10 Screenplays by the Great Walter Hill to Download and Study

The Writers Guild of America awarded the legendary filmmaker its Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement this week - now read ten of his iconic scripts!

Apr 15, 2024

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In the early years of my career, I was asked by my agents if I’d like to co-create a television series with screenwriter, producer, and director Walter Hill. I responded with a string of expletives and the word “yes”. For the next three months, Walter and I got to develop this project together, a Western with a twist, and I still think on this period as one of my favorite experiences as a writer. We spent afternoons in a sun-drenched breakfast nook at his house in Beverly Hills, breaking story and, in between, discussed some of his memories of Hollywood in the sixties and seventies, in particular. The project, which ultimately also had Idris Elba attached — in fact, Idris joined us in all of our pitches — did not sell. Let that be a lesson to you about how there are no sure-things in Hollywood.

This week, Walter received the Writers Guild of America West 2024 Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement. Basically, a lifetime achievement award for being the kind of bad-ass that legions of screenwriters try to emulate. If you’re a regular 5AM StoryTalk reader, you might recall Oscar-nominated screenwriter Eric Heisserer (Arrival) recently discussed Walter’s influence on his own craft during our artist-on-artist conversation.

“What bowled me over was [Walter’s] utter haiku-like economy,” Eric told me. “His draft of Alien is among the most sparse writing that still gets the job done. I’ll always be chasing [his] … style, but I land somewhere shy of it. Where it means the most to me is in scenes of intense, quick-paced action, where I want the reader racing through the page with their eye as the action unfolds. And the other time I find it powerful is, like in the opening pages of Alien when the world is quiet and still. And that white space on the page can be full of suffocating dread.”

Emmy-winning screenwriter Scott Alexander (“The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story”) had this to say about Walter on social media:

“Walter completely changed the screenwriting game. Before him, scripts were just dialogue and prose. Walter showed us that scripts could be visual. He uses carriage returns and quick ideas to be punchy. He wants the reader to experience the dramatic moments the way the viewer will.”

Scott finished by saying he’s spent his entire career trying to emulate his style.

The short of it is this: Walter Hill is one of the greatest who’s ever lived. He is an essential screenwriting master to study and learn from. Read everything he’s ever written, in fact - starting with these ten screenplays from him (including some of his best like The Getaway, Hard Times, The Driver, Alien, and Southern Comfort). I’ve compiled them as an educational resource for 5AM StoryTalk’s paid subscribers.

All of these screenplays tend to vanish, as all things do on the Internet. Download ASAP for your personal educational purposes. And if you want more resources like this one, be sure to check out my articles:

And be sure to check out the WGA’s complete list of 2024 nominees across all categories here. I’m very happy to see so many of my friends on it.

Enjoy the reads!

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5AM StoryTalk

10 Screenplays by the Great Walter Hill to Download and Study

The Writers Guild of America awarded the legendary filmmaker its Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement this week - now read ten of his iconic scripts!

This post is for paid subscribers