Rounding up the best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood, as voted on by hundreds of film executives, The Black List has been a strong resource to clue one in on projects to potentially anticipate, but first, to kickstart Hollywood on bringing them to screen. Today we have this year’s edition, as voted on by more than 375 film executives.
Topping the 2023 edition is Travis Braun’s Bad Boy, which follows a rescue dog who suspects his loving new owner is a serial killer. Other scripts include The Great Pretender, a drama which imagines the kidnapping of Tom Hanks; the Super Bowl-set sniper drama The Nest; the Area 51 thriller 10/24/02; a Hans Christian Andersen meets Charles Dickens fantasy; plus films about Patsy Cline, Didier Drogba, Arthur Miller and Elia Kazan, Ftx’s downfall, and more.
See the list below via Deadline (and Pdf here), ranked from top to bottom by number of votes.
Topping the 2023 edition is Travis Braun’s Bad Boy, which follows a rescue dog who suspects his loving new owner is a serial killer. Other scripts include The Great Pretender, a drama which imagines the kidnapping of Tom Hanks; the Super Bowl-set sniper drama The Nest; the Area 51 thriller 10/24/02; a Hans Christian Andersen meets Charles Dickens fantasy; plus films about Patsy Cline, Didier Drogba, Arthur Miller and Elia Kazan, Ftx’s downfall, and more.
See the list below via Deadline (and Pdf here), ranked from top to bottom by number of votes.
- 12/11/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
At the close of a particularly fraught year for Hollywood screenwriters, Monday saw the release of the annual Black List – a ranking of the top unproduced scripts in show business.
Voted on by nearly 400 creative executives, this year’s favorite project that has yet to receive a greenlight is “Bad Boy” by Travis Braun, described simply as the tale of a rescue dog who suspects his loving new owner is a serial killer. C2 Motion Picture Group is financing the project and meeting with potential distribution partners imminently.
The list includes 76 titles and covers wide narrative ground. Kirill Baru and Eric Zimmerman’s “The Great Pretender” is the story of America’s sweetheart Tom Hanks getting kidnapped, and the doppelgänger who must step in to save him. Hunter Toro’s “Boy Falls From Sky” tells of an anxious playwright whose world is turned upside down by lies and bone-crushing accidents...
Voted on by nearly 400 creative executives, this year’s favorite project that has yet to receive a greenlight is “Bad Boy” by Travis Braun, described simply as the tale of a rescue dog who suspects his loving new owner is a serial killer. C2 Motion Picture Group is financing the project and meeting with potential distribution partners imminently.
The list includes 76 titles and covers wide narrative ground. Kirill Baru and Eric Zimmerman’s “The Great Pretender” is the story of America’s sweetheart Tom Hanks getting kidnapped, and the doppelgänger who must step in to save him. Hunter Toro’s “Boy Falls From Sky” tells of an anxious playwright whose world is turned upside down by lies and bone-crushing accidents...
- 12/11/2023
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
The Black List has revealed its 2023 list of best unproduced screenplays, with scripts that include a biopic of country singer Patsy Cline, the rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried crypto empire Ftx, and an action-comedy about Tom Hanks and his doppelganger.
Topping this year’s list is a feature script from Travis Braun titled Bad Boy, with a logline that reads: “A rescue dog suspects his loving new owner is a serial killer.”
Elsewhere on the list is a screenplay about the Broadway playwright behind notorious disaster Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark from writer Hunter Toro, and a script focused on soccer star Didier Drogba from Jackson Kellard.
“This year, the industry was defined by a debate about the value of writers within it, and I think it’s inevitable that this year’s Black List means more than it has in the past,” said Black List founder and CEO Franklin Leonard.
Topping this year’s list is a feature script from Travis Braun titled Bad Boy, with a logline that reads: “A rescue dog suspects his loving new owner is a serial killer.”
Elsewhere on the list is a screenplay about the Broadway playwright behind notorious disaster Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark from writer Hunter Toro, and a script focused on soccer star Didier Drogba from Jackson Kellard.
“This year, the industry was defined by a debate about the value of writers within it, and I think it’s inevitable that this year’s Black List means more than it has in the past,” said Black List founder and CEO Franklin Leonard.
