2017 BL
2017 BL
2017 BL
contributed the names of up to ten favorite scripts that were written in, or are somehow
uniquely associated with, 2017 and will not have begun principal photography during this
calendar year.
This year, scripts had to receive at least six 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 2017 affiliations.
The Black List is not a best of list. It is, at best, a most liked list.
They dont understand
What it means to me
Where we chose to go
Where weve been to know.
RUIN
68
Matthew Firpo, Ryan Firpo
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.
42
Mario Correa
The true story of Senator Wendy Davis and her 24-hour filibuster to save 75% of abortion clinics in Texas
DADDIO
40
Christy Hall
A passenger and her cab driver reminisce about their relationships on the way from the airport to her apartment in New York.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY LBI ENTERTAINMENT
AGENTS MANAGERS
DANA HARRIS, HYLDA QUEALLY, HARRY LENGSFIELD
BILL ZOTTI
KEEPER OF THE DIARY
32
Samuel Franco, Evan Kilgore
Chronicles Otto Franks journey, with the help of a junior editor at Doubleday Press, to find a publisher for the diary his daughter
Anne wrote during the Holocaust.
WHERE I END
22
Imran Zaidi
In a world where your life can be saved, uploaded to a computer, and restarted in the case of your untimely demise, a husband
returns from the dead, suspecting his wife may have been involved in his death.
AGENTS MANAGERS
JASON BURNS, JENNY MARYASIS NATE MATTESON
20
Anna Klassen
The true story of 25-year-old Joanne Rowling as she weathers first loves, unexpected pregnancies, lost jobs, and depression on her
journey to create Harry Potter.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
WILLIAM MORRIS ENDEAVOR PLATTFORM
AGENTS MANAGERS
LINDSAY AUBIN, TANYA COHEN, BASH NARAN
HANNAH DAVIS, JOANNA KORSHAK
BREAKING NEWS IN YUBA COUNTY
19
Amanda Idoko
After catching her husband in bed with a hooker, which causes him to die of a heart attack, Sue Bottom buries the body and takes
advantage of the local celebrity status that comes from having a missing husband.
AGENCY
WILLIAM MORRIS ENDEAVOR
AGENTS
LINDSAY DUNN, NICK HOAGLAND,
ANDREW MATHES, MEYASH PRABHU
18
Freddie Skov
Behind the walls of a maximum security prison, a naive teenage inmate and a rookie correctional officer are forced into a drug-
smuggling operation, while a looming conflict between rival gang members threatens to boil over.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY MADHOUSE ENTERTAINMENT
AGENTS MANAGERS
ROB HERTING, MATT MARTIN ADAM KOLBRENNER, KENDRICK TAN
17
Cesar Vitale
A grieving thirteen-year-old girl hires a terminally ill, acerbic philosophy professor to prevent flunking the seventh grade. What
begins as a homework assignment blossoms into an unlikely friendship and a new appreciation for life that neither will forget.
AGENTS MANAGERS
DEBBIE DEUBLE-HILL, ADAM PERRY JENNIFER AU, JENNIFER LEVINE
TRAPLINE
16
Brett Treacy, Dan Woodward
A captive boys lifestyle is upended when his abductor asks for his help kidnapping a second child.
MANAGEMENT
MADHOUSE ENTERTAINMENT
MANAGERS
KENDRICK TAN
16
Allie Hagan
The true story of the early relationship between Elaine May and Mike Nichols.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY MANAGEMENT 360
15
Leo Sardarian
A rookie Marine gets stranded on a hostile planet during humanitys space colonization with nothing but her exo-suit thats running
out of fusion power.
15
Ben Jacoby
On November 22nd, 1963, Walter Cronkite puts everything on the line to get the story right as a president is killed, a frightened
nation weeps, and television comes of age.
V.I.N.
