Billy Ray (SHATTERED GLASS) will rewrite and Adam Mazer will direct Universal's THE 11th HOUR, the story of Robert Hanssen, the traitorous FBI agent who sold government secrets to the Soviet Union.
Terrence Malick will now direct his script THE NEW WORLD, a New Line drama about Pocahontas and the cultural collision of European explorers and Native American tribes. Colin Farrell has committed to play the explorer John Smith in the project, which has set a July production start date in Virginia. Malick will now direct CHE July 2005 instead of 2004 as previously planned, and figured that project could use more preproduction time for its Bolivian shoot.
Filmmaker John Walter (HOW TO DRAW A BUNNY) is teaming with John Malkovich's production company Mr. Mudd on an adaptation of Lawrence Joseph's novel LAWYERLAND, which Walter will write and direct. The company optioned the film rights to LAWYERLAND: WHAT LAWYERS TALK ABOUT WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT LAW from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The novel chronicles Manhattan lawyers and lawyer-speak in the late 1990s. Book is divided into eight chapters, each devoted to a specific legal specialty and practitioner.
Halcyon Entertainment and Dan Redler Entertainment are teaming up to produce Edward Cass' script BREAKBACK for Millennium Films. Action/thriller centers around an inmate at a high-security prison who is forced to break out of prison, pull off a heist and break back in to substantiate his alibi -- all a day before his release.
Warner Bros. Pictures has snapped up the script THINGS TO DO BEFORE I DIE for Heyday Films to produce. Written by Cory Helms and Jamie Linden, the script tells the story of a man in his thirties who finds out that he is dying from an inoperable brain tumor. He sets out with his lifelong but estranged friend to fulfill a list of things they wanted to do before they die, a list they made when they were 19.
Double Feature Films/Universal Pictures have picked up Casey McCabe's spec script THE GOOD LIFE, described as"a fun female empowerment romantic comedy in the tradition of 9 TO 5 and WORKING GIRL. "
Scott Fifer will script two upcoming projects for Miramax: a remake of Oscar-nominated Belgian comedy EVERYBODY'S FAMOUS! and PROJECT: BIGFOOT, a wish-fulfillment family adventure set in the world of monster trucks.
Nick Pustay (AMERICAN PRINCESS) will adapt Mission Entertainment's adaptation of Christopher Moore's comedy novel LAMB, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BIFF, CHRIST'S CHILDHOOD PAL. Novel tells the story of Biff, Christ's cantankerous but likable best friend, who is resurrected for the purpose of writing a new gospel to help recapture the youth market that has seen a dramatic decline in recent centuries.
Gary Ross' Larger Than Life will produce an animated feature adaptation of Kate DiCamillo's Newbery Award-winning novel TALE OF DESPEREAUX: BEING THE STORY OF A MOUSE, A PRINCESS, SOME SOUP AND A SPOOL OF THREAD. Universal has acquired the book and set DiCamillo to write the script.
Gus Van Sant is set to direct Michael Pitt in LAST DAYS, a film loosely inspired by events in the Northwest rock 'n' roll scene during the mid-1990s, for HBO Films. Lukas Haas is in talks to join Pitt in the project.
Writer/producer Curt Johnson (upcoming WEST MEMPHIS THREE) has optioned life rights to develop a feature from the story of 1990s boxing star Tommy Morrison (ROCKY V), who was forced into retirement as a result of testing positive for HIV. In addition to life rights, Johnson secured rights to two ESPN magazine articles by Tom Friend about Morrison in 1998 and 2003, which chronicled not only the heavyweight champion's professional career and his controversial choice to avoid protease inhibitor treatment, but also his tough origins, breaking heads for the Irish mob at 15 and torching the school baseball field after being cut from the team by his coach. Johnson will pen the screenplay and will produce through his Indie Genius Prods. banner with Gigi Gaston.
Matinee Pictures has purchased Michael Stokes' horror script NIGHTFALL about two buddies who snatch a woman who turns out to be a vampire queen. Her authenticity is questioned by the kidnappers until her vampire legion sets out to get her back.
Steve Conrad will write the adaptation of Chang-Rae Lee's novel ALOFT for producer Scott Rudin. The story centers on an aging baby boomer who must hold together his fractured family.
Matt Nix will adapt SENSEI, a novel by author John Donohue, for Freestyle Pictures. It's a crime thriller set in the world of martial arts. It revolves around a Brooklyn cop who has to team up with his estranged brother to solve a series of murders involving martial arts masters across the United States.
Mark Frost (TWIN PEAKS) is in final talks with Disney to write ELECTRIC BOY GENIUS for Mayhem Pictures. It's the true story of Ryan Patterson, who before he went to kindergarten was wiring his family's house. By the first grade, Patterson was building complex robots. Under a mentor's encouragement, the boy invented gadgets that would change people's lives, like an electronic sign-language translator.
