A calendar year for a script to be considered on the list is from October 31st 2011 to October 31st, 2012
Genres included on the list are: Horror, thriller, sci-fi, dark drama, and dark comedies. This year 117 feature executives voted. Each executive chose their top 3 favorite dark genre scripts of the year. There were 99 different scripts voted for, and this year a script had to receive 5 votes or more to make the list.
This year’s crop is diverse to say the least, spanning found footage, vampires, viral fears, alien attacks and more. Head inside for a breakdown of the selected scripts!
25 Votes
Script Name: THE DISCIPLE PROGRAM
Writer(s) Name: Tyler Marceca
Logline: A man begins an investigation into his wifes mysterious death, only to find that it goes much deeper than he imagined.
Genre: Thriller
Agent(s): Rich Cook & Phil d’Amecourt (WME)
Manager(s): Bard Dorros & Michael Sugar (Anonymous Content)
Status: Mark Wahlberg attached and Morten Tyldum attached to direct for Universal.
19 Votes
Script Name: STEPHANIE
Writer(s) Name: Ben Collins & Luke Piotrowski
Logline: A young girl has strange powers that doom her to a world of solitude. PAPERHOUSE meets CARRIE.
Genre: Horror, thriller, psychological, drama
Agent(s): Emerson Davis (UTA)
Manager(s): Nate Matteson (The Gotham Group)
Status: The Gotham Group, Bryan Bertino & Adrienne Biddle (Unbroken Pictures) producing. Jonathan Van Tulleken (Off Season) directing.
17 Votes
Script Name: LOCKDOWN AT FRANKLIN HIGH
Writer(s) Name: Joe Ballarini and Gregg Bishop
Logline: A straight-laced teenage girl tries to save her socially outcast, rebellious brother during a high school lockdown due to a terrifying alien attack.
Agent(s): David Boxerbaum, Ida Ziniti, & Tanya Cohen (Paradigm) rep Ballarini
Manager(s): George Heller (Apostle) reps Ballarini & Andy Cohen (Grade A Entertainment) Cindy Cowan (Cindy Cowan Entertainment) reps Bishop
Status: Set up at Sony with Benderspink and Platinum Dunes producing.
16 Votes
Script Name: STORY OF YOUR LIFE
Writer Name: Eric Heisserer
Logline: When alien crafts land across the world, a linguist expert is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat. As she learns to communicate with the aliens, she begins experiencing vivid flashbacks that become the key to unlocking the greater mystery about the true purpose of their visit.
Genre: Sci-fi drama
Agent(s): Barbara Dreyfus & Jon Huddle (UTA)
Manager(s): Julie Bloom (Art/Work Entertainment)
Status: Set up at 21 Laps.
13 Votes
Script Name: FEBRUARY
Writer(s) Name: Osgood Perkins
Logline: An unidentified young woman makes a pilgrimage to the site of a demonic possession at an all-girls boarding school in the dead of winter.
Genre: Horror
Agent(s): N/A
Manager(s): Scott Halle (Gramercy Park Entertainment)
Status: Bryan Bertino and Adrienne Biddle (Unbroken Pictures) producing.
13 Votes
Script Name: COUNTRY OF STRANGERS
Writer(s) Name: Sean Armstrong
Logline: Based on true events, the story follows an Inspector during his forty year search for three siblings taken from an Australian Beach in 1966.
Genre: Thriller
Agent(s): Bill Weinstein & Rob Herting (Verve)
Manager(s): Peter Dealbert & Susan Solomon (Principato/Young)
Status: In negotiations.
11 Votes
Script Name: INTERSTATE 5
Writer(s) Name: Seth M. Sherwood
Logline: The son of an infamous serial killer and the daughter of one of the victims go on the road in hopes of tracking the killer down only to find themselves haunted by demonic forces intent on driving them mad. JACOBS LADDER meets NATURAL BORN KILLERS
Genre: Psychological thriller
Agent(s): N/A
Manager(s): Kailey Marsh (Station 3)
Status: Available.
9 Votes
Script Name: SOMNIA
Writer(s) Name: Mike Flanagan & Jeff Howard
Logline: A couple who recently lost their son take in a young boy as a foster child. They soon discover that the boy’s dreams manifest themselves in the real world when he sleeps.
Genre: Horror
Agent(s): Sheryl Petersen, Debbie Deuble & Chris Ridenhour (APA)
Manager(s): Nicholas Bogner (Affirmative Entertainment)
Status: In negotiations.
8 Votes
Script Name: DARKFALL
Writer Name: TS Faull
Logline: A group of residents must survive the night in their apartment complex as they slowly learn that DARKFALL (the rising of demons to take over the Earth) is upon them.
Genre: Supernatural thriller
Agent(s): N/A
Manager(s): Michael Botti (Industry Entertainment)
Status: Available.
8 Votes
Script Name: VIRAL
Writer Name: Dustin T. Benson
Logline: Told from the 1st person point of view via the helmet camera of a bio-safety suit a female scientist searches for her missing daughter in a quarantined area of Manhattan. I AM LEGEND meets OUTBREAK.
Genre: Thriller w/ Action & Sci-fi elements.
Agent(s): Ramses IsHak & Mike Sheresky (UTA)
Manager(s): Brooklyn Weaver (Energy Entertainment)
Status: Adrian Askarieh (Prime Universe) & Brooklyn Weaver (Energy Entertainment) attached to produce.
7 Votes
Script Name: THE IMPORTANCE OF BLOOD
Writer(s) Name: James Breen
Logline: The mute servant of a modern-day vampire returns home to her estranged family twenty years after her disappearance. As she grows closer to her family, her loyalties to her master are finally tested.
Genre: Vampire Horror
Agent(s): N/A
Manager(s): Jarrod Murray & Allard Cantor (Epicenter)
Status: Available.
6 Votes
Script Name: SHUT IN
Writer(s) Name: T.J. Cimfel & David White
Logline: An agoraphobic woman must fend off a home invasion while she protects a dark secret.
Genre: Thriller/Horror
Agent(s): N/A
Manager(s): Marc Manus (Manus Entertainment)
Status: Available.
5 Votes
Script Name: PESTE
Writer Name: Barbara Marshall
Logline: A 16 year old girl begins to record her life for her high school media class just as a terrifying virus begins to spread.
Genre: Sci-Fi Horror
Agent(s): Debbie Deuble & Lee Dinstman (APA)
Manager(s): Ava Jamshidi (Industry Entertainment)
Status: Set up at IM Global w/Sherryl Clark producing.
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