Freshly Popped by Megan Parsons
The Layman's Terms by Jeremy Bailey
The High Concept: Set during the Great Depression, this sees a man return to his home to breath new life into the town and face up to his past. Things go awry with the arrival of a mysterious woman who has links to the Chicago gangsters that he used to be involved with.
Scene We'd Like To See: A good, old-fashioned montage as the prodigal son turns his down-at-heel town into a hub of 30s respectability.
Dream Director: It's a big ask, but after Boardwalk Empire we'd love to see Martin Scorsese smash this one.
Starring: Michael Pitt as the man with the dodgy past, and Abbie Cornish as the woman who could ruin everything.
Foxcatcher by E Max Frye and Dan Futterman
The High Concept: Based on the true story of John du Pont, American anthropologist and heir to the family fortune (the Du Ponts were one of the wealthiest families to emerge from the French Revolution). In 1996, Du Pont, aged 67, shot and killed Olympic champion wrestler Dave Schulz. Du Pont is known to suffer paranoid schizophrenia.
Scene We'd Like To See: Apparently Du Pont locked himself in his mansion for two days following the incident, negotiating with police on the phone. Could be a seriously intense challenge for any actor.
Dream Director: Bennet Miller, who previously directed Dan Futterman's script for Capote .
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman could be trusted to perform a sympathetic and sensitive portrayal of an extremely complex real-life figure.
ACOD: Adult Children of Divorce by Ben Carlin and Stu Zicherman
The High Concept: A grown man finds himself uncomfortably caught in the midst of his parents' divorce. A new perspective on the parental separation issue, with plenty of soul-searching, profundity and cheap laughs at the expense of our progenitors.
Scene We'd Like To See: The 'child' gets fed up of his parents bickering and backbiting, so he arranges to only see his dad at weekends, and on alternate Wednesday evenings after work.
Dream Director: Noah The Squid and the Whale Baumbach would find the humour and the pathos in watching your aged parents bicker.
Starring: Ben Stiller, with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner as his parents.
Clear Winter Noon by John Kolvenback
The High Concept: An elderly hit man is released from jail, and he seeks to make amends for the life he took. Likely to be a pensive slow-burner of an assassin drama, with guns unlikely to blaze in anything more than a flashback.
Scene We'd Like To See: The old guy at a loss on his exit from the slammer, shielding his eyes from the bright autumn sun, realising that the world is now a very different place.
Dream Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: If Sean Connery couldn't be dragged out of retirement to play an older anti-Bond struggling with a conscience, we'd happily settle for Jeff Bridges.
The Wolf of Wall Street by Terence Winter
The High Concept: Sopranos man Terence Winter adapted Jordan Belfort's autobiographical book of the same name. Belfort served jail time for a huge securities fraud in the 90s that had repercussions throughout Wall Street. Does the world need another banking drama? Given the calibre of names that have been attached to this, we'd guess the answer is… possibly yes.
Scene We'd Like To See: The high-fiving montage during which the brokers get rich at the expense of others. That part's bound to be a lot more fun than the inevitable downfall.
Dream Director: Powerhouses Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott have circled the property in the past. If they can't fit it into their schedules, we're sure Oliver Stone would be happy to aim his ire at this one.
Starring: DiCaprio's also been linked to this, but we'd perhaps go for a sleazily charismatic Matt Damon here.
Sequels, Remakes & Adaptations by Sam Esmail
The High Concept: Despite the connotations of this title, this is an original pitch. It follows the "outlandish journey" of a young guy who's looking for love and the answers to life's big questions. There have been some strong movies recently that have put a blokey twist on the rom-com ( (500) Days of Summer , Scott Pilgrim , Definitely Maybe ), and we'll happily make room for one more where those came from.
Scene We'd Like To See: Fed up with the glut of second hand material in cinemas these days (hence the title), the guys launches into a breathless tirade against modern culture, losing himself a girlfriend in the process. He earns our respect though.
Dream Director: This would need someone like Edgar Wright to bring energy and an encyclopaedic pop culture knowledge.
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg
Toy's House by Chris Galletta
The High Concept: Not a Toy Story rip-off, Toy's House is the story of 14-year-old Joe Toy, who decides to build a house in the woods with his friends after he gets fed up of following his parents' orders. Sounds like a slightly older spin on Where The Wild Things Are .
Scene We'd Like To See: The building of the house itself: tree-houses have an unmatchable ability to bring out the inner child. Who didn't once dream of building a super-hideout in the woods?
Dream Director: Spike Jonze
Starring: Max Records is probably old enough now.
A Tale of Two Cities by Beau Willimon
The High Concept: It is based on Charles Dicken's esteemed literary classic, which is set in London and Paris during the time of the French Revolution. It's an epic tale with a powerful historical throughline; Dickens has had a mixed bag of cinema adaptations, and it seems like we're overdue a stone-cold classic.
Scene We'd Like To See: The storming of the Bastille (the pivotal event in the Revolution) could be a set-piece of considerable heft.
Dream Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Christian Bale as Sydney Carton, Melanie Laurent as Lucie Manette, and Guillaume Canet as Charles Darnay.
Wednesday by Massy Tadjedin
The High Concept: A taut actioner, in which a man hi-jacks a woman's car, and takes her on a high-speed chase across Los Angeles. Tadjedin has also written The Jacket and Last Night , so we'd expect this to be slightly more thought-provoking than most action fare.
Scene We'd Like To See: The cops see a car driving erratically with a bickering pair behind the wheel, and pull them over. The hi-jacker tries to convince the cops that they're a couple on vacation, but will his captive play along?
Dream Director: Buried 's Rodrigo Cortés.
Starring: Jamie Foxx and Rosario Dawson.
