Tag team, back again! The last time out Vince MANcini and I looked at the Sundanciest titles we could get our grubby little hands on. This time we’re weighing the pros and cons of the infamous Black List, a collection of the “most liked” screenplays that still seem to be struggling to find production budgets. Some of these projects are undoubtedly winners, while others could very well be turkeys. But who will sort through this quagmire? Are there even any real writer-men left to discuss this important issue, what in this economy?

There are, and you have found them. I present 20 Black Listed scripts for your consideration, as voted upon by 290 film executives, chosen at random to ensure that the most “buzzy” scripts weren’t the only ones getting love. You go cram it, buzz!

Since none of these movies have been made yet, we’ve chosen banner pictures by doing a shutterstock search for the title and choosing the best picture. For instance, the picture above came from “making a list” and the picture is called “journalist making an expression.” Now, let’s get it on …

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(This is not Boner Mountain, this is the guy who created the award won by Boner Mountain)

The Black List is an annual poll of Hollywood execs on their favorite unproduced scripts. The list tends to run the gamut of actual, interesting movies you might want to see (Argo, Looper, and Chronicle were all Black List scripts, for instance) and exactly the kind of ridiculous-sounding crap you’d expect movie execs to love - Snow White and the Huntsman, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Abduction. This year, The Black List (created by Franklin Leonard – pictured) announced its winners this morning via Twitter. We should have a full breakdown for you soon enough, but in the meantime, let’s just bask in the fact that one of the winners’ Twitter handles is “Boner_Mountain.”

MAN OF TOMORROW by Jeremy Slater (@boner_mountain) #BlackList2012

— The Black List (@theblcklst) December 17, 2012

Mr. Slater, I don’t pretend to know what your movie is about, but I like your style. Now, one thing I’ve always heard about Boner Mountain is that it’s in a heavily wooded area. Is this true?

I’d like to see The Band write a sequel to “Up on Cripple Creek” about Boner Mountain.

I hope this Man of Tomorrow is just a guy in a silver jumpsuit with a huge boner. BONER MOUNTAIN 2: A FIST FULL OF BONERS.

(*extended fart noise*)

Etan Cohen, one of the town’s hottest comedy scribes, is in negotiations to make his directorial debut on Paramount’s horror-comedy Boy Scouts vs. Zombies.
With an “it’s all in the title” moniker, Boy Scouts centers on a troop that must save a group of girl scouts from a pack of zombies with designs on spoiling a camping trip.
The script was written by Carrie Evans and Emi Mochizuki and made the 2010 Black List of Hollywood’s most-liked screenplays. Paramount picked it up the same year. |THR|

Be honest, you’re just playing shitty-idea Mad Libs now, right? Pride and Predator and Sea Monsters and Zombies and Queefs and Angels and Demons and Vampires and (noun).

Meanwhile, Marc Forster, whom I remind you has directed multiple Oscar-nominated films, has signed on to direct… ugh… Cowboy Ninja Viking for Universal, adapted by Zombieland writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese from the comic of the same name. It’s pretty much exactly like it sounds, because… how could it not be? It’s called “Cowboy Ninja Viking.” I don’t know what idiot’s greenlighting these, but I imagine he’s wearing a Charlie Sheen “WINNING” t-shirt and asking for high fives in a Borat voice when he does it.

"Get out of the way, lady, my Corvette is dirty."

After the jump, it’s the red-band trailer for Bad Teacher, starring Cam’ron Diaz and Justin Timberlake.  I read this script a while back and really liked it, but then Sony hired Cameron Diaz to play the lead and her then-boyfriend Justin Timberlake to play her love interest, the kind of decision that only makes sense if you’re a studio exec.  On the plus side, Jake Kasdan is directing (of Orange County and the criminally underrated Walk Hard) and Jason Segel has a supporting role.  Maybe I can still pretend to buy Cameron Diaz in this role long enough to enjoy it?  It’s going to be hard, but if I can get Burnsy to stop feeding me popcorn with his big man paws like he usually does, I might be able to manage.

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Picture unrelated

Oh my God, it’s a top 10 list!  Everyone drop everything and gawk at its numerical definitude!  So every year, midlevel studio exec Franklin Leonard compiles his Black List, a list of the “most liked” as-yet-unmade screenplays in Hollywood.  (Recent Black List script movies include: The Beaver, The Switch, The Social Network, No Strings Attached…)  The LA Times just posted the top 10, and most of them sound a little… familiar.

49 votes: “College Republicans” by Wes Jones. Aspiring politician Karl Rove leads a dirty campaign for College Republican chairman under the guidance of Lee Atwater. Anonymous Content producing. [Political exposé, sounds like Fair Game/Casino Jack/Social Network -Ed.]

47 votes: “Jackie” by Noah Oppenheim. Jacqueline Kennedy’s life immediately after her husband’s assassination. Darren Aronofsky directing for Fox Searchlight. [Biopic of a famous person...]

45 votes: “All You Need Is Kill” by Dante Harper. A new army recruit in a war against aliens finds himself caught in a time loop. Set up at Warner Bros. Doug Liman may direct. [Aliens. Time travel. Source Code meets Cowboys vs. Aliens, say.]

43 votes: “Safe House” by David Guggenheim. A young man at a CIA-run safe house must help a rogue ex-agent escape assassins. Universal Pictures to produce with Daniel Espinoza to direct. Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington to star. [aka The Bourne Unstoppable.]

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