Screenplay length -- have the "rules" loosened up at all?

Question

I've been writing screenplays for a while now no sales yet, but I'm trying to hone my craft. The last time I checked in on this, which was probably at least four or five years ago, people seemed adamant that a screenplay should be no more than 120 pages the clear suggestion was that anything longer would instantly get the script tossed out, before it was even read.
It seems to me I'm now seeing more movies, especially complex dramas and some political thrillers, that go over two hours. Has Hollywood loosened up a little can I go, say, to 130 pages, or even 135 pages, and still be viewed as credible? My initial audiences will be readers at screenplay competitions, and (I hope, optimistically) agents who respond favorably to my query letter for my latest script.

Feedback would be much appreciated.
Steve O.
"Spying On The College Of Your Choice" How to pick the college that is the Best Match for a high school student's needs. www.SpyingOnTheCollegeOfYourChoice.com

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[nq:1]I've been writing screenplays for a while now no sales yet, but I'm trying to hone my craft. The ... readers at screenplay competitions, and (I hope, optimistically) agents who respond favorably to my query letter for my latest script.[/nq]
First, the length of the film you see has little relationship to the length of the screenplay that it originated from. Second, the people who write almost all the movies you see are established writers, generally working on assignment, so their reading audience are studio executives who know what they can do, and have probably already paid for their work. That's a very different situation from yours (or mine), where we're trying to just get some attention with our writing. And third, yes the standard for length of screenplay HAS changed. It's gone down. You should be shooting for 110 pages.
Regardless of whether you're approaching agents and prodcos or submitting your work to contests, don't think about what you can get away with, think about what the readers want to see. And what they generally want to see is a story that's as lean and mean and succinctly told as possible.

Alan Brooks

A with an Underwood
Size matters.
MWSM FAQ: http://www.panix.com/~mwsm/faq.html
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[nq:1]I've been writing screenplays for a while now no sales yet, but I'm trying to hone my craft. The ... optimistically) agents who respond favorably to my query letter for my latest script. Feedback would be much appreciated. Steve O.[/nq]
Hello Steve O.,
Not that I know anything about it, but I thought scripts were heading in the other direction. (105 to 110 pages.)
In general I don't like the longer movies I just don't think "longer" equates to "more story" and at any rate, I think those screenplays are being written by established writers.

Write a good story that can be shown in a movie in 90 minutes and you'll be my new hero.
Good luck.

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Opposite. Scripts are getting shorter.
Start rewriting.
- Bill

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[nq:2]I've been writing screenplays for a while now no ... my latest script. Feedback would be much appreciated. Steve O.[/nq]
[nq:1]Hello Steve O., Not that I know anything about it, but I thought scripts were heading in the other direction. ... good story that can be shown in a movie in 90 minutes and you'll be my new hero. Good luck.[/nq]
Just on a personal note, I've noticed that some of my favourite films over the past years have been the longer ones. "Lord of the Rings" is obviously a tentpole example. But there was also "Der Untergang/Downfall" and the Japanese arthouse "Nobody Knows". Having said that, I wouldn't try and foce one through as a first sale!

M

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[nq:1]I've been writing screenplays for a while now no sales yet, but I'm trying to hone my craft. The ... optimistically) agents who respond favorably to my query letter for my latest script. Feedback would be much appreciated. Steve O.[/nq]
If anything, 120 pages these days strikes people as too long. 105-110 is closer to the average.
As for longer movies it doesn't necessarily follow, despite the so-called "minute a page" rule, that a 200 minute movie was based on a
200 page screenplay.

In my experience (although it obviously depends on the script) the real average is less than a minute a page. If you take a 110 page script and compare it to its final screen version, the final version will not only as a rule be more than 110 minutes, but will generally have a number of scenes missing.
I don't know whether this is actually different from the way it was in the distant past, but it certainly seems to be true now.

And no, it's not acceptable for you to exceed 120 pages.

Even in assignment scripts, the maximum page length is contractually determined (just as the number of minutes of a final film is contractually determined for directors) and that is usually 120 pages.
NMS

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@reader2.panix.com:
[nq:1]Just on a personal note, I've noticed that some of my favourite films over the past years have been the ... and the Japanese arthouse "Nobody Knows". Having said that, I wouldn't try and foce one through as a first sale![/nq]
I loved "Nobody Knows". I've probably seen over 30 far Eastern films in
2005 and "Nobody Knows" gets my vote.

Probably my film of the year.

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No, it seems over the last few years scripts are getting shorter. It seems about the norm now is 110 pages, in fact many readers claim they won't read it if it's longer. 110 is the new 120. A 130 page script probably wouldn't get read by anyone unless you knew the (established) person well.

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[nq:1]I've been writing screenplays for a while now no sales yet, but I'm trying to hone my craft. The ... Your Choice" How to pick the college that is the Best Match for a high school student's needs. www.SpyingOnTheCollegeOfYourChoice.com[/nq]
Hey, go for 150 pages, or even 175. If you write one smaller than that it doesn't have quite the impact when you march into their office and smack them upside with it when they turn it down.
By the way, should the above scenario occur, please notify us in advance because we don't get out enough and need some occasional entertainment.

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When I read for the Austin competition, the fat scripts tended to get left on the shelf until the end of the reading period, along with the ones in weird bindings. Try imagining ~~pallet loads~~ of scripts from which you will pull a few to read. You quickly learn to use every external cue to start filtering.
TW

Screenplay length -- have the "rules" loosened up at all?

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