Wait a minute. This script sold for 3 million dollars??
Genre: Comedy/Horror/Blockbuster?
Premise: When a man comes to a psychiatrist claiming to be a werewolf, the psychiatrist attempts to videotape his transformation to prove to him that he’s merely hallucinating, but is shocked to learn that the man is telling the truth.
About: Is Hollywood ruthless or what? It’s 1992. You wrote the crowd-pleasing movie of the summer that got an actress her first Oscar in “My Cousin Vinny.” You struggle for a couple years. But then, in 1997, you write a werewolf script that sells for THREE MILLION DOLLARS to Dreamworks, a deal that Steven Spielberg himself brokered. I’d say life is good, right? Except screenwriter Dale Launer would only get three more produced credits in the next 25 YEARS. Those credits? Eddie. Tom Nu’s Heaven. And The Hustle. Ouch. Might Bad Dog have changed his fortunes had it been made? Let’s find out!
Writer: Dale Launer
Details: 118 pages – 1997 draft
Readability: Medium to Fast
As Scott pointed out to me, this script was purchased right after the birth of Dreamworks, Steven Spielberg’s company. When you’re a new company and have a lot of money, you make big splashy sales to announce yourself. Nobody’s going to put you above the fold if you buy a script for $250,000. But three million? That’s a front page story on Variety right there.
This is a rare look into the minds of two of the biggest names in Hollywood, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg. These two PERSONALLY brokered this deal, which tells you EXACTLY what they like. I bring this up because Spielberg is still involved in his company, Amblin Entertainment, where he’s still buying Spielbergian things, like the Tom Hanks movie, Finch. “Bad Dog” tells me he wants to make a werewolf film.
What often happens with creatives is that once they get their minds set on making a certain type of movie, they *will* make that movie eventually. I saw this with the Russo Brothers. A decade ago they bought a script about a guy who came back from war and robbed banks. After developing it for a while, they abandoned it. A decade later, they optioned the book, “Cherry,” about what? About a guy who just got back from war who starts robbing banks.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, if you have a great werewolf script, get it to Steven Spielberg. He may want to make it. While you’re taking care of that, let’s figure out why he threw three million dollars down the drain.
45 year old Griffin Black is a nationally renowned psychiatrist whose schtick is to “control your emotions.” One day, Griffin’s visited by a guy named Archie who desperately needs his help. According to Archie, every full moon, he turns into a werewolf. But not just any werewolf, a werewolf that grows bigger and fiercer with every human he eats.
Griffin nods along before explaining to Archie that he’s having hallucinations. What if I proved it to you, Archie asks. Would you believe me then? Sure, Griffin says. Why not. So they go to Griffin’s remote cabin and tie Archie up in preparation for when he “transforms.” Griffin then pops on his video camera and starts taping. Needless to say, Griffin learns fairly quickly that Archie wasn’t lying.
In fact, Archie breaks free of his restraints and the next thing Griffin knows, he’s jumping into his Ferrari and speeding the hell out of the forest – WITH A GIANT WEREWOLF JUST INCHES BEHIND HIM. Griffin gets to a paved road and shoves the car into 4th gear, climbing up to 100 miles per hour. But the werewolf is STILL behind him! It’s only when Griffin gets up to 120 that he’s able to ditch the monster.
Griffin runs to his new girlfriend, criminal attorney Marcy, and explains what just happened. She, of course, doesn’t believe him, so they set up a SECOND taping session so that Marcy can see what he saw. Unfortunately, as they’re getting the experiment ready, 12 cop cars show up. They’re arresting Archie for his suspicious ties to several dozen people who were killed in a remote town.
Guess what that means. That means Archie is going to be arraigned in court ON A FULL MOON. Griffin does everything he can to convince people that Archie is a werewolf and that if they don’t restrain him, they’re all going to die. But they ignore him. And boy do they regret it. During the court session, Archie transforms and immediately jumps onto the judge and BITES HIS HEAD OFF.
After fleeing, Griffin explains to Marcy that he had a bunch of silver bullets special made just in case this happened. So they locate a gun and off they go to try and find Archie. Except Archie is busy running through Los Angeles, eating everything in sight. He even pops by LAX and eats an entire plane full of passengers! It’ll be up to Griffin now – who’s never fired a gun before – to find Archie, shoot him down, and stop the killing!
Remember how I told you a couple of weeks ago that one great set piece can sell a script? Never has there been more proof of that than Bad Dog. I know EXACTLY why this sold. And, after reading the plot synopsis, you should too. Giant were-beast chases Ferrari going 100 miles per hour. That’s why this sold. Spielberg loves a great chase scene and this was the faster crazier version of his famous T-Rex jeep scene. It’s a really cool scene. But is it the only thing this script has going for it?
Actually, no.
Bad Dog may not be reinventing the dog bowl but it’s a script that understands something a lot of writers have forgotten since the 90s. Which is that you shouldn’t be writing screenplays. You should be writing MOVIES. Ironic, I know, since this never became a movie. But it should’ve. I’m sure the reason it didn’t was the same reason any Spielberg project gets killed – he’s got a million projects he wants to do and he can’t make them all.
I’m going to tell you where this script won me over. It was the point where Griffin was about to prove to Marcy that Archie was a werewolf. I was reading it thinking, ‘Oh boy. Here we go. We’re going to repeat the beat in the story WE JUST SAW when Griffin watched Archie become a werewolf.’ But then the cops showed up and arrested Archie. My mind immediately switched over to, “Ohhh, okay. We’ve got a movie now.”
Why do we have a movie?
Because watching somebody change into a werewolf in a controlled environment with two people around isn’t exciting. But watching our future werewolf be pulled into a courtroom with a hundred people sitting around, none of whom know he’s a werewolf? Now you have some serious dramatic irony (we, the audience, know he’s dangerous, but nobody else does) with some serious stakes (every single person here is in danger of being killed).
You can FEEL the suspense. You can FEEL the tension. If they would just listen to Griffin. Please listen to Griffin! Once the werewolf gets loose, it’s open season in the city of Los Angeles and who doesn’t want to watch that? I know I do.
Okay Carson, but there must be something wrong with the script if they never made the movie. Yes, there are a few things wrong. The love story between Griffin and Marcy is cheesy as hell. And it’s hard to buy into Griffin and his ten silver bullets being the only thing that can stop the werewolf. Oh, and the tone is weird. The first half of the movie is all talking. The second half is all action. But none of these things are script killers. They could be worked out in rewrites.
The reason Bad Dog works is because IT’S A MOVIE. A werewolf that keeps getting bigger the more people he eats running around rough-shod through a major metropolitan area is a movie. I can envision that on the big screen. Now, the question becomes, is it a movie in 2021? To be honest, I don’t know. It’s not perfect. But when it comes to non-superhero IP, this is as good as anything the studios are putting out there these days.
Take a look for yourself and see if you agree!
Script link: Bad Dog
[ ] What the hell did I just read?
[ ] wasn’t for me
[xx] worth the read
[ ] impressive
[ ] genius
What I learned: As crazy as it sounds, Bad Dog did in 1997 what nobody’s been able to do in the 25 years since – come up with a fresh spin on werewolves. When you’re writing about vampires or zombies or werewolves or Dracula or Frankenstein – you want to look for ways to advance the lore. Creating a werewolf that grows bigger with each kill turns a horror monster into a blockbuster monster. No doubt this is exactly what Spielberg liked about the idea.
