100 screenplays ripe for Hollywood’s attention. Black List 2012 is here today!
edit: Black List posted – Thoughts on list have been added below…
Okay, so today’s review has been postponed until tomorrow because the Black List is coming out today. Franklin’s doing things a little differently this year, tweeting out the Black List scripts one at a time. Then retweeting them in order. Or in reverse order. And then he’s going to post the whole thing. I think. Honestly, I’m a little confused about how it’s going to go, so I’ll just wait until the whole thing is posted and then offer my immediate (highly questionable, of course) analysis. There will be a lot of scripts I’ve heard of, but a lot of mystery scripts as well. Always scripts that come out of nowhere with this thing. Now some people have questioned the legitimacy of the Black List in recent years, since agents have been known to work the system to get undeserving clients on the list (which is why you get some clear stinkers), but there are still around 20 really good scripts that would not get any Hollywood play if not for the list, so I still believe in it. And I love trying to find those scripts. I think the whole thing is going to be up by 1pm Pacific time? So that’s around when I’ll post. In the meantime, to get a preview of some of the scripts that will be on the list, check out The Hit List, which covers the best spec scripts of the year.
UPDATE – THOUGHTS ON LIST
Okay, I’ve read through the list and, as is always the case, I have a range of thoughts. What’s interesting is that every year, I’m more aware of the scripts that have made it. And I know more and more of the writers who wrote those scripts. For example, I’ve done consults on five of the scripts that made the list (sorry I can’t tell you which ones – I don’t know if the writers would want me to give up that info). There are scripts that I’m shocked have landed so high, some that I’m dumbfounded have landed so low (The Equalizer?? Seriously??) and the occasional script that I had no idea even existed. I think it’s important to remember that people can’t vote on scripts they haven’t read, which is why there are some really good scripts near the bottom. It may be the case that the script just didn’t make it in front of enough eyes. Anyway, let’s start with some general thoughts on the Top 10…
I had not heard of this Draft Day script until it finished #1 on The Hit List. What’s really fascinating to me is that sports scripts generally don’t do well in the market, much less become beloved by those who read them. The fact that this script is the clear #1 winner makes me think it’s really good. And that’s exciting. It was cool seeing A Country Of Strangers on the list because it’s a fascinating story. I thought it was ‘worth the read,’ Australia’s “Zodiac” if you will. But it was a little messy so I’m surprised it finished so high. Seuss is the kind of script tailor-made for the Black List. Congrats to Eyal and Jonathan. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Rodham, but I’m still struggling to read a script about Hilary Rodham-Clinton. I just can’t seem to do it, though I’m sure it’s good. Story Of Your Life popped onto my radar when the Blood List was released and is right up my alley. I love that kind of stuff, so I’m excited to see it finish so high.
I reviewed Wunderkind back in the day but I’m thinking this must be a different draft because I just didn’t connect with it on any level. It’s a cool idea though, so I hope they’ve figured it out. Extremely Wicked is a Nicholl winner, I believe? Nice to see one of those finish so high. I also really like the premise. I love the idea of someone’s life spiraling out of control from a seemingly mundane issue. Count me in. Glimmer was cool, the one “pure entertainment” script in the Top 10. Goes to show found footage isn’t dead yet! I still feel it’s a little light, but they have time to shore that up in rewrites. Get it? “Time?” Heh heh heh. I’m on. Me & Earl & The Dying Girl – Hmmmm…. Nicholas Sparks didn’t write this? Are they sure? KIDDING! Sheesh, don’t get your panties in a bunch. These kind of morbid “we’re going to die but let’s have fun now” scripts aren’t really my thing but a couple of people have written to tell me it’s quite good. I know nothing about “Devil’s Play,” but the premise leads me to believe that there’s plenty of opportunity for drama.
As for the rest of the scripts, If They Move…Kill’em sounds fun. A famed director fallen from his peak being forced to make a film with Columbian drug money?? Have never read anything like that before. I’m in. Americatown sounds good too. I think we’re in for a lot more movies where China is dominating our future and it’ll be interesting to see how writers tackle the subject matter since, you know, we’re going to be at war with them within ten years – :). I know I shouldn’t be intrigued by “Shut In” because the premise is so damn vague, and yet I REALLY WANNA KNOW what the secret is!
