How the 'Ferrari' script plays a sneaky trick on its readers.
In 2023, Deadline Hollywood released a plethora of scripts under its “Read the Screenplay” series. Included, was the script for each film nominated for Best Adapted and Original Screenplay at the Oscars, as well as other widely talked about films such as All of us Strangers, Priscilla, and Wonka. Naturally I perused the selection, and came upon an interesting discovery.
This post is about script length so I will preface by saying that, presently, I do not believe any film needs to be longer than two hours, and made for more than 30 million dollars. A big stance? Maybe? But I’d love to see us try. Spread the wealth as they say. Of course, there are films longer than two hours that I adore but often, I find that long films tend to be written and made by ego driven men who lack the ability to be non-emotional when it comes to cutting the fluff and respecting their audience. If you can’t pull it off in under two hours….maybe you just can’t pull it off.
Articles from outlets such as Vanity Fair, Variety, and Vox investigate why films are so long these days. However, I don’t buy the idea that we are butting up against film length because of a lack of focus or shortening of attention spans. I will watch your three hour movie if it is good, but I am not getting good three hour movies, I am getting Babylon (2022) and Oppenheimer (2023). I pinky promise a magnum opus can be well under two hours. For undeniable evidence please view the following:
The Color of Pomegranates (1 hour 19)
Songs from the Second Floor (1 hour 40)
Clockwatchers (1 hour 36)
Born in Flames (1 hour 20)
Included in the scripts released by Deadline, was the Michael Mann directed/co-written screenplay for Ferrari. Here is some backstory: Ferrari is a film that Michael Mann has been trying to get made for over twenty years. The original script was written by Troy Kennedy Martin, who passed away in 2009. Mann helmed the script and its changes from that point forward. Years ago, the director was reportedly offered a $40 million budget but declined due to wanted a larger sum to make the film. In the end, Ferrari was given a budget of $95 million, though it only grossed $43 million worldwide.
Ferrari was only 2 hours and 10 minutes long so, not much longer than my current maximum capacity. However, I will say, the film not only feels longer than its run time, but also feels like it takes something from you that you can never get back. I was pretty much infuriated the moment the film began. That anger increased with each inconsolable Penelope Cruz scene, and transformed into pure disbelief when I heard Shailene Woodly attempt an authentic Italian accent. Not to mention Adam Driver’s shallow emotional depth and an overall failure of the translation of stakes in a film all about risk.
When watching a film in theaters, I mark the exact time it starts so I can check timing on pacing, important moments, and overall structure. Title card at eighteen minutes? Interesting. I bet we’re forty-five minutes in. No? Only twenty-eight!? That’s a big reveal…and it happened at an hour twenty.
At home, I pause the film. While watching Ferrari I constantly paused to see how far along I was. I honestly could not believe there was always so much of the film left. I desperately wanted it to be over and even with it’s moderately agreeable run time, it DRAGGED. When I saw the script available on Deadline, I downloaded it right away. I scrolled to the bottom to see how many pages the frustratingly paced film was on paper.
One hundred and twenty-five pages…but the pdf counter showed I was on page 167/167. Where was the disconnect? How could a one hundred and twenty-five page script be one hundred and sixty-seven pages too? Then I started scrolling and realized that consistently throughout the script were additional A, B and sometimes even C pages. Parts of, or entire pages of dialogue and action umbrella’d under the page number before it.
How many of these additional segments were included? FORTY-TWO. I am clearly in my too-much-time era so, I took the liberty of typing out every single line on one of the additional A, B, or C pages to see how many additional full pages were added into the script without changing the length count. In total, the script fragments amount to an additional twelve pages. Which takes the script length from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and thirty-seven.
Why might this be? Well, let’s get serious. Why might an eighty-one year old director who has been trying to get this particular film made for over two decades, and who has seen multiple cast and financing regime changes try and sneak in twelve more pages? Pages that make the script forty-seven pages longer than the tight ninety we know and love? Oh, maybe because he is well aware that one hundred and twenty-five goes down a lot easier. Is an actor more likely to read a shorter script? An assistant more likely to pass one along? Are producers and financiers not immediately scrolling to the bottom of the script and looking at that pretty little number in the top right corner? Each additional page is an additional cost. Crew rates, meals, actors salaries or day rates, gear to rent, locations to secure, etc. Time is money, so why not sugar coat the medicine? And with it’s painful viewing experience and financial loss of over fifty million dollars, I would categorize Ferrari as a flop.
The additional pages past ninety effectively add up to an entire fourth act, and you can feel it. To me, it seems Mann is the kind of writer/director whose ethos is to make sure they get exactly want they want, even if it is at the cost of those around them. Regardless of passion, the dishonesty is not honorable. I recognize the effort of the con, but on this one, just be honest. Write your long script and be proud of it. The film industry incredibly fragile at the moment, and if we continue trying to patch the facade built during the so-called “glory days”, it will never survive. Have we forgotten the tale of the phoenix? Burn it all down and we will rise from the ashes.
My sweet dessert on this discovery is just how bad the additional pages were. They were filled with catchphrase dialogue, silly mistakes, surface level attempts to bolster character, and reality show level DRAMA. I implore you to read the script yourself. You’re in for some laughs.
Some of my favorite moments include:
The additional three pages of 111A, 111B, 111C and their aesthetic.
The character of Adalgisa being spelled Adelgesa on page 62A. Plus, who thought she needed to say that additional (V.O.) line?
Collins’ “shrugging philosophically” on page 64A.
Penelope Cruz not giving into her tears one IOTA! on page 79A.
The drama that is this line on 111B: “We glimpse in the wreckage and escaping steam from the destroyed car the crushed body DE PORTAGO. The hand of a YOUNG PRIEST places a holy wafer in the open mouth of ALFONSO DE PORTAGO’S head, torn from its body.”
I would also like to include two particular screenshots of the additional pages. The first reminds me of a road. Much like the one Enzo and his crazy band of characters dedicated their lives to. The second gives off a kind of serene topographical energy. Or maybe, it looks like a sound wave, perhaps the sound of my screams during the screening of the film?
Getting the right eyes on a script is a monumental challenge. There are thousands and thousands of talented writers, people with incredible connections, and less risk taken on new original stories. Any crew member agreeing to come aboard a project is a feat worth celebrating. But is all fair in love and movie making? Does the challenge of success warrant sneaky tactics? Wanting a project enough, isn’t enough. Getting a film made after developing it for twenty-years does not mean the script is better than others, the actors can finally deliver, or the director is prepared for the actuality of shooting. It’s all speculation until the first day on set. It is then that the true challenge begins. I have no doubt that Michael Mann and his collaborators on Ferrari could have found a way to cut the additional twelve pages without an ounce of the story being lost. Maybe it would have resulted in a better film. At the very least, it would have saved them a lot of money.