14
Chiara Towne
As Alex Haley struggles to write the autobiography of Malcolm X, his editor at Playboy assigns him a new interview: George Lincoln
Rockwell, head of the American Nazi Party.
AGENTS MANAGERS
ROWENA ARGUELLES, SUE CARLS ZAC FROGNOWSKI, JEFF SILVER
13
Zach Baylin
An idealistic young womans life begins to unravel when her job in social media exposes her to the darkest corners of humanity,
sending her on a violent mission to take down not just the webs most vicious content, but its creators as well.
13
Andrew Rothschild
The story of writer/director John Hughes, whose emotionally honest high school movies helped to define American culture in the
1980sbut who, at the very height of his success, abruptly abandoned filmmaking for reasons that have never been fully explained.
AGENCY
UNITED TALENT AGENCY
AGENTS
AMANDA HYMSON
THE MOTHER
13
Misha Green
A female assassin comes out of hiding to protect the pre-teen daughter she gave up years before.
AGENCY PRODUCERS
CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY MISHA GREEN ,
VERTIGO ENTERTAINMENT
AGENTS FINANCIERS
JOE MANN NETFLIX
13
Ben Bolea
The incredible true story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl living in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped. Years later when
she gets leukemia, she hears about the legend that if someone folds one thousand paper cranes, a wish will be granted. At the
same time, aspiring writer Eleanor Coerr learns of Sadakos story and becomes determined to bring her message of hope and peace
to the world.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT PRODUCERS
WILLIAM MORRIS ENDEAVOR BELLEVUE PRODUCTIONS IAN BRYCE PRODUCTIONS
AGENTS MANAGERS
TANYA COHEN, HOLLY JETER JEFF PORTNOY
RUTHLESS
13
John Swetnam
After she is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, a former assassin must carry out one last assignment in order to ensure her
daughters future.
JELLYFISH SUMMER
12
Sarah Jane Inwards
A young black girls family in 1960s Mississippi decides to harbor two human-looking refugees who have mysteriously fallen from
the sky.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
VERVE TALENT AND LITERARY AGENCY KAPLAN PERRONE
AGENTS MANAGERS
MELISSA DARMAN, ALEX LERNER, BEN NEUMANN
NICHOLAS MOHEBBI, ADAM WEINSTEIN
12
Jade Bartlett
Based on the book trilogy Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know by Chloe J. Esposito. An underdog identical twin accidentally kills her
too-perfect sister only to discover murder suits her as she becomes compulsively embroiled in the life of a mafia assassin.
12
Cosmo Carlson
An obsessive type-A student vows to secure the valedictorian title before school ends by any means necessary, even murder.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
WILLIAM MORRIS ENDEAVOR LIGHTHOUSE PRODUCTIONS
AGENTS MANAGERS
SIMON FABER, MEYASH PRABHU JACOB EPSTEIN
BROSIO
11
Mattson Tomlin
Inspired by the work of artist John Brosio. When a man begins to lose all of the people close to him in a series of increasingly absurd
natural disasters, he must find out why his world has been turned upside down.
AGENTS MANAGERS
JAY BAKER, PETE STEIN, IDA ZINITI ZAC FROGNOWSKI
POWER
11
Mattson Tomlin
When a young drug dealer is kidnapped by a man hellbent on finding his missing daughter, they must team up to get to the bottom
of the mystery of the intense street drug known as Power.
10
Max Borenstein, Rodney Barnes
Based on the book Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age written by Kevin Boyle. Chronicles the
landmark civil rights trial of Dr. Ossian Sweet after he was charged with the murder of a white man.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
BORENSTEIN: UNITED TALENT AGENCY, BO: ANONYMOUS CONTENT
BARNES: PARADIGM TALENT AGENCY BA: PRINCIPATO YOUNG
AGENTS MANAGERS
BO: C FERRARO, K KHAYATIAN, T BO: B DORROS;
PHILLIPS, L SALZ; BA: D FRONK BA: B DOBBINS, A FISCHER
DONT BE EVIL
10
Gabriel Diani, Etta Devine, Evan Bates
Adapted from In the Plex by Steven Levy and Im Feeling Lucky by Douglas Edwards. Googles Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric
Schmidt struggle with their corporate motto, Dont Be Evil, in the face of their meteoric rise to a multi-billion dollar valuation
and a major Chinese hacking incident.
