Sorry i see you moved with the discussion but i can't be here as much to follow. So here it is my review. Yes Breanne i read it .

It was a good read and I enjoyed it alot. There's so much to talk about this script but the first thing I should point is that the secret of this script is to look how simple it is..  Clearly this is no Sixth Sense, but in the romantic comedy genre it will work fine.

I see some of you thought of why executives would put their money on this one. I think because it’s a fresh take on the comedy genre. Personally I haven't seen a script that concentrates with the idea of brother protecting sister from boys. Have you? To me this is marketable, and is new?
The script’s title is also marketable. Imagine the posters around the city with Drew going behind some girls while his head looks at Mandy on the other side of the poster followed by dozens of boys and the title on top I WANT TO F___ YOUR SISTER? Every teenager will go watch it and even older persons. You see my point?

Another good example is 40 Years Old Virgin. When you read the title your like “Oh God”. This makes you watch the film which is a good comedy and a very successful one.  These comedies have new takes on the genre with something fresh. So now you understand why American Pie movies are going down down down down. How many are there 6 or 7?

CUT TO:

The writing was great, it made you read it fast. I like the way the writer puts the characters thought in the descriptions in italics. The dialogue was funny and smart. I love this line:

LANDON
You burned down the start of Charity
Season! With a fire so big it’s visible
on Google Maps...

Anyway if we talk about characters, i think both Drew and Mandy are the protagonists, even thought Drew has the more of the votes. There is nothing special about him, and you know since the first pages that he will change, at least I did. So to talk about Drew's story ark I would say he changes during the script more than the other characters. Even thought he protected Mandy since they were kids as Drew says himself, here he's facing something he might never thought. So it’s obvious that he doesn’t want Mandy to be like him.

In the beginning I thought that Mandy was some kind of those "nerd film girls" but she was intelligent and sexy . Even Mandy changes through the script, she comes in a big city and in her first minutes she gets robbed. I think Mandy looks at Drew as a inspiration and somehow tries to be like him in a good way till conflict arises.
I should point out that even the character of Aarjev has some changes. The way i see it Mandy influenced on him so during the end we learn he is going to take College lessons.

So, as I said to me the strongest thing this script has is its simplicity. The writing was good, which leads me into thinking that if written in a different way it could have failed.

I think it might be even the next "Juno", or am I exaggerating?

Cheers
Nik

A little background about the script for those who are curious.

Writer Melissa Stack has an MFA in Screenwriting from USC, a law degree from USC and a BA from Georgetown University.  Her pedigree is not that unusual for a lot of writers in Hollywood.  Some of the best educated people on the planet write "dumb" tv and movies.

Sister was bought for $300,000 against $600,000 by MTV Films and is set up with Paramount as the distributor.  Escape Artists is the production entity putting the film together.  If it goes, it's going to be directed by the directors who did Blades of Glory.  My guess is a budget that would top out at $25 million.  

Quoted from NiK Sorry i see you moved with the discussion but i can't be here as much to follow. So here it is my review. Yes Breanne i read it .

Nik, I had to keep things moving along for the people who were already participating. But there’s no point we passed we can’t go back to so that everyone can participate. So please feel free to go back to an earlier issue.

Quoted from NiK Personally I haven't seen a script that concentrates with the idea of brother protecting sister from boys. Have you? To me this is marketable, and is new?

I’ve seen this basic idea used many times. But no, I can’t recall a specific movie that concentrated solely on this premise.

But I also think the title versus execution might be a bit of a liability. Because this focuses almost solely on the brother/sister relationship. As a sort of familial film in the spirit of Meet The Parents, I think this can do well. It seems to me to even perhaps be a bit inspired by Meet The Parents. Rather than the father protecting his daughter, here we have the brother protecting his sister.

But Parents had a title that suggested what it was really about. If people go to Sister expecting what the title suggests, they may be disappointed. This story suggests early on that it will live up to the title. And it certainly has a lot of talk from people who talk as though they live up to the title. But I didn’t personally think it lived up to the title. Very few people actually tried to accomplish what the title suggests. The author’s view of men seems to be that they stay in a perpetual state of horniness. Fine but they seldom act on it in this script.

Quoted from NiK Even Mandy changes through the script, she comes in a big city and in her first minutes she gets robbed. I think Mandy looks at Drew as a inspiration and somehow tries to be like him in a good way till conflict arises.

