Script Sales

Spenser Cohen’s spec Distant found a home with Amblin Partners, Automatik Entertainment, and Six Foot Turkey Productions. The sci-fi/romance follows a miner who has crash-landed on a hostile alien planet and must rescue the only other survivor, a woman trapped in an escape pod, as they run out of oxygen. We’re sure the movie will leave us breathless. Universal Pictures picked up Chris Borrelli’s action/thriller spec, which will be directed by Simon Crane. Although details are being kept under wraps, this marks Crane’s directorial debut after an impressive career as a stunt coordinator (credits include Salt, World War Z, and Edge of Tomorrow). Finally, Paramount Pictures and LuckyChap Entertainment are moving forward with Big Gay Jamboree, written by Jonathan Parks-Ramage and Maria Mindelle. The musical follows a raunchy woman who finds herself stuck in a 1940’s musical, sort of like Isn’t It Romantic? meets Judy Garland. Margot Robbie is set…

January was unfortunately a lighter month for script sales (you can blame holiday recovery and Sundance for that), so here’s a list of the most notable stories: - Unburdened Entertainment and SB Projects have tapped Alyssa Hill to adapt Elaine Brown’s memoir A Taste of Power. The story follows Brown’s time as the first and only female leader of the Black Panthers from 1974–77. - Lisa Joy (Westworld) is set to direct Reminiscence from her 2013 Black List screenplay. Her Westworld co-creator Jonathan Nolan is set to produce. - Universal Pictures optioned Kim Liggett’s novel The Grace Year, set to be published this fall. Elizabeth Banks is set to direct. - Pete Davidson, Judd Apatow, and Dave Sirus’s untitled comedy script has been picked up by Universal and Apatow Productions. Based on Davidson’s own life, the film is set to star Davidson and will be directed by Apatow. - Amblin…

Hollywood typically slows down for the holidays in December, and 2018 was no exception. To start things off: Ivan Reitman’s The Montecito Company and Tristar Pictures picked up the spec comedy The Best Friends. Chad Kultgen and Amy Rhodes’ script is described as a high-concept, meta romantic comedy. Lionsgate, The Picture Co., and Khalabo Ink Society are teaming up for Anthony Jaswinski’s horror spec The French Quarter Will Not Be Spared, which sets a vampire story during Hurricane Katrina. Endeavor Content snagged Peter Begler’s spec Wolf Country. The story follows a female cop as she tracks down a convicted fugitive, a former lawman who happens to be her father. Finally, Khalabo Ink Society and Twentieth Century Fox acquired Danny Segal and Isaac Schamis’ comedy The Guysmaids. Other script sales: - David Marshall Grant and Dan Savage are set to adapt Michael Ausiello’s book Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies for Focus…

Let’s start things off with a slew of projects picked up by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot: an untitled time travel story written by Ben Shiffrin; The Steps, Blair Butler’s twist on the possession genre; an untitled female-driven horror allegory by An Emmy for Megan’s Megan Amram; Courtney Hoffman’s The Seven Sisters of Scott County, which is about moonshining; a sci-fi romance Only the Lonely written by Dylan Meyer and Peter Glanz; and the “Clerks for a new generation” Everything Must Go, written by Lisa McQuillan and Logic, who is also set to star. (Whew!) Other, non–J.J. Abrams script sales include: - Legendary Pictures and The Gotham Group picked up Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier’s near-future ByAll, which follows the aftermath of a post-LAPD Los Angeles. - BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, Rideback, and New Line Cinemas are teaming up for the supernatural horror Dear David. Written by Mike Van Waes, the movie…

Universal Pictures, along with Michael De Luca Productions, Immersive Pictures, and Crazyrose, has optioned Anthony McCarten’s untitled spec based on John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s relationship. Ono is set to produce, and Jean-Marc Vallée (Wild, Big Little Lies) will produce and direct. Warner Bros., Safehouse Pictures, and LBD Productions have picked up Brad Desch’s rom-com spec Wink. Inspired by producer Tory Tunnell’s own experiences, the story is a Cyrano de Bergerac–like tale of what happens when someone takes over their mother’s social media profiles. Jared Cowie’s spec You Are Leaving The American Sector has found a home with Parallel Films. The Cold War spy thriller follows a young CIA officer in West Berlin who uncovers a plot that could send the world into nuclear war. Finally, Voltage Pictures has acquired Tenfold by Allan Ungar. The action spec follows a man who avenges his estranged, soon-to-be-wed daughter’s death. Ungar will also…