Morgan Creek picked up Ray Wright's script CASE 39, a psychological horror story follows a social worker trying to rescue a young girl from abusive parents but who begins to suspect the girl may not be so innocent after all.
Mike Werb and Michael Colleary (FACE/OFF) will script a remake of PET SEMATARY, based on Stephen King's story, for Alphaville.
Bernard Rose (IVANSXTC) will direct his script MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA, which is described as a roller coaster horror movie that takes the concept of reality TV to an extreme limit.
Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn's family comedy script MAKING DADDY A MAN will be made into a feature by Senator Intl. It's a high-concept comedy is about a teenage girl whose widowed dad fills the role of both mother and father for his daughter.
Tim Fywell has come aboard to direct Michelle Trachtenberg in ICE PRINCESS for Disney Pictures. It's about a young girl who realizes her dream of becoming a champion figure skater while battling a disgraced coach, stage parents and three competing ice princesses.
Corey Yuen has signed up to direct DEAD OR ALIVE (aka DOA), based on the videogame, for Impact Pictures. J.F. Lawton (UNDER SIEGE) wrote the script.
Hideo Nakata (RINGU) will replace director Noam Murro on THE RING 2 for DreamWorks. Ehren Kruger scripted.
Ken Kwapis will direct Amber Tamblyn ("Joan of Arcadia") in SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS, based on the best-selling novel by Ann Brashares. It's the coming-of-age story centers on four friends during the first summer they are separated from one another. They vow to keep in touch by circulating a magical pair of secondhand jeans that fits each of them perfectly.
Jim Krieg is set to write two projects at Warner Bros. Pictures: AMAZE YOUR FRIENDS, a high-concept fantasy script he'll rewrite; and HOME SCHOOL, a pitch from Krieg that he will co-write with scribe Lon Diamond. Set during a teachers strike that closes down the local school, the story centers on a father who becomes a teacher to his own bickering children.
All of us creative types have things we're naturally good at, and things we've learned to do, and things we aren't that good at (yet). This creates a creative trap: when approaching a project, we often work on the part we understand best — the part that scares us least. So if you're good at plot, you write the plot first, and then fill in the characters later. If you're good at characters, you write up the characters and then feel your way towards a plot.
Everyone pursuing a screenwriting career will eventually realize this journey is not for the thin of skin or for those who cannot handle the emotional ups and downs this business brings. If you haven’t yet experienced the soul crushing disappointment of finally having written a script that goes into development, but it doesn’t make it to production and sits on a shelf, I don’t envy you. It’s happened to me a handful of times out of my nearly two dozen paid screenwriting assignments. Learn this early — there are no guarantees in the screenwriting game. You take your lumps, heal, and move on to the next screenplay and the next one.
I love Readers! Yes they are the gatekeepers to the Promised Land and like it or not they do have power. But just how much? Well, I’m here to show you. I got my hands on a classified document folks, the holy grail… An actual copy of a real STUDIO MEMO covering GUIDELINES for their READERS.
Scenes must have a reason to exist in your screenplay. Each scene must advance the plot forward through dialogue and/or visual storytelling. Characters’ journeys drive the script’s narrative, and each scene must steer their journey forward. Although some scenes might not even contain any characters, these scenes must still provide information about your plot, as well as your characters’ lives and actions. There is no set rule as to how many lines, paragraphs, or pages constitute a scene.
The following has nothing to do with wet t-shirts. This entry is actually about screenwriting contests - a subject with little marquee value. One of the most popular category of questions that I find in my e-mail box is about screenwriting contests. As I say over and over, I believe that most are a waste of energy and entry fee. Some - like the Nicholl and Disney Fellowships - are very reputable and have launched a few Hollywood careers. Regardless of how reputable any contest might be, the screening process for most seems tenuous. Low fees for contest readers and a bulk of scripts guarantees a sloppy vetting system.
"Lowtide" writer, director and producer Kevin McMullin has sold his short story "Bomb" and is tabbed to write the script for "low seven figures" and "Gladiator" director Ridley Scott is attached to Direct. According to reports, 20th Century beat out studios Apple, Netflix, Sony, and Warner Bros.
Books are the fastest and easiest way you can learn from an expert. In screenwriting, it’s no different. Some of the best screenwriters and those who have mastered the craft, have created countless books trying to encapsulate all they’ve learned in their work. If you’re a new screenwriter and looking to improve or simply to learn how to create better scripts, these three books will help you out.
Everybody has a perspective. Everybody in your scene has a reason. They have their own voice, their own identity, their own history… But if you don’t know who everybody is and why they’re there, why they’re feeling what they’re feeling and why they’re doing what they’re doing, then you’re in trouble.
What is a successful second act? One that keeps the reader engaged, moves the story forward, and successfully delivers it into the falling action; that being the third act climax and the denouement. A bad screenplay has a second act that simply doesn't keep the narrative trajectory in place and thus the spine of the story sags; meaning rising tension and conflict is not taking place.
