The Black List is an annual survey of the "most liked" motion picture screenplays not yet produced. It has been published every year since 2005 on the second Friday of December by Franklin Leonard, a development executive who subsequently worked at Universal Pictures and Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment. The website states that these are not necessarily "the best" screenplays, but rather "the most liked", since it is based on a survey of studio and production company executives.
Of the approximately 1000 screenplays The Black List has included since 2005, nearly a third have been later produced as theatrical films, including successful and award-winning examples such as Argo, American Hustle, Juno, The King's Speech, Slumdog Millionaire, Spotlight and The Revenant. The produced films have all together grossed well over $25.54 billion, and have been nominated for 241 Academy Awards and 205 Golden Globe Awards, winning 48 and 40, respectively. As of the 88th Academy Awards, four of the last eight best picture Oscars went to scripts featured on a previous Black List, as well as ten of the last 20 screenwriting Oscars (Original and Adapted Screenplays). In addition, writers whose scripts are listed often find that they are more readily hired for other jobs, even if their listed screenplays still have not been produced, such as Jim Rash and Nat Faxon, two of the writers of the Oscar-winning screenplay of The Descendants, who had an earlier screenplay make the list. Slate columnist David Haglund has written that the list's reputation as a champion for "beloved but challenging" works has been overstated, since "these are screenplays that are already making the Hollywood rounds. And while, as a rule, they have not yet been produced, many of them are already in production."
The first Black List was compiled in 2005 by Franklin Leonard, at the time working as a development executive for Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way Productions. He emailed about 90 fellow development executives and asked them to name the 10 best unproduced screenplays they read that year. To thank them for participating, he compiled the list and sent it to the respondents. The name The Black List was a nod to his heritage as an African American man, and also as a subtle reference to the writers who were barred during the McCarthy era as part of the Hollywood blacklist.
The screenplays to top The Black List, from 2005 to 2016 respectively, are: Things We Lost in the Fire; The Brigands of Rattleborge; Recount; The Beaver; The Muppet Man; College Republicans; The Imitation Game; Draft Day; Holland, Michigan; Catherine the Great; Bubbles; and Blond Ambition.
The Black List tallies the number of "likes" various screenplays have been given by development executives. Screenplays are ranked based on how many likes each of them get. The most likes received by a single screenplay is The Imitation Game, with 133 upon topping the 2011 list; it went on to win the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
More than 300 screenplays have been put into production after appearing on The Black List. These include:
21
The American
Babel
Black Snake Moan
Blades of Glory
Blood Diamond
Breach
The Brothers Solomon
The Bucket List
Chapter 27
Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Bartlett
Dan in Real Life
Death at a Funeral
Dexter
Dream House
Ender's Game
Factory Girl
Fanboys
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The Forger
Freedomland
Fur
The Game Plan
Get Low
A Good Old Fashioned Orgy
Hall Pass
Hancock
The Hawk Is Dying
The Hoax
Horrible Bosses
Hot Rod
The Hunting Party
In Secret
Juno
The Kingdom
The Kite Runner
Lars and the Real Girl
The Ledge
Little Children
Little Miss Sunshine
Love in the Time of Cholera
Lucky Number Slevin
Mama's Boy
Margaret
Meet Bill
Meet Dave
Michael Clayton
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Nacho Libre
Nebraska
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
Notes on a Scandal
The Number 23
The Other Boleyn Girl
Pathfinder
Peacock