AGENTS MANAGERS
KEYA KHAYATIAN, JORDAN LONNER HARRY LENGSFIELD
10
Paul Laudiero, Ben Baker
A young girl partners up with an elf, a Russian explorer and a reindeer to rescue Santa Claus from a band of evil elves and save
the North Pole.
AGENCY
WILLIAM MORRIS ENDEAVOR
AGENTS
RYAN DRAIZIN, JEFF GORIN,
NICK HOAGLAND
FUBAR
10
Brent Hyman
An inept CIA psychologist is embedded on a globe-trotting mission with the agencys most valuable operative who suffers from an
extreme case of multiple personality disorder.
AGENCY
VERVE TALENT AND LITERARY AGENCY
AGENTS
PARKER DAVIS, CHRIS NORIEGA,
CHASE NORTHINGTON,
MELISSA SOLOMON, ADAM WEINSTEIN
INFINITE
10
Ian Shorr
Based on the The Reincarnationist Papers written by D. Eric Maikranz. The hallucinations of a schizophrenic are revealed to be
memories from past lives where he obtained talents that he still has to this day.
KATE
10
Umair Aleem
When a veteran hitwoman is mysteriously poisoned on her last assignment in Tokyo, she has 24 hours to track down her killer
before she dies.
10
Daniel Persitz, Devon Kliger
The true story of Derek Paravicini, a blind, severely autistic boy who needed an incredible teacher to help realize his world-class
musical ability.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
NONE NONE
KILL SHELTER
10
Eric Beu, Greg Martin
A darkly comic crime thriller concerning three groups of people dealing with blackmail gone wrong.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
VERVE TALENT AND LITERARY AGENCY GOOD FEAR FILM + MANAGEMENT
AGENTS MANAGERS
BRIAN BESSER, PARKER DAVIS, SCOTT STOOPS
MATTHEW DOYLE, FELICIA PRINZ
10
Jordan Barel
The true story of visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk, who after being ousted from PayPal, guides SpaceX through it turbulent early
years while simultaneously building Tesla.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
VERVE TALENT AND LITERARY AGENCY BELLEVUE PRODUCTIONS
AGENTS MANAGERS
DAVID BOXERBAUM JEFF PORTNOY
MOXIE
10
Heather Quinn
To combat crime in near-future Los Angeles, the FBI creates supercops based on specific genetic sequences. To their shock, their
best candidate is a vulgar stripper named Moxie.
AGENCY
PARADIGM TALENT AGENCY
AGENTS
GABRIELLE LEWIS
BALLERINA
9
Shay Hatten
ESCAPE
9
JD Payne, Patrick McKay
When a wrongly accused man is shipped to an Australian penal colony for five years, he quickly realizes his only chance of seeing his family
again is to escape the prison with a gang of colors and survive the deadly terrain that awaits on the outside.
AGENTS MANAGERS
ZACH CARLISLE, PARKER DAVIS, ADAM AARON KAPLAN, SEAN PERRONE
WEINSTEIN, BILL WEINSTEIN
GADABOUT
9
Ross Evans
In 1951, a manufacturing company stirs up curiosity when they publish a users manual to a time machine called Gadabout TM-
1050.
AGENCY PRODUCERS
WILLIAM MORRIS ENDEAVOR SAFEHOUSE PICTURES
AGENTS FINANCIERS
TANYA COHEN, RYAN DRAIZIN, COLUMBIA
NICK HOAGLAND
9
Cameron Alexander
A former Navy SEAL and his retired combat dog attempt to return to civilization after a catastrophic accident deep in the Alaskan
wilderness.
