Script Pipeline

STX Entertainment has optioned The New Neighbors, a spec written by Leslie Headland and David Schickler. The psychological drama follows a couple who move into an affluent area and uncover dirty secrets within. Headland is also attached to direct. Amblin acquired John Swetnam's action/thriller spec Ruthless in an auction. The script follows a retired assassin who sets out on one final job after she's diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Brad Peyton to direct. Black Bear Pictures acquired The Impossible War, a drama spec written by Robert Specland, based on the true story of Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin's search for the polio cure. Sony picked up Teddy Tenenbaum and Minsun Park's supernatural thriller spec /Reddoor, which follows a journalist as he reviews a new app game that kills its players. Finally, Amazon Studios and RatPac Entertainment are teaming for Melissa London Hilfers's script Unfit, based on Adam Cohen's nonfiction book…

It was a slower month to start the year. Twentieth Century Fox and Sunswept Entertainment have picked up Skyward, Joe Ballarini's drama spec based on two families that build a hot-air balloon to escape over the Berlin Wall. Based on a true story. Another true story spec: Samuel Franco and Evan Kilgore's drama spec Keeper of the Diary found a home with Fox Searchlight and Weimaraner Republic Pictures. The script follows Anne Frank's father who struggles to find a publisher for his daughter's diary after World War II. Universal Pictures won out in a bidding war for Rowan Athale's spec Little America, which takes place after America has become so bankrupt that China begins calling all the shots. Michael Bay to produce, Athale to also direct. Finally, Prime Universe Productions and Marlowe Pictures are teaming for Slayer, an action/fantasy spec written by Joel Dorland. The story follows a fisherman who…

Hollywood winded down in December for the holidays and the new year, which meant the last month of 2016 ended up a slow one for script sales. But it wasn't completely silent. Amazon Studios picked up Jack Thorne's action/adventure spec The Aeronauts, based on the true story of balloon pilot Amelia Wren and scientist James Glaisher and their hot-air balloon adventure. Twentieth Century Fox acquired The State, written by Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani. The action/thriller spec follows a father in a desperate race to rescue his son. Anthony Jaswinski's action/thriller spec Highway One, which follows an Afghanistan veteran with PTSD who resorts to extreme measures after her daughter is kidnapped, found a home at DreamWorks. Working Title Films is set to produce Luke Garrett's The Englishman, a drama/thriller spec about East Germany's Ministry for State Security. Paul Dano in talks to star, Edward Berger (Deutschland 83) attached to direct.…

October had a strong showing for spec material. Connor Martin's road comedy Federal Offense found a home at Boundless Pictures. The spec pits three best friends and a foul-mouthed grandfather against a drug kingpin, gangsters, bounty hunters, and the law. Chevy Chase to star. LD Entertainment is moving forward with Ben Bolea's buddy comedy spec The Miserable Adventures of Burt Squire about a family man in a midlife crisis and an unhinged sea captain who end up shipwrecked in the Atlantic Ocean. Participant Media and Robert De Niro's Tribeca Productions will produce The Price of Liberty, Michael Russell Gunn's spec thriller about a diplomat trying to prevent potential terrorist attack after the fall of the Soviet Union. Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller will produce Alex R. Johnson's drama/thriller spec Northeast Kingdom for Paramount and Bay's company, Platinum Dunes. The plot follows a young woman who enlists the help of…

First up, a Pipeline success story! Script Pipeline "Recommend" writer Matt J. O'Neill has sold his currently untitled sports drama to NBC. LeBron James to produce under his company SpringHill Entertainment (Survivor's Remorse). Green-Light International and Imprint Entertainment have acquired Zika Agiashvili's spec The Silver Arrow, a heist thriller about thieves searching for a legendary pre–World War II racecar, the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow. Oscar-nominated cinematographer Phedon Papamichael to direct. Madhouse has acquired the spec biopic American Rebel. Written by Christopher Cosmos, the story follows Deborah Sampson, who disguised herself as a man to fight in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Amy Pascal to produce. Other script sales: – Marty Katz to produce Ray Gideon and Bruce Evans's Roy Orbison biopic, The Big O. – Scott Rudin Productions has acquired Mindy Kaling's untitled talk show screenplay. Kaling and Emma Thompson attached to star. – Terence Winter to write Andy…

To kick things off, Script Pipeline 2010 Screenwriting Competition–winning script Prom Queen, written by Debbie Chesebro and Tyson FitzGerald, has been optioned by Jeremy Garelick's production company Classy Films. FilmNation Entertainment and Temple Hill Productions will team to produce Dan Fogelman’s spec romance screenplay Life Itself, described as a multigenerational love story that follows characters in various locations over a few decades. Fogelman will also direct. Eva Longoria and her company UnbeliEVAble Entertainment will produce writer/director Lauren Iungerich’s comedy My Daughter’s Quinceañera, which follows a single father as he plans his daughter’s dream party. Finally, Lakeshore Entertainment is set to produce The Wedding Year, a spec script written by Donald Diego. The romantic comedy follows a female millennial who has to go to fifteen weddings in the same year. Other script sales: – Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly to star in writer/director Etan Cohen’s mystery/comedy Holmes and Watson. –…

July was a slower month for script sales. . . . Ivan Reitman’s Montecito Picture Company will produce Cassie Daniels and Mark Bartosic’s comedy spec Besties, a comedy about a woman and her three best friends who set off on a road trip to break up the wedding of her childhood crush. Amblin and Madhouse Entertainment will team up to produce Pete Bridges’ sci-fi/action spec The Fall, which follows a newly divorced couple trying to get to the suburbs on foot, where their children are home alone during an alien invasion. New Line has acquired the rights to The Cold War, based on David Wolman and Julian Smith’s article about a turf war between ice cream trucks. Fox 2000 acquired Ted Melfi’s Fruit Loops, which has been described as being in the same vein as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. More script sales: – Kirsten Dunst and Nellie Kim…

Black Bear Pictures and Bristol Automotive acquired Graham Moore’s spec script The Last Days of Night. The legal thriller will dramatize Thomas Edison’s lawsuit against rival George Westinghouse, whom Edison sued for one billion dollars in 1888, and will be based on Moore’s novel. Sony acquired a thriller pitch from Lori Evans Taylor about a couple whose new tenant begins to invade their lives. Akiva Goldman to produce. Emily Carmichael to write Powerhouse for Amblin Entertainment, based on an original story by Colin Trevorrow--Carmichael to direct, and Trevorrow, Steven Spielberg, and Simon Winberg set to produce. Archer Gray Productions acquired Sebastian Silva’s family thriller Captain Dad; Silva to also direct, and Catherine Keener and Michael Cera to star, with Will Ferrell in negotiations. Finally, CBS Films is moving forward with Tamara Chestna’s romantic comedy Revenge Wedding, in which a woman (with the help of her best friend) decides to turn her…