Every year we get the Black List, a collection of the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood as voted on by hundreds of film executives, and while the scripts may be of top quality they often result in a mixed bag of final products. Whether it be something strong like Argo or Looper, we also get our fair share of bottom of the barrel options like Abduction and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
Nonetheless, it’s interesting to track the development of such projects and even though a majority will never see the light of day, we’ve got a new batch for this year. Topping the list is Draft Day, a football drama Ivan Reitman and Kevin Costner are circling and Paramount just passed on, but we can expect to get some new life after this event. Also included are films that follow Dr. Seuss, the Watergate scandal, Sam Peckinpah and much more. Check out the list of the films with at least twenty votes below and a link to the rest at the bottom.
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DRAFT DAY
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.
Agency: Gersh, CAA
Agents: Lee Keele (Joseph), Chris Till, Bill Zotti (Rothman)
Management: Kaplan/Perrone (Joseph & Rothman)
Managers: Josh Goldenberg, Aaron Kaplan
Production: Montecito Pictures43
A COUNTRY OF STRANGERS
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.
Agency: Verve
Agents: Aaron Hart, Adam Levine, Rob Herting, Bill Weinstein
Management: Principato-Young Management
Managers: Peter Dealbert, Susan Solomon43
SEUSS
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.”
Agency: Verve
Agents: Bryan Besser, Zach Carlisle, Rob Herting
Management: Industry Entertainment
Manager: Michael Botti, Jess Rosenthal39
RODHAM
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.
Agency: UTA
Agents: Barbara Dreyfus, Jenny Maryasis
Management: The Arlook Group
Managers: Richard Arlook, Jason Hong
Production: The Arlook Group, Temple Hill Entertainment35
STORY OF YOUR LIFE
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.
Agency: UTA
Agents: Barbara Dreyfus, Jon Huddle
Management: Art/Work
Manager: Julie Bloom
Financier: Film Nation
Production: Film Nation, Lava Bear, 21 Laps Entertainment33
WUNDERKIND
Patrick Aison
A Mossad employed father and his CIA agent son team up to hunt an escaped Nazi.
Agency: ICM
Agents: Harley Copen, Bryan Diperstein, Emil Gladstone
Management: DMG Entertainment
Managers: Chris Cowles, Chris Fenton
Financier: Paramount
Production: Bad Robot, DMG Entertainment31
EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL, AND VILE
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.
Agency: UTA
Agents: Peter Dodd, David Flynn, Jon Huddle, David Kramer
Management: Evolution Entetainment
Manager: Stephen Gates, Brad Kaplan
Production: Michael Costigan29
GLIMMER
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.
Agency: Paradigm
Agents: David Boxerbaum
Management: Madhouse Entertainment
Managers: Ryan Cunningham, Adam Kolbrenner
Financier: Dreamworks
Production: Madhouse Entertainment29
ME & EARL & THE DYING GIRL
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.
Agency: WME
Agents: Anna Deroy, Sarah Self
Management: MXN
Managers: Michelle Knudsen, Mason Novick
Production: Indian Paintbrush28
DEVILS AT PLAY
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.
Agency: Verve
Agents : Aaron Hart, Rob Herting, Adam Levine
Management: Kaplan/Perrone
Manager: Alex Lerner26
SWEET VIRGINIA
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.
Agency: WME
Agents: Roger Green, Sarah Self
Management: Fourth Floor Productions
Manager: Jeff Silver25
FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS
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.
Agency: ICM
Agents: Harley Copen, Bryan Diperstein, Laura Haas
Management: Management 360
Managers: Ali Itri, Jill McElroy
Production: Busted Shark23
SHUT IN
Christina Hodson
A woman who tries to raise her catatonic son on her own suddenly discovers a shocking secret about him.
Agency: CAA
Agents: Jay Baker, Matt Rosen
Financier: Lava Bear Films
Production: Lava Bear Films22
THE KEEPING ROOM
Julia Hart
Three southern women defend their home from the Union army while their husbands are off fighting in the Civil War.
Agency: WME
Agents: Roger Green, Sarah Self
Management: Anonymous Content
Managers: Trevor Adley, Nicole Romano
Financier: Wind Dancer Films
Production: Gilbert Films, Wind Dancer Films, Anonymous Content21
IF THEY MOVE… KILL ‘EM!
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.
Agency: UTA
Agents: Emerson Davis, Charles Ferraro, Geoff Morley
Management: MXN
Managers: Michelle Knudsen, Mason Novick20
AMERICATOWN
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.
Agency: Verve
Agents: Aaron Hart, Rob Herting, Adam Levine
Management: Oasis Media Group
Managers: David Lonner, Ben Rowe
Production: Sean Finegan
Check out the PDF of the rest here.
What scripts look most appealing to you?