Thanks to the Whiskey Loose Tongue for the heads up on a couple of 2008 Spirit Award Nominated Scripts – Rocket Science and Starting Out in the Evening. Below find the listing of Best First Screenplay and Best Screenplay (all in PDF format). The winners will be announced February 23, 2008.

Best First Screenplay

Jeffrey Blitz for Rocket Science – hosted by Rocket Science

Zoe Cassavetes for Broken English

Diablo Cody for Juno – hosted by Fox Searchlight

Kelly Masterson – Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

John Orloff for A Mighty Heart – hosted by Vantage Guilds 2007

Best Screenplay

Ronald Harwood for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le papillon) – hosted by Miramax Films

Tamara Jenkins for The Savages – hosted by Fox Searchlight

Fred Parnes & Andrew Wagner for Starting Out in the Evening – hosted by Starting Out in the Evening

Adrienne Shelly for Waitress – hosted by Fox Searchlight

Mike White – Year of the Dog

Thanks to Donovan and Daily Script read this early draft of Cliffhanger. Thanks to Will and Daily Script read Casey Robinson’s 1953 draft of The Egyptian. Lastly, thanks to Vern for the heads up on this treatment of what Superman III could have been thanks to the excellent and comprehensive Superman Cinema. Those scripts you can check out over on the Movie Scripts page.

I’ve updated both award sites with the latest findings on the ‘net. Note that while there is a link to Charlie Wilson’s War over on the Golden Globe nominated screenplays page, the pdf just reads, “This Screenplay Not Yet Available”. I’m sure the screenplay will appear on or shortly after December 26th when the nominations ballots for the Oscars and the final ballots for the Golden Globes are mailed out.

I’ve gotten a lot of emails from folks asking why the studios are putting scripts online? Why so many now? It’s about money – saving money and, of course making money. Instead of sending out bound copies of scripts to all the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Hollywood Foreign Press members, it is easier to just send a postcard with a link to the screenplay or a site that has the screenplay. Another side benefit to this is that not only do academy members have easy access to the scripts, so do you, the general public that blogs and comments online about the scripts you’ve read, generating the much needed buzz the studios need to have their work noticed and nominated. A nomination, or better yet, a win brings people to theatres and gets them to open their wallets to buy the dvds. – Don

Due to a coding error, I inadvertently considered the Movie Scripts as ‘excellent’ and ‘comprehensive’, however, I mean to indicate that Superman Cinema was an excellent and comprehensive Superman site. Apologies. – Don

More scripts up for Oscar consideration! Thanks to Jack and Anonymous and Sandy for the heads up on these. There is Michael Clayton, The Brave One, Jesse James and The Bucket List from Warner Bros. There is Sweeny Todd, Beowulf, Shrek the Third, Freedom Writers, Bee Movie, Zodiac (Chronicles) and Things We Lost in the Fire from Paramount. These are zipped and in pdf format. I’d recommend right clicking and using save as. – Don

Update!Thanks Anonymous for the heads up on Things We Lost in the Fire

Thanks to D and Vern and David for the heads up on more scripts up for Best Screenplay (adapted or original) consideration.

We have the screenplays for Atonement, Eastern Promises, Se, Jie (Lust, Caution), Reservation Road, Talk To Me from Focus features and Rataouille from Walt Disney Studio Awards.

Last year, in the run up to the Oscars, only a handful of nominated screenplays were online. Only Warner Bros and Picture House studios put up their own scripts on studio sites. The winners for best adapted screenplay and best original screenplay last year just so happened to be the two scripts that were available online prior to the voting.

I’ve updated the 2007 Oscar contenders for best Original Screenplay and best Adaptated Screenplay page where I have links to all the scripts that have thus far been made available by the studios online in Oscar contention. Please note, the screenplays are PDF files and you may want to ?right click? and ?save file as? to download them to your computer before you try to open them.

Update!The Golden Globe Nominations are out and there are a few more scripts online.

