It’s that time of year again, the time of year where studios begin making available the screenplays for their awards contenders and the first two studios to offer some screenplays for your reading pleasure are Roadside Attractions and Universal Pictures.
From Roadside comes the screenplay for Jeff Nichols‘ Mud, which is certainly a critical favorite and has the distinction of being the first awards screener in voters’ hands, but will it be able to sustain the long season ahead of it after such an early year release? The film stars Matthew McConaughey who will also be competing for an Oscar nomination for his starring role in Dallas Buyers Club so it could be tough, Nichols’ work here, however, is worthy of consideration.
The second script available belongs to a film not yet in theaters and it won’t be until it enjoys a limited release on December 27 before going wide in January. The film is Lone Survivor with a screenplay by writer/director Peter Berg based on the New York Times bestseller by Marcus Luttrell.
Lone Survivor stars Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch, Taylor Kitsch and Eric Bana and tells the story of four Navy SEALs on an ill-fated covert mission to neutralize a high-level Taliban operative who are ambushed by enemy forces in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan. There was some talk earlier this year about its Oscar chances so give the script a peek and see what you think.
As I have in previous years, the screenplays are available for download directly below and I will post updates as more come available throughout the season. You can stay up to date on my latest Oscar Screenplay posts by bookmarking this page.
- Mud (Download the Script)
- Lone Survivor (Download the Script)
