The 11th edition of "The Black List" features 81 unproduced screenplays. Here are the next 41, indexed alphabetically, from M to Z.
We continue our look at the 11th edition of the "Black List: 2015" scripts.
Four Your Consideration, we have the final 41 scripts that made the List, indexed alphabetically, from M through Z. From Samuel Franco and Evan Kilgore's "Mayday 109", to Barbara Marshall's "Wish Upon", and everything in between.
If you're a young writer looking for study guides, you've found the right place. These "Black List: 2015" scripts were chosen by more than 250 film-industry executives.
What is "The Black List" you ask? To find out how it all works, scroll down a little bit.
Unsure about exactly what is "The Black List"? Read on.
Consider the name ironic. This isn't a list of scripts written by those who are unwelcome in the industry. Rather, "The Black List" is a compilation of "most liked" unproduced screenplays from a certain year. Screenwriters, young and old, repped or voiceless, submit their works for consideration.
Annually, since 2005, film industry executives read hundreds of screenplays and choose which ones are their favorite. Referred to as a "mention", favored scripts with the most mentions are featured on, in this regard, the "Black List: 2015".
Some screenplays get optioned by studios and become movies. Past picks include: "Good Boys", and Oscar-winner "Argo."
Written by: Samuel Franco | Evan Kilgore
Mentions: 13
Based on actual events, a young John F. Kennedy struggles to save the crew of his PT Boat after it is sunk by a Japanese warship during World War II.
Written by: Henry Dunham
Mentions: 9
After a shooting at a police funeral by a suspected militia member, a recluse ex-cop and fellow militia man must interrogate the suspected gunmen in his own militia before copycat attacks start a nationwide war between cops and militias.
Written by: Jonathan Perera
Mentions: 31 (6th overall in 2015)
A powerful lobbyist sacrifices her career on Capitol Hill so she can push through an amendment enforcing stricter federal laws regulating guns.
Written by: David Birke
Mentions: 13
The war is over. A bitter and uneasy truce has been reached with an invading alien race, and a new cold war has begun. Fueled by suspicions of an alien spy in their ranks, the United Nations Intelligence Division entrusts their top agent, Martin Webber, with finding the mole.
Written by: Lucia Aniello | Paul W. Downs
Mentions: 13
Five friends rent a beach house in Miami for a bachelorette weekend and accidentally kill a male stripper.
Written by: Robert Specland
Mentions: 13
Based on the true story of marathon swimmer Diana Nyad, who in 2013, after 4 failed attempts and at the age of 64, became the first person ever to open-swim from Cuba to Florida (55 hours non-stop) overcoming impossible odds, personal tragedy, and 103 miles of open ocean.
Written by: Evan Mirzai | Shea Mirzai
Mentions: 10
After getting laid off, two Americans cash in their vacation pay and head abroad to Spain where their paths collide with one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists.
Written by: Brian C. Brown | Elliott DiGuiseppi
Mentions: 26 (8th overall in 2015)
Twelve months after returning from a space mission, decorated astronaut Laura Pepper is arrested for the attempted murder of a fellow astronaut.
Written by: Brett Conrad
Mentions: 15
A local Phoenix newscaster at the pinnacle of local celebrity slowly descends into the depths of madness while trying to become a game show host in Los Angeles.
Written by: Jake Morse | Scott Wolman
Mentions: 8
A couple on the verge of parenthood embarks on a pre-baby bucket list.
Written by: Cat Vasko
Mentions: 13
Based on the book "Queen of the Air" written by Dean N. Jensen. The story of famed trapeze artist Lillian Leitzel and her relationship with fellow trapeze artist Alfredo Codona, who were two of the most famous entertainers of the world during their time.
Written by: Mike Rosolio
Mentions: 25 (9th overall in 2015)
When Ronald Reagan falls into dementia at the start of his second term, an ambitious intern is tasked with convincing the commander-in-chief that he is an actor playing the president in a movie.
Written by: Pete Bridges
Mentions: 6
An underwater earthquake decimates a research crew working at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, leaving two survivors with limited resources to ascend 35,000 feet and reach the surface before their life support runs out.
Written by: Mark Bianculli | Jeff Richard
Mentions: 9
Fifteen years after the witch trials, the scars of Salem are reopened when young women begin showing up dead. Desperate for answers, the town elders turn to a man of science to uncover the truth behind its terrifying events plaguing their community.
Written by: Andrew Knauer | Arthur Pielli
Mentions: 8
A cheerleader wakes up after a twenty year coma and returns to sit at the cool table and try to become prom queen, as a thirty seven year-old woman.
Written by: Adam Perlman | Graham Sack
Mentions: 20 (12th overall in 2015)
A former FBI agent working the fraud unit of the Texas State lottery falls in love with a woman he’s investigating after she mysteriously hits the jackpot three times.
Written by: Katie Silberman
Mentions: 10
Two young assistants realize they can get more free time if they occupy their bosses’ time by setting them up on a date.
Written by: Viorica Blan
Mentions: 6
Based on a true story. A renowned Jewish conductor plots a revolt with fellow prisoners as he attracts the respect of his Nazi captors in Poland’s most notorious death camp.
