Reading movie scripts is an excellent way to improve your screenplay writing skills. No matter what types of scripts that you read, you’ll find that your writing becomes stronger, more organized, and more comprehensible to your acting team.
But, how are you going to be able to find and download movie scripts? There are a lot of websites available that provide this as a resource to you. In this article, we’re going to show you the 15 best websites for downloading full-length movie screenplays.
1 Movie Scripts and Screenplays
Movie Scripts and Screenplays is a fairly basic site. It’s, essentially, a library with a variety of resources listed in alphabetical order. You can find a number of movie scripts of all sorts, and there’s an internal Google search that you can utilize in order to find the script you’re looking for. The majority of the scripts are in PDF format and require Adobe Acrobat to read.
2 SimplyScripts
SimplyScripts allows you to download movie scripts of all types, and they don’t stop there! They include scripts from radio, TV, unproduced pieces, Oscar award winning scripts, and more. They even have movie reviews and a discussion board so you can connect with other screenwriters and movie enthusiasts via the site as well.
3 The Weekly Script
The Weekly Script is a searchable database of scripts of all types, but mainly movie scripts. They have a small smattering of radio and TV scripts available for perusing, as well. They always feature a “weekly script” (hence their name) at the top of the site, which is usually worth looking at. Then, you can use their search engine to search by screenwriter, film, or show.
4 The Daily Script
Like The Weekly Script, The Daily Script is constantly featuring different movie scripts on a daily basis. They do have a Google Search Engine, but they also offer the ability to browse (it’s separated into A-M and N-Z by title). While the site only currently has a couple hundred scripts, they are continuing to expand.
5 Screenplays For You
Screenplays for You is a site for free movie scripts and screenplays, and they have a small number of play scripts on the site as well. The site is one of the best laid-out options available, with a complete index and each script organized by letter. They also have a very useful links page available, and site updates are easy to find right on the front page.
6 AwesomeFilm
AwesomeFilm is a bright and exciting website that was built for movie lovers and scriptwriters of all types. The site is made possible by contributors who work to get the scripts, so there are constant updates and a unique variety of films that you can’t always find on these free websites.
7 Go Into the Story
Go Into the Story is more than just a script database, even though it has that available as well. It’s from the group Blacklist, and they have developed an all-inclusive blog that helps screenwriters to get the resources that they need. The founder of the blog, Scott Myers, also hosts master classes and workshops for screenwriters of all experience levels, allowing you to connect with other screenwriters and hone your craft in a new and unique manner.
8 IMSDB
Based on the Internet Movie Database, the IMSDB (Internet Movie Script Database) is a massive, well-organized resource for those who are looking for scripts that they can read and follow. From older classics to modern masterpieces, you will find it easy to navigate and seek out whatever scripts you’re looking for. They even organize it by genre!
9 The Script Lab
The Script Lab is a multi-faceted resource available to screenwriters of all sorts. Workshops, contests, blog posts, educational opportunities, and even a newsletter are available for those who want to connect with other screenwriters and learn how to hone their craft. This resource is essential if you’re looking to write scripts.
10 Horror Lair
As the name suggests, the Horror Lair is a genre-based script compendium, focused on horror films, both classic and modern. Their contributor-based script library is always growing, and they have a complete list of their most recent additions on the front page of their site. It’s very easy to navigate and you can find almost any horror flick’s script within a few minutes.
11 John August
John August is a well-known screenwriter, and has written the script for films like Big Fish, Frankenweenie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Charlie’s Angels. His Library is fairly inclusive of all of his work, allowing screenwriters to explore the scripts and see some of the processes that went behind his writing. He even shares things like original scripts, final scripts, and shooting schedules for each of the films he wrote for.
12 Screenplay Database
If you’re looking for a living, changing library of screenplays and scripts, you’ll find it at the Screenplay Database. At the time of writing this article, they had over 400 different scripts on the site, and they are adding more on a semi-regular basis. They even have the screenplay for modern masterpieces like 12 Years a Slave and American Beauty. Each script is listed with any awards it has won, how many pages they have, what format the script is saved in, and their IMDB/Amazon Links.
13 The Script Savant
The Script Savant website includes both movie and TV screenplays. All of the screenplays available through their site are in PDF format, and they are continually adding more screenplays to what they have available. If you’re a screenwriter that is in need of additional services and you’re looking for someone to critique your work, you can also utilize one of the many services that the Script Savant has available through their website. They also have a newsletter that keeps you in the loop for when new screenplays are added.
14 NoFilmSchool
If you’re looking for a crowd-sourced solution for your movie scripts, be sure that you take a look at No Film School. This forum based website is easy to navigate, and there are always new ones being added “for your consideration” (as the people posting them like to say). If you’re looking to get in on the ground floor of a crowd-sourced solution for free scripts, consider joining this site.
15 Kaggle
Lastly, we have Kaggle, a website built for sharing and comparing different data sets, including free-to-access and free-to-read movie scripts. There is a lot of useful and interesting data regarding the movie industry, how scripts are written, and more on the Kaggle website, and many scriptwriters have found it to be a unique and useful resource.
There are so many great options for reading script. It’s up to you which ones you utilize and how you use them! Check out all of these resources for yourself and see how much of a difference that it makes for your screenplay writing if you’re reading great screenplays on a regular basis.