What does a screenplay look like? Screenwriting and traditional prose writing share many characteristics and commonalities. Still, it’s best to think of them as entirely different disciplines of storytelling. We will examine what the average screenplay looks like, how different genres prioritize different elements, and we’ll take a look at specific screenplay examples worth reading, downloading and studying.
Screenplay Example
With very few exceptions, all screenplays follow the same standard formatting rules. Proper script formatting is extremely important when writing a screenplay for a number of reasons, one of the most important being the timing of the final film. One page of a properly formatting screenplay is equivalent to approximately one minute of screentime. Knowing roughly how long a film will be before it is shot is incredibly important. How does a movie script look in a general sense? Check out the examples below.
All screenplays are built out of the same core formatting elements. For a deeper dive into these specific elements and to see how each of them are used, be sure to read our guide to screenplay formatting. If you are at all interested in giving screenwriting a shot yourself, StudioBinder’s screenwriting software can get you started for free.
Inside StudioBinder, we handle all the formatting for you so that you can focus on your creative writing, just like the example below:
Sample Script Format
No matter where you land in the different types of comedy scripts available to you, one thing must be true: it’s got to be funny. This means you better laugh out loud at least a few times while reading the script. Or if it's a Coen Brothers script, chances are you'll laugh and feel many other strange things too. Here are a few of the funniest comedy screenplays.
Movie screenplay example
The 40 Year Old Virgin is an example of a dialogue-heavy screenplay. You will find entire pages consisting of nothing but dialogue in this screenplay which is something you are far less likely to find in other genres' final draft. If you want to write a script in the vein of The 40 Year Old Virgin, you should take a look at our tips for writing better dialogue first.
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Movie script examples
Edgar Wright’s best movies are great examples of well-balanced comedy screenplays. The mix of dialogue and action is as close to perfect as you can get in a screenplay. The words on the page come to life like you're reading a comic book.
Movie Screenplay Examples
Then, of course, there’s the romcom. (500) Days of Summer utilizes many of the tropes we know and love from romcoms to build something both funny and emotionally stirring. The romcom wave of the 2000s crested with this movie.
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How does a movie script look?
Action films are defined by a writer's boundless imagination of all the dangerous stunts and fights a protagonist can get into. Check out the next few examples from beloved action movies that show there's a some real poetry in watching your favorite badass take down a team of really bad guys.
Action script example
Just as there is a spectrum of comedy scripts, there is also a great deal of variance in the stylings of action movie scripts as well. Action screenplays tend to rely more heavily on action lines than dialogue but this is not always the case.
John Wick is one film that places a heavy emphasis on action, and, as you might guess, the screenplay reflects this fact. There is a mixture of dialogue and action in the pages of this screenplay with a heavy slant toward action in the ratio. Entire pages of the script go by without a single line of dialogue at times. Keanu Reeves made the cut for our list of the top action stars, and John Wick made it onto our list of the best action films ever made. Find out what else made the cut.
Entire pages of the script go by without a single line of dialogue at times. Keanu Reeves made the cut for our list of the top action stars, and John Wick made it onto our list of the best action films ever made. Find out what else made the cut.
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Movie screenplay example
Every great Quentin Tarantino movie script displays his mastery of the screenplay format. You can download and read the Django Unchained screenplay to see exactly how he structures and formats his blend of intense action with his trademark dialogue.
Movie screenplay example
On the dialogue-heavy end of the action film spectrum, we have screenplays like the one for Collateral. The dialogue-heavy cab scenes are juxtaposed wonderfully against the sharp bursts of action that occur outside the cab. Collateral has more dialogue and less action than the average action-thriller. Still, it's a grade-A action film regardless, showing that the action-to-dialogue ratio can be skewed to great effect in the hands of experts.
If you are a fan of Collateral, be sure to check out our review and retrospective on the film.
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How does a movie script look?
Writing horror films is all about anticipating what will make an audience's skin crawl or have them jumping out of their seats. The next few script examples from horror films that any horror fan should know will have you inspired as ever to bring the super creepy out in your own horror script.
Scary Horror script examples
Alien is a watershed moment in horror movies, marking an entirely new terrain in which to scare audiences. But it doesn’t just deliver on scares. It’s a riveting character study, and its science fiction elements are deeply thought through. That’s why entries in the franchise are still being made today.
Horror script examples
The Babadook is one of the best horror movies of the 21st century. Like Alien, there’s more to it than incredibly effective scares. The movie is an examination of a complicated mother-son relationship, and a moving portrait of a woman wrestling with seemingly insurmountable grief. Check out the script– it’s all there on the page.
Horror script examples
Want to read just one horror movie script? This is probably the one. The Exorcist is one of the most popular, and influential, horror movies of all time. In addition to William Friedkin’s expert direction, writer William Peter Blatty’s script is bone chilling.
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Drama Script Examples
It’s hard to add anything to the conversation surrounding Shawshank Redemption. There’s a reason it’s been crowned the greatest movie of all time by IMDb users. Try watching the movie without getting choked up. It’s very difficult.
Classic Drama Script
Anyone who wants to become a screenwriter must (must!) study the work of Billy Wilder. Few have matched his knack for snappy dialogue. With Sunset Boulevard, Wilder and co-writers Charles Brackett and D.M. Marshman Jr. created an instantly iconic film about the fleeting lights of showbiz, and the toll they take.
A Drama Script with an Iconic Line
Like with Shawshank, what more can be said of Taxi Driver? It introduced many of us to the inimitable Paul Schrader. It’s so influential it created a genre unto itself. It’s one of Scorsese’s finest. You’ve heard it all before; give it a read.
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Sci-fi script example
Writing a sci-fi can be daunting. Not only do you need to create compelling characters and story arcs, but you also have to create an entire world. Sci-fi writing is detail oriented, an exercise in building rules for yourself and sticking by them.
A good place to start with sci-fi scripts is the script for arguably the greatest sci-fi of all time. Kubrick’s masterpiece is layered and profound, deserving of multiple viewings (and perhaps readings). His script, written with Arthur C. Clarke, lays the foundation for the top-tier film.
Movie script example
Before Denis Villenueve became the king of big-budget sci-fi with Blade Runner 2049 and Dune, he was the master of the contained sci-fi. Arrival, written by Eric Heisserer, is the pinnacle of this period, beguiling and moving.
Movie screenplay example
Not all sci-fi has to be deadly serious. Ghostbusters is a testament to sci-fi which is just fun, filled with laughs and gags. It’s also a work that defies genre– we could have just easily called this a comedy, or even thrown it in the horror section.
Here are some other great sci-fi movie script downloads:
With our list wrapped up, you may be wondering where No Country for Old Men is, or why Greta Gerwig or Rian Johnson's scripts didn't make the list. If that's the case, then you know how tough it was to make this script examples list. There are so many great scripts to reference and these were simply the best we could muster with this amount of space.
But don't fret! You can check out more free screenplays at StudioBinder. Now channel your best Ethan Coen (or Ted Griffin!) and get to studying those scripts.
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Screenplays all follow the same formatting guidelines. But each writer leaves their own fingerprints behind on the pages. The author’s voice changes the reading experience of each screenplay with style and personal preferences. You can read and download some of the best movie scripts ever written online to see just how different screenplays can be.
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