You know what sucks?

You know what else sucks? When people don't realize the movie on screen probably bears no resemblance to the spec script.

Bear in mind it takes years for a big studio to finance, cast, prep, film and edit a movie and shove it into theaters. Big movies wait on line to get into production, and then into theaters. Heath Ledger's last movie (with Terry Gilliam directing) hasn't seen theaters yet, and Gilliam's Man Of La Mancha with Johnny Depp was started in the 90s! There's a documentary about his first attempt at filming it called Lost In La Mancha.
The Blacklist scripts have a higher probability of getting made which is why they're on the list - it's getting the personnel ducks in a row that is the hard part.

The Black List doesn't insure it will get made. Neither does it insure that it will be a good movie if made. The Black List just showcases high quality writing as per the industry executives.

S. Craig Zahler wrote the Brigands of Rattleborge which was I believe at the very top of the Black List. Never been made into a movie, some people feel the script is too dark and certain elements are "unfilmable". Is there a market for it? Sure is. Is that market big enough to spend $50 million to produce and another 50 to advertise and promote? Probably not. Does that mean the script is any less incredible? Of course not. That's not what the list is about.

Some scripts that were at or near the top of the list didn't translate as well to the screen as was hoped/expected. Lars and the Real Girl is another example. Near the top of the Black List, gets made into a movie. Mixed reviews, almost non-existant market. Probably lost money. Yet it was one of the highest rated scripts of its year.

All that to say, The Black List just showcases writing. Not market potential for a specific script.

This is a business.

I have to echo the sentiment that good writing doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna translate to screen, or even be filmable.

Just as there are great scripts that don't get made into films, and terrible scripts that do, there are also great scripts that actually get made and thousands upon thousands of bad screenplays that don't get made. As everyone above has said, there are multiple factors studios have to consider before investing several million dollars in a movie. Marketability is a big one.

It goes to show that, when you're writing, unless you're someone like Charlie Kaufman, who just wrote and directed "Synecdoche, New York," a two hour existential paradox (which unfortunately flopped), it is critical that you think about the audience as well as the limitations of film as a medium.

Off topic, shmoff...shmopic

Manectric said:

I know one film I'm waiting to see that's coming out in 2013, but it has no script...it's called Boyhood. But this is going off subject...sorry.

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I looked up the project, and it looks amazing...filming the story of a kid growing up as the actor actually grows up...it sounds like he's taking a Mike Leigh-esque approach, developing the script as the 12 years of shooting progresses, so that the movie represents as much of the actors' work as the director's.

And yes, this is off topic, but I you started the thread, so do with it what you will.

IT'S THE TRUMAN SHOW!

Grandmaster said:

IT'S THE TRUMAN SHOW!

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Or how about Michael Apted's "UP" series -- starting in 1964, he interviewed a group of seven year olds -- and then returned and re-interviewed them at seven-year intervals to see how they grew, how they changed, how their lives progressed -- 7 Up, 14 Up, 21 Up, 28 Up, 35 Up, 42 Up, and most recently, 49 Up.

NMS