- 12/11/2023
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Travis Braun’s screenplay Bad Boy, which follows a rescue dog who suspects that his loving new owner is a serial killer, topped the 2023 Black List today. The 19th edition, which was selected by more than 375 film executives, counts 76 feature screenplays by 80 writers.
Second place went to Justin Piasecki’s Stakehorse which follows a racetrack veterinarian who runs an off-the-books ER for criminals, and finds his practice and life in jeopardy when he’s recruited for his patient’s heist.
“This year, the industry was defined by a debate about the value of writers within it, and I think it’s inevitable that this year’s Black List means more than it has in the past,” said its founder Franklin Leonard. “I’ve been saying that writing is the lifeblood of the industry for almost twenty years now, and I’ll continue saying it until the industry actually starts acting like it.
Second place went to Justin Piasecki’s Stakehorse which follows a racetrack veterinarian who runs an off-the-books ER for criminals, and finds his practice and life in jeopardy when he’s recruited for his patient’s heist.
“This year, the industry was defined by a debate about the value of writers within it, and I think it’s inevitable that this year’s Black List means more than it has in the past,” said its founder Franklin Leonard. “I’ve been saying that writing is the lifeblood of the industry for almost twenty years now, and I’ll continue saying it until the industry actually starts acting like it.
- 12/11/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Barron Trump could be coming to the big screen soon, in a wild scripted ride that imagines President Donald Trump’s 10-year-old son attempting to thwart his presidential ambitions.
“Barron: A Tale of Love, Loss & Legacy” by screenwriter Nicolas Curcio has rated on the annual Black List, a ranking of Hollywood’s best unproduced scripts, which is conducted by surveying 250 top film executives.
Curcio’s screenplay imagines a younger Barron, “fearing the devastating impact that his father’s presidency would have on his personal life, his country and the world at large.” In light of this fictional dilemma, Barron “sets out to sabotage his father’s 2016 campaign.”
UTA reps Curcio, a team consisting of Charles Ferraro, Riley Folsom, Jordan Lonner and Bill Zotti, along with his manager Jeff Portnoy of Bellevue Productions. The project does not currently have producers or financiers attached. Eligibility for the Black List says that a...
“Barron: A Tale of Love, Loss & Legacy” by screenwriter Nicolas Curcio has rated on the annual Black List, a ranking of Hollywood’s best unproduced scripts, which is conducted by surveying 250 top film executives.
Curcio’s screenplay imagines a younger Barron, “fearing the devastating impact that his father’s presidency would have on his personal life, his country and the world at large.” In light of this fictional dilemma, Barron “sets out to sabotage his father’s 2016 campaign.”
UTA reps Curcio, a team consisting of Charles Ferraro, Riley Folsom, Jordan Lonner and Bill Zotti, along with his manager Jeff Portnoy of Bellevue Productions. The project does not currently have producers or financiers attached. Eligibility for the Black List says that a...
- 12/16/2019
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Update with final ranked list: The 15th annual Black List was released Monday, with Ken Kobayashi’s romance screenplay Move On leading the coveted rundown of unproduced screenplays in Hollywood with 29 votes.
The screenplay follows Teddy, who thinks he’s the only living person left in a world where humanity is frozen in time. That is until his ex-girlfriend, Leyna, shows up at his doorstep. Together, they venture to find the cause behind the freeze and in the process, confront the issues that plagued their relationship before it’s too late.
Some titles on this year’s list have already been snatched up by studios. Don’t Worry Darling, with 19 votes on today’s list, had 18 bids going for it over the summer, with New Line winning and Olivia Wilde directing and starring as exclusively reported by Deadline. Also as exclusively reported by Deadline this morning, Netflix snapped up for high six figures First Ascent,...
The screenplay follows Teddy, who thinks he’s the only living person left in a world where humanity is frozen in time. That is until his ex-girlfriend, Leyna, shows up at his doorstep. Together, they venture to find the cause behind the freeze and in the process, confront the issues that plagued their relationship before it’s too late.
