Currently working on an idea for feature screenplay based on a true story that has family connections. It takes place in 1942 England, but while I like the idea of the story, I worry that this is a time and place that has been massively overdone. There's a daemon on my shoulder saying "don't waste your time, no-one wants to watch old world war 2 stories."
This isn't Oppenheimer or Zone of Interest - am I right to be concerned about the commerciality of the idea, or should I forget all that and just go for it?
Your thoughts, as ever, are very welcome.
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If it is a setting for a story, yes. But if it is a story about something we have seen many before, no.
For me, a setting is not a story. A story is about people that exist in a setting.
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All ideas are basically the same; it is the way writers execute ideas uniquely, make it stand out from the field of average storytellers. But I wouldnt do a WW2 movie as a debut. It is not impossible but just about everyone start small and work their way up to bigger ideas, bigger budgets. George Lucas didnt make Star Wars as his first feature, and your two examples, Oppenheimer & ZoI, are by writer-directors with track records. Not sure how many screenwriters start a career with a WW2 movie. (I think the co-screenwriter of 1917 was a newbie).
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Hi Steve - I think there’s a diehard audience for WW2 content - AppleTV+ just released Masters of the Air this past year with a lot of hype as well as Oppenheimer of course. But I agree with Craig that it should be an unknown story or fresh take like Zone of Interest.
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Thank you - all great comments. There's a challenge here: most stories follow the same kind of arcs, and the setting is something we've seen many times, so the challenge is to find a fresh way of telling this particular story. Hmm - I think you might guess from my tone that I'm wrestling with this, and TBH breaking the story, for me, is always the hardest part of writing. Maybe I'm not the only one.
Can anyone recommend resources that have helped them?
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I think these stories have a targeted audience that will surely watch them. Some people might watch it to learn more about WW2. To make it appealing to a large audience, we can add some information, knowledge, emotions, and anything relatable to human psychology. Then it can attract audience in larger numbers
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In my opinon Steve Mallinson there can never be enough WW2 films.
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Hi Steve Mallinson - some smart advice here. Period pieces are always more difficult to get made then contemporary fare but, like ZoI, if it’s something we haven’t seen before or a script that captures your pure voice then it’s always worth pursuing.
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While oversaturated, the appetite seems endless for WW2 content. Try to find a new angle or "take" on the era, that always helps. I've been seeing more of that in recent years, along with the WW2 stories becoming "smaller" and more personal. Not that you can't have big, wide scoping elements, but great character-grounded stories with unique perspectives on historical events will always be en vogue. Sounds like with your family connection, there's a still lot of meat on that bone for you to chew on.
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Steve-As a WW2 buff (history and movies) I can only reiterate what has been said previously: If it is a unique story, told well, with characters we can relate to then write it. whether it's been done before or not.
Example: The Great Escape, Stalag 17 and The Bridge on the River Kwai are some of the best of the POW movies of WW2. However, I though about writing a script about the 70 odd German soldiers who dug tunnels to escape from a POW camp called Island Farm near Bridgend, Wales. It's a fascinating story in it's own right, even if it involves soldiers who fought for the wrong cause. POW escape stories are not new, but each one is it's own story.
Good luck on your story!
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Even in the last decade, movies like Anthropoid, Phoenix, Fury, The Ministry of UnGentlemanly Warfare, The Catcher Was A Spy, Operation Mincemeat, The Exception, The Captain, Sisu, A Hidden Life, Resistance, etc. all took pretty cool new angles on the era focusing on stories of love, power, revenge, resistance, and cool missions across the european continent
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My best high school friend's father used to direct them so I would go watch them film sometimes. I don't think I ever watched them after they reached the theaters though. We were too busy chasing girls back then:) Those kind of movies usually cost a lot of money to film so that would be my biggest worry. The more a movie cost to film the harder they are to sell. Anyway if it were a spec screenplay that would probably be my biggest concern. However that is just my own opinion which probably doesn't mean much.
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Watching some great WWII doc series on Netflix lately. Scary reminders, but so well made. The colorized one, we tick the color setting to zero :-)