25 Biopic Scripts to Download and Study
5AM StoryTalk has curated a tour through big-screen biographical dramas for you to learn from
On irregular Monday mornings (PST), 5AM StoryTalk will share “educational resources” to help you in your creative journey. From curated screenplay collections, to curated film compilations you can watch for free, to advice and other wisdom I’ve collected over my years pursuing the arts — and much more. This is one of them.
I miss going to the movies to watch biopics, don’t you? Once upon a time, they seemed to come out every other weekend. These days, they’re an endangered species on the big screen…but that doesn’t mean they’re extinct, or, more importantly, that they’re not a splashy way to introduce yourself to the film/TV market. A great biopic script can win you competition accolades, land you on The Black List, or secure you an agent. In most ways, it doesn’t even matter if your biopic even gets made - as long as it announces to the world that you’re here, that you’re brilliant, and you’re ready to do more of the same for producers.
But that said, biopics are also hard. I’ve written a few and, while I’ll say they’re one of my favorite kinds of scripts to work on, they require a very specific set of skills. You have to be able to not only research a subject to death, but also identify the most dramatic moments of it and distill those into a cinematic story that doesn’t end up feeling like a boring history lesson. If you’re thinking about writing one yourself, I’ve curated 25 biopic scripts for you to study and otherwise prepare for your own project - amongst them titles like Lawrence of Arabia, Amadeus, Malcolm X, and Oppenheimer.
All of these screenplays tend to vanish, as all things do on the Internet. Download ASAP for personal study. Oh, and if you want more resources like this one, be sure to check out my other curated screenplay collections (most of which are not behind paywalls):
“Read the 10 Feature Screenplays the WGA Thinks Are the Best of 2023”
“10 Screenplays by the Great Walter Hill to Download and Study”
“15 Iconic '90s Pilot Scripts to Download and Study”
“20 Christmas Movie Screenplays to Download and Study for Free”
“25 Time-Bending Scripts to Download and Study”
“30 Brilliant BBC Drama Scripts to Download and Study for Free”
"35 Coming-of-Age Scripts to Download and Study”
“40 Great Action Screenplays to Download and Study for Free”
“50 Essential 21st-Century One-Hour Pilot Scripts to Download and Study for Free”
“50 Great Screenplays by Women to Download and Study for Free”
“50 Great Screenplays by People of Color to Download and Study for Free”
“60 Great Comedy Screenplays to Download and Study for Free”
“60 Screenplays About Love and Heartbreak to Download and Study for Free”
“100 Horror Screenplays to Download and Study for Free”
Enjoy the reads!
12 YEARS A SLAVE (2013) by John Ridley
Subject: Abolitionist, author, and escaped enslaved person Solomon Northrup
ALI (2001) by Michael Mann, Eric Roth, Stephen J. Rivele, and Christopher Wilkinson
Subject: Boxer and Civil Rights activist Muhammad Ali
AMADEUS (1984) by Peter Shaffer
Subject: Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart