6 Oscar/Awards screenplays now available

Last year, I published the links for dozens of screenplays that were being touted as potential Oscar-contenders. Surprisingly, most links are still active which suggests that the studios aren't fretting any more about removing them after the Oscars are over and done with.

As the awards season gets under way with the Gotham Independent Film Awards nominations kicking things off, the studios have started to promote their contending films. Most have just released an industry screening schedule of films being promoted. But Focus Features has gotten the ball rolling by making available six of their screenplays. As I did before, I've provided the links below.

There are two writer-directors, Mike Mills (Beginners) and Dee Rees (Pariah), whose works are very personal. One is an original screenplay Hanna by Seth Lochhead and David Farr, which was directed by Joe Wright and starred Saoirse Ronan. The other three are adaptations. Moira Buffini's screenplay for Jane Eyre is from the classic Charlotte Brontë novel. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan and based on the John le Carré novel. The Debt is written by Matthew Vaughn & Jane Goldman and Peter Straughan and based on the 2007 Israeli film Ha-Hov (The Debt). It is interesting to note Peter Straughan's involvement with both political thrillers.

Films that are being screened for industry provide a clue as to what screenplays we may see released in the coming months. Although some studios such as Overture and Warner Brothers haven't updated their schedules, most of them have.

Dreamworks Animation is promoting Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss In Boots; Fox Searchlight has The Descendants, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Shame, The Tree of Life and Win Win; Paramount offers The Adventures of Tintin, Hugo, Like Crazy, Rango, Super 8, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and Young Adult; Sony Pictures has Anonymous, Arthur Christmas, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; The Ides of March and Moneyball; Sony Picture Classics is showing La piel que habito (The Skin I Live In); Universal has Bridesmaids and Tower Heist; Walt Disney Studios gives us Cars 2, Gnomeo and Juliet, La Luna (short film), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Help, War Horse and Winnie the Pooh; and finally The Weinstein Company presents The Artist, Coriolanus, The Iron Lady, My Week with Marilyn, Undefeated and W./E.

Here are the scripts that have been released so far. I will provide others as they become available. Click on the linked titles below.

Note: According to WGA conventions, "&" is used for a writing team while "and" is used for successive writers, possibly separated by years.

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Beginners (Mike Mills)

The Debt (Matthew Vaughn & Jane Goldman and Peter Straughan; Based on the screenplay Ha-Hov by Assaf Bernstein & Ido Rosenblum)

Hanna (Seth Lochhead and David Farr; Story by Seth Lochhead)

Jane Eyre (Moira Buffini; Based on the novel by Charlotte Brontë)

Pariah (Dee Rees)

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan; Based on the novel by John le Carré)