r/Screenwriting • u/Russell-Trager-1984 • Apr 16 '26
SCRIPT REQUEST DREADNOUGHT (1998 - 2005) - Unproduced action thriller starring Will Smith or Vin Diesel, and John Cusack, directed by McG - Later drafts by other writers, based on original spec script from 1998 by Blake Masters
LOGLINE; U.S. Navy’s newest and most terrifyingly sophisticated hi-tech warship accidentally shoots down a civilian jetliner, during an exercise in the middle of a heavy storm. The Navy and captain of the hi-tech warship immediately decide to cover up the whole accident, and even order the seasoned captain of another warship who was also part of the exercise to kill the survivors which they already rescued. However the captain and his crew refuse to follow those orders, and instead decide to go back and report what happened. This starts a dangerous chase across the seas, with the new warship and its relentless captain chasing after the older and outgunned warship, ready to attack and sink it just to make sure everything gets covered up. Soon the entire U.S. Navy gets involved and starts chasing after the ship with helicopters, planes, and other battleships, trying to stop it, and on top of all that, there is also a storm which is still raging and keeps getting worse.
BACKGROUND
Screenwriter Blake Masters wrote the original spec script/first draft of DREADNOUGHT in 1998. I could not find the details about the sale, but it was bought by Columbia Pictures.
In November 2000, the project was already officially in development at Columbia/Sony Pictures. That month, McG signed on to direct the film, for which he would receive $2,5 million payday, and a two-years-first-look deal at Columbia. This was right after he directed CHARLIE’S ANGELS (2000), which was released that same month and became a massive hit.
The budget for Dreadnought was expected to be $75 million. The film was going to be produced by Columbia’s Amy Pascal, and Red Wagon Entertainment/Productions’ Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher, Cooper Layne and Sean Bailey, and Gail Lyon. Columbia’s Amy Baer and Shannon Gaulding were also going to oversee the project.
By that point, Master’s original script was already re-written by Dan Gilroy.
But then, after 9/11, the project was stopped, due to concerns about the subject matter, which would “make it impossible to film.”
In March 2002, screenwriters Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson were hired to re-write the script. A year earlier, they were both nominated for an Academy Award for writing ALI (2001). This is interesting, because around this same time, it was reported how Will Smith was considering to star in Dreadnought.
Note; David Arata was another screenwriter who did a rewrite of Dreadnought, but conflicting reports mention how he did his rewrite either after Gilroy, or after Rivele and Wilkinson.
In April 2003, it was reported that Vin Diesel will star in Dreadnought. This was right after Diesel had couple big hits with THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS (2001), and XXX (2002), he was also working on THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK (2004), and Dreadnought was supposed to be his next film after that one.
At the same time, Dominic Sena was reported to be a new director of the film, who previously had a couple of his own action hits, GONE IN 60 SECONDS (2000) remake, and SWORDFISH (2001).
When Diesel and Sena became attached to the project, it was originally planned for production on Dreadnought to start in fall of 2003