September was a lighter month for script sales, but here’s a bunch of notables: - Halle Berry will direct and star in Bruised, written by Michelle Rosenfarb, about a disgraced female MMA fighter. Thunder Road Pictures and Entertainment 360 are producing. - Playing House stars/creators Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham sold an untitled comedy pitch to Universal. Gina Rdoriguez is attached to star. That’s all we know about it, but St. Clair and Parham are amazing so of course we had to mention it. - Sony picked up Simon Rich’s (Man Seeking Woman) Sell Out. The story, based on Rich’s New Yorker novella, is a a Rip van Winkle-style comedy in which immigrant falls in a vat of pickles in 1918 and is perfectly preserved in the brine for a hundred years. Seth Rogen is set to produce and star. - Blackmaled Productions has picked up Real Talk, written…

Hollywood is starting to feel the affects of Crazy Rich Asians’ amazing box-office performance, and several projects with Asian-American or Polynesian leads were picked up in the second half of August. (It’s long overdue, but hey, we’ll take it.) Seven Bucks Entertainment, Flynn Picture Company, ImageMovers are teaming to produce The King, with New Line Cinema distributing. Written by Randall Wallace, the spec is a biopic of King Kamehameha, who was the first to unite the Hawaiian Islands. Dwayne Johnson is set to star, Robert Zemeckis to direct, and both will produce. New Line also picked up Singles Day, a romantic comedy spec written by Lillian Yu. The plot is mostly under wraps, but it’s based on a Chinese holiday described as the anti–Valentine’s Day in which singles celebrate being unattached. And finally, Elyse Hollander’s untitled music spec found a home at Fox 2000. The story follows an Asian American…

July was a slower month for script sales. David M. Crabtree's script Plane has found a home at Mandalay Pictures. The thriller follows a traveling salesman who is trapped alone in a small airborne plane after the pilot dies. John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines, A Good Day to Die Hard) is set to direct. Twentieth Century Fox is moving forward with the comedy Stoned Alone, an adult version of Home Alone that follows a stoner who misses his flight and must deal with thieves inside his home. Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider are on the script, based off an idea from Fox's Matt Reilly. Ryan Reynolds will produce, and Augustine Frizzell will direct. Screen Gems and Brownstone Productions have picked up Savion Einstein's comedy Superfecundation, which is a rare situation that occurs when twins have two different fathers. Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman will produce. Makeready, Hillman Grad Productions, and De La Revolución Films will produce Lena Waithe's crime…

Amblin Partners and Neal Street Productions have picked up Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns’ spec 1917. Mendes will direct the WWI drama and co-produce with Pippa Harris. Platinum Dunes and Tyler Perry Studios are bringing Ryan Belenzon and Jeffrey Gelber’s spec I Am Yours to Paramount. The project is described as thriller in the vein of Fatal Attraction. Writer Emilia Serrano had two of her comedy specs optioned: The Throwdown and an untitled quinceañera project. The Throwdown follows two Latina American cousins as they fight over a family restaurant they inherited and found a home with Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions. Meanwhile, her quinceañera project follows a 30-year-old woman who brings her family on a work trip disguised as a “double quinceañera” because she missed her first and found a home with 26 Keys Productions and Pascal Pictures. Noah Hawley and Amy Pascal will produce. J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot preemptively picked…

Tom O’Connor’s Cold War spy spec Ironbark has found a home with FilmNation Entertainment. The true story follows Greville Wynne, a British businessman, as he helps the CIA end the Cuban Missile Crisis and avert disaster. Benedict Cumberbatch is set to executive produce and star. Another historical spec landed at Gran Via Productions. This one: Alex Cramer’s Rawhide Down. The screenplay follows the immediate aftermath of John Hinkley’s assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan in real time. Paramount Pictures picked up Cory Goodman’s horror spec The Oberline Incident. The plot is being kept under wraps, but it’s been described as high-concept with a female lead. Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures has picked up Crawl, written by Alexandre Aja, Shawn Rasmussen, and Michael Rasmussen. The story follows a young woman trapped in a flooding house with fierce predators during a Category 5 hurricane. Aja will also direct. Other script sales: - Dueling…

