The new Star Trek film underperformed. But all we at Scriptshadow care about is, “How was the writing?” Genre: Sci-Fi Premise: Captain Kirk and crew go after a mysterious villain who performed a terrorist attack on the Federation. After chasing him down, they learn that it’s actually someone within their own ranks that they need [...]
The Great Gatsby had the best use of 3-D I’ve ever seen. But how many dimensions did the actual storytelling have!? Genre: Drama/Period Premise: Set in the 20s, a former writer moves next to one of the wealthiest men in New York. When the man, a shadowy figure known as Jay Gatsby, invites him to [...]
David Fincher swoops down to explore his next potential directing assignment. So I decided to check out the book. Genre: Thriller Premise: Told from two different points of view, a man’s wife goes missing and he becomes the prime suspect. About: 41 year old Gillian Flynn is a former Entertainment Weekly TV critic. She’s written [...]
Can this writer pull off one of the more ambitious concepts I’ve seen all year? Genre: Thriller Premise: (from IMDB) If on one night every year, you could commit any crime without facing consequences, what would you do? Over the course of a single night, a family will be tested to see how far they [...]
Today’s writer found a way into the business writing in a genre he was passionate about, despite that genre being a tough sell. Should you do the same? Genre: Drama/Biopic Premise: How a young unemployed Marlon Brando got his breakthrough role in the classic Tennessee Williams play, “A Streetcar Named Desire.” About: Recently, unknown screenwriter [...]
Genre: Sci-fi Premise: (from IMDB) A veteran assigned to extract Earth’s remaining resources begins to question what he knows about his mission and himself. About: While this draft was written by “The Departed” screenwriter William Monahan, Monahan didn’t seem to make the final cut when the credits were given out. The writer doing the revisions [...]
Can an Evil Dead update turn what was only a cult hit into a bona fide box office success? Genre: Horror Premise: (from imdb) Five friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods. The evil presence [...]
Is it possible we’ve dusted off a forgotten screenplay that deserves to be made? Read on to find out! Genre: Drama Premise: A down on his luck U.S.-Mexican border agent enlists in a scheme to help illegal aliens cross into America. But when he tries to pull out, he puts himself and his family in [...]
Its trailer has made clapping the new “I see dead people.” But is the screenplay just a catch phrase and a few scares? Or does it offer more? Genre: Horror Premise: Based on a true story, a family moves into a farmhouse, only to realize that it’s haunted by a demon. About: This is Saw [...]
Today’s ghost story is a project Hitchcock always wanted to make but couldn’t get the funding for. The big question, however, is…has the script itself become supernatural? Genre: Ghost/Suspense Premise: A young girl goes missing for three weeks on a secluded island. When she returns, she doesn’t remember being gone. About: What an interesting little [...]
Today’s screenplay is a cult classic in the spec world. Only true insiders know about it. But that’s about to change. Genre: Biopic Premise: Between 1996 and 2005, three enormous personalities dominated the trade headlines with their petty antics. No, this story is not about Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, and Russel Crowe. It’s about Disney [...]
I love it when a screenplay comes out of nowhere. Totally picked this one up out of a pile, and boy did it deliver! Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Procedural Premise: The true story behind the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.? About: This script was written, I believe, in 2004, where it was hot enough to get Leonardo [...]
Today we go racing back to Black List’s past to see if a forgotten screenplay can sneak its way back onto the Hollywood Highway. Genre: Action/Romance/Drama Premise: A high-speed chase on the streets of LA told through multiple points of view. About: Iranian-born Massy Tadjedin penned today’s script, which landed on the 2007 Black List [...]
This project is bursting with backstory to the point where you don’t know what to focus on. Maybe we’ll start here: Is “What Makes Sammy Run” the next Citizen Kane? Genre: Comedy-Drama Premise: In the 1930s, energizer-bunny producer Sammy Glick became one of the biggest producers in Hollywood. But even with all his success, he [...]
One of the more notorious unproduced screenplays out there, with promises of DiCaprio galavanting through the sets of The Wizard Of Oz in order to solve murders. Unfortunately, I’m off today, trying to make some last second changes so that a certain book by a certain person (hint: it’s me) can be ready to buy [...]
The last time Michael Stark (real name) reviewed a script for me was the Freeman/Willis action project, “Red.” Well Michael is back again with a script by screenwriting legend William Goldman. There was a time when Goldman sold every piece of paper that came out of his typewriter. And some of those were grocery lists. [...]
Lot’s been going on this past week. The deadline for the Scriptshadow Logline/Screenplay Contest was nearing but I decided to extend it until Friday. So if you still want to enter, get those loglines in to Carsonreeves3@gmail.com. Some good news came up with #1 reader fave Source Code so make sure to chime in if [...]
Note: I recently took down the 2nd Fellowship script review, Dream Before Waking, as I learned that it was a vastly different draft than the one entered in the competition. Genre: DramaPremise: In 1918 British occupied India, two 12 year old girls, one the daughter of an Indian servant, the other the daughter of a [...]
Genre: Horror/Action/ThrillerPremise: (from IMDB) In the year 2019, a plague has transformed most every human into vampires. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the fractured dominant race plots their survival; meanwhile, a researcher works with a covert band of vampires on a way to save humankind.About: Michael and Peter Spierig are Australian-born brothers who first [...]
Roger’s back for his second Halloween Horror Week review since, well, let’s be honest, he understands this genre a lot better than I do. But before we get to this werewolf tale, a lot of you are probably wondering what the hell happened to the Reader Top 25 List. After some deliberation, I decided I [...]