MANAGEMENT PRODUCERS
ROSA ENTERTAINMENT ROSA ENTERTAINMENT,
STAY GOLD FEATURES
MANAGERS FINANCIERS
SIDNEY SHERMAN STAY GOLD FEATURES
INNOCENT MONSTERS
9
Elaina Perpelitt
A writer struggling to crack her second novel starts to lose her sense of reality as the book bleeds into her life...and her life bleeds
back.
9
Andrew Bozalis, Derek Mether
A CIA operative experienced in taking down kings and installing their replacements is brought in to take down a dictator he helped
install a few years prior.
MANAGEMENT PRODUCERS
ZERO GRAVITY ZERO GRAVITY
MANAGERS
ERIC WILLIAMS
LIBERATION
9
Darby Kealey
The true story of Nancy Wake, the most decorated servicewoman in World War II, who led resistance fighters in a series of dangerous
missions in Nazi-occupied France.
9
Catherine McMullen
AGENTS MANAGERS
DAYNE KELLY, CANDICE THOM KRISTA CARPENTER, CHRIS DECKARD
THIS IS JANE
9
Daniel Loflin
Based on the book The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service by Laura Kaplan. An ordinary group of
women provide 11,000 safe, illegal abortions in Chicago from 1968 through 1973.
WYLER
9
Michael Moskowitz
With Hitler laying waste to Europe and the United States refusing to answer the call to war, Jewish filmmaker William Wyler risks
his career to make MRS. MINIVER, the most effective propaganda film of all time.
AGENTS MANAGERS
GEOFF MORLEY LEE STOBBY
THE BOXER
8
Justine Juel Gillmer
A young Polish man escapes from a concentration camp in which he was forced by SS agents to box other Jews, travels to America
to begin a successful career as a professional boxer, and reunites with the woman he lost.
8
Jeremy Michael Cohen
The true story of the Reys, the husband and wife team who fell in love, created Curious George, and escaped the horrors of WWII
in Europe together.
AGENCY
VERVE TALENT AND LITERARY AGENCY
AGENTS
DAVID BOXERBAUM
HACK
8
Mike Schneider
Based on actual reports, a horrifying look inside the Democratic National Committee hack and the Russian manipulation of the
2016 election.
LIONHUNTERS
8
Will Beall
A rogue cop suffers a gunshot wound in 1987 and wakes from a coma thirty years later, where he is partnered with a mild-
mannered progressive detectivehis son.
AGENTS MANAGERS
JAY BAKER DARIN FRIEDMAN
THE SAVIORS
8
Travis Betz, Kevin Hamedani
A seemingly progressive suburban husband and wife renting their garage through AirBnB become suspicious of their Muslim
guests. As they investigate their visitors, they unwittingly trigger events that will forever change the course of human history.
STRONGMAN
8
Nicholas Jacobson-Larson, Dalton Leeb
Based on the confusing, sometimes offensive, borderline-insane memories of David Prowse, the irascible Englishman behind
Darth Vaders mask.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY ENERGY ENTERTAINMENT
AGENTS MANAGERS
JOE MANN BROOKLYN WEAVER
CALL JANE
7
Hayley Schore, Roshan Sethi
Before Roe v. Wade in 1960s Chicago, a pregnant woman becomes a member of an underground group which provides abortions
in a safe environment.
AGENTS MANAGERS
DOUG MACLAREN, NIKI MONTAZARAN ADAM KOLBRENNER
DOROTHY & ALICE
7
Justin Merz
Dorothy Gale and Alice meet in a home for those having nightmares and embark on a journey to save the imaginations of the world.
GREENLAND
7
Chris Sparling
A disgraced father is determined to get his family to what, in four days, will be the only safe place on earth.
