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UPFRONTS 2013: The Overachievers 
3RD UPDATE: UTA Wins The Black List 2008 Derby
2ND UPDATE: Below is full index and expanded Top 10.
Universal film executive Franklin Leonard’s THE BLACK LIST 2008 “was compiled from the suggestions of over 250 film executives, each of whom contributed the names of up to ten of their favorite scripts that were written in, or are somehow uniquely associated with, 2008 and will not be released in theaters during this calendar year. This year, scripts had to receive at least four mentions to be included on THE BLACK LIST. All reasonable effort has been made to confirm the information contained herein. THE BLACK LIST apologizes for all misspellings, misattributions, incorrect representation identification, and questionable ’2008′ affiliations. It has been said many times, but it’s worth repeating: THE BLACK LIST is not a ‘best of’ list. It is, at best, a ‘most liked’ list.”
But I’ve noticed that it’s also a “big dick” measuring contest for the Hollywood agencies and their motion picture lit departments. Problem is, some screenwriters think this list isn’t on the up-and-up and accuse junior studio execs and assistants along with self-interested agents and managers of getting together to push their own clients on projects even if already abandoned. So get off the ledge if you’re not on THE BLACK LIST.
67 Mentions (First Place)
THE BEAVER by Kyle Killen
61 Mentions
THE ORANGES by Jay Reiss & Ian Helfer
44 Mentions
BUTTER by Jason Micallef
42 Mentions
BIG HOLE by Michael Gilio
40 Mentions
THE LOW DWELLER by Brad Ingelsby
39 Mentions
FUCKBUDDIES by Liz Meriwether
34 Mentions
WINTER’S DISCONTENT by Paul Fruchbom
29 Mentions
BROKEN CITY by Brian Tucker
24 Mentions
I’M WITH CANCER by Will Reiser
22 Mentions
OUR BRAND IS CRISIS by Peter Straughan
21 Mentions
INGLORIOUS BASTERDS by Quentin Tarantino
20 Mentions
UNTITLED VANESSA TAYLOR PROJECT by Vanessa Taylor
16 Mentions
GALAHAD by Ryan Condal
THE WEST IS DEAD by Andrew Baldwin
15 Mentions
MANUSCRIPT by Paul Grellong
THE TUTOR by Matthew Fogel
14 Mentions
THE DESCENDANTS by Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
SUNFLOWER by Misha Green
GOING THE DISTANCE by Geoff LaTulippe
13 Mentions
THE AMERICAN WAY by Brian Kistler
NOWHERE BOY by Matt Greenhalgh
RAINDROPS ALL AROUND ME by Reed Agnew & Eli Jorne
SEQUELS, REMAKES & ADAPTATIONS by Sam Esmail
12 Mentions
A COUPLE OF DICKS by Mark Cullen & Robb Cullen
GAY DUDE by Alan Yang
THE MANY DEATHS OF BARNABY JAMES by Brian Nathanson
UNDERAGE by Scott Neustadter & Michael Weber
11 Mentions
CODE NAME VEIL by Matt Billingsley
EVERYTHING MUST GO by Dan Rush
THE FOURTH KIND by Olatunde Osunsanmi
FOXCATCHER by E Max Frye & Dan Futterman
THE PHANTOM LIMB by Kevin Koehler
10 Mentions
THE APOSTLES OF INFINITE LOVE by Victoria Strouse
THE F-WORD by Elan Mastai
UP IN THE AIR by Jason Reitman
9 Mentions
BACHELORETTE by Leslye Headland
JONNY QUEST by Dan Mazeau
THE KARMA COALITION by Shawn Christensen
KEIKO by Elizabeth Wright Shapiro
KNIGHTS by Nick Confalone & Neal Dusedau
TWENTY TIMES A LADY by Gabrielle Allan & Jennifer Crittenden
8 Mentions
CLEAR WINTER NOON by John Kolvenbach
FIERCE INVALIDS HOME FROM HOT CLIMATES by Eric Aronson
ROUNDTABLE by Brian K Vaughan
7 Mentions
THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF THE MONOGAMOUS DUCK by Neeraj Katyal
THE GARY COLEMAN –EMMANUEL LEWIS PROJECT by Dan Fogelman
THE LAYMAN’S TERMS by Jeremy Bailey