I didn’t see Mandy as a character who had any flaws. She was nearly perfect in every way. She was beautiful, intelligent, desirable. She had ambition and prospects. She was loving and loyal. She had few if any reservations about dating Aarjev, a guy she had nothing in common with. Even her blind devotion to her brother didn’t really hurt her. What bad happened to her was brought upon her.

I often wondered whether the author really wanted her to be a three dimensional character or a hot chick to fill the scenery. When she was first on Wall Street, it looked as though perhaps she was just going to be a trophy swarmed by horny guys while Drew batted off their advances.

So maybe the lesson here is that as long as the story has structure (a clear protagonist with a clear goal, etc.) and the writing is interesting, anything else is overlookable.

Quoted from Verdugo A little background about the script for those who are curious. Writer Melissa Stack has an MFA in Screenwriting from USC, a law degree from USC and a BA from Georgetown University.  Her pedigree is not that unusual for a lot of writers in Hollywood.  Some of the best educated people on the planet write "dumb" tv and movies. Sister was bought for $300,000 against $600,000 by MTV Films and is set up with Paramount as the distributor.  Escape Artists is the production entity putting the film together.  If it goes, it's going to be directed by the directors who did Blades of Glory.  My guess is a budget that would top out at $25 million.

Thank you Verdugo. I had looked up some of the information you give. Some of it’s new to me. I appreciate it.


Breanne

Regarding the title... I agree 100%.

The title has nothing to do with what the movie is about. Attention grabber yes, but misleading for sure.

I do think the title needs to be changed, but at the same time, I think the title does represent the premise of the movie.

It's about guys wanting to land the center square, win at bingo, be grizzlies-- however you want to put it. It's about guys wanting to play the field and Drew exemplifies this trait that is common in men and it's all wrapped up inside of his character.

The idea that: Your girlfriend is also someone's sister is both the theme and it relates to Drew's coming into the light and recognizing this-- hence his grand (granted over the top) speech at the end. But this is the movies and we love to see what we know wouldn't happen in real life.

The title is obviously too course for the type of movie it is. Did I say that right? I don't know, but I think you know what I mean. It's has a tame quality about it-- meant to make fun of the stereotypes I think.

What would you name this movie?

Sandra

I just want to add a note about the craftiness that Melissa used in applying this title:

I want to ___ your sister.

Whose sister are we talking about here?

Answer:

Anybody's...

And Drew is the personification of many a man's inclinations.

Sandra

Quoted from Sandra Elstree. What would you name this movie?

I don’t think the title necessarily needs to be changed. I just don’t think it reflects the actual content of the film. Correct me if I’m wrong anyone, but I don’t recall a single scene where anyone actually tried to ____ his sister.

But this line of questioning is getting really close to “rewriting the script” and I don’t think we should try to do that. As has been mentioned in the past; This script sold -- as it is.

So maybe the question needs to be asked: How important is the title? Obviously it’s important. But how important? Can it make or break a script’s chances?


Breanne

Quoted from Breanne Mattson I don’t think the title necessarily needs to be changed. I just don’t think it reflects the actual content of the film. Correct me if I’m wrong anyone, but I don’t recall a single scene where anyone actually tried to ____ his sister. But this line of questioning is getting really close to “rewriting the script” and I don’t think we should try to do that. As has been mentioned in the past; This script sold -- as it is. So maybe the question needs to be asked: How important is the title? Obviously it’s important. But how important? Can it make or break a script’s chances? Breanne

I disagree here on a couple of points. Someone mentioned that the title is probably going to change; so I'm commenting here and I truly am curious.

I for one don't want to rewrite this script and I'm not at all talking about rewriting it. I'm following up with dialogue regarding the notion that the title will be adjusted.

Regarding the title and the premise of the movie:

As I mentioned in the above post, (And it's only my opinion) but I think it's clear: The "I want" part. Just because you want it, it doesn't mean you get it. It's the DESIRE that is depicted in this title-- love it or not.

No particular sister is mentioned. The "I" could be anyone. As a matter of fact, in this way, I think Melissa has turned "sister" into (not a noun) but a pronoun representing all women.

The meaning is both veiled, but explicit at the same time.

How important is the title? Tremendously important. Absolutely and without a doubt and perhaps the title to get "the reads" (at first) is perfect! Is it the perfect title for the theatres? I don't think so. But not for the reason that it doesn't fit with the premise because I think it does.