AGENTS MANAGERS
CHARLES FERRARO, ALLAN AARON KAPLAN, SEAN PERRONE
HALDEMAN, CAROLYN SIVITZ
JIHOTTIES
7
Molly Prather
In an effort to fund their start-up, two women catfish ISIS and get more than they bargained for when the CIA recruits them as
spies.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
VERVE TALENT AND LITERARY AGENCY GRANDVIEW
AGENTS MANAGERS
MELISSA DARMAN, PARKER DAVIS, NATE MATTESON
MELISSA SOLOMON, ADAM WEINSTEIN
THE LODGE
7
Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala (Previous draft and original idea by Sergio Casci)
AGENCY PRODUCERS
WILLIAM MORRIS ENDEAVOR FILMNATION, HAMMER FILMS
AGENTS FINANCIERS
ROGER GREEN, SARAH SELF FILMNATION
MEAT
7
Logan Martin
A misanthropic man notices bizarre changes in himself, his wife, and the animals inhabiting the territory around their homestead
as they attempt to survive self-imposed isolation.
AGENTS MANAGERS
CHARLES FERRARO, JORDAN LONNER SCOTT STOOPS, JAKE WAGNER
7
Dreux Moreland, Joey DePaolo
Based on the true story of Harvey Wiley, an eccentric chemist who conducted the first experiment on human tolerance to poison,
which catalyzed a movement resulting in the founding of the Food and Drug Administration.
MANAGEMENT
ANONYMOUS CONTENT
MANAGERS
AMAR HANSEN, JACOB PERLIN,
CHARLIE SCULLY
THE PROSPECT
7
Ben Epstein
Michael Jordan uses a year as a baseball prospect to find himself after his fathers death.
7
Ian MacAllister-McDonald
Based on the unbelievable true story of serial killer Rodney Alcaladetectives have estimated Alcalas body count to be north of 130
victims. Despite being in the midst of a killing spree, Alcala appeared on won a date with one of the contestants on THE DATING
GAME.
AGENTS MANAGERS
ROB HERTING, IDA ZINITI STEPHEN CRAWFORD, ANDREW DEANE
7
Emma Fletcher, Brett Weiner
When a liberal, white, college sophomore who knows exactly how to fix society accuses her equally liberal professor of hate speech,
it throws the campus and both their lives into chaos as they wage war over the right way to stop discrimination.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
FLETCHER: UNITED TALENT AGENCY F: WRIT LARGE
WEINER: PARADIGM TALENT AGENCY W: THE GOTHAM GROUP
AGENTS MANAGERS
F: GREG ISERSON, CAROLYN SIVITZ F: B RIZZIO, C CONWELL, G SHEPHARD
W: CHRIS SMITH W: P MCHUGH
THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH
7
Molly Smith Metzler
After her best friend drowns, a seventh-grade girl is convinced the true cause of the tragedy was a rare jellyfish sting. Retreating
into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory.
AGENTS MANAGERS
SARAH SELF MERIDETH BAJANA, JEFF SILVER
ALL MY LIFE
6
Todd Rosenberg
After discovering the groom has liver cancer, a couple move their wedding date up and get married before he passes away.
AMERICAN TABLOID
6
Adam Morrison
The true story of Generoso Pope, Jr., who with the help of the New York mob turned a small, local paper into the phenomenon that
is The National Enquirer, laying the foundation for tabloid journalism as we know it today.
AGENTS MANAGERS
PHILIP DAMECOURT, SOLCO SCHUIT JEREMY PLATT
BIOS
6
Craig Luck, Ivor Powell
In a post-apocalyptic world, a man spends his dying days with the robot he created to look after his dog.
PRODUCERS
IMAGEMOVERS, MISHER FILMS
FINANCIERS
AMBLIN PARTNERS
CANCER INC
6
Marc Macaluso
The true story of the corporatization of cancer in the United States told through the eyes of a British Wall Street analyst who
uncovers the corruption behind the approval of a drug intended to treat prostate cancer.