Someone told me The Judge is just beyond awesome. And it would probably be even higher if it was out there more but from my understanding, they were keeping it under tight wraps. So just the fact that it got that high with so few people reading it tells me it’s a script to watch out for. i reviewed Comacheria on the site and really liked it, so not surprised that made the list. Cool to see 500 Days of Summer writers Scott Neustradter and Michael Weber on the list. I think they made the list for two years then were gone last year. So it’s good to see them back. Man of Tomorrow sounds absolutely insane and I usually hate alternate history stories but this one seems too delicious to pass up.
Awesome to see Chris Hutton and Eddie O’Keefe on the list with The Final Broadcast. Loved that script! Probably the single most exposed spec of the year (if not the top 3), Guggenheim’s Black Box made the list. I’ve heard all sorts of stuff on this one but I haven’t read it myself yet. Some say it’s a fun little action film. Others say it’s one of the worst scripts they’ve read. Then again, it seems like every script that makes noise, there’s always someone who says it’s the “worst script I’ve ever read” so maybe that reaction is a good thing. I don’t know if I’ll read it. I thought Safe House was so middle-of-the-road, yet somehow it translated onscreen really well. Regardless, Guggenheim is a hot writer who has the magic touch, and since that’s what we’re all trying to achieve, good for him!
A big congrats to Tyler for making the list! I was hoping Disciple Program would finish higher, but it’s still really cool to see it on the list. I’ve said so much about this script that I don’t know if there’s anything left to say. It’s just really cool. — Jo Jo Rabbit (oddest title/subject matter combination on the list?) sounds like it could be a cool little script in the same vein as Rose In the Darkness. I wanna read that one. Cool to see McCarthy, Franklin’s first find through the Black List Program, make the list. I freaking dug through my old Amateur Friday submissions and saw that Justin (the writer) had sent me the script a long time ago. If only I had more time to go through those submissions, maybe I could’ve found McCarthy. Dammit!
Conversion sounds like the most depressing script on the list. Even though I like them when they’re done well, it’s funny how these “unlikely friendship” scripts always seem to involve the mentally retarded or homeless people or both. These scripts have to be written extra well to work, avoiding the constant potential for melodrama. I hope it does. In contrast, I love love LOVE the premise for “Ground Control To Major Tom.” Just seems like one of those WTF ideas that you need to read to see how it turns out. How can an astronaut have survived nine years up in space?
As for the others, Transcendence, the Christopher Nolan’s DP project, sounds like it could be cool if done well. Fuck, Marry, Kill – lol. I don’t even know what to say about that one. Cool to see The Lighthouse do well. I haven’t read it but I know one of my consultants loved it. You know I love time travel scripts so I want to read Almanac. I’m curious about Ex Boyfriend Of The Bride if only because it has the most basic logline I’ve ever seen on the Black List – “After he finds out his ex-girlfriend is getting married, a man decides to go to the wedding in order to stop her from going through with it,” – a plot point that is included in basically every romantic comedy ever made yet here it’s the central story. But the fact that people still liked it makes me think it’s somehow overcome this simplicity.
And that’s about it. Oh, and Who Framed Tommy Calahan sounds hilarious! Definitely want to read that one. What about you guys? Your thoughts on the list? Have you read any of these? What did you think? Leave your comments below!
65
DRAFT DAY by Rajiv Joseph, Scott Rothman
On the day of the NFL Draft, Bills General Manager Sonny Weaver has the opportunity to save football in Buffalo when he trades for the number one pick. He must quickly decide what he’s willing to sacrifice in pursuit of perfection as the lines between his personal and professional life become blurred.
43
A COUNTRY OF STRANGERS by Sean Armstrong
Based on true events. Inspector Geoff Harper conducts a forty year search for the Beaumont Children, three siblings taken from an Australian beach in January of 1966.