Bo Burnham’s spec script Gay Kid and Fat Chick is moving forward at Paramount Players with director Amy York Rubin at the helm. The dramedy script placed on the 2013 Black List and has been in development ever since. Tooley Productions picked up Tony Gayton’s crime-drama spec Thug. The story follows an aging ex-boxer and enforcer for a San Pedro gangster as he tries to fix his past mistakes and reconnect with his estranged children. Tucker Tooley will produce, and Christian Gudegast (London Has Fallen) will direct. New Line Cinema is moving forward with The Long Walk, adapted by James Vanderbilt from the novel by Stephen King (written under his pseudonym Richard Bachman). Vanderbilt had written the script on spec before New Line picked it up. Peter Dinklage to produce, perhaps star in O’Lucky Day for Legendary Pictures. The script, written by Andrew Dodge, follows a con man who poses…

Last month in spec sales, David Koepp sold his feature supernatural thriller You Should Have Left to Blumhouse Productions. The script, which Koepp will also direct, follows a screenwriter and his family for a week in a house they’ve rented, but mysterious things happen as he tries to finish the script for a horror movie sequel. The H Collective and Busted Shark Productions have teamed to produce Aaron W. Sala’s horror script The Beast. After a woman is stranded alone on an island, she has to face her worst fears. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. picked up Madison Turner’s untitled WWII spec about the 761st Regiment, an all black regiment that paved the way for military desegregation. Michael B. Jordan will produce. Millennium Films and Electric Pictures have picked up Adam Alleca’s Michael Zero, a sci-fi action that follows a man who has to hunt down his own clones, who were created…

Michael De Luca Productions picked up two sci-fi specs this month: Infinitum by Marc Guggenheim, which is described as a sci-fi love story similar to Memento, and Varietal by Adam Bloom, which is a psychological sci-fi thriller centered on a married couple. Infinitum landed at Sony while Varietal went to Universal. Legendary Pictures has teamed with LeBron James’ SpringHill Entertainment for Taylor Materne’s sports drama spec Hustle. The story follows a basketball scout who travels to China and brings back a Chinese streetball phenomenon. Annapurna Pictures and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s Gloria Sanchez Productions have picked up Booksmart, a teen comedy written by Katie Silberman. Booksmart follows two friends on the eve of graduation who set out on a night of fun after realizing they spent their entire high school years focused on their educations. Olivia Wilde is set to direct. Finally, Studio 8 and Scoop Productions picked up…

January kicked off 2018 with a slow start. Mental Pictures has picked up Joseph and John Magary’s Charlotte XVI, a romantic drama that follows the love lives of a 16-year-old girl and her mother. Myna Joseph will direct, and Maya Hawke will star. Derek Kolstad’s action/thriller script Nobody found a home at STX Entertainment. Bob Odenkirk is set to star and produce. Amazon picked up Task Force Two, an action pitch from Jennifer Yee McDevitt. The story will follow an elite search-and-rescue team in California. Genesius Pictures has entered pre-production with Mrs Lowery and Son, written by and based on the play by Martyn Hesford. Adrian Noble will direct. Timothy Spall and Vanessa Redgrave will star. Universal picked up My Own Worst Enemy, an action/comedy script by Chad St. John. Kevin Hart to star/produce. Other script sales: - Jon Felson has been tapped to adapt environmentalist Julia Butterfly Hill’s memoir…

Closing out 2017, Hollywood slowed down in December on account of the holiday season. Warner Bros. and Safehouse Pictures picked up Leo Sardarian's sci-fi/action spec The Expansion Project. The script follows a rookie female marine who ends up stranded on a planet. San Andreas's Brad Peyton is attached to direct. Guillermo del Toro's Del Toro Productions is teaming with Fox Searchlight and Phantom Four Films to produce the supernatural horror/thriller Antlers. Written by Nick Antosca and Henry Chaisson, the spec follows a young teacher who discovers a deadly supernatural secret connected to the father of one of her students. Hostiles director Scott Cooper is currently in talks. Rickey Castleberry and Zimran Jacob's college comedy Swag has found a home with Estevan/Sheen Productions. Kevin Pollack to direct. Other script sales: - Rashida Jones to adapt the graphic novel Goldie Vance for Twentieth Century Fox. Jones will also direct. - Mairghread Scott to write the animated feature Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors for Marvel Entertainment. - Guillermo del Toro will write and direct…