she became involved before [...]
Genre: Thriller Premise: A teenage girl heads to a remote cabin in the mountains with her father and new stepmother – an experience 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. About: This spec was sent out [...]
Genre: Biopic/Thriller Premise: The story of how Alan Turing cracked the impossible “Enigma” code, which helped the Allies win World War 2. About: If I were to gauge the buzz around all the spec screenplays this year, this one would probably be at the top of the list. In fact, I’m betting this script is [...]
Genre: Comedy Premise: A family of private investigators investigate each other just as much as they investigate their cases. About: This is a low-level 2008 Black List script based on the novel of the same name, written by Lisa Lutz. Lutz started out as a screenwriter, writing a screenplay titled “Plan B,” which by all [...]
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 [...]
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: Western (TV pilot) Premise: In 1865, a town physically moves across the frontier, following the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. About: Hell on Wheels is an AMC show set to debut either this year or early next year. Tony Gayton won the Jack Nicholson Screenwriting scholarship at USC, where he attended, over a decade [...]