43
SEUSS by Eyal Podell, Jonathan Stewart
As a young man, Ted Geisel meets his future wife Helen, who encourages his fanciful drawings, and in the 1950s when Ted is struggling professionally, Helen helps inspire the children’s book that will become his first big hit, “The Cat in the Hat.”
39
RODHAM by Young Il Kim
During the height of the Watergate scandal, rising star Hillary Rodham is the youngest lawyer chosen for the House Judiciary Committee to Impeach Nixon, but she soon finds herself forced to choose between a destined path to the White House and her unresolved feelings for Bill Clinton, her former boyfriend who now teaches law in Arkansas.
35
STORY OF YOUR LIFE by Eric Heisserer
Based on the short story by Ted Chiang. When alien crafts land around the world, a linguistics expert is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat. As she learns to communicate with the aliens, she begins experiencing vivid flashbacks that become the key to unlocking the greater mystery about the true purpose of their visit.
33
WUNDERKIND by Patrick Aison
A Mossad employed father and his CIA agent son team up to hunt an escaped Nazi.
31
EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL, AND VILE by Michael Werwie
Based on a true (and ultimately surprising) story, a promising young law student fights an oppressive legal system and growing public scrutiny when his routine traffic stop snowballs into shocking criminal charges, imprisonment, daring escapes, and ultimately acting as his own attorney in a nationally televised murder trial.
29
GLIMMER by Carter Blanchard
When three friends go missing on a camping trip in a forest rumored to be haunted, the two left behind discover clues that lead them to a safe deposit box containing video tapes… showing exactly what happened to their friends.
29
ME & EARL & THE DYING GIRL by Jesse Andrews
Based on Andrews’s eponymous novel, a quirky high school student who enjoys making films sparks a friendship with a classmate dying of leukemia.
28
DEVILS AT PLAY by James Dilapo
In the Soviet Union in 1937, a worker of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs finds a list of traitors, which he thinks is going to be his way out.
26
SWEET VIRGINIA by Paul China, Benjamin China
A former rodeo star unknowingly starts a rapport with a young man who is responsible for all of the violence that has suddenly gripped his small town.
25
FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS by Brad Desch
A woman recalls her close relationship with her famous novelist father while struggling to overcome her fear of emotional involvement with her first real boyfriend.
23
SHUT IN by Christina Hodson
A woman who tries to raise her catatonic son on her own suddenly discovers a shocking secret about him.
22
THE KEEPING ROOM by Julia Hart
Three southern women defend their home from the Union army while their husbands are off fighting in the Civil War.
21
IF THEY MOVE… KILL ‘EM! by Kel Symons
After losing his luster and respect in Hollywood, famed director Sam Peckinpah hopes to direct his next great film with financial backing from Colombian drug lords and brings along a novice screenwriter to write the film in Colombia.
20
AMERICATOWN by Ben Poole
In a China-dominated near future, a former LAPD officer attempts to save his family from destitution in Los Angeles by working for a crime lord in the American ghetto within a thriving Hong Kong.
20
SAND CASTLE by Chris Roessner
Based on a true story, a group of United States soldiers in Iraq risk their lives to save a local village.
20
THE JUDGE by Bill Dubuque
A successful attorney returns to his hometown for his mother’s funeral only to discover that his Alzheimer’s-stricken father is suspected of murder and must represent him in court. The ordeal becomes an emotional journey that makes him a better man.
19
CLIVE by Natasha Pincus
After an accident causes a successful CEO to lose both legs, he is forced to re-evaluate his life and identity.
19
COMANCHERIA by Taylor Sheridan
Two brothers, one an ex-con and the other a divorced father of two kids, face the foreclosure of their family’s West Texas farm. They team for a skillfully-calculated bank robbing spree that puts them on a collision course with two Texas Rangers determined to take them down.
19
FLOWER by Alex McAulay
A coming of age story about the unlikely bond that forms between a sexually adventurous teenage girl and her obese, mentally unstable step-brother.
19
WHALEMEN by Tucker Parsons
The leader of a fourteenth century Scottish whaling village must seek out and do battle with a whale many times larger than any he has ever seen in order to ransom back his son from the occupying English.
