Chinatown & The Last Detail


Robert Towne - 1997
    Instead of adultery and divorce, he uncovers a conspiracy reaching to the economic foundations of Los Angeles. Set in the 1930s, the film was directed by Roman Polanski and stars Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and John Huston.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - Illustrated Screenplay


George Lucas - 1998
    From the Rebels' defeat at the Battle of Hoth to the battle between Luke and Darth Vader, The Empire Strikes Back continues the story of Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, and the others as they struggle to overthrow the evil Galactic Empire.

Synecdoche, New York: The Shooting Script


Charlie Kaufman - 1900
    A figure of speech inwhich a part is used for the whole, as in the screen for movies.From Charlie Kaufman, perhaps the most distinctive screenwritingvoice of our generation, comes a visual and philosophicadventure of epic proportions. Much as he did with hisgroundbreaking scripts for Being John Malkovich, Adaptation,and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Kaufman twists andsubverts the form and language of film as he delves into themind of a man who, obsessed with his own mortality, sets outto construct a massive artistic enterprise that could give somemeaning to his life. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman,Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener,Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, HopeDavis, and Tom Noonan, and directed by Kaufman,Synecdoche, New York is an epic story of grand artistic ambitionsand creative madness.This Newmarket Shooting Script® Book includes:Exclusive introduction by Charlie KaufmanComplete Shooting ScriptExclusive Q&AColor photo sectionComplete cast and crew credits

Juno: The Shooting Script


Diablo Cody - 2008
    Quick-witted and distinctively unique, Juno walks Dancing Elk High's halls to her own tune—preferably anything by The Stooges—but underneath her tough, no-nonsense exterior is just a teenage girl trying to figure it all out.While most girls at Dancing Elk are updating their MySpace page or shopping at the mall, Juno is a whip-smart Minnesota teen living by her own rules. A typically boring afternoon becomes anything but when Juno decides to have sex with the charmingly unassuming Bleeker (Michael Cera). Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, she and best friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby) hatch a plan to find Juno's unborn baby the perfect set of parents courtesy of the local Penny Saver.They set their sights on Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), an affluent suburban couple longing to adopt their first child. Luckily, Juno has the support of her dad and stepmother (J. K. Simmons and Allison Janney). Juno's physical changes mirror her personal growth while the veneer of Mark and Vanessa's idyllic life starts to show signs of cracking. With a fearless intellect far removed from the usual teenage angst, Juno conquers her problems head-on, displaying a youthful exuberance both smart and unexpected.

Stranger Than Fiction: The Shooting Script


Zach Helm - 2006
    Starring WillFerrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah,and Emma Thompson, Stranger Than Fiction is a heartfelt film,perhaps a comedy, perhaps a tragedy, about love and literatureand death and taxes.

The Annotated Godfather


Jenny M. Jones - 2007
    And yet, the history of its making is so colorful, so chaotic, that one cannot help but marvel at the seemingly insurmountable odds it overcame to become a true cinematic masterpiece, a film that continues to captivate us decades after its release. Now, thirty-five years after The Godfather's highly anticipated debut, comes this fully authorized, annotated, and illustrated edition of the complete screenplay. Virtually every scene is examined including:Fascinating commentary on technical details about the filming and shooting locationsTales from the set, including the arguments, the accidents, and the practical jokesProfiles of the actors and stories of how they were castDeleted scenes that never made the final cutGoofs and gaffes that didAnd much more Interviews with former Paramount executives, cast and crew members—from the producer to the makeup artist—and director Francis Ford Coppola round out the commentary and shed new light on everything you thought you knew about this most influential film. The more than 200 photographs from the film, from behind-the-scenes, and from the cutting room floor make this a visual feast for every Godfather fan.

From Dusk Till Dawn: A Screenplay


Quentin Tarantino - 1995
    Mayhem ensues when they encounter a group of creatures who exist only from dusk until dawn.

Usual Suspects


Christopher McQuarrie - 1999
    One of a hand-picked selection of some of the most popular and cult-worthy titles on Faber and Faber's extensive list of film scripts.

Johnny Mnemonic


William Gibson - 1981
    He carries other people's memories, millions of them, downloaded into his brain... Working out of Beijing, he is hired to carry a package to the States. The hundreds of gigabytes stashed in his head are far beyond his capacity, but as long as he gets downloaded quickly they won't do him any permanent harm...But headaches are the least of Johnny's problems. The Americans aren't the only ones who want the data. The Yakuza are after Johnny too. Not all of him, though. All they need is his cryogenically frozen head...In Johnny Mnemonic, the science-fiction guru of our age brings his acid-drenched tale of the near future to the screen for the first time. Containing William Gibson's original short story, his full script and exclusive stills from the film, this classic of the cyberpunk era expresses the unique vision of the author who was the first to see his way into tomorrow...

Good Will Hunting


Matt Damon - 1997
    Van Sant says we can see how badly Damon drives by watching the film's last scene, in which he is actually driving the car with the camera mounted on it. But Damon and company write better than he drives; this script contains some of the boldest, best monologues since Pulp Fiction.Van Sant and cast member Robin Williams helped the young actors tame the tigers in their cranial tanks, trimming the script into a precision instrument. Though the stills from the film are not perfectly matched to their places in the script, this story remains as much a joy to read as it is towatch on the big screen.

Casablanca: Script and Legend


Howard Koch - 1973
    This volume contains the complete screenplay as well as a behind-the-scenes look at how the Oscar-winning movie was made, by one of its writers, Howard Koch. Charles Champlin, Roger Ebert, Umberto Eco, and others contribute incisive analyses of the movie's timeless appeal, and twenty-five beautifully reproduced stills capture the dramatically charged scenes of this true American classic.

Casablanca Companion: The Movie Classic and Its Place in History


Richard E. Osborne - 1997
    Whether you've watched "Casablanca" countless times or you're going to see it for the first time, "The Casablanca Companion" will both deepen your understanding and heighten your enjoyment.

Inception: The Shooting Script


Christopher J. Nolan - 2010
    The story of a group of thieves who specialize in invading the mind through one’s dreams, Inception explores the Nolan’s signature psychological themes of memory, paranoia, and self-doubt as the protagonist, Dom Cobb, is pitted against a hostile subconscious spurred on by personal demons and regrets from the past. In a conversational preface, Nolan discusses with brother and frequent collaborator, Jonah, the genesis of the idea for the film and the decade-long process it took to write it. Detailing the results of Nolan’s efforts, Inception: The Shooting Script includes key storyboard sequences, full-color concept art, and an appendix on the workings of the mysterious Pasiv Device that Cobb and his fellow extractors use to initiate the dream-share. An exclusive exploration of a highly original concept, Inception: The Shooting Script is the record of a writer-director at the height of his craft.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Screenplay


Graham Chapman - 1977
    In a series of sketches and animations, the Pythons recount scenes from the Grail legend in which the knights forsake their chorus line can-can dancing in Camelot for a higher aim. Typically, the Pythons set-up a 'historical' tale which is really a take on the modern world. Memorable scenes, like Graham Chapman's King Arthur battling with John Cleese's Black Knight until the latter is reduced limb by limb down to a speaking stump of a torso, capture both the hilarity and grotesque nature of brutality. In scene after scene King Arthur's men are led a merry chase through the countryside, encountering life on many different social levels. This screenplay edition contains just the script and is supplemented by stills from the film.

Saving Private Ryan: The Men, the Mission, the Movie : A Film by Steven Spielberg


Steven Spielberg - 1998
    Includes excerpts from Stephen Ambrose's books, screenplay extracts, and commentary by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Janusz Kaminski and others. 100 illustrations, 130 color plates.