Screenplay thread

Some scripts I've read recently:

"It", Chase palmer & Cary Fukunaga
(This was the version that Fukunaga was going to direct. The version that was eventually made by Andy Muschietti was written by Gary Dauberman.)

"Don't Worry Darling", Carrie Van Dyke & Shane Van Dyke
(The script later had a significant rewrite by Katie Silberman. There are many differences between this early version of the script and the finished film.)

"Star Wars: Duel of the Fates", Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow
(This was originally supposed to be Episode IX, directed by Trevorrow. Trevorrow dropped out of the project and the script was tossed in favor of the Rise of Skywalker.)

"Generation Leap", John Sonntag & Thomas Sonntag
(An unproduced sci-fi script -- listed as "in development" on IMDb -- I found in a collection of Black List winners and nominees. It's good, but nothing special. The basic premise revolves around a mission to scope out a distant planet so that it can be colonized. The problem is that technology keeps advancing so fast that successive generations of astronauts are able to be sent on their own missions to the same planet at a speed that will allow them to "leap" over the previous missions still en route. Some of these generations come into contact along the way, and things get dicey. Also, the third act introduces an unforseen threat to all of humanity.)

"A Country of Strangers", Sean Armstrong
(An unproduced script found in a collection of Black List winners and nominees. Listed as "in development" on IMDb. Inspired by the real-life disappearance of the three "Beaumont children", an infamous unsolved case in Australia. The script was good, with a tone that reminded me of Zodiac. I noticed the writer got some kids' ages wrong, but not a big deal. Unfortunately, the very end takes a left turn into fiction that was just stupid in my opinion. 95% great script let down by the last 5%.)

"Dust", Karrie Crouse
(Found in a collection of Black List winners and nominees. This one has actually been filmed and will be released on Hulu, though no release date has been given yet. It will star Sarah Paulson, and the screenwriter is co-directing with someone else. I almost got a Shining vibe from it, but instead of an aspiring writer being driven insane by isolation in a snowbound hotel, it's a mother who is possibly losing her mind while trying to take care of her daughters on an isolated farm in Dustbowl-era Oklahoma. There are some story decisions I would have done differently, but a solid script.)

"Devils At Play", James DiLapo

An unproduced script found in a collection of Black List winners and nominees. Listed as "in development" on IMDb, but the script is from 2012. If it hasn't been made yet, I'm not holding out hope. Very good script, probably the strongest of the Black List scripts I've added in the thread so far.

About an NKVD officer in the Soviet Union during the purges of the late 1930s. The officer is sick of the torture and murder carried out by the NKVD and wants out. When he finds a hidden list of names and codewords after the arrest of a would-be poet, be sees this as his ticket to a promotion that will allow him to leave the interrogation rooms and murder cells behind. In a race against a rival officer to win a "contest" to get the most arrests, he thinks the secret list of over 200 names will be his ticket to victory.

"Reality", by Heather Quinn

Another one found among a collection of Black List winners and nominees. An unproduced script written by a woman who has since gone on to have writing duties on two Disney+ MCU properties: Hawkeye and Werewolf by Night.

Lynn, a doctor, is unhappy with her life and can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. One night, she experiences a "glitch". Soon, she's pulled out of a virtual reality pod into the real world, where she learns that she's spent 16 years trapped in the virtual world. In the real world, she is the granddaughter of a woman who was about to become president before a mysterious accident killed her. The people who pulled Lynn out reveal that her erased memories must be recovered as they are the key to freeing everyone else who's still stuck in the virtual world. Meanwhile, a determined agent of the corrupt government regime pursues Lynn with a dogged purpose.

The script had some good ideas, but in the end it was the weakest of the Black List scripts I've read so far. The biggest problem is that it often feels like a Matrix ripoff. Lynn learns martial arts in a VR program so that she'll be able to fight in both the virtual and real worlds. When in danger in the virtual world, someone on the outside scans the "code" to see what's going on inside so they can direct her to safety. There are action scenes on motorcycles. Hell, there's even a location called the "glass pod matrix".

There are other little oddities with the script. It might be nitpicking, but one thing that REALLY bothered me was the spelling of "yeah" as "ya". It was distracting. Also, I felt that the movie left the reason behind the doggedness of Lynn's chief pursuer a bit unclear. I felt there must be something more, some personal connection between them from the past, but it's never quite revealed.

Not a bad script, but not very good either.

"The Cellar", Josh Campbell & Matt Stuecken
(Early version of what became 10 Cloverfield Lane. In this version, )

"The English Speaker", Terrence Malick
An unproduced Malick script about the real-life case of "Anna O." -- real name Bertha Pappenheim -- whose mysterious case was treated by noted physician Josef Breuer. The case "was used as the basis of psychoanalysis as developed by (Breuer's) protégé Sigmund Freud."

"Interstellar", Jonathan Nolan & Christopher Nolan

Another one I read years ago but forgot to add to the list here. IIRC the version o read had a different ending than the final film.