This year features 76 unproduced screenplays. Here are the final 14, indexed alphabetically from S to Z.
These scripts are considered as some of the best "2023: Top Unproduced Screenplays" of the year, according to hundreds of industry professionals who've read and rated them.
And, For Your Consideration, we have the remaining 14 scripts listed and indexed alphabetically for quick access. Including Josh Woolf's "Sea Dogs," to Abiel Bruhn's "Woodwork," and everything in between.
If you're a young writer looking for study guides, you've found the right place. Have a look at what's turning heads in Hollywood.
Unsure about exactly what makes these scripts so popular?
You're thinking about writing movie scripts? Do your research.
The odds are firmly against you making a career out of writing. Anyone can write, but not everyone can be a writer.
Screenwriting is like any other art: it's subjective. So is it worth paying for someone's opinion about your writing? A professional script reader can read your screenplay and hate everything about it. On the flip side, a different person can read the same script and love every word. The end result is you'll get conflicting advice about how to "improve" your writing, and their opinions may have nothing to do with the fundamentals of screenwriting.
That's the problem with subjectivity when an artist is looking for advice. Not everyone is the same, and not all script readers are created equally. The point is this: keep writing, keep revising until YOU are happy. If you've got what it takes to be a writer, to be a good writer, then everything else will fall into place.
Read screenplays. Read a lot of screenplays. Read unproduced screenplays, read award-winning screenplays. Discover what's not written on the page; look beyond what's black and white. Don't be afraid to make a mistake, but also know when to say when.
Anyone can write, but not everyone can be a writer.
A word about voting... and other important stuff about the "best of" 2023 Unproduced Scripts.
Some of the scripts listed here may have since been optioned and produced. However, at the time of "voting" they were not.
Also, like all of the screenplays on this site, copyrights remain with the writer(s). 8FLiX does not claim ownership of any screenplay, nor were we involved in voting for, or choosing what makes them the "best of" a particular year.
If you're the writer and wish to update the version, change your contact information, or to remove your screenplay from the database, send an email to Nick Runyeard for immediate assistance. I can also be reach through social media:
Sea Dogs
Written by: Josh Woolf
Votes: 11
After two down-on-their-luck lobster fishermen botch a hijacking attempt on the high seas, they are forced to confront the consequences of their actions as they struggle to navigate a world they no longer recognize.
Spoiler
Written by: Jordan Rosenbloom
Votes: 42 (3rd overall in 2023)
After passing on a hot new screenplay, a studio executive finds himself trapped as the protagonist inside the film and must regain control before the credits roll.
Stakehorse
Written by: Justin Piasecki
Votes: 47 (2nd overall in 2023)
A racetrack veterinarian who runs an off-the-books ER for criminals finds his practice and life in jeopardy when he’s recruited for his patient’s heist.
The Stratford Wife
Written by: Sarah E. Sinclair
Votes: 8
Anne Hathaway, a rebellious woman who has a way with words, weds William Shakespeare, an aspiring actor ten years her junior. They form a plan to sell her plays anonymously. But when William travels to London, Anne is stunned to learn he takes all the credit for himself, leaving her to forever live in the shadow of the greatest playwright to ever live.
Sundown
Written by: Nick Hurwitch
Votes: 8
Monsters that roam in daylight keep a small, rural family confined to a nocturnal lifestyle. But when their son starts to question the monsters’ existence, his parents must see how far they’re willing to go to keep him safe.
Toxoplasmosis
Written by: Andrew Nunnelly
Votes: 13
The classic story of boy meets girl, boy loses girl... boy forms unexpected bromance with girl’s cat, who may actually be an intergalactic emissary sent to save humanity from itself.
U.P.S.E.T.
Written by: Ben Bolea
Votes: 13
Two border cops in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula find themselves in the crosshairs of Canadian biker gangs, international drug cartels, and shady government agents after intercepting a drug deal gone bad–all the day after an awkward one-night stand.
Undying
Written by: Ben Ketai
Votes: 10
A woman, suffocated by motherhood, has an affair with a man she hasn’t seen since high school -- only to discover he has been dead for years.
Unnie
Written by: Lynn Yu
Votes: 7
In the cutthroat world of K-POP, a group’s debut is threatened when someone begins to violently attack its members.
Untitled Missing Child
Written by: Brenna Galvin
Votes: 13
A mom-fluencer’s life unravels when her child goes missing and an unexpected discovery mires the investigation in a battle of perception. With buried secrets exposed, our mom is forced to take matters into her own hands, turning a simple missing person’s case into a story with twists that even the internet wouldn’t believe.
We Got Next
Written by: Aaron GoldbergAlex GoldbergMichael Goldberg
Votes: 17
The true story of how one daring executive beat the odds to launch the longest-running league in women’s sports: the WNBA.
What’s My Age Again?
Written by: Jackson Kellard
Votes: 13
The true story of Kansas teenager Jack Bergeson’s meteoric rise and fall after he discovered a loophole in the state’s constitution that allowed him to run for governor, inciting a statewide youth movement that changed politics forever.
The Wolf in Chiefs Clothing
Written by: Adam Best
Votes: 11
A lovable loser from a family of criminals becomes the Kansas City Chiefs’ most famous superfan. His newfound status is expensive, so he teams up with his imaginary friend–an anthropomorphic version of the team’s wolf mascot–and goes on a bank-robbing spree.
Woodwork
Written by: Abiel Bruhn
Votes: 8
While settling his mother’s estate, awkward loner James reunites with his long-lost brother Rob who oozes wealth, charm, and confidence–but the chance encounter leads to a twisted game of wits and violence.
