Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Written by:Ted Tally (Writer), Peter Craig (Writer), Doug Stanton (Book)
Script Synopsis:A team of CIA agents and special forces head into Afghanistan in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks in an attempt to dismantle the Taliban.
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Written by:J. Mills Goodloe (Screenplay), J. Mills Goodloe (Story), Salvador Paskowitz (Screenplay), Salvador Paskowitz (Story)
Script Synopsis:After 29-year-old Adaline recovers from a nearly lethal accident, she inexplicably stops growing older. As the years stretch on and on, Adaline keeps her secret to herself until she meets a man who changes her life.
The Age of Adaline Script Resources:
The Age of Adaline Script PDF - [PROD. 12-11-2013] at Script Fly ($)
The Age of Adaline Script PDF - PRODUCTION DRAFT. 12/11/2013. at Script City ($)
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Written by:Andrew Niccol (Writer), Rob McCallum (Storyboard)
Script Synopsis:Set in a near-future world where there is no privacy, ignorance or anonymity, our private memories are recorded and crime almost ceases to exist. In trying to solve a series of unsolved murders, Sal Frieland stumbles onto a young woman who appears to have subverted the system and disappeared. She has no identity, no history and no record. Sal realizes it may not be the end of crime but the beginning. Known only as 'The Girl', Sal must find her before he becomes the next victim.
Anon Script Resources:
Anon Script PDF - [DRAFT 6/9/2015] at Script Fly ($)
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Written by:Madeleine L'Engle (Novel), Jennifer Lee (Screenplay), Jeff Stockwell (Screenplay)
Script Synopsis:After the disappearance of her scientist father, three peculiar beings send Meg, her brother, and her friend to space in order to find him.
A Wrinkle in Time Script Resources:
A Wrinkle in Time Script PDF - 5/27/2016. at Script City ($)
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Written by:John Altschuler (Writer), Johnny Knoxville (Writer)
Script Synopsis:A daredevil designs and operates his own theme park with his friends.
Action Point Script Resources:
Action Point Script PDF - 3/3/2015. at Script City ($)
Action Point Script PDF - [ALTSCHULER, KRINSKY][3/3/2015] at Script Fly ($)
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Written by:Jeremy Haft (Screenplay), Eddie Gonzalez (Screenplay), Steven Bagatourian (Screenplay)
Script Synopsis:All Eyez on Me chronicles the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur, including his rise to superstardom as a hip-hop artist, actor, poet and activist, as well as his imprisonment and prolific, controversial time at Death Row Records. Against insurmountable odds, Tupac rose to become a cultural icon whose career and persona both continue to grow long after his passing.
All Eyez on Me Script Resources:
All Eyez on Me Script PDF - [10-11-2010] at Script Fly ($)
All Eyez on Me Script PDF - FIRST DRAFT. 10/11/2010. at Script City ($)
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
Written by:David Scarpa (Screenplay), John Pearson (Writer)
Script Synopsis:The story of the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather Jean Paul Getty to pay the ransom.
All the Money in the World Script Resources:
All the Money in the World Script PDF at Script Slug
All the Money in the World Script PDF - [6-15-2015] at Script Fly ($)
All the Money in the World Script PDF - REVISED DRAFT. 6/15/2015. at Script City ($)
Note: Multiple links are listed since (a) different versions exist and (b) many scripts posted become unavailable over time. Please notify me if you encounter a stale link.
We are all used to seeing bestsellers consistently adapted to the big screen, and the line ‘I wish they made a movie out of this’ has become something almost granted, as we know it won’t be long until a major studio decides to make profit out of the latest literary phenomenon. However, some filmmakers have gone one step beyond and tried to adapt more obscure titles; even books that nearly everybody thought were impossible to adapt.
Some authors are known for writing with a particularly complex, deep, or metaphysical prose, which makes their works difficult to be narrated by using the more visual elements of cinema. Such is the case of William Faulkner, Joseph Conrad, William Burroughs, and others.
Yet this didn’t stop some notably daring filmmakers to bring their work to the big screen. The reception to this kind of retellings tends to be mixed, while this has also produced some undeniably unique films.
In other cases, the filmmakers have taken just a few elements from a book to produce a story that echoes themes of the source material, but has all the strength and personality of a tale anew that stands on its own. This is what Paul Thomas Anderson did in There Will Be Blood, loosely based in the novel Oil! by John Updike, while Woody Allen wrote and directed a hilarious parody of a sexuality essay with Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Sex.
These are some notable examples of film scripts that have adapted unusual or obscure literature:
Once an acclaimed CBS TV series, a quarter of a century would have to pass for Mission: Impossible to have its first feature film adaptation. It did so under the guidance of Brian DePalma and with a script that gathered top-notch names in screenwriting: Steven Zaillan, Robert Towne and David Koepp.
The film was criticized for focusing on ‘stylish’ action sequences in a way the original series didn’t, but the script still had a clever treatment of intrigue and mind games that resembled more the spirit of the show. Coupled with great performances by Tom Cruise and Jon Voigt, M:I was successful enough as to make Paramount consider the possibility of a sequel.
Despite an evident drop of quality in its second installment, young director and producer JJ Abrams managed to convince audiences and reviewers alike with the notable Mission:Impossible III. Brad Bird delivered a very entertaining flick with Ghost Protocol and then Christopher McQuarrie, perhaps one of the best American screenwriters of our time, returned a bit to the convoluted schemes of the first installment with Rogue Nation and, very recently, Fallout.
Tom Cruise has remained loyal to the saga all throughout, providing a very effective and charismatic driving force that has been paired with popular names in both the direction and writing departments. M:I is arguably the most successful espionage movie franchise altogether with James Bond, and a phenomenal proof that story quality can be retained through a long running commercial series.