Written by: Matthew McInerney-Lacombe
Mentions: 13
Dr. Liz Scott, a British epidemiologist with the World Health Organization, is tasked with containing an outbreak of Ebola in Afghanistan’s war torn Helmand province as the Taliban’s assault on allied forces threatens to turn the localized outbreak into a global catastrophe.
Written by: David Coggeshall
Mentions: 12
Two CIA agents must overcome their opposing worldviews to evade the Soviet and Chinese armies during a dangerous mission to Tibet in 1950. The true story of the first CIA agent ever to die in the line of duty; the "first star" on the CIA Memorial Wall.
Written by: John Pollono | Scott Silver
Mentions: 40 (2nd overall in 2015)
The true story of Jeff Bauman, who lost his legs in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and became an integral part of helping the police locate the Tsarnaev brothers.
Written by: Owen Egerton
Mentions: 7
Sixteen years after stabbing a classmate to appease a legendary phantom known as the Boy, a repentant woman returns to her hometown to live with her sister and nephew. But as the Boy continues to haunt her she must face her deepest terror and discover the truth about the Boy before he claims her nephew.
Written by: Brad Ingelsby
Mentions: 13
A reckless, fun-loving young woman confronts the dark side of life after losing her daughter.
Written by: Alex Koplow
Mentions: 6
When parents reunite with their grown children for a road trip to hike the Grand Canyon, the family conflicts on the way prove far more grueling than the twenty mile hike.
Written by: Will Dunn
Mentions: 18
A fisherman sails out of Martha’s Vineyard in search of the shark that killed his fellow sailors while they were stranded in the water for four days after their ship was attacked by a Japanese submarine.
Written by: Ben Kopit
Mentions: 37 (3rd overall in 2015)
After the Head of the French National Assembly is placed under house arrest for accusations of sexual assault, he must live in a guarded apartment with his estranged wife until the case comes to a close.
Written by: Jeffrey Gelber | Ryan Belenzon
Mentions: 37 (4th overall in 2015)
Roger "The Rocket" Clemens, one of the greatest pitchers of all time, has 4672 strikeouts, 354 wins and a record 7 Cy Young awards. This is the story of why he is not in the Hall of Fame.
Written by: Kari Granlund
Mentions: 12
Two co-dependent female best friends' friendship is put through the wringer after a blind date gone awry sends them on a dangerous, all-in-one-night adventure with a drug dealer.
Written by: Thomas White | Miles Hubley
Mentions: 17
A dirty cop, exonerated in the murder of a high school honor student, visits the boy’s father at his barbershop and, while receiving a straight razor shave, listens to him recount the story of his son’s life.
Written by: Michael Russell Gunn
Mentions: 15
A young, down-and-out George Washington, desperate to join the British Army, accepts a dangerous mission to conquer a French fort and save the American colonies.
Written by: Emma Needell
Mentions: 18
A young boy tries to save his mother from terminal cancer by seeking out the town’s bogeyman, "The Water Man," who is fabled to have conquered death.
Written by: Chris Thomas Devlin
Mentions: 16
Gleefully terrifying her small town as a serial killer known as "The Misfit Butcher," 13-year-old Emily Derringer becomes annoyed when a new killer comes to town and residents begin attributing his sloppy murders to the Misfit Butcher. In a macabre coming of age story, Emily must deal with her competition while also taking on the other trials and tribulations of junior high school life.
Written by: Jared Frieder
Mentions: 6
After being exposed to HIV the weekend of his high school graduation in 2011, a punk gay teenager from Miami attempts to start a new relationship with a someone from his support group as they try to endure the three months it takes to get accurately tested.
Written by: Frederick Seton
Mentions: 9
Kermit St. Lucy has a ridiculous name and is ridiculously ill-equipped to deal with adult responsibilities. After a tragedy shakes him to his essence, Kermit takes it upon himself to look after and raise two young children.
Written by: James Coyne
Mentions: 9
Based on the Robert Louis Stevenson classic, young Jim Hawkins finds a map to a buried fortune; to claim it means a perilous voyage, pirate treachery, and the wicked mentorship of Long John Silver.
Written by: John Whittington
Mentions: 28 (7th overall in 2015)
After interfering with a foul ball during a Chicago Cubs playoff game, Steve Bartman was tortured and stalked by die hard Cub fans for potentially costing them their first National League pennant since 1945. Years later, in a new town with a new identity—but depressed, overweight and working a dead end job—Steve meets a woman who gives him a new lease on life and reason to live.
Written by: Matt Portenoy
Mentions: 8
The strange-yet-true story of the battle over the estate of Larry Lee Hillblom, billionaire founder of DHL.
Written by: Topher Rhys-Lawrence
Mentions: 10
A successful New Yorker’s seemingly perfect life starts unraveling once he’s suspected for the murder of his co-worker, and his only alibi is the doppelganger that’s begun stalking him.
Written by: Neil Widener | Gavin James
Mentions: 8
A re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
Written by: Logan Miller | Noah Miller
Mentions: 20
The true story of Richard Wershe, Jr., the only successful white boy gangster/drug kingpin in an African American dominated 1980’s Detroit ghetto.
Written by: Barbara Marshall
Mentions: 6
When sixteen-year-old misfit Claire finds a magic box that promises a chance at the life she has always wanted, she never could have guessed that each wish would demand a deadly payment.