Nominations for Best Screenplay for Motion Picture are:

* Diablo Cody for JUNO (pdf file hosted by Fox Searchlight – Thanks Martin for the heads up.

* Ethan Coen and Joel Coen for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (pdf file hosted by Miramax Films)

* Christopher Hampton for ATONEMENT (zip/pdf file hosted by Focus Features – Thanks D for the heads up.

* Ronald Hardwood for THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (pdf file hosted by Miramax Films)

* Aaron Sorkin for CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR

Only two four of the five nominated scripts are online for reading. I suspect that Charlie Wilson’s War will be up shortly after the theatrical release on Friday. – Don

Thanks to Martin for the heads up on six Fox Searchlight scripts up for Oscar contention. They are all in PDF format.

Juno – February 6, 2007 revised pink draft script by Diablo Cody, The Namesake, Once, The Savages, The Darjeeling Limited, and The Waitress

Great to see Fox Searchlight along with Miramax and Universal and Paramount and Warner Independent in putting up their scripts that they want considered for screenplay awards.

Additionally, not sure why Vantage Guilds pulled the script There Will Be Blood from their site. They may be pulling back on it for best adapted screenplay which seems odd since I think it is the strongest one they have. Update: Thanks to not only Ian, but also John who left me a voice message indicating that “…not only is the script back up, but the studio is very much promoting There Will Be Blood for consideration in the Best Adapted Screenplay nomination.”

Over on the 2007 Oscar contenders for best Original Screenplay and best Adaptated Screenplay page I have links to all the scripts that are thus far be made available by the studios online in Oscar contention.

Please note, the screenplays are PDF files and you may want to “right click” and “save file as” to download them to your computer before you try to open them.

No word, yet on these scripts – 3:10 to Yuma, Atonement, Away From Her, Rataouille, Eastern Promises, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Michael Clayton which, as I understand, are also being promoted for, among other things Best Screenplay nominations. I’ll keep an eye out. – Don

Update!The Golden Globe Nominations are out and there are a few more scripts online.

Nominations for Best Screenplay for Motion Picture are:

* Diablo Cody for JUNO (pdf file hosted by Fox Searchlight – Thanks Martin for the heads up.

* Ethan Coen and Joel Coen for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (pdf file hosted by Miramax Films)

* Christopher Hampton for ATONEMENT (zip/pdf file hosted by Focus Features – Thanks D for the heads up.

* Ronald Hardwood for THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (pdf file hosted by Miramax Films)

* Aaron Sorkin for CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR

Only two four of the five nominated scripts are online for reading. I suspect that Charlie Wilson’s War will be up shortly after the theatrical release on Friday. – Don

Thanks to pau1ie, Carole, anonymous, anonymous and anonymous M (M, nextime, don’t use your office email address if you are trying to remain truly ‘anonymous’) for the heads up on four Miramax scripts up for Oscar contention. Over on the Movie Scripts page find The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Gone Baby Gone, The Hoax and No Country for Old Men.

Miramax has followed the lead of Universal and Paramount and Warner Independent in putting up their scripts that they want considered for nomination for best original screenplay and best adapted screenplay for the 80th Academy Awards.
To help keep track of what is out there in the running for Oscar nods, I’ve set up the 2007 Oscar contenders for best Original Screenplay and best Adaptated Screenplay page.

The studios are learning. Last year, nearly half of nominated screenplays were available online. You can find them here. The winners for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay were, you guessed it, scripts that could be found online. I’m laying bets this year that every single nominated script will be online and it will be the studios posting them to their sites. They are figuring out that scripts online mean more people going to see movies in theatres. – Don

Following in the steps of Universal and Paramount, Warner Independent is starting to post screenplays for Oscar consideration. The first screenplay (of many, I hope) Warner is pushing for academy nomination for best original screenpaly is In the Valley of Elah. Thanks, Scott, for the heads up on this from Warner Independent. You can find it and a bunch of other movie scripts on the Movie Scripts page. – Don