February 25, 2019 • 50 of the Best Famous Movie Scripts to Read and Download In Every Genre If you’re looking for free movie scripts you’re in the right place. We’ve been strong advocates for the benefits of reading screenplays for a long time as it’s one of the simplest ways to learn how to write. With that in mind, we’ve put together a mega list of the fifty best screenplays to read for aspiring screenwriters. This list of the best screenplays to read is grouped into the five main genres you’ll find in Hollywood today: drama, comedy, action/adventure, thriller and horror. (We prefer to call sci-fi, western, romance, etc. Sub-genres of these five and you’ll find examples of these in the lists below too.) Both “shooting” movie scripts and “spec” movie scripts are included in this list.

If you’re an aspiring screenwriter trying to break into the industry with a spec, it’s important to ignore all the little formatting quirks that often come with shooting movie scripts. Sluglines with periods instead of dashes, large chunks of descriptive text, excessive use of camera angles and so on, are all expressions of writers who’ve made it. If you haven’t yet, keep things simple by sticking to regular spec. So, without further ado, it’s time to get to the first best screenplay in our list Best Screenplays to Read: Drama 1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind screenplay by Charlie Kaufmann Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy erases memories of being with girl.

This typically Kaufmanesque story could arguably be called best screenplay he’s ever written. Watch out for the long chunks of description, though, as this style isn’t recommended in spec movie scripts.

Good Will Hunting screenplay by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck This best screenplay winner began life as Damon’s final assignment for his Harvard playwriting class before he asked Affleck to help turn it into a script. They then set about developing the story into a thriller about a young man targeted by the FBI. It was Rob Reiner who persuaded them to turn it into a drama and focus on the relationship between Will and his psychologist.

Jerry Maguire screenplay by Cameron Crowe Easily the best of Crowe’s screenplays to date and the one that broke him into the Hollywood A-list. Earned a Best Screenplay nomination and is a personal favorite of screenwriter Craig Mazin. Little Children screenplay by Todd Field and Tom Perrotta Based on the novel by Tom Perrotta, this is a skillfully woven tale of suburban angst that retains a very novelistic feel. An excellent case study in how to make voiceover work for and not against your script. Lost In Translation screenplay by Sofia Coppola Coppola spent six months writing a series of short stories and “impressions of Tokyo” that went on to become a seventy-page script. As understated as the movie itself, this screenplay is a real lesson in how to construct “small” scenes that move the story forward and keep the reader interested.

Straight Outta Compton screenplay by Johnathan Herman and Andrea Berloff Unsure of what direction the script should take, a first draft arose out of ten months of research, interviewing as many people associated with rap group NWA as possible. The result was this blistering account of the group’s rise and fall and was only Berloff’s second produced feature and Herman’s first. The Truman Show screenplay by Andrew M. Niccol Originally a dark sci-fi thriller set in New York City and titled “The Malcolm Show,” Niccol’s one-page treatment would go on to become one of the greatest screenplay high concepts in movie history. Nominated for the best screenplay Oscar but lost out to the schmaltzy Shakespeare In Love.

Up In the Air screenplay by Jason Reitman Like The Truman Show, this is another screenplay that expertly weaves comedy into its overall drama. Adapted from the novel by Walter Kirn, this is a modern classic and definitely one of the best screenplays to read for aspiring screenwriters, no matter what their genre preference. The Visitor screenplay by Tom McCarthy This is arguably a better script than the one McCarthy won the best screenplay Oscar fo— Spotlight.