The Prestige
The Proposal
The Pursuit of Happyness
The Queen
Reservation Road
Righteous Kill
Stardust
Stop-Loss
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
The Ten
Tenure
Things We Lost in the Fire
The Time Traveler's Wife
Wanted
We Are Marshall
The Whistleblower
Wild Hogs
The Words
World Trade Center
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Youth in Revolt
Zodiac
3:10 to Yuma
(500) Days of Summer
A Mighty Heart
All About Steve
Away We Go
The Brothers Bloom
The Bucket List
Changeling
Death at a Funeral
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Dracula Untold
The Fighter
Frost/Nixon
Get Smart
Hanna
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
In Bruges
Life of Pi
Lions for Lambs
The Men Who Stare at Goats
The Messenger
The Other Woman
Rendition
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Seven Pounds
Seven Psychopaths
She's Out of My League
State of Play
Superbad
There Will Be Blood
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Year of the Dog
Adventureland
All Good Things
Big Eyes
Blindness
The Book of Eli
Burn After Reading
Burnt
Charlie Countryman
Clash of the Titans
Dear John
Demolition
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Doubt
The Duchess
Duplicity
Eagle Eye
Felt
Genius
The Hangover
Happythankyoumoreplease
Hitchcock
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
The Ides of March
Invictus
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Jennifer's Body
Last Chance Harvey
Love & Other Drugs
Never Let Me Go
Orphan
Passengers
Recount
The Revenant
The Road
Salt
Selma
Slumdog Millionaire
Source Code
The Town
Valkyrie
The Wackness
The Way, Way Back
Whip It
The Wolf of Wall Street
World War Z
The Wrestler
Yes Man
Zombieland
47 Ronin
50/50
A.C.O.D.
Bachelorette
The Back-up Plan
Bad Teacher
The Beaver
Broken City
Butter
Child 44
The Debt
The Descendants
Easy A
Everything Must Go
The F Word
Foxcatcher
Going the Distance
Hope Springs
Inglourious Basterds
London Boulevard
Lovelace
No Strings Attached
Nowhere Boy
The Oranges
Our Brand Is Crisis
Out of the Furnace
Remember Me
Sherlock Holmes
Sleeping Beauty
Up In The Air
2 Guns
30 Minutes or Less
Arthur
Buried
Cedar Rapids
Celeste and Jesse Forever
Cut Bank
Dark Was The Night
Due Date
The Duel
Hanna
If I Stay
The King's Speech
The Last Stand
Lawless
Pawn Sacrifice
Prisoners
Red Riding Hood
Restless
The Revenant
The Sitter
The Social Network
The Spectacular Now
Take This Waltz
That's My Boy
The To Do List
The True Memoirs of an International Assassin
The Vatican Tapes
The Voices
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
The Watch
Water for Elephants
Z for Zachariah
Abduction
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
American Hustle
Argo
Better Living Through Chemistry
Boy Scouts vs. Zombies
The Butler
Chronicle
Cinema Verite
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Edge of Tomorrow
Freaks of Nature
Gangster Squad
Get a Job
Gold
The Hunger Games
The Impossible
Jackie
The Last Witch Hunter
Lola Versus
Looper
Margin Call
One Day
Oz the Great and Powerful
People Like Us
Safe House
Serena
Snow White and the Huntsman
Stoker
That Awkward Moment
Triple Nine
The Accountant
Bad Words
Before I Fall
The Current War
Dirty Grandpa
Django Unchained
The Duff
Good Kids
Grace of Monaco
Hidden
The Imitation Game
Jane Got a Gun
Maggie
Playing It Cool
Saving Mr. Banks
Self/less
Sex Tape
St. Vincent
Two Night Stand
Arrival
Come and Find Me
Draft Day
The Equalizer
The Fault In Our Stars
Hell or High Water
John Wick
The Judge
The Keeping Room
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Project Almanac
Run All Night
Sand Castle
Shut In
Stockholm, Pennsylvania
Transcendence
Whiplash
American Sniper
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Cake
Dude
The End of the Tour
Faults
Hot Summer Nights
A Monster Calls
Pan
Patient Zero
The Sea of Trees
Shovel Buddies
Spotlight
American Made
The Babysitter
The Founder
Gifted
LBJ
Manchester by the Sea
Money Monster
Morgan
My Friend Dahmer
The Shallows
The Wall
Miss Sloane
Rock That Body
Stronger
Wish Upon
I, Tonya
