Script Pipeline

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…

Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions picked up Claire, a thriller spec by Brad Ingelsby. Claire follows a mother who protects her daughter after she falls in with the wrong crowd. Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire will produce Wayne Lemon’s spec The Havana Affair, a true-story thriller about the CIA’s Operation Mongoose. Amazon Studios is moving forward with Max Hurwitz’s Black List spec Forgive Me, a biopic about 60 Minutes’  Mike Wallace and his struggles with depression. Finally, Jason Bateman will produce Jesse Zwick, Allan Haldeman, Emerson Davis, and Michael Weintraub’s untitled crime script based on Operation Pandora’s Box, a sting operation that resulted in Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca’s resignation in 2014. Other script sales include: – Christopher Nolan to write/direct Dunkirk for Warner Bros. The film will be set during WWII and is based on a true story. – David Koepp has signed on to script a Bride of Frankenstein remake/reboot for Universal. – Evan…

Hollywood moved a little slower this month, as is to be expected for the holiday season. MGM picked up Matthew Orton’s untitled historical thriller spec about Mossad agents trying to capture Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. Chuck Hayward’s sorority dramedy Ain’t No Half Steppin found a home at Broad Green Pictures. The story follows a black sorority girl who agrees to teach black Greek stepping to stereotypical white sorority girls who are about to lose their charter. Good Universe is moving forward with Jessie Andrews’ dramedy script Empress of Serenity about a lawyer forced to take a cruise to bond with his estranged father. Bill Hader to star, Andrews to also direct. Max Landis’ Deeper is moving forward at Phantom Four Films and Addictive Pictures. The psychological thriller focuses on a disgraced astronaut on a mission to reach the bottom of an oceanic trench and the mysterious forces he encounters. Finally, Casey Affleck will produce and direct…

Fox picked up Brian Duffield’s spec Underwater, a thriller following a crew after an earthquake destroys their underwater station. Fox also bought Ascension, a sci-fi spec written by Shannon Triplett focusing on a scientist after Earth’s gravity disappears. Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class) to possibly produce and direct. Focus Features acquired Matt King’s drama/thriller spec Boomtown about a sinister criminal conspiracy in North Dakota oil boom country. And New Line optioned Gregg Rossen and Brian Sawyer’s female-driven heist spec Met Gala Heist. Other script sales: – Dennis Kelly to pen the sequel to World War Z, based on an earlier draft by Steven Knight. – Olivia Milch has been tapped to write an all-female remake of Ocean’s Eleven. George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh to produce, Gary Ross to direct, and Sandra Bullock to potentially star. – 42 to produce the thriller In Darkness, written by Anthony Byrne and Game of Thrones‘ Natalie Dormer. Dormer to star, Byrne to direct. – Universal picked up Ori Guendelmann…

Warner Bros. acquired Hammerspace, a sci-fi script written by Mike Van Waes. The story focuses on a terminally ill teenager who discovers an alternate, animated dimension while searching for his missing father. After a bidding war, Universal bought Todd Jones and Eral Ritchey Jones’ family drama/fantasy spec Humbug, an updated version of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. Ice Cube is set to star and produce. And New Line picked up Michael Gunn’s The Virginian. The period-action spec follows a young George Washington who, eager to join the British Army, goes on a dangerous mission to conquer a French fort and save the American colonies. Other script sales: – The infamous website Silk Road is getting the movie treatment in Dark Web. Will Staples (Call of Duty) is set to write. – Liam Neeson has signed on to Byron Willinger and Phil de Blasi’s thriller The Commuter. – Jordan Peele’s horror/thriller script Get Out has been picked up by Blumhouse Productions. Peele is also set to…

Hollywood all but decided to take the month off, making August one of the slowest months for script sales this year. Summit Entertainment and The Gotham Group picked up John Gary’s sci-fi/thriller spec, and besides that: no other spec sales. However, a few other projects were set up. Vincent D’Onofrio (Daredevil, Law & Order: CI) is attached to star in and direct screenwriter Andrew Lanham’s western The Kid. Jac Schaeffer’s Blacklist script The Shower, a sci-fi comedy about an alien attack during a baby shower, is moving forward at Andrew Lauren Productions, with Anne Hathaway to produce/star. Finally, Sascha Penn’s thriller script April 29, 1992 was picked up by Lionsgate and Will Packer Productions. Other script sales: – Dwain Worrell’s Dante’s Inferno found a home at Warner Bros. – Reese Witherspoon to produce/star in Bill Marsilii’s supernatural thriller pitch Cold. – New Line picked up Mikki Daughtry and David Boxerbaum’s thriller pitch The Children. – Finally, Pez Candy is getting an animated movie, based…