50 Great Unproduced Movie Scripts

Renko Vega and the Jennifer Nine by John Raffo

The High Concept: A sci-fi tale about a rogue thief and his relationship with his hyperintelligent spaceship. Renko Vega was once a hero, and Jennifer 9 is his ship, and the pair are called back into action when the Earth President's daughter is kidnapped.

Scene We'd Like To See: This would depend as much on the rapport built between Renko and his ship as it would on any spectacular action scenes, so we'd go for a 'good cop, bad cop' sparring session between the pair, after they've just taken the president's daughter on board.

Dream Director: Matt Reeves

Starring: Nathan Fillion as Renko Vega, Sigourney Weaver's voice as the Jennifer 9.

Jimi by Max Borenstein

The High Concept: It's a biopic of genuine rock legend Jimi Hendrix. There's plenty of material to draw on, including his tumultuous childhood, his enlistment in the army, his groundbreaking musical achievements, his drug abuse and his untimely death aged just 27.

Scene We'd Like To See:
The trippy inspiration for Hendrix classic 'Voodoo Child', or his performance at Woodstock.

Dream Director: Anton Corbijn

Starring: This would be a real toughie: André Benjamin has expressed interest in the past, but it might be best to go with an unknown who can disappear into the role.

Good Looking by Chris McCoy

The High Concept: In the future, a dating services perfectly matches soulmates, but a man decides to reject the partner chosen for him. Could touch the human truths that the best sci-fi reaches for.

Scene We'd Like To See:
The introduction to the service itself, with a Basil Exposition character explaining exactly how the device came into being, and the parameters it uses to compile these perfect matches.

Dream Director: Andrew Niccol

Starring:
Ryan Gosling and Natalie Portman.

The Ghost and the Wolf by Rylend Grant and Dikran Ornekian

The High Concept: A former cop and his old partner reluctantly team up to take on a gang of Russian mobsters who impacted greatly on their lives many years earlier. With Eastern Promises 2 looking like it could be a way off, this could be the perfect vehicle for some more Russian Mafia grittiness.

Scene We'd Like To See: The police captain goes to see his old partner, who has been a wreck since the life-altering investigation. The captain struggles to win over his hostile opponent, but the evidence speaks for itself…

Dream Director: Jacques Audiard

Starring: Mel Gibson and Ray Liotta.

The Murderer Among Us by Lori Gambino

The High Concept: A biopic of filmmaker Fritz Lang, which focuses on the events leading up to the production of M . The script takes in a police investigation into the death of Lang's wife, the ever-present Third Reich threat, and a fiery relationship with a female collaborator.

Scene We'd Like To See:
A behind-the-scenes look at Lang crafting M 's ominous opening.

Dream Director:
Werner Herzog

Starring: Sebastian Koch as the legendary director.

Bobism by Ben Wexler

The High Concept: A high-school comedy with a sci-fi twist. Aliens from the future set out to destroy a shy college kid, because in a thousand years from now life will be based on his blog. Could mix religious satire with a swipe at modern blogging culture.

Scene We'd Like To See: A vision of the future of life on Earth, where slightly-evolved beings live life according to the geek's commandments.

Dream Director: Superbad and Paul man Greg Mottola

Starring: Christopher Mintz-Plasse as the blogger, Steve Carell on voice duties as the alien leader.

Man of Cloth by Josh Zetumer

The High Concept: An English minister and his eldest son travel to a prison colony in Australia to save his wrongly accused wife and younger boy. He arrives to find that they've been killed, and vows to stop at nothing for vengeance.

Scene We'd Like To See: The long, harsh crossing to the other side of the world, as the sense of foreboding grows in the church man's heart.

Dream Director: Black Death 's Christopher Smith.

Starring: Russell Crowe as the man of the cloth turned renegade.

Brotherhood of the Rose by Adam Crozad

The High Concept: Sounding similar in plot to Joe Wright's Hanna (which also sprung from a Black List script), this one sees two orphans raised as assassins by a CIA operative. The pair have to go on the run when they find themselves targeted.

Scene We'd Like To See:
The moment the brothers realise their home is under threat, and they emotionlessly snap into action and put their lifelong training into practice.

Dream Director:
Matthew Vaughn

Starring: Liam and Chris Hemsworth as the grown-up orphans, and Paul Bettany as the CIA man who raised them.

Your Dreams Suck by Kat Dennings and Geoffrey Litwak

The High Concept: "An awkward teen with no self esteem regains his self-confidence after joining a Dance Dance Revolution team." This sounds right up Dennings endearingly-indie street, and would hopefully have a blast of non-manufactured freshness to it.

Scene We'd Like To See: The nervous teen proves his mettle when he steps up to the platform for his audition. Cue faultless combos and feel-good tears.

Dream Director: Drew Barrymore

Starring:
Owen Kline, with Dennings appearing as a seasoned member of the Dance Dance Revolution crew.

Londongrad by David Scarpa

The High Concept: This is an adaptation of Alan Cowell's non-fiction book The Terminal Spy: A True Story of Espionage, Betrayal and Murder. It looks at the events surrounding the mysterious death of former Soviet spy Alexander Litvinenko, who died after being poisoned in London in 2006.

Scene We'd Like To See: Flashbacks of Litvinenko's time in the Russian Security Service, giving an idea of the man before the media moment that made him famous.

Dream Director: If Steve McQueen could do with this material what he did with Hunger , he'd be perfect.

Starring: Daniel Craig.

Matt Maytum
Editor, Total Film

I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.