If the 2017 Black List is any indication — and hopefully it is — we’re going to see more films written by women going into production soon. And more female-led stories, too. Compiled by tallying the votes of over 275 film executives, the famous list recognizes the best film scripts that haven’t begun principal photography during this year. “The big takeaway from this year’s list is that women are more present on the list then ever, both in the stories that are being told and the screenwriters who are telling them,” TheWrap writes.
More specifically, 25 of the 76 works featured this year are written or co-written by women, and 34 scripts center on female protagonists. According to the source, that’s “a record for both categories.”
Each Hollywood exec who participated in the Black List contributed the names of up to 10 favorite scripts. Scripts had to receive at least six mentions to make the cut.
The woman-penned script to receive the most mentions is Christy Hall’s “Daddio,” which scored 40 votes, making it the third most popular script on the list. The drama follows a a woman and her cab driver as they discuss their past and current relationships. The script has been nabbed and is expected to begin production next year. “Star Wars” actress Daisy Ridley is set to star. Another script that’s already found a home is “Let Her Speak,” an account of Texas Senator Wendy Davis’ epic filibuster combating an extremely restrictive anti-abortion bill in her home state. Sandra Bullock is signed on to portray Davis.
Other high-ranking scripts written by women include Anna Klassen’s “When Lightning Strikes,” which depicts Joanne Rowling — better known as J.K. Rowling — in the lead up to creating “Harry Potter,” Amanda Idoko’s “Breaking News in Yuba County,” the story of a woman who turns the death of her philandering husband into an opportunity, and Allie Hagan’s “When in Doubt, Seduce,” based on the early relationship between Elaine May and Mike Nichols.
As TheWrap points out, a significant number of the scripts center on female assassins, including “Underground” creator Misha Green’s “The Mother.” In fact, five of the 34 female-led stories featured are about assassins — that’s nearly 15 percent. Those numbers suggest that execs are becoming more comfortable and enthusiastic about female leads in action movies and thrillers.
Given the current political climate in the United States, it comes as no surprise that women’s reproductive rights is a subject that’s resonating with screenwriters and the execs who decided the list. Two projects on this year’s Black List center on doctors who provided abortion services to women pre-Roe v. Wade: “Call Jane,” co-written by Hayley Schore, and “This Is Jane.” “The Handmaid’s Tale’s” Elisabeth Moss is slated to star in the former. Writer-director Rachel Carey also has a project about the underground abortion network — known as The Jane Collective — in the works. Titled “Ask for Jane,” the drama stars “Parenthood” alumna Sarah Ramos and is slated for release in 2018.
Check out all of scripts written by women and about women on the 2017 Black List below. List adapted from the Black List.
Written by Women:
Daddio (Christy Hall) (40)
A passenger and her cab driver reminisce about their relationships on the way from the airport to her apartment in New York
When Lightning Strikes (Anna Klassen) (20)
The true story of 25-year-old Joanne Rowling as she weathers first loves, unexpected pregnancies, lost jobs, and depression on her journey to create Harry Potter.
Breaking News in Yuba County (Amanda Idoko) (19)
After catching her husband in bed with a hooker, which causes him to die of a heart attack, Sue Bottom buries the body and takes advantage of the local celebrity status that comes from having a missing husband.
When in Doubt, Seduce (Allie Hagan) (16)
The true story of the early relationship between Elaine May and Mike Nichols.
V.I.N. (Chiara Towne) (14)
As Alex Haley struggles to write the autobiography of Malcolm X, his editor at Playboy assigns him a new interview: George Lincoln Rockwell, head of the American Nazi Party.
The Mother (Misha Green) (13)
A female assassin comes out of hiding to protect the pre-teen daughter she gave up years before
Jellyfish Summer (Sarah Jane Inwards) (12)
A young black girl’s family in 1960s Mississippi decides to harbor two human-looking refugees who have mysteriously fallen from the sky.
Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know (Jade Bartlett) (12)
Based on the book trilogy Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know by Chloe J. Esposito. An underdog identical twin accidentally kills her too-perfect sister only to discover murder suits her as she becomes compulsively embroiled in the life of a mafia assassin.
Don’t Be Evil (Co-Written by Etta Devine) (10)
Adapted from In the Plex by Steven Levy and I’m Feeling Lucky by Douglas Edwards. Google’s Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt struggle with their corporate motto, “Don’t Be Evil,” in the face of their meteoric rise to a multi-billion dollar valuation and a major Chinese hacking incident.
Moxie (Heather Quinn) (10)
To combat crime in near-future Los Angeles, the FBI creates supercops based on specific genetic sequences. To their shock, their best candidate is a vulgar stripper named Moxie.
