I just threw away ACT III of a screenplay because it was too much like a famous movie. I don’t know if I was subconsciously influenced or whether I just had the same idea.
I am obsessed with having original ideas. This is the 2nd time I have abandoned an idea cuz I have seen something similar.
I have been told that multiple variations of the same theme is what drives this business.
Yet, I can’t, just can’t. Is this my wasted quixotic quest?
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I'd concentrate on execution and point of view.
When you throw things out don't actually throw them out. Save them just in case.
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Peter, Sinatra, Stristand, Bennet, have sung the same song. But is it really the same? It's who we are that makes the same thing different.
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All stories have long been told.
It does not matter if your story, or just a third act, looks like something already seen. What is important is to find that miraculously "the same but different"!
As Lou said.
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I'm like yourself but have come to the conclusion that most ideas have all been done. Just put your own stamp on it, or a different angle on the story and you'll be fine.
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I agree with Stevan Šerban and David Whelan . If we stopped writing because we see it's already been done, we'd never get anywhere.
Read this post by executive Anna Marton Henry. She tackles this issue head on. And I love her take. This summer, I'm producing a pilot I wrote. One of the characters regularly runs heroin across the Canadian border. I wrote this before Ozark. While the stories differ in a zillion ways, I worried that the heroin aspect would be a turn off. But everything has been done. It's how YOU write it and pitch it that sells it.
https://www.stage32.com/blog/How-to-Tackle-an-Idea-Thats-Already-Been-Do...
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What makes you passionate about the story? What's the theme that drives it? If you're delivering your theme with the passion I'm sure you have then don't sweat it. Get it done, and be proud :-)
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I think if memorable characters drive an entertaining, moving and engaging story, then the third act is going to be their unique third act, no matter if the seemingly mismatched couple end up being a perfect fit after all; the dog finds his way home; or if the bad guy seeking revenge against the other bad guys kills them all.
Films are generational, too.
Also, taking the established tropes of any genre or subgenre and using them with new and unique characters in a new and unique setting with new and unique action and twists is what sustains storytelling. The last few films I've watched - John Wick 2, Taking Woodstock, The Cooler, Atomic Blonde, 68 Kill, and Love and Other Drugs - do that quite well.
Best fortunes in your creative endeavors, Peter!
you gotta come from somewhere... !
besides... not everyone has seen all movies...