Page One: “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986)

Written by John Hughes.

The movie version of the opening:

The movie is far different than the script version. The focus is directly on Ferris and there are two less kid characters — no Todd, no Kimberly. However, if you go to Page Three:

Urban legend: John Hughes supposedly wrote the entire script in six days.

Page One is a daily Go Into The Story series featuring the first page of notable movie scripts from the classic era to contemporary times. Comparing them is an excellent way to study a variety of writing styles and see how professional writers start a story.

For more Page One posts, go here.

You may follow the daily conversation on Twitter as I cross-post there: @GoIntoTheStory.