19
WHIPLASH by Damien Chazelle
Based on the eponymous short film written and directed by Chazelle. Under the director of a prestigious but borderline abusive instructor, a young college student begins to lose his humanity in his quest to become the core drummer of the top jazz orchestra in the country.
18
GEORGE by Jeff Shakoor
When an acerbic alcoholic finds himself penniless and alone he has no choice but to crash his family’s holiday. Years of alienating them makes for a stiff challenge, but eventually he subtly helps them heal.
17
THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
Based on the eponymous novel by John Green, a teenage girl stricken with cancer falls for a boy in her support group and the two form a bond as they deal with their illnesses.
17
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY by April Prosser
A twenty eight year old woman is about to get engaged to her great boyfriend, when the ex she hasn’t gotten over moves back into town. All of a sudden she isn’t sure if her boyfriend is really the one, and so she spends time decorating her ex’s new condo,trying to figure it all out.
16
THE BALLAD OF PABLO ESCOBAR by Matt Aldrich
After his family is almost killed in a car bombing, Pablo Escobar wages a war with a rival cartel and his own government in an effort to protect his family.
16
THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA by Mark Hogan
During WWII, a a fifteen year old German boy is sent to America to spy for the Fatherland by joining a politically-connected family as an English war orphan. Tension mounts when the boy gets the chance to assassinate President Roosevelt..
16
MAN OF TOMORROW by Jeremy Slater
In an alternate 1940s reality, the US Government makes a deal with an indestructible gangster to kill Hilter in exchange for the city of Chicago, which he will build into his own utopia. Unfortunately his model city never comes to fruition and both he and his Bureau liaison get much of the slack for destroying one of America’s greatest cities and now the government wants him dead.
15
EL TIGRE by Aaron Buchsbaum, Teddy Riley
A family vacation goes horribly awry when the father is mistaken for the most ruthless drug lord in Mexico, El Tigre.
15
MURDER CITY
Will Simmons
An ensemble crime story set in Detroit about an ex-con who goes back for one last heist in order to settle his family’s debt.
14
THE FINAL BROADCAST – Chris Hutton, Eddie O’Keefe
A man takes a job as a radio broadcaster in a small town, only to discover that it is embedded with a radical group planning mass destruction in conjunction with an upcoming lunar eclipse.
14
THE SURVIVALIST by Stephen Fingleton
Years after lack of resources result in much of the world’s population dying off, a survivalist is living on a farm alone until a woman and her seventeen year old daughter show up looking for cover.
13
BLACK BOX by David Guggenheim
When Air Force One crashes, a journalist discovers a cover up after gaining access to the plane’s black box data and must unravel the mystery.
13
CHERRIES by Brian Kehoe, Jim Kehoe
Three fathers learn of their teenage daughters’ pact to lose their virginity on prom night and band together to stop them.
13
FROM NEW YORK TO FLORIDA by Austin Reynolds
An undisciplined boy is sent to Florida for the summer with his grandparents, and the drive south changes him forever.13
HEY, STELLA! by Tom Shephard
The story of how Marlon Brando won the role of Stanley Kowalski in Elia Kazan’s broadway play A Streetcar Named Desire.
12
THE BROKEN by John Glosser
In 1967 Oklahoma, a war vet/farmer investigates the suspicious death of his estranged son in the next county. When he discovers his son’s brutal murder was a covered-up gay bashing, he goes on a one-man mission to take down the corrupt sheriff responsible.
12
THE DISCIPLE PROGRAM by Tyler Marceca
A man begins an investigation into his wife’s mysterious death, only to find that it goes much deeper than he imagined.
12
JOJO RABBIT by Taika Waititi
After being severely hurt by a grenade at Hitler youth camp, a prideful and nationalistic ten-year old boy discovers that his mother is hiding a fifteen year old Jewish girl in their house.
11
ALL-NIGHTER by Brad Ingelsby
An aging hitman goes up against his boss over a single night in order to protect his family.
