What the hell is “The Glut” and why don’t you want to get stuck in it?
Genre: Crime Thriller
Premise: An ex-Marine reluctantly joins the security detail for a pharmaceutical CEO on house arrest, only to find that the detail he’s working for has a sinister plan.
About: Today’s script comes from the writer of one of my favorite scripts ever, Source Code. Not long after Source Code, Ripley sold this script to New Regency. It hasn’t been made yet, which is part of today’s discussion!
Writer: Ben Ripley
Details: 111 pages – Sep 20, 2012 draft
One of the toughest things about the movie business is how many scripts get stuck in “The Glut.” All the big production companies have dozens of projects they’re trying to push through the system. They’re dependent on studios, which ALSO have tons of projects they’re trying to push through the system. The competition to get your film out of that glut and into Productionville is fierce.
Which begs the question: How do you become one of those films? Or maybe the better question is, what kinds of films have no chance of getting out of The Glut?
Getting a film greenlit and/or produced comes down to three things:
a) A major hook that the studio can market in a genre they know how to market.
b) A great role that attracts a big actor.
c) A unique and interesting film that would attract an A-list director.
If you have one of those three things, you’re in position to break out of the pack. And if you have two or three of those things? You’re in the pole position.
If your project doesn’t have any of those things though? That’s when you’ll find yourself in The Glut. Now does that mean your movie will never get made? No. Movies in The Glut get made all the time. But what’s important to understand is that, if you’re in The Glut, your movie is not going to do the work for you. YOU WILL HAVE TO DO THE WORK FOR THE MOVIE.
This is one of the biggest things I’ve learned since starting Scriptshadow. If you don’t possess one of the prime elements, the only way to get your movie made is through the passion of the people pushing it. If you have two or three people who ABSOLUTELY MUST SEE this movie get made and are willing to put years into making that happen? Then the movie will get made. Dallas Buyers Club is a great example of this. I suppose you could argue the film had a good role for an actor, but it was so unmarketable that it was a near impossible sell. But the people behind it loved it so much that they fought eight years to get it made. And they finally did.
This brings us back to the beginning. You have to ask yourself, “Do I want the movie to do the work for me? Or am I willing to do the work for the movie?” If you’re willing to do the work, write whatever the heck you want. A water diviner in 1930. If that sounds like misery to you like it does to me though, you have to hit one of those key areas, with the biggest emphasis being on marketability. This is a very unkind business if your movie can’t be marketed.
I bring all this up because I wanted to know why Empire hadn’t been made. Its writer was coming off of a solid hit with a big buzzed-about screenplay. Why was his new script getting stuck in The Glut? We’ll get into that in a moment. But first, let’s check out the plot.
Former marine Kyle Breuner is in that unenviable position of having to beg for a job. But he’s got a beautiful wife to support and bills on the horizon, so he accepts a security detail gig for a pharmaceutical giant on house arrest.
Nathan Boscov, our resident giant, recently developed an artificial blood that saved thousands of lives. The problem is, it also killed a couple hundred people. For that reason, the cocky Boscov is on trial, and the jury decides his fate tomorrow. In the meantime, Boscov is allowed to go home on house arrest at his swanky upscale high-rise apartment.
The detail making sure Boscov doesn’t bolt is run by the hard-as-nails Frank Roman and his second-in-command, Marquez. These two don’t have time for bullshit, so the job description for Kyle is to shut up and don’t cause any trouble. But almost immediately, Kyle senses something is wrong. On the way to Boscov’s building, he keeps seeing suspicious people, such as a man with dreadlocks who appears at multiple stops on the drive.
Roman senses Kyle’s unease and gives him a final warning. Stop PTSDing or you’re fired. Once at the building, suspicious things continue to happen, such as a late night window washer peering in (who washes windows at midnight??), an unmanned truck sitting across the street, and a chunk of one hundred dollar bills sneakily attached to the bottom of Boscov’s Chinese take-out.