Some titles on this year’s list have already been snatched up by studios. Don’t Worry Darling, with 19 votes on today’s list, had 18 bids going for it over the summer, with New Line winning and Olivia Wilde directing and starring as exclusively reported by Deadline. Also as exclusively reported by Deadline this morning, Netflix snapped up for high six figures First Ascent,...
- 12/16/2019
- by Anthony D'Alessandro and Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
United Talent Agency (UTA) has promoted nine agents to partner status, representing a 20-percent expansion of the agency’s top ranks, the company announced Tuesday. Sarah Clossey, Steve Cohen, Gueran Ducoty, Charles Ferraro, Pete Franciosa, Allan Haldeman, Keya Khayatian, Tim Phillips and Jo Yao all join UTA’s 44 existing partners. Clossey, Cohen and Yao are agents in UTA’s Motion Picture Talent department; Ducoty heads UTA’s Licensing & Endorsements department; Ferraro and Keya Khayatian are agents in UTA’s Motion Picture Literary department; Franciosa heads UTA’s Production department; Haldeman is an agent in UTA’s Television department; and Phillips...
- 3/21/2017
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
UTA has promoted nine agents to partner, thereby increasing its top ranks by 20 percent.
Joining the existing 44 partners are:
Sarah Clossey, motion picture talent Steve Cohen, motion picture talent Gueran Ducoty, head of licensing and endorsements Charles Ferraro, motion picture literary Pete Franciosa, head of production Allan Haldeman, television Keya Khayatian, motion picture literary Tim Phillips, television literary Jo Yao, motion picture talent
Franciosa joined UTA from ICM in 1998, whereas Clossey joined from Paradigm in 2007. The rest of the new partners are homegrown, having started in...
Joining the existing 44 partners are:
Sarah Clossey, motion picture talent Steve Cohen, motion picture talent Gueran Ducoty, head of licensing and endorsements Charles Ferraro, motion picture literary Pete Franciosa, head of production Allan Haldeman, television Keya Khayatian, motion picture literary Tim Phillips, television literary Jo Yao, motion picture talent
Franciosa joined UTA from ICM in 1998, whereas Clossey joined from Paradigm in 2007. The rest of the new partners are homegrown, having started in...
- 3/21/2017
- by Rebecca Sun
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This year’s Blood List has named the 13 best genre scripts around town, and in its sixth year the annual screenplay contest is expanding its scope to include hot books, TV pilots, and young scribes ripe for signing. Taking top honors in 2014 is sci-fi thriller Bird Box from The Thing and Final Destination 5 scribe Eric Heisserer, an apocalyptic tale of a woman trying to lead her children to safety – all three blindfolded – after monsters descend on earth that turn people insane on sight. Universal set Heisserer to adapt the manuscript from Josh Malerman in 2013 for Mama helmer Andy Muschietti. Previous Blood List alumni include Black Swan, Stoker, Warm Bodies, and the upcoming Blumhouse thriller The Boy Next Door.
Like the Black List naming the top unproduced screenplays circulating around Hollywood, the genre-focused Blood List taps exec votes to determine each year’s best unmade horror, sci-fi, and thriller scripts.
Like the Black List naming the top unproduced screenplays circulating around Hollywood, the genre-focused Blood List taps exec votes to determine each year’s best unmade horror, sci-fi, and thriller scripts.
- 10/31/2014
- by Jen Yamato
- Deadline
There is either a couple of football fans or Jerry Maguire/Moneyball with this year’s most liked unproduced screenplay. Close to 300 hundred film executives provided with the Black List creators a top ten of their favorite screenplays of the year and the consensus first overall pick (with 65 votes) comes from the recently featured in Variety (10 Screenwriters to Watch 2012) tandem of Rajiv Joseph & Scott Rothman and their drama which has nothing to do with enlisting in the armed forces. Draft Day – about the day in the life of a fictitious Buffalo Bills Gm appears to currently be in turnaround — which only means I expect to see this greenlight perhaps a little later than sooner – worth noting: top spot almost guarantees that the film will indeed go into production (2006, 2010 and 2011 are the exceptions.) Among the more alluring logline subjects we find on the list, I’d be keen on reading the...
- 12/18/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
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