11
MCCARTHY by Justin Kremer
It is 1951. Junior Senator Joe McCarthy feels lost. He’s anonymous, just another suit on Capitol Hill. He craves attention and celebrity. He’s desperate to be noticed, to be adored. Inspired by the response of the American public to the House of Un-American Activities Committee, McCarthy decides that communism will be his defining issue. What follows is nearly unthinkable — national fame, a shocking conspiracy, a sitting President afraid to oppose him, and a torrid journey of self destruction and paranoia.
11
THE WINTER KILLS by Ben Carney
A disgraced cop pursues the serial killer who murdered his partner ten years ago, has resurfaced, and is killing again.
11
WHO FRAMED TOMMY CALLAHAN? by Harry Kellerman
An elementary school student searches for the truth behind the candy bar ring conspiracy that got his brother expelled.
10
OUR NAME IS ADAM by T.S. Nowlin
An astronaut travels back in time to enlist the help of his younger self.
10
THE PORTLAND CONDITION by Dan Cohn, Jeremy Miller
Set against the backdrop of rainy Portland, Oregon, a young man finds himself falling in love for the first time – only to receive a letter from his future self, warning him of impending heartbreak.
10
SOMACELL by Ashleigh Powell
A female prison guard in the future, where prisoners are rehabilitated with virtual reality, discovers a conspiracy that puts her loyalty into question.
10
UNTITLED COPS SCRIPT by Blake McCormick
Following a costume party where they dressed as cops, two best friends are mistaken for actual police officers and find themselves on the run, after being forced to bring a dangerous criminal back to the station.
9
CONVERSION by Marissa Jo Cerar
A preacher’s wife, grieving from the loss of her teenage son and struggling to hold her family together, forms an unlikely friendship with a young street hustler who helps her understand her lost son and survive alcoholic depression.
9
GOODBYE, FELIX CHESTER by Max Taxe
After finding out he has a month left to live, high school junior Felix Chester focuses all of his time and energy on one goal: losing his virginity to his dream girl.
9
PENNY DREADFUL by Shane Atkinson
Desperate to hang on to his pregnant girlfriend, bumbling Dennis gets caught up in a kidnapping scheme gone awry, leaving him saddled with a sociopathic little girl who seemingly calls the shots.
8
BORDER COUNTRY by Jonathan Stokes
A veteran goes to war against a crew of corrupt cops intent on controlling the US/Mexico border.
8
DOPPELGANGERS by Evan Mirzai, Shea Mirzai
Buttoned-down 20-something Eric isn’t ready to marry his longtime girlfriend Abby. His only way out is through slacker Sam, his identical twin brother, who offers to pose as Eric to do the dumping. But the plan becomes a disaster when Sam realizes Abby is actually really cool–and falls head over heels for her…
8
THE EQUALIZER by Richard Wenk
A veteran covert operative seeking redemption for his dark deeds quits a CIA-like agency and devotes himself to helping others where injustice has been done.
8
GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM by Jason Micallef
After nine years, a NASA communications expert reconnects with the astronaut she believed to be dead and helps rescue him from space.
8
OUT OF STATE by Eric Pearson
While driving his regular interstate bus route, an emotionally fractured ex-convict finds himself acting as a father figure to a forsaken young boy from the Philadelphia ghetto, even though he knows that the boy is smuggling drugs.
8
TIMES SQUARE by Taylor Materne, Jake Rubin
Set amidst the transformation of Times Square from New York’s seediest neighborhood to the commercialized Disneyland it is today, when a secret from his past is unearthed, a young man’s loyalties are divided between his neighborhood boss who raised him and the grizzled ex-cop who swore to protect him.
7
BLEEDING KANSAS by Russell Sommer, Dan Frey
A runaway slave and a sheriff must journey to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a Gubernatorial candidate against the backdrop of Kansas’ induction into statehood and whether or not it would be a slave or free state.
7
EX BOYFRIEND OF THE BRIDE by Matt Hausfater
After he finds out his ex-girlfriend is getting married, a man decides to go to the wedding in order to stop her from going through with it.