THE MALLUSIONIST by Robbie Pickering & JaceRicci
PLAN B by Kate Angelo
WHAT IS LIFE WORTH? By Max Borenstein
6 Mentions
ACOD: ADULT CHILDREN OF DIVORCE by Ben Karlin & Stu Zicherman
BAD TEACHER by Lee Eisenberg & Gene Stupnitsky
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY by Charles Randolph
CHILD 44 by Richard Price
EASY A by Bert Royal
GIANTS by Eric Nazarian
GRAND THEFT AUTO by Jason Dean Hall
HELP ME SPREAD GOODNESS by Mark Friedman
INFERNO: A LINDA LOVELACE STORY by Matt Wilder
LONDON BOULEVARD by William Monahan
MEMOIRS by Will Fetters
SHRAPNEL by Evan Daugherty
YOUR DREAMS SUCK by Kat Dennings & Geoffrey Litwak
5 Mentions
AFTER HAILEY by Scott Frank
THE BLADE ITSELF by Aaron Stockard
BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE by Adam Cozad
FRESHLY POPPED by Megan Parsons
GAZA by Frank Deasy
GREETINGS FROM JERRY by John Killoran
GROWN MAN BUSINESS by Justin Britt-Gibson
THE HERETIC by Javier Rodriguez
HOW TO BE GOOD by Cindy Chupack
MAN OF CLOTH by Josh Zetumer
SLEEPING BEAUTY by Julia Leigh
THE SPELLMAN FILES by Bobby Florsheim & Josh Stolberg
STOP HUNTINGDON ANIMAL CRUELTY by Adam Sachs
A TALE OF TWO CITIES by Beau Willimon
UNLOCKED by Peter O’Brien
WHAT WOULD KENNY DO? by Chris Baldi
THE ZERO by Stephen Chin
4 Mentions
RONIN by Chris Morgan
BALLAD OF THE WHISKEY ROBBER by Rich Wilkes
THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE DAMNED by Hanna Weg
A BITTERSWEET LIFE by Mark L Smith
BOBBIE SUE by Russell Sharman, Owen Egerton, & Chris Mass
BOBISM by Ben Wexler
DEADLINE by Soo Hugh
THE DEBT by Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn
THE ENDS OF THE EARTH by Chris Terrio
HEARTSTOPPER by Dan Antoniazzi & Ben Shiffrin
THE HOW-TO GUIDE FOR SAVING THE WORLD by BenDavid Grabinski
I KILLED BUDDY CLOY by Nick Garrison & Chase Pletts
JAR CITY by Michael Ross
A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY by Susan Walter
THE MOST ANNOYING MAN IN THE WORLD by Kevin Kopelow & Heath Seifert
MOTORCADE by Billy Ray
THE MURDERER AMONG US by Lori Gambino
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HELL by Brian McGreevy & Lee Shipman
SAMURAI by Fernley Phillips
THE SCAVENGERS by Nate Edelman
SERIAL KILLER DAYS by Mark Carter
SHERLOCK HOLMES by Tony Peckham
SWINGLES by Duncan Birmingham & Jeff Roda
‘TIL BETH DO US PART by Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg
UNTITLED CHANNING TATUM PROJECT by Doug Jung
UPDATE: My immense thanks to EW for giving me the TOP 10 on The Black List coming out tomorrow since the magazine did a deal with Franklin Leonard for its coming issue which will have a big takeout all about Leonard and the list on newsstands Friday. Here‘s the EW link for the feature online:
1. The Beaver by Kyle Killen
It’s About: Walter Black, a depressed toy manufacturer, loses his family and his business. But then Walter tries on a hand puppet—a chatty British rodent called “The Beaver”—and his personality is transformed. It’s all good at first, but things turn ugly when the puppet won’t let go. It’s Like: Liar Liar fused with the horror movie Magic. Status: Steve Carell is attached to play Walter.
2. The Oranges by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer
It’s About: Two New Jersey families are thrown into comic turmoil when the prodigal daughter returns for Christmas and falls in love with her parents’ best friend. It’s Like: The Graduate engaged to Meet the Parents. Status: Anthony Bregman (Thumbsucker) and MRC will produce. Julian Farino (Entourage) is negotiating to direct.