AGENTS MANAGERS
TANYA COHEN, MIKE FERA JACOB EPSTEIN
6
Sharon Hoffman
Watergate as experienced through the eyes of President Richard Nixons personal secretary Rose Mary Woods.
AGENCY PRODUCERS
WILLIAM MORRIS ENDEAVOR GROUNDSWELL PRODUCTIONS
AGENTS
TANYA COHEN
THE GROWNUP
6
Natalie Krinsky
Based on the short story The Grownup by Gillian Flynn. A con woman who pretends to read auras is hired by a wealthy woman to
banish an evil spirit from her house, but it is soon clear that the fake exorcist is in over her head.
GREEN RUSH
6
Matt Tente
A paroled ex-con agrees to help his daughter steal medical marijuana tax dollars from City Hall.
MANAGEMENT PRODUCERS
BELLEVUE PRODUCTIONS NEW REPUBLIC PICTURES,
WILL PACKER PRODUCTIONS
MANAGERS
JEFF PORTNOY
6
Joe Epstein
A sociopath obsessed with self-improvement claws her way to the top of the fitness world, leaving a trail of broken bodies in her
wake.
6
Hayley Schore, Roshan Sethi
The true story of the man who dropped the worlds first atomic bomb on Hiroshima and his unexpected journey back to ground zero.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
ICM PARTNERS MADHOUSE ENTERTAINMENT
AGENTS MANAGERS
NIKI MONTAZARAN ADAM KOLBRENNER
ON
6
Ryan Jennifer Jones
In a slightly futuristic/hyper-efficient Manhattan, a newly-single book editor purchases a customizable sex android to assuage her
broken heart. When her toys closed feedback loop starts to alter her personality, she must reevaluate the merits of a perfectly-
compatible partner.
AGENTS MANAGERS
VALARIE PHILLIPS, ELLIE SCHIFF DAVID KATSMAN
PANOPTICON
6
Emily Jerome
A look at the criminal justice and private prison system, told from the perspectives of a new inmate, a correctional officer, and a
Wall Street hotshot.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY KAPLAN/PERRONE
AGENTS MANAGERS
DAVID KOPPLE, LUKE RODGERS, AARON KAPLAN, HANNAH OZER
CARIN SAGE
QUEEN ELIZABETH
6
Shatara Michelle Ford
An uptight, high-achieving, black post-grad who becomes (increasingly) irreverent and (slightly) destructive when she realizes
that the life shes living is not the life she wants
AGENCY
PARADIGM TALENT AGENCY
AGENTS
WHINE DEL ROSARIO
SKYWARD
6
Joe Ballarini
The true story of two families who attempt to escape over the Berlin Wall using a hot air balloon in 1979.
AGENCY PRODUCERS
VERVE TALENT AND LITERARY AGENCY SUNSWEPT ENTERTAINMENT
AGENTS
DAVID BOXERBAUM
THE SLEEPOVER
6
Sarah Rothschild
When bad guys break into their home and kidnap their parents, siblings Kevin and Clancy are forced to confront the fact that there
may be way more to their stay-at-home mom than meets the eye.
AGENCY
VERVE TALENT AND LITERARY AGENCY
AGENTS
PARKER DAVIS, PAMELA GOLDSTEIN,
CHASE NORTHINGTON, BILL WEINSTEIN
THE WHITE DEVILS
6
Leon Hendrix III
Cassius raises his sons, Malcolm and Mandela, isolated and alone in the woods. They have never met another person in their entire
lives. The boys have learned to survive and protect their fragile family at all cost. When they find a mysterious wounded white girl,
June, alone and lost in their woods, prejudice, lies and love set them on a collision course with the real world that puts all their
lives at risk.
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY GRANDVIEW
AGENTS MANAGERS
PRAVEEN PANDIAN ZAC FROGNOWSKI
INDEX