40 21st Century Science-Fiction Scripts to Download and Study

5AM StoryTalk has curated a tour through this millennium's greatest sci-fi films for you to learn from

This is a follow-up to an educational resource I shared with 5AM StoryTalk’s readers back in November, this time focusing on 21st century science-fiction films rather than 20th century ones. Let’s recap…

Depending on how you define science-fiction and fantasy, films that fall into these oft-blurred genres currently comprise either seven or eight of the most successful films of all time at the box office. The number one film on that list is Avatar, co-written and directed by James Cameron, which is a hard-core sci-fi epic about how fossil fuel corporations are basically soulless environment-destroying forces. The number three film on the list is its sequel, again from Cameron. In fact, the majority of the top 100 films on it are either sci-fi, fantasy, or some combination of these. What’s even more astounding is how often these genres are still disrespected in artsy circles or by film/TV producers and book editors, but that’s a conversation I’ve already covered recently (you can read about it here). The short of it is this:

Sci-fi/fantasy not only sells, it sells big. That’s because audiences around the world love stories that fit into these categories. But writing them typically takes different instincts and even skills than writing a straight drama. For example, it requires — amongst other things — an understanding of how to world-build, express complicated and even elaborate ideas in accessible ways, and somehow stay emotionally grounded despite the conceptual enormity of what’s happening around your characters. More than all this, it takes respecting the genres and the audience.

But don’t worry, I’ve got you covered — this is the second of four different personally curated sci-fi/fantasy screenplay collections to be published here. The first, I already mentioned — “40 20th Century Science-Fiction Scripts to Download and Study”. The next two will arrive later this year.

Today, I’m sharing with you 40 science-fiction scripts from the 21st century. I’ve selected a very eclectic mix of “soft” and “hard” sci-fi, intimate and epic stories, low to big budgets, and even ones that employ something like magic realism — from Avatar (2009) to Ex Machina (2015), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) to Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), and Children of Men (2006) to WALL-E (2008).

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

“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 Disaster Film/TV Scripts to Download and Study”
“15 Iconic '90s Pilot Scripts to Download and Study”
“Steven Spielberg in the 20th Century: 17 Scripts Written and/or Developed by the Master to Download and Study”
“20 Christmas Movie Screenplays to Download and Study for Free”
"25 Biopic Scripts to Download and Study”
“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”
“40 20th Century Science-Fiction Scripts to Download and Study”
“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!

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AD ASTRA (2019) by Ethan Gross and James Gray

THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (2011) by George Nolfi

ANNIHILATION (2018) by Alex Garland

ARRIVAL (2016) by Eric Heisserer

You can read my artist-on-artist conversation with Eric here.

AVATAR (2009) by James Cameron

BLADE RUNNER 2049 (2017) by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green

CHILDREN OF MEN (2006) by Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby

You can read my thoughts on Children of Men in my essay “The 'Tension of Becoming' at the End of the World”.

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2014) by Mark Bomback and Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver

DONNIE DARKO (2001) by Richard Kelly

DUNE (2020) by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, and Eric Roth

EDGE OF TOMORROW (2014) by Christopher McQuarrie and Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004) by Charlie Kaufman

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (2022) by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

EX MACHINA (2015) by Alex Garland

FAST COLOR (2019) by Julia Hart and Jordan Horowitz

GRAVITY (2013) by Alfonso Cuarón and Jonás Cuarón

HER (2013) by Spike Jonez

IDIOCRACY (2006) by Etan Cohen and Mike Judge; story by Mike Judge

INCEPTION (2010) by Christopher Nolan

LOOPER (2012) by Rian Johnson

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2015) by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nico Lathouris

THE MARTIAN (2015) by Drew Goddard

THE MATRIX RELOADED (2003) by The Wachowskis

THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (2003) by The Wachowskis

MINORITY REPORT (2002) by Scott Frank and Jon Cohen

NOPE (2022) by Jordan Peele

MOON (2009) by Nathan Parker

PACIFIC RIM (2013) by Travis Beachem and Guillermo del Toro

PALM SPRINGS (2020) by Andy Siara

PROMETHEUS (2012) by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver

SNOWPIERCER (2013) by Bong Joon-ho and Kelly Masterson; story byBong Joon-ho

SOURCE CODE (2011) by Ben Ripley

SUNSHINE (2007) by Alex Garland

TENET (2020) by Christopher Nolan

UNDER THE SKIN (2013) by Walter Campbell and Jonathan Glazer

UPSTREAM COLOR (2013) by Shane Caruth

WALL-E (2008) by Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon; story by Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (2017) by Mark Bomback and Matt Reeves

WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005) by Josh Friedman and David Koepp

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