3. Butter by Jason Micallef
It’s About: Destiny, a black foster child, faces off against Iowa’s reigning dairy diva, the beautiful but venal Laura Pickler, in an epic butter-carving competition for the ages. It’s Like: Election swirled with Best in Show. Status: Jennifer Garner is in talks to play Laura, while DreamWorks is in early negotiations for the project.
4. Big Hole by Michael Gilio
It’s About: Lee, an old, grumpy ex-cowboy, loses $30,000 to a fraudulent sweepstakes company and sets out to punish those responsible. Lee’s son, the local sheriff, is charged with stopping him. It’s Like: Falling Down splattered with No Country for Old Men. Status: Project is set up with Aversano Films (Failure to Launch).
5. The Low Dweller by Brad Ingelsby
It’s About: Charlie “Slim” Hendrick, a don’t-eff-with-me ex-con, returns home to find that his sweetie has moved on and his bitter brother has gambling debts. When a disfigured, dog-loving thug beats his sibling to death, Slim seeks vengeance. It’s Like: Unforgiven, only less geriatric. And much less forgiving. Status: Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way and Tony and Ridley Scott will co-produce.
6. F***buddies by Liz Meriwether
It’s About: Emma and Adam have the best relationship ever! They’re twentysomething pals who, you know, do it. A lot. But then Adam goes and falls in love with Emma and ruins everything. Can their perfect non-union survive? It’s Like: When Harry Met Sally… for the Juno generation. Status: Ivan Reitman’s company is developing it.
7. Winter’s Discontent by Paul Fruchbom
It’s About: After the death of his wife of more than 50 years, irrepressible horndog Herb Winter sets out, at age 75, to find sexual fulfillment with another woman. Or, if possible, several. It’s Like: Superbad set in a retirement community. Status: The film is set up at Sony. No director or star is attached.
8. Broken City by Brian Tucker
It’s About: The New York mayor asks private eye Billy Taggart to find out if the mayor’s wife is cheating on him. She is, with the campaign director of the mayor’s political rival, no less, who soon turns up dead. Did Billy’s investigation lead to murder? It’s Like: A modern L.A. Confidential peppered with Glengarry Glen Ross patois. Status: Being developed by the producing team behind Juno.
9. I’m With Cancer by Will Reiser
It’s About: Adam, a 25-year-old single Jewish dude, is diagnosed with spinal cancer. Hilarity ensues. Seriously. It’s Like: The 40 Year-Old Virgin with chemo. Status: Seth Rogen will produce and has signed on to play Adam’s best bud.
10. Our Brand Is Crisis by Peter Straughan
It’s About: A team of American political operatives moves to Bolivia to take on a flailing presidential campaign. Loosely based on the 2006 documentary of the same name. It’s Like: Primary Colors picked The Motorcycle Diaries as a running mate. Status: George Clooney’s company will produce it.
Black List 2007′s Best Liked Screenplays
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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To all haters, I’d love to read your script.
Salmonella said “It just seems that there are too many slam-dunk scripts that set the town on fire towards the bottom of the list.”
Which scripts are these? Are there any particularly great scripts at the lower end of the list?
In all fairness, some of these scripts might be really good, but I can’t tell from some of these short descriptions…
But there are a LOT of turkeys on this list too. How did they get past the executive assistants?
I agree with salmonella. I can spot two of the best scripts of the year — certainly as good as anything up for awards this year — getting less than 10 votes, but they don’t need lobbying as they’re on their way to production.
I’d prefer not to name them, because it invites a) the jealous to say, “that script sucked!” (not that anyone in their right mind would), and b) if I name names, no pun intended, it leads one to believe that I am the writer/director/manager/executive working on the project, and I don’t want to “out” someone, esp. when they’re not the one making the claim. I am. Some great scripts here. The rankings are incredibly flawed.
ON BUTTER:
A black kid carving butter?
Note to white writers:
Using black people as characters so you can employ preconceived societal notions of good and evil, adversity or triumph IS CLICHE!
We’ve seen:
Sidney Portier build a white church.
Will Smith teach a white golfer.
Morgan Freeman drive a white lady.
Whoopi Goldberg hook up a white girl with a ghost, and
Michael Clark Duncan die for the sins of white prison guards.
