Page One: ‘The Usual Suspects’ (1995)

Written by Christopher McQuarrie

The movie version of the opening:

The movie closely aligns with the script. Good thinking by director Bryan Singer seeing as the screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie went on to win an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Here is McQuarrie’s Oscar acceptance speech:

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.