Script Sales: Week of March 27, 2009
March 29th, 2009
Lots of interesting stuff this past week and worth taking a look at. Some spec sales, most notably, Mark Bomback’s UNSTOPPABLE and William Monahan’s THE ESSEX. The problem is that spec sales by first timers are rare indeed. Historical dramas, teen, fantasy and drama. Romantic comedies are also popular this past week. That’s a quick peek at last week’s script sales! Write on! - Script Sales Editor Harry Caul
For more: script sales (click here), script sales (click here)
SPEC PICK OF THE WEEK: Summit Entertainment grabbed former DreamWorks exec Marc Haimes' original screenplay "Elevator Men." The producer deals are still in flux but would include Mark Gordon Prods. execs Gordon and Josh McLaughlin ("12 Rounds"). Gordon took the script into Summit.
The story is described as a "dark thriller," which apparently takes a "dark, sinister" look at the human-vampire interactions depicted in such recent movies and series as "Twilight" and HBO's "True Blood." This is Haimes' rookie attempt, lucky bastard! He is finishing a second spec called "Jitters," a family film.
Unstoppable (Action/ Drama ) - concerns a rail company that frantically tries to stop an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train carrying enough combustible liquids and poisonous gas to wipe out a nearby city.
Writer: Mark Bomback, spec sale
Production: 20th Century Fox, Julie Yorn
Note: Tony Scott attached to direct.
The Essex – this is a historical period drama about Capt. David S. Porter and his daring sea battles against the British during the War of 1812.
Writer: William Monahan, spec sale.
Production: GK Films, William Monahan, Graham King
Note: William Monahan attached to direct.
Wouldn't It Be Nice - story of a teenage couple who, just before they plan to run away together and pursue their dreams, are magically zapped 20 years into the future only to discover that their lives didn't turn out as expected. In their mid-30s but with teenage minds -- and dealing with three kids and everyday worries -- they learn that maybe they weren't as grown-up as they thought.
Writers: Barry Blaustein and Jason Hefter.
Production: Walt Disney Studios.
The Stoneheart Trilogy (Fantasy/Teen) - centers on a 12-year-old London boy who enters a hidden alternate world where statues, imbued with the soul like essence of their makers, come to life. The boy's presence upsets a balance between good and evil, and while dealing with such creatures as sphinxes and gargoyles, he teams with an orphan girl and the statue of a World War I gunner to try to set things
Writer: Charlie Fletcher
Production: Walt Disney Pictures , ImageMovers, Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey
Gimme a Call (Fantasy/Teen) – this is about a high school senior who is generally dissatisfied with her life mistakenly drops her phone in a fountain. When she fishes it out, she discovers the only call she can make is to herself at the age of 14, when anything seemed possible.
Writer: Sarah Mylnowski
Production: Paramount Pictures , Oops Doughnuts, Andy Fickman, Betsy Sullenger
Note: Andy Fickman attached to direct.
Outsourced (Drama /Crime) - centers on some unemployed software engineers who plan a bank robbery that gets them in trouble with mobsters from Boston and Russia. Writers: Dave Zeltserman, Travis Milloy, Milloy to adapt Zelserman's novel "28 minutes." Production: Constantin Film, Impact Pictures, Robert Kulzer, Paul W.S. Anderson, Jeremy Bolt, John Tomko Milloy to adapt Zelserman's novel "28 minutes." True Grit (Period /Western) - story is about a 14-year-old girl who, along with an aging U.S. marshal and another lawman, tracks her father's killer in hostile Indian territory.
Writers: Charles Portis, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen adapted Portis' novel.
Production: Paramount Pictures, Adam Goodman (Paramount), Scott Rudin Productions, Scott Rudin
The Romantics - story where on the eve of a seaside wedding celebration. Seven close friends convene to watch two of their pals get married. Laura is the maid of honor, but she and the bride have had a long rivalry over the groom.
Writer: Galt Niederhoffer, spec sale
Production: Team Todd, Suzanne Todd, Jennifer Todd
Note: Galt Niederhoffer attached to direct. Liv Tyler atached to star.
Battle: Los Angeles - Another alien invasion, but here it is pulverizing its way across L.A.
Writers: Chris Bertolini, Scott Silver: Script , Rewrite
Production: Columbia Pictures , Sam Dickerman, Ori Marmur, Original Film, Neal Moritz
Note: Silver to rewrite Bertolini's original draft. Aaron Eckhart attached to star. Jonathan Liebesman attached to direct.
Nonstop (Action/ Sci-Fi ) – Centers on the passengers of a plane after it is mysteriously abducted by an alien ship.
Writer: Michael Gilvary, spec sale
Production: Dreamworks , Gaeta/Rosenzweig Films, Len Wiseman, Alison Rosenzweig, Gaeta/Rosenzweig Films
Note: Patrick Tatopoulos attached to direct.
Methuselah (Action , Adventure ) – About the biblical character who lived nearly 1,000 years. The film's protagonist ages at a similarly slow rate and has used all the extra time to develop an incredible set of survival skills.
Writer: James Watkins, pitch
Production: Warner Bros., Ollie Madden, Heyday Films, David Heyman
Note: James Watkins attached to direct.
The Special Relationship - One of those unique and sometimes turbulent political relationship between the Tony Blair and U.S. president Bill Clinton.