Gee, I wonder who wins that butter carving contest. Could it be the little black kid named “Destiny?” Or hey, maybe the evil white lady wins but the black kid gets a Pyrrhic victory!
How about this: BLACK PEOPLE DON’T FU*%!NG CARVE BUTTER!
Real Black people now reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
This shit is tired.
Wow.
Thanks Hollywood to contributing to the dumbing down of America.
Thank God some of you here are not in positions of power.
The ‘negativity’ is dripping off the walls of this forum.
No film can be described in three sentences.
Maybe you should try reading some of the scripts before spitting blood.
John Coffy – Did you actually, you know, READ Butter? Because if you had you’d know it’d a politcal satire and the little black girl represents Obama who did actually beat the “white lady.” But of course, like so many others on this board, you wouldn’t know that because you didn’t actually read it and yet still felt the need to comment.
And to the Beaver haters: Did you read that too?
Seriously, John Coffy – by that rationale, we shouldn’t put any white people in movies with black people? Well then, I guess that makes Tyler Perry quite the visionary.
PS: “Whoopi Goldberg hooks a white girl up with a ghost”? You’re totally right, black people never do that type of thing. But for that matter, neither do white people. It’s a MOVIE.
I’d like to add my congratulations to all who made the list. Of course, the being-made-by-those-with-deep-pockets-and-having-already-been-paid-for list would be a bit better, I think. 67 votes as best unmade script is pretty damned impressive. Hell, right now I’d settle for one of those votes, (besides mine and my mother’s). Remember, “little girl wakes up in a land of fanciful creatures and has to kill an evil witch to get home” might sound lame, too. (And it’s a musical!) Let’s hope the production process doesn’t displace the obvious quality inherent in the scripts’ winning such kudos. Spread the love.
What’s worse – a ‘web critic’ or the Hater of the web critic?
I vote the Hater. You bore me.
Hello,
I’m more than willing to read some of these scripts to get past the three-sentence sumup. But could one of you please tell me how to get my hands on a copy ? I used to know of a few places to get unproduced screenplays online, but they all seem to have disappeared.
Script Reader
Want to keep the Black List legit?
Don’t used a fixed date for when it comes out. Change it up. That way people can’t campaign.
Oh, and I’d love to see all these movies made. Why not? Interesting breeds more interesting.
I’ve had a chance to read 1/3 of these scripts.
And there isn’t anything great about any of them.
It’s all very substandard writing…being done by those who are either in the system — have a legit agent, manager, etc., or are on the bring of getting in the system — as in a photo pub in VARIETY.
In other words…and I know this is really going to get those frowns going…but we’re adults, right?
Just because you have an agent or lit manager, does not in any way mean you have the gift of writing good, let alone great movies.
The other truth is obviously how many non writers and non creatives take the script away from the writer…put in all their crap they got from a screenwriting book or a weekend screenwriting seminar…and claim they’ve made the script better,
only to have the movie actually die, and the screenwriter get blamed for all that?
Too much. Too many times in Hollywood.
Where can u find these scripts!!! Thanks
It’ll be interesting to see which ones get produced.
FIERCE INVALIDS HOME FROM HOT CLIMATES would be the best thing to hit the screen this century. Bring it on!
If anyone’s interested in more on this, I’ve been slowly working my way through the top ten scripts and posting detailed synopses and analyses on my blog.
Grand Theft Auto?
Read ‘em, then write your ass off.
I Killed Buddy Cloy is an excellent script.
I don’t understand why Beaver is #1 or why The West is Dead even got one single mention. That was one of the dumbest scripts I read all year.
it’s interesting, how all these scripts doesn’t sound interesting at all. Some people said in defense it’s impossible to make a movie interesting in just couple of sentences. Sounds childish. If it’s a high concept you can spot it right away. Let’s see how much money will be made. Sad, seems like Hollywood is dying, all caught up in whom do you know and who is allowed to come up to the feeder.
I’ve written thirty screen plays – two optioned, would love to have a bunch of people arguing how bad they were. There are hundreds of millions of people in the world with terrible taste. They prove it every day at the movies. You want better movies – write them and get off your tail and sell them.
Good luck.
horseopera
Love to see a jonny quest movie ,can’t wait