7
HIBERNATION by Will Frank, Geneva Robertson-Dworet
A wrongly convicted inmate volunteers for a hibernation experiment in exchange for one day of parole every five years, which he uses to prove his innocence and search for his missing daughter across an increasingly futuristic landscape.
7
THE HOOVERVILLE DEAD by Brantley Aufill
Set in St. Louis in the 1920s, washed up baseball player Will Cosgrove is a private eye with his older brother Ross. When Ross goes missing, Will stumbles upon a deep secret that the disease taking over the town is not quite what it seems and a mob boss turned Governor will do anything to keep the town’s secret from being revealed.
7
THE KILLING SPREE by Derek Elliott, Jack Donaldson
Heartbroken after being dumped by his longtime girlfriend, a guy’s best friends devise the perfect plan for his recovery and teach him how to sleep with as many women as humanly possible.
7
MIDNIGHT AT NOON by Nathaniel Halpern
On the run after robbing a bank during the great depression, two brothers find themselves trapped in the harsh region known as the Dust Bowl where a ruthless killer hunts them down.
7
THE OUTSKIRTS by Dominique Ferrari, Suzanne Wrubel
After falling victim to a humiliating prank by the high school Queen Bee, best friends and world-class geeks, Mindy and Jodi, decide to get their revenge by uniting the outcasts of the school against her and her circle of friends.
7
STOCKHOLM, PENNSYLVANIA by Nikole Beckwith
A young woman, kidnapped when she was a kid, returns home to the family she barely remembers and struggles to feel ‘at home.’
7
TRANSCENDENCE by Jack Paglen
An epic love story set in a time where a dying scientist is able to upload his consciousness into the internet and, facing its global implications, must fight against the forces who are actively working against the existence of a singularity.
6
ALMANAC by Jason Pagan, Andrew Stark
A group of high school kids discover how to time travel, but fail to recognize the potential consequences.
6
COME AND FIND ME by Zack Whedon
When his girlfriend goes missing, David must track down her whereabouts after he realizes she’s not who she was pretending to be.
6
DON’T MAKE ME GO by Vera Herbert
When a single father to a teenage daughter learns that he has a fatal brain tumor, he takes her on a road trip to find the mother who abandoned her years before and to try to teach her everything she might need over the rest of her life.
6
THE EEL by Roberto Bentivegna
An escaped convict is ensnared in a plot by a corrupt Sheriff to kidnap the young heiress to an oil fortune, complicating his quest for freedom.
6
FUCK MARRY KILL by Neel Shah, Alex Blagg
Three best friends return for their high school reunion intent on righting all the wrongs done to them in high school … by either fucking, marrying, or killing their tormentors.
6
HOLD ON TO ME by Brad Ingelsby
Based on an article written by Hillel Levin and Jim Keene, a ruthless and moneyhungry woman uses a hapless man as a pawn in her criminal schemes.
6
KING OF HEISTS by Will Staples
Based on the book King of Heists: The Sensational Bank Robbery of 1878 That Shocked America, written by J. North Conway. An unassuming man in the elite New York society assembles a crew that pulls off the largest bank heist in American history in 1878.
6
THE LIGHTHOUSE by Eric Kirsten
William Van Alen’s building of the Chrysler building and the competition to be the first to complete the world’s tallest building.
6
MONSOON by Matt Ackley
A dangerous love affair between a photojournalist and a black market smuggler set against the June 2001 massacre of the Royal Family in Nepal.
6
THE PAPER MAN by Sean O’Keefe
The true story of Matthias Sindelar, the Austrian footballer voted as the Sportsman of the Century and killed by Hitler’s Nazi party.
6
PESTE by Barbara Marshall
Following the outbreak of a virus that wipes out the majority of the human population, a teen documents her family’s new life in quarantine and tries to protect her infected sister.
6
TITANS OF PARK ROW by Mitch Akselrad
Young William Randolph Hearst goes to war against an aging Joseph Pulitzer as each tries to monopolize coverage of a mysterious homicide capturing New York’s imagination, birthing the modern concept of sensationalist media coverage.
