The Black List 2017: Hollywood’s ‘Most Liked’ Unproduced Screenplays Revealed, Including 34 Centered on Women
This year’s Black List — Hollywood’s “most liked” unproduced screenplays — was unveiled throughout the early part of the day, care of a massive Twitter-centric push led by some of the industry’s biggest talents. This year’s 76-screenplay-strong list was announced via the social media platform, with big stars like Jake Gyllenhaal, Margot Robbie, Rian Johnson, Don Cheadle, Lena Waithe, and many more pushing out quick videos revealing each title over the course of a three-hour event.
“Congratulations to all of the screenwriters who made this year’s list and all of the executives who contributed to it,” said Black List founder Franklin Leonard in an official statement. “In aggregate, they’ve assembled another remarkable survey of extraordinary storytelling that I hope we all get to benefit from on screen in the coming years.”
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He added, “I’m particularly excited by the significant uptick in inclusion and diversity in evidence on this year’s list. There were more than twice as many scripts written by women (25) this year than our historical average (12) and more than twice as many scripts with – based on the logline — a female protagonist (34 vs. 16.) Now we’ll see whether the trend will continue, on future Black Lists and in movie theaters.”
The Black List is an annual survey that first started in 2005 as a way to shine a light on some of Hollywood’s favorite unproduced screenplays. Over the last decade-plus, the company has evolved and continued “its mission of identifying and celebrating great screenwriting.” This year, a script needed to receive at least six votes to be included on the final list.
More than 325 Black List scripts have been produced, grossing over $26 billion in box office worldwide. Black List movies have won 50 Academy Awards, including four of the last nine Best Picture Oscars and ten of the last twenty Best Screenplay Oscars.
You can check out the full list of screenplays right here. This year’s “most liked” unproduced screenplay is Matthew and Ryan Firpo’s “Ruin,” which follows “a nameless ex-Nazi Captain must navigate the ruins of post-WWII Germany to atone for his crimes during the war by hunting down and killing the surviving members of his former SS Death Squad.”
It’s followed by Mario Correa’s “Let Her Speak,” which dramatizes the story of Senator Wendy Davis and her famous 24-hour filibuster to save abortion clinics, plus Christy Hall’s “Daddio,” which centers on “a passenger and her cab driver [who] reminisce about their relationships on the way from the airport to her apartment in New York.”
More information on the Black List is available at its official website right here.
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