A Discussion of Unusual Movie Scripts and Marketability
by Jaden
When you write, it is good to keep in mind what is the most important outcome for you: a unique exciting groundbreaking script or a mass appeal marketable movie? True originality and marketability often do not cross paths.
The movies listed here are examples of good scripts that are hard sells because they don’t fit into the blockbuster movie box.
Bubba Ho-tep (2002)
Really cool and weird movie Bubba Ho-tep was made by writer-director Don Coscarelli, derived from a short story by Joe R. Lansdale. A friend wanted to watch this movie and showed me the cover that looked like some silly zombie movie, but since all of his other recommendations were great, I agreed to watch it. 
Pleasantly surprised, this movie was bizarre and awesome.
There is an old guy who thinks he is Elvis (maybe he is, maybe he isn’t, we never really know, the story is plausible). He is in a rest home where old people are, of course, dying. The movie shows us Elvis’s world from his demented old man perspective, which therefore makes things mysteriously fantastic, yet believable.
The mystery to Elvis is: how are all these old people dying? The answer he finds is that this cursed mummy who was accidentally dumped into a nearby river comes to feed on them, sucking out their soul. What better place to eat souls than a place with helpless dying old people, right?
Although it sounds strange, the clever script does a great job of taking us into the mind of looney old lonely people in retirement homes, and for that it is actually a beautiful moving story about getting old, being ignored by loved ones, and dying. The senior citizen issues are explored in an unusual and fun way for young or old people.
Why is Bubba Ho-tep not a blockbuster?
- Genre distortion.
Phil the Alien (2004)
Rob Stefaniuk writes, directs, and stars in the lead role as Phil the Alien. You know what? He does such a good job of writing for and being an alien that I think Mr.Stefaniuk actually is an alien.
I won’t spoil any of this strange story by telling you too much. It involves a local bar, a drunk band that goes nowhere, government secret ops, an alien of course, some local hicks, and certain hilarious inspirations by C.S. Lewis’s book that was made into the movie: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), as well as other famous books and movie references. That’s all I am going to tell you.
This script is really weird. People on IMDB have rated it rather low, 5 out of 10… boring people! Probably not the kind of people with whom you want to go out and have a raging good time, because that is what this movie is: absolute silliness. The movie appears to be low budget: please don’t let that turn you off; it is a goofy entertaining good movie script!
Why is Phil the Alien not a blockbuster?
- Low budget and very specific humor style that does not appeal to everyone.
The Dead Girl (2006)
The Dead Girl, a relatively unknown movie, stars none-other than the very well known actor Brittany Murphy who recently passed away at 32 years old due to cardiac arrest on December 20, 2009. It is always eerie the irony of what actors play in their movies and what happens to them in their real lives.
I think Christopher Reeves playing Superman and then becoming quadriplegic is one of the worst Hollywood ironies of all time. Click here for an interesting article about the Superman Curse. I watched Superman as a very little girl and just loved him.
Totally getting derailed on movie roles irony… sorry.
You don’t know that Brittany plays the dead girl until the very last sequence of the movie. You don’t even see her until the end due to the script’s unique story structure.
The story opens with the story of the very odd homebody girl who finds the dead girl and dates some creepy local guy who is intrigued by what she found. Then we cut to various other people who have something to do with the dead girl: the coroner who thinks it is her long lost missing sister, the murderer’s wife, the prostitute friend of the dead girl, the long lost mother, the dead girl’s daughter, the murderer, and so on. Each person has his or her own personal relationship with the dead girl that takes place within their own tale.
It is a fantastic script, twisted, and dark.
I don’t think you can have a runaway blockbuster movie hit with this type of writing structure because it is too disjointed for most people to enjoy, but it is a good study for you to open your mind to other possible story structures.
The Dead Girl is written and directed by Karen Moncrieff and has an all star cast: Giovanni Ribisi, Rose Byrne, James Franco, Mary Steenburgen, Toni Collette, Marcia Gay Harden, Josh Brolin, Kerry Washington and more.
The Dead Girl is not a horror movie, as the title may suggest, it is a murder mystery drama that takes you on a psychological journey through the emotions and effects of death and murder on people.
Why is The Dead Girl not a blockbuster?
- There is no singular hero to follow and the story structure is broken up into fragmented vignettes.
What all of these movies have in common is that they are not classic Hollywood writing styles and they do not immediately jump off the shelves to most people. It is hard to market them because they are different from the norm and what you expect; they don’t easily fit into one genre category.
My movie examples above are not “high concept” films.
High concept films, you can sum up in one word or one sentence, like: Titanic or Snakes on a Plane or Armageddon, the title says it all. With blockbusters like these, you know what you are going to get, you can expect to have a hero, some background history, and closure at the end of the film.
With the films I have highlighted in this post, the titles are just one portion of the unexpected things you will experience.
It is good to watch movies like these to understand and recognize the difference between blockbusters and the financially less successful films. Pay attention to story structure, topics, and dialog; how you choose to tell your story determines the financial success of it.
The further away you get from basic story-telling structure, one genre, and appeasing the masses with a widely accepted humor, the less money you can expect to make.
Every now and then, there is someone who breaks the mold, like Tarantino, but Tarantino is extremely well studied in movies, he purposefully and intelligently plays with genres, humor, and he always has a hero.
Like this topic?
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Comments
7 Responses to “A Discussion of Unusual Movie Scripts and Marketability”
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I’m annoyed I can’t think of other movies I’d add to this list. I know I’ve seen a number of them.
But I will add these movies to My Netflix. I don’t ever see myself getting through 500 films though… Sigh. But Bubba Ho-Tep sounds really interesting. I remember looking at it in the video store, never really knowing… Same with the Dead Girl… although I had a better idea, it just looked dark and it reminded me of Crash which I liked, but wasn’t in the mood for what looked like heavy drama. I will watch it one day though!
I still keep in mind the advice you gave long ago about just making your own movies, and I still want to do that. So the scripts or story ideas that I know won’t be easy to market, I’m saving for myself. I think I could write a few things that are easy to sell and if I can get those sold, I’ll just save up my money to make my own things. That’s the plan anyway.
t.sterling — Cool. Just keep notes of your all ideas.
Yeah, I think you would like the Bubba movie. I’d like to hear your thoughts on that one when you get around to it.
[...] friend Jaden had recommended this movie, not necessarily to me personally, but to those who are looking for a [...]
Dead Girl is an awesome film. I recommend it. I also recommend writing ALL TYPES of films not just shooting for the blockbuster. Titanic, Armageddon are huge budget films. To initiate a production of that scale, for a first time writer / director, is a massive undertaking because you are asking for a huge amount of financing. It’s one thing to ask for 1M, it’s another to ask for… 80M.
The other point to make is that writers should write what is true to them. That’s the best stuff. Trying to be something that you are not is counter productive. I love well-made big budget movies on the big screen just as much as Indie films with heart like Dead Girl. Thank goodness we have variety in cinema.
Keep up all the good work with the blog – ARS
ARS — Honored to have your visit and input here. Good points you make. Thanks! Your new movie Everlasting looks very interesting. Good luck with that and your other projects.
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