Writer: Peter Morgan, spec script
Production: HBO Films, Kathleen Kennedy, Peter Morgan Andy Harries, Frank Doelger, Ann Wingate
Note: Dennis Quaid, Michael Sheen, Julianne Moore attached to star. Peter Morgan attached to direct.
For more: script sales (click here), script sales (click here)
SPEC PICK OF THE WEEK: Summit Entertainment grabbed former DreamWorks exec Marc Haimes' original screenplay "Elevator Men." The producer deals are still in flux but would include Mark Gordon Prods. execs Gordon and Josh McLaughlin ("12 Rounds"). Gordon took the script into Summit.
The story is described as a "dark thriller," which apparently takes a "dark, sinister" look at the human-vampire interactions depicted in such recent movies and series as "Twilight" and HBO's "True Blood." This is Haimes' rookie attempt, lucky bastard! He is finishing a second spec called "Jitters," a family film.
Unstoppable (Action/ Drama ) - concerns a rail company that frantically tries to stop an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train carrying enough combustible liquids and poisonous gas to wipe out a nearby city.
Writer: Mark Bomback, spec sale
Production: 20th Century Fox, Julie Yorn
Note: Tony Scott attached to direct.
The Essex – this is a historical period drama about Capt. David S. Porter and his daring sea battles against the British during the War of 1812.
Writer: William Monahan, spec sale.
Production: GK Films, William Monahan, Graham King
Note: William Monahan attached to direct.
Wouldn't It Be Nice - story of a teenage couple who, just before they plan to run away together and pursue their dreams, are magically zapped 20 years into the future only to discover that their lives didn't turn out as expected. In their mid-30s but with teenage minds -- and dealing with three kids and everyday worries -- they learn that maybe they weren't as grown-up as they thought.
Writers: Barry Blaustein and Jason Hefter.
Production: Walt Disney Studios.
The Stoneheart Trilogy (Fantasy/Teen) - centers on a 12-year-old London boy who enters a hidden alternate world where statues, imbued with the soul like essence of their makers, come to life. The boy's presence upsets a balance between good and evil, and while dealing with such creatures as sphinxes and gargoyles, he teams with an orphan girl and the statue of a World War I gunner to try to set things
Writer: Charlie Fletcher
Production: Walt Disney Pictures , ImageMovers, Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey
Gimme a Call (Fantasy/Teen) – this is about a high school senior who is generally dissatisfied with her life mistakenly drops her phone in a fountain. When she fishes it out, she discovers the only call she can make is to herself at the age of 14, when anything seemed possible.
Writer: Sarah Mylnowski
Production: Paramount Pictures , Oops Doughnuts, Andy Fickman, Betsy Sullenger
Note: Andy Fickman attached to direct.
Outsourced (Drama /Crime) - centers on some unemployed software engineers who plan a bank robbery that gets them in trouble with mobsters from Boston and Russia. Writers: Dave Zeltserman, Travis Milloy, Milloy to adapt Zelserman's novel "28 minutes." Production: Constantin Film, Impact Pictures, Robert Kulzer, Paul W.S. Anderson, Jeremy Bolt, John Tomko Milloy to adapt Zelserman's novel "28 minutes." True Grit (Period /Western) - story is about a 14-year-old girl who, along with an aging U.S. marshal and another lawman, tracks her father's killer in hostile Indian territory.
Writers: Charles Portis, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen adapted Portis' novel.
Production: Paramount Pictures, Adam Goodman (Paramount), Scott Rudin Productions, Scott Rudin
The Romantics - story where on the eve of a seaside wedding celebration. Seven close friends convene to watch two of their pals get married. Laura is the maid of honor, but she and the bride have had a long rivalry over the groom.
Writer: Galt Niederhoffer, spec sale
Production: Team Todd, Suzanne Todd, Jennifer Todd
Note: Galt Niederhoffer attached to direct. Liv Tyler atached to star.
Battle: Los Angeles - Another alien invasion, but here it is pulverizing its way across L.A.
Writers: Chris Bertolini, Scott Silver: Script , Rewrite
Production: Columbia Pictures , Sam Dickerman, Ori Marmur, Original Film, Neal Moritz
Note: Silver to rewrite Bertolini's original draft. Aaron Eckhart attached to star. Jonathan Liebesman attached to direct.
Nonstop (Action/ Sci-Fi ) – Centers on the passengers of a plane after it is mysteriously abducted by an alien ship.
Writer: Michael Gilvary, spec sale
Production: Dreamworks , Gaeta/Rosenzweig Films, Len Wiseman, Alison Rosenzweig, Gaeta/Rosenzweig Films
Note: Patrick Tatopoulos attached to direct.
Methuselah (Action , Adventure ) – About the biblical character who lived nearly 1,000 years. The film's protagonist ages at a similarly slow rate and has used all the extra time to develop an incredible set of survival skills.
Writer: James Watkins, pitch
Production: Warner Bros., Ollie Madden, Heyday Films, David Heyman
Note: James Watkins attached to direct.
The Special Relationship - One of those unique and sometimes turbulent political relationship between the Tony Blair and U.S. president Bill Clinton.
Writer: Peter Morgan, spec script
Production: HBO Films, Kathleen Kennedy, Peter Morgan Andy Harries, Frank Doelger, Ann Wingate
Note: Dennis Quaid, Michael Sheen, Julianne Moore attached to star. Peter Morgan attached to direct.
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