I've decided that my next screenplay will be a sports one. It's going to be a hockey script, to be exact. The problem I'm having is coming up with the premise to get me started! What I mean by this is that I can't think of a fresh sports idea. Anyone have any tips as to coming up with an original premise for a hockey (or sports in general) script?

A young hockey player turns pro.  He's an overnight sensation... thanks to the advanced scientific technology of a hockey player from the future!

That's all I got.  Sorry.


Phil

That was pretty nice dogglebe. How about:

A young hockey player turns pro. Suddenly he starts to turn out bad. Like he can't even make a shot. So he asks a scientist to give him a bust. When gets that bust he is better then any other player. But a detective gets suspicius. So can the hockey player play a good game and keep his little secret an acual secret.  8) 8) 8) 8)

Just figure out the bust part. 8)

As an avid Hockey fan and a guy who lives in Leafs Nation and also the fact i've seen most of the hockey related films ever made and must say I like the comedic childrens films like Mighty Ducks.

For hockey subjects anyway... I think they did a good job with that trilogy.

They haven't made a film like that since that I remember or that really mattered so maybe you could use that and go for a less simplistic, straight forward on the nose as that and people will enjoy it.

As people have said, no idea is original but you can take an idea that already exists like teenagers on a hockey team and go in whatever direction you feel like.

Is there such a thing as a fresh sports script idea? Even 'the team losing the big game' has gotten pretty worn out recently.

Not really which is why I suggested what I did, I'd watch another teen driven hockey film with different events if you will. Hockey fans generally don't care about the films made around it unless it's about a sports hero which most aren't.

I'd take a group of hockey players and follow them through the process as I think the best way to get into the hearts of people is a solid story with great strong characters they can relate to or care about.

How about you have a losing hockey team and their biggest fan is a young boy who one day visits a weird old antique shop where he discovers a "magic puck" in an old chest and it gives his pet monkey the ability to be a great hockey player and the pet monkey becomes their star player and they start winning games until a mean guy from the circus decides he wants the monkey for himself and he kidnaps the monkey the night before the big game...

*sigh*

I'm kinda' with Impulse on this one.  Unless you've got something really, really fresh, this well has pretty much run dry.

On the bright side, however, Wesley has a good point. This is one of those genres that at long as you don't plagiarize previous movies, the fans of the films will come. Just like zombie fans will crawl out of their graves to watch the next zombie flick, fans of sports movies tend to do the same. They come to see their team win, and sometimes it is better to give the people what they want, rather than trying to be overly fresh and original.

Thanks for replying, guys. You've made some great points and offered up some...interesting ideas (cough dogglebe cough bert cough). I think I'm going to continue on with the hockey script, I just have to finalize the direction I want it to go in. Once again, thanks guys, you've been a big help to me. :)

I was being a little sarcastic with my time-travelling idea.

How about a story about a team of zombie hockey players.  That'd be pretty sweet.


Phil

Okay, this may be because I’m a woman or whatever but I can’t stand Hockey and I can tell you that everyone does not understand this game.

I’ll tell you a little personal story and then I’ll give you an idea that would perhaps interest me to see.

PERSONAL STORY
One day, guys at work were watching a hockey game. I looked at the screen and saw two men punching each other profusely. When I say punching each other, I mean this would have killed an ordinary man. I mean, they were dishing out and sustaining death blows!

I was appalled. The first thing I said was what I thought any rational human being would say. “My God! Why doesn’t someone stop this!”

A male co-worker then informed me that it was actually allowed. Further inquiry revealed that the men were actually given a certain period of time to fight!

I couldn’t believe it.

IDEA
I NEVER go to sports themed films as a general rule unless it’s kiddie or family stuff. I might however go to a film about Hockey if it was, say, a satire on the violence of it. Say, for example, a comedy about someone who’s trying to get a law passed to ban some of the violence, a story about someone who is hurt, killed, or brain damaged during a game.

Or a satire on the violence involving the violence of fans.

Or a futuristic satire sort of like “Rollerball.”

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that there is an audience to reach out to if you want to do something that hasn’t been done before.

How about a movie about a golden retreiver that plays hockey.  You can call it 'Bud Ice.'


Phil

Quoted from dogglebe How about a story about a team of zombie hockey players.  That'd be pretty sweet.

That's it.  Write 'Mutant League Hockey'.

Then you've got your fresh, unique, hockey script, and you can play off of the video games being made into movies craze.


My other idea is to have your main character be an enforcer.  All he does is get into fights and rarely score, but he's the most popular guy on the team.  You could have another guy on the team who's a 50 goal scorer, be the jealous antagonist.

Are you looking to write a comedy, drama?

Quoted from Shelton My other idea is to have your main character be an enforcer.  All he does is get into fights and rarely score, but he's the most popular guy on the team.

If I knew anything about hockey then I'd write something about that.

Quoted Text How about a story about a team of zombie hockey players.  That'd be pretty sweet.

Okay, I’m probably going to regret saying this but I might actually go see a movie about zombie hockey players.

They could knock each other’s limbs off and stuff.

For that matter, getting off the subject (sorry) but how about a movie where zombies are struggling for acceptance in society. -- haha

People are prejudiced against them and they’re struggling for the right to vote and be recognized as citizens!

“The Million Zombie March”

Now I’d go see that movie.

I don't think a monkey playing hockey would work Bert as it has already been done... It was a kiddie film where this Monkey escaped a lab, found the kid and they started playing hockey together. long story short those types of films just aren't appealing as they are dumbed down entertainment that do not appeal to sports fans on a whole.

I still think to follow a bunch of kids like The Mighty Ducks which had Emilio Estevez, Joshua Jackson and Elden Henson to name a few was a well acted/scripted hockey film.

They got a trilogy so they had to have done something right.

Maybe a zombie hockey film could work, depends on which direction you want to go in.

[quote=Wesley_Faelyn]I don't think a monkey playing hockey would work Bert as it has already been done... It was a kiddie film where this Monkey escaped a lab, found the kid and they started playing hockey together.
[\quote]

I think bert was being sarcastic.  I hope.

Please don't tell me that Higg was the only one who picked up on that...

And Wes, the words, "a monkey playing hockey...has already been done..."

Well...it just brought tears to my eyes.  I must find this film, and then I can die happy.  

I seen it on family (The network) awhile back this year though so it's probably not old but I do not actually know the name of it.

MVP
"most valuable primate"

That's probably it, the synopsis sounds a little familiar and I guess how many monkeys playing hockey films would they have made.

I hope only this one.  God i hope only this one.

Quoted from dogglebe How about a movie about a golden retreiver that plays hockey.  You can call it 'Bud Ice.' Phil

But then the dog gets hip displacement the week before the big game! But, thankfully, his hockey-despising owner is there and in a hockey-training montage, he learns the game and wins, and learns the value of team work!