Innocent Monsters (Elaina Perpelitt) (9)
A writer struggling to crack her second novel starts to lose her sense of reality as the book bleeds into her life…and her life bleeds back.
The Other Lamb (Catherine McMullen) (9)
A young female coming-of-age story set within an alternative religion.
The Boxer (Justine Juel Gillmer) (8)
A young Polish man escapes from a concentration camp in which he was forced by SS agents to box other Jews, travels to America to begin a successful career as a professional boxer, and reunites with the woman he lost.
Call Jane (Co-Written by Hayley Schore) (7)
Before Roe v. Wade in 1960s Chicago, a pregnant woman becomes a member of an underground group which provides abortions in a safe environment
Jihotties (Molly Prather) (7)
In an effort to fund their start-up, two women catfish ISIS and get more than they bargained for when the CIA recruits them as spies
The Lodge (Co-Written by Veronika Franz) (7)
A supernatural evil haunts a woman and her stepchildren in a cabin on Christmas
Social Justice Warrior (Co-Written by Emma Fletcher) (7)
When a liberal, white college sophomore who knows exactly how to fix society accuses her equally liberal professor of hate speech, it throws the campus and both their lives into chaos as they wage war over the right way to stop discrimination.
The Thing About Jellyfish (Molly Smith Metzler) (7)
After her best friend drowns, a seventh-grade girl is convinced the true cause of the tragedy was a rare jellyfish sting. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory
The Fifth Nixon (Sharon Hoffman) (6)
Watergate as experienced through the eyes of President Richard Nixon’s personal secretary Rose Mary Woods.
The Grownup (Natalie Krinsky) (6)
Based on the short story “The Grownup” by Gillian Flynn. A con woman who pretends to read auras is hired by a wealthy woman to banish an evil spirit from her house, but it is soon clear that the fake exorcist is in over her head.
Little Boy (Co-Written by Hayley Schore) (6)
The true story of the man who dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima and his unexpected journey back to ground zero.
On (Ryan Jennifer Jones) (6)
In a slightly futuristic/hyper-efficient Manhattan, a newly-single book editor purchases a customizable sex android to assuage her broken heart. When her toy’s closed feedback loop starts to alter her personality, she must reevaluate the merits of a perfectlycompatible partner
Panopticon (Emily Jerome) (6)
A look at the criminal justice and private prison system, told from the perspectives of a new inmate, a correctional officer, and a Wall Street hotshot.
Queen Elizabeth (Shatara Michelle Ford) (6)
An uptight, high-achieving, black post-grad who becomes (increasingly) irreverent and (slightly) destructive when she realizes that the life she’s living is not the life she wants
The Sleepover (Sarah Rothschild) (6)
When bad guys break into their home and kidnap their parents, siblings Kevin and Clancy are forced to confront the fact that there may be way more to their stay-at-home mom than meets the eye.
Women-Centric
Let Her Speak (42)
The true story of Senator Wendy Davis and her 24-hour filibuster to save 75% of abortion clinics in Texas
The Expansion Project (15)
A rookie Marine gets stranded on a hostile planet during humanity’s space colonization with nothing but her exo-suit that’s running out of fusion power.
Come As You Are (13)
An idealistic young woman’s life begins to unravel when her job in social media exposes her to the darkest corners of humanity, sending her on a violent mission to take down not just the web’s most vicious content, but its creators as well.
One Thousand Paper Cranes (13)
The incredible true story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl living in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped. Years later when she gets leukemia, she hears about the legend that if someone folds one thousand paper cranes, a wish will be granted. At the same time, aspiring writer Eleanor Coerr learns of Sadako’s story and becomes determined to bring her message of hope and peace to the world
Ruthless (13)
After she is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, a former assassin must carry out one last assignment in order to ensure her daughter’s future
Escape from the North Pole (10)
A young girl partners up with an elf, a Russian explorer and a reindeer to rescue Santa Claus from a band of evil elves and save the North Pole.
Kate (10)
When a veteran hitwoman is mysteriously poisoned on her last assignment in Tokyo, she has 24 hours to track down her killer before she dies.
Ballerina (9)
After her family is murdered, an assassin seeks revenge on the killers.
Liberation (9)
The true story of Nancy Wake, the most decorated servicewoman in World War II, who led resistance fighters in a series of dangerous missions in Nazi-occupied France.
This Is Jane (9)
Based on the book The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service by Laura Kaplan. An ordinary group of women provide 11,000 safe, illegal abortions in Chicago from 1968 through 1973.
Dorothy & Alice (7)
Dorothy Gale and Alice meet in a home for those having nightmares and embark on a journey to save the imaginations of the world.
Health and Wellness (6)
A sociopath obsessed with self-improvement claws her way to the top of the fitness world, leaving a trail of broken bodies in her wake.