I only think it doesn't fit for the theatres because it's too heavy for the fun pokes this film makes and it's mood. It's just too much to be up on a flag pole waving in the breeze somewhere-- but I could see an "X" somewhere in the title. Why? because of it's perfect relationship to what I'm calling the key incident, to the game and because "X" means kiss and maybe a "real kiss" is what all ladies really need.

Sandra

Quoted from Sandra Elstree. I for one don't want to rewrite this script and I'm not at all talking about rewriting it. I'm following up with dialogue regarding the notion that the title will be adjusted.

Hey Sandra, I didn’t mean to insinuate you wanted to rewrite the script. I’m sorry for my poor choice of words. I was worried one thing would lead to another. I was afraid if we talked about giving it a new title, it might lead to talking about how to change the script. I think most agree the title is a grabber.

Quoted from Sandra Elstree. Regarding the title and the premise of the movie: As I mentioned in the above post, (And it's only my opinion) but I think it's clear: The "I want" part. Just because you want it, it doesn't mean you get it. It's the DESIRE that is depicted in this title-- love it or not. No particular sister is mentioned. The "I" could be anyone. As a matter of fact, in this way, I think Melissa has turned "sister" into (not a noun) but a pronoun representing all women. The meaning is both veiled, but explicit at the same time.

I think most people will expect from the title that they’ll see people trying to get their hands on his sister literally, not just desiring to. I could be wrong though.


Breanne

Quoted from Breanne Mattson Hey Sandra, I didn’t mean to insinuate you wanted to rewrite the script. I’m sorry for my poor choice of words. I was worried one thing would lead to another. I was afraid if we talked about giving it a new title, it might lead to talking about how to change the script. I think most agree the title is a grabber. I think most people will expect from the title that they’ll see people trying to get their hands on his sister literally, not just desiring to. I could be wrong though. Breanne

I think you're right on both counts here. Although, I might not intend to... one thing does easily lead to another. (To0 bad our scripts don't always write that easily LOL).

And I also agree with you that many people would take this title at face value.

Sandra

No, you're not wrong Breanne.

I thought the title promises a totally different script. I felt that although the script was good and I liked it, it let me down somewhat. I'm an "old" woman so I hate to say this, but I was hoping for a "raunchier" script. As far as that goes, this script was fairly lame, IMHO of course...

Quoted from Grandma Bear No, you're not wrong Breanne. I thought the title promises a totally different script. I felt that although the script was good and I liked it, it let me down somewhat. I'm an "old" woman so I hate to say this, but I was hoping for a "raunchier" script. As far as that goes, this script was fairly lame, IMHO of course...

I know where to go to get raunchier. I would just go back to one of my "in the works" drafts of Cielo which Zack initiated and it took a spin in another direction before it went into limbo due to a lack of seriousness on the part of some of the writers apparently involved.

Seriously though, (actually I was serious-- shy maybe, but serious) were you really expecting Marilyn Chambers? Deep Throat?

I honestly don't know what I was expecting, but I have to agree, I wasn't expecting it to be so tame. So what do you think is wrong here?

Or wait, I'm not supposed to ask what's wrong. What's right here?

Sandra

I think that the issue of "what a script promises" through its title and its packaging is a good one to pursue here. And it also brings on board Brea's questions earlier about marketing and salability.

It's why we sweat blood over loglines and titles.

I think that your point on this title NOT delivering the goods on what it appears to promise is a good one. It doesn't matter what critics want to "read" into it. It doesn't matter about veiled themes. What matters is delivering on a promise.

The audience will feel betrayed if the writer seems to promise one thing and then delivers another.

I am wondering how often "working titles" do actually change.

Sandra

About the title.

I think the title is a hook and a good one, but as you already pointed out it has nothing to do with the script.

I made a description of what it could be the poster of this movie, and i think it will grab most of the teenagers.

When i first heard about the script, i thought "Damn another American Pie SH!T". I was somehow surprised to see it was really different.

During the script nobody wanted to ____ her. But they had their eyes closed on her. I think these two are different meanings. While i was reading the script, i was waiting for a scene on which a guy takes Mandy to a motel or his apartment, and Drew comes to rescue her.

Anyway, this is just fine with me. I like it alot. And thanks to Verdugo for the infos.

Cheers
Nik

Here is something interesting.

I checked the 2007 Black List and this is the logline of I Want To F___ Your Sister:

“A young man goes to great lengths to protect his younger sister from
guys just like him"

What do you think. To me the logline is short and very attractive.

Cheers