The Black List, an annual ranking of most-liked unproduced screenplays, unleashed its top 10 scripts one-by-one in tweets this week. A Twitter chat to discuss the selections is scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET.
Among the topics for the scripts are the NFL draft, Dr. Suess and Hillary Clinton (pictured).
Films that have made previous year's Black Lists include such critically acclaimed titles as The Social Network, The King's Speech and Slumdog Millionaire.
This year, organizers revealed the Black List inclusions on Twitter and then tweeted the top 10 in reverse order (see tweets below along with each screenplay's description; full list here).
Scott Rothman, a writer for the top-mentioned script, tweeted his reaction to earning the number one spot for his screenplay Draft Day: "@theblcklst Holy crap! Thank you!"
More than 290 film executives submitted their top choices for the 2012 Black List, with each script needing at least six mentions to enter the list.
#1 - 65 mentions. DRAFT DAY by Rajiv Joseph, Scott Rothman (@scottmrothman) #BlackList2012— The Black List (@theblcklst) December 17, 2012
Screenplay description: "On the day of the NFL Draft, Bills General Manager Sonny Weaver has the opportunity to save football in Buffalo when he trades for the number one pick. He must quickly decide what he’s willing to sacrifice in pursuit of perfection as the lines between his personal and professional life become blurred."
#2 - 43 mentions. A COUNTRY OF STRANGERS by Sean Armstrong #BlackList2012— The Black List (@theblcklst) December 17, 2012
Screenplay description: "Based on true events. Inspector Geoff Harper conducts a forty year search for the Beaumont Children, three siblings taken from an Australian beach in January of 1966."
#2 - 43 mentions. SEUSS by Eyal Podell, Jonathan Stewart #BlackList2012— The Black List (@theblcklst) December 17, 2012
Screenplay description: "As a young man, Ted Geisel meets his future wife Helen, who encourages his fanciful drawings, and in the 1950s when Ted is struggling professionally, Helen helps inspire the children’s book that will become his first big hit, 'The Cat in the Hat.'"
#4 - 39 mentions. RODHAM by Young Il Kim (@theyoungilkim) #BlackList2012— The Black List (@theblcklst) December 17, 2012
Screenplay description: "During the height of the Watergate scandal, rising star Hillary Rodham is the youngest lawyer chosen for the House Judiciary Committee to Impeach Nixon, but she soon finds herself forced to choose between a destined path to the White House and her unresolved feelings for Bill Clinton, her former boyfriend who now teaches law in Arkansas."
#5 - 35 mentions. STORY OF YOUR LIFE by Eric Heisserer (@highzurrer) #BlackList2012— The Black List (@theblcklst) December 17, 2012
Screenplay description: "Based on the short story by Ted Chiang. When alien crafts land around the world, a linguistics 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."
#6 - 33 mentions. WUNDERKIND by Patrick Aison #BlackList2012— The Black List (@theblcklst) December 17, 2012
Screenplay description: "A Mossad employed father and his CIA agent son team up to hunt an escaped Nazi."
#7 - 31 mentions. EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL, AND VILE by Michael Werwie #BlackList2012— The Black List (@theblcklst) December 17, 2012
Screenplay description: "Based on a true (and ultimately surprising) story, a promising young law student fights an oppressive legal system and growing public scrutiny when his routine traffic stop snowballs into shocking criminal charges, imprisonment, daring escapes, and ultimately acting as his own attorney in a nationally televised murder trial."
#8 - 29 mentions. GLIMMER by Carter Blanchard (@cartblanch) #BlackList2012— The Black List (@theblcklst) December 17, 2012
Screenplay description: "When three friends go missing on a camping trip in a forest rumored to be haunted, the two left behind discover clues that lead them to a safe deposit box containing video tapes... showing exactly what happened to their friends."
#8 - 29 mentions. ME & EARL & THE DYING GIRL by Jesse Andrews (@_jesse_andrews_) #BlackList2012— The Black List (@theblcklst) December 17, 2012
Screenplay description: "Based on Andrews’s eponymous novel, a quirky high school student who enjoys making films sparks a friendship with a classmate dying of leukemia."
#10 - 28 mentions. DEVILS AT PLAY by James DiLapo #BlackList2012— The Black List (@theblcklst) December 17, 2012
Screenplay description: "In the Soviet Union in 1937, a worker of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs finds a list of traitors, which he thinks is going to be his way out."