By Steven Hartman · July 29, 2024
What is it about prisoners that makes them ideal for storytelling? Maybe it’s the way they long for freedom, how they are placed in situations where they’re constantly in survivor mode, or it’s building humanity in a place that’s designed to take it away. Regardless, the prison movie genre has been an artistic study in film and television for decades. They’ve won Academy Awards and have become fan favorites.
These screenplays are must-reads for those looking to write prison movies or want to see how professional screenwriters created an ensemble piece with a group of unique and exciting characters.
Screenplay by: Pierre Boulle
A group of British prisoners of war in World War II are used as slave labor by their Japanese captors to build a bridge over a river. The strategic railway bridge can help the Japanese continue fighting. Naturally, the POWs want to sabotage these efforts. However, a colonel is eager to use this opportunity to raise the morale of his fellow prisoners through hard work and a successful conclusion to this project. But as he strives to accommodate the enemy, his men wonder what the true motives are and whether they should continue aiding their captors.
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Screenplay by: Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson
Luke (Paul Newman) is a man who doesn’t like authority so locking him up in prison for a couple of years on vandalism charges doesn’t go over with him so well. From day one he’s eager to show he’s not one to take commands lying down. The warden’s goal is to break Luke and get him to conform to society’s rules, but that’s easier said than done. Whether it’s proving he can eat 50 boiled eggs or getting the chain gang to work fast so the guards have no reason to abuse the prisoners, Luke refuses to break—that won’t stop the authorities from trying.
Download the script!Read More: Movies About Sticking It to the Man
Screenplay by: Tracy Keenan Wynn
When Paul (Burt Reynolds), a former pro quarterback, gets into trouble with the law, he’s forced to spend 18 months in a state prison. When the warden, who has a semi-pro football team of prison guards, all but orders the QB to build a prison team to play against them, he is forced to create a team out of the best players he can find. Paul slowly brings prisoners on board but realizes that criminals aren’t the most trustworthy or easy-going group of people. Nonetheless, this multi-multi-hyphenate movie was a big hit in the 1970s and spawned a few sequels.
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Screenplay by: Frank Darabont
For a movie that’s beloved by so many it’s hard to imagine that The Shawshank Redemption (1994) barely made $30 million worldwide at the box office. This film became a massive hit after the fact as it follows Andy (Tim Robbins), who is sent to prison for murdering his wife. While inside, he befriends a mentor and turns the dreary prison life into a somewhat tolerable place. As he assists the guards and even the warden with accounting (his specialty on the outside), he and his prison pals are offered new freedoms. But being innocent, he knows he doesn’t belong and bides his time until he can redeem himself in the walls of the Shawshank Prison.
Screenplay by: David Weisberg, Douglas Cook, and Mark Rosner
Want a high-concept story idea? A group of mercenaries take over Alcatraz and threaten to launch biological weapons if their ransom isn’t paid. The Rock (1996) changed action movies as Michael Bay went all out in his second movie to show his ability to direct a $100 million summer blockbuster.
Its action set pieces through San Francisco and Alcatraz are still jaw-dropping nearly 30 years later. The Rock is about an unlikely duo: the only man to have ever escaped Alcatraz and a bumbling scientist, played by Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage, respectively, who must break into the prison and prevent the biological weapons from launching.
Screenplay by: Scott Rosenberg
OK, here’s another high-concept idea. The country’s most dangerous criminals take over the airplane transferring them to a maximum-security prison. Nicolas Cage plays Cameron, the paroled prisoner hitching a ride home on the doomed flight where a group of highly-intelligent, capable, and ruthless criminals hatch a plan to gain their freedom. As an Army Ranger, Cameron’s conscious gets the best of him, so he decides to wrestle back control of the airplane and save the day.
This film was fun, action-packed, and filled with a murderer’s row of amazing actors.
Screenplay by: Frank Darabont
Coming off the home video and cable success of The Shawshank Redemption, Darabont took a crack at another Stephen King short story set in prison.
The Green Mile (1999) was a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at life on death row following a group of guards and the inmates who are destined for the electric chair. When a large yet gentle inmate enters their life, they realize that he has supernatural abilities to heal people with a touch of his hand. Now, this no longer feels like a job to the guards but something much more.
Screenplay by: Joel and Ethan Coen
Based on Homer’s epic poem, three bumbling idiots go on a wild adventure that begins with prison and continues on an odyssey in search of treasure and a way back home.
After breaking out of a prison chain gang, the trio of criminals evade the law while encountering several Odyssey-ish characters including sirens and a cyclops. Ulysses (George Clooney), the leader of the group, aims to get his estranged wife back and reclaim his role as paterfamilias while trying to keep the other two in line. This movie is about as Coen Brothers-esque as can be.
Read More: Why Has There Never Been a Genuine Biopic of Shakespeare?
Screenplay by: David Scarpa and Graham Yost
When a former general enters a military prison, he only wants to do his time and then move on. Unfortunately, a scared yet sadistic warden wants to prove he’s the leader of the prison and will do whatever is necessary to maintain control. The general is OK with this until he can no longer turn his back on the corruption and manipulative ways that the warden keeps the prisoners in line. The general gets talked into building his army of disgraced, imprisoned soldiers and decides to rise against the cruel warden.
Screenplay by: John Requa and Glenn Ficarra
Writing a movie based on a true story often relies on finding stories that are stranger than fiction. I Love You, Phillip Morris (2009) is a tale based on real events about a police officer who, after getting into a car accident, reassesses his life. This involves coming out as gay (he was married to a woman) and going on a bit of a crime/con-man streak. This lands him in prison where he meets the new love of his life.
This movie is about the lies people tell and the fraud they’re willing to commit when it comes to love and freedom. This movie didn’t make a big splash at the box office but the script is worth a read, especially since it got Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor to star as the two lovers.
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Perhaps the most engaging concept behind most prison movies is the notion that so many characters dream of being somewhere else, but there are always forces at work to keep them in place. These prison films show the dark corners of humanity and enlightening moments of hope and optimism. In many ways, it’s like being trapped in a writer’s mind.
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