But the clincher is when Kyle goes looking for Boscov’s cell phone, which he’s not supposed to have, and finds it hidden in the bathroom. But it turns out the phone isn’t Boscov’s. It’s Marquez’s. Why the freak is Marquez’s phone hidden in Boscov’s bathroom?? That’s when Kyle realizes what’s happening. This detail isn’t here to keep Boscov in. They’re here to break him out. So Kyle grabs Boscov and goes on the run.
Just when we think we have it all figured out, though, everything gets flipped sideways, and we realize we know nothing. This leads to a final act filled with twists and turns that keeps us guessing all the way until the very last page.
So let’s go back to that question. Why hasn’t Empire broken out of The Glut? There could be a lot of reasons for this that have nothing to do with today’s discussion. But usually a film’s viability to emerge from The Glut comes down to that magical triumverite: hook with a marketable genre, A-list worthy part, A-list worthy directing vehicle. Let’s see how Empire measures up in those areas.
1) Catchy hook in a marketable genre — Empire feels to me like an “on-the-brink” movie. It has a cool premise, but not an overtly exciting hook, like, say, Ripley’s Source Code. I’d say its main hook is its twists, and you can’t really market that. This means more time in The Glut.
2) Part an A-list actor would want to play – Kyle is a cool character, no doubt. I’m not sure he’s the kind of guy an A-lister would die to play though. He rests somewhere in between Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher and the characters Paul Walker used to play in all those tweener crime thrillers. It’s right on the brink of where it needs to be, which means getting that actor is tougher, which means more time in The Glut.
3) A movie an A-list director would want to direct – Empire’s not unique enough for an A-list director to leap at. This feels more like something an up-and-coming director might want to make, and, unfortunately, it’s harder to get studios to approve these guys, which means more time in The Glut.
With all that said, this is a cool little script. The first 40 pages move you along with a clever combination of tension, dread, and mystery. We feel the tension of nobody wanting Kyle on the job, forcing him to decide whether to rock the boat or collect a check. The dread comes from the suspicious activity Kyle experiences on the way to and at the apartment. And finally, mystery. Who is the dreadlock guy? What is he up to? Why the hell would Marquez’s phone be hidden in Boscov’s bathroom?
Then, Ripley does his classic mid-point turn, where we find out everyone is against Kyle, and the tension is replaced with a fun twisty-turny narrative. You can’t go twist-crazy all the way through your script. The audience will get frustrated. Ripley wisely waits til that second half, and that’s when he hits you with an ever-changing storyline.
If there’s a problem with this script, it’s the stakes and the motivation. Boscov killed people accidentally (at least we think he does for 99% of the movie). So is he really that bad? I kept thinking throughout the script: this dude is a pretty tame villain.
Then there’s Kyle. If he’s got nothing on the line but the pay from this job, why isn’t he walking? There comes a moment in every script where you need to ask your hero, “What’s in this for you?” And if he doesn’t have a good answer? The motivation isn’t sound. Because who risks their lives for nothing?
Without getting into spoilers, some of these questions are answered later. But we need answers (or at least false answers) in the moment so we can go along with the story. And we don’t get those here. This is one of the unique challenges of writing a twist-heavy script where no one is who they seem. You need false answers, false explanations, false motivations. It’s tricky stuff.
But I continue to love Ben’s writing style. I like the way he keeps the story moving. I like the way he uses all the story tools available to him: mystery, suspense, tension, dread, twists. All that was great. What would probably help this script a lot is a bigger villain (a Mexican drug lord as opposed to a pharmaceutical CEO?). Not only would it up the stakes, but it offers you an opportunity to get a flashier actor for the role, which could push the needle closer towards that coveted “green light.”
[ ] what the hell did I just read?
[ ] wasn’t for me
[x] worth the read
[ ] impressive
[ ] genius
What I learned: Ben Ripley is a master of the time constraint. He built an entire movie out of it with Source Code. Here, he sets it up so that this is Boscov’s last day on house arrest before the jury verdict. Note how this movie DOES NOT WORK unless this time constraint is in place (3 days doesn’t work, 1 week doesn’t work, a month, no). The actions that drive the plot happen specifically because all the characters need to act before Boscov goes back to court tomorrow. That’s the power of a good time constraint.
