Spec Script Sale: “The Outsider”
Warner Bros. with preemptive purchase of spec script “The Outsider” from writer Andrew Baldwin. Per Variety:
Story’s based on an American who’s a prisoner of war in Japan during World War II and becomes a member of the Yakuza, the highly organized Japanese crime syndicate.
Art Linson and son John Linson, who came up with the idea, will produce.
So here’s how this may have worked: Producer comes up with story idea. Producer talks with agents about idea to see who would be a good fit to write it. Agency sets up meeting with their writer client and producer. They hit it off. Writer works on spec with producer’s input. Producer and reps ‘slip’ the script to Warner Bros. for a read after having primed the pump there (i.e., pre-selling concept, how good the script is, etc). Studio reads it, then takes it off the market before it goes wide.
There was The Yakuza in 1974 (screenplay by Paul Schrader and Robert Towne) and all sorts of Japanese movies featuring the Yakuza. But I don’t think we’ve seen one in awhile, so probably good timing.
What’s interesting here is this is a period piece circa WWII. Maybe the success of Captain America helped with the sale. And just maybe period won’t scare off studios as much as it has, acting on CW that young adult and teen males don’t like period movies.
In any event, congratulations Andrew Baldwin.
Baldwin is repped by CAA.
By my count, this is the 53rd spec script to sell in 2011.
The 53rd spec script didn’t sell in 2010 until December 6th.
Spec script sales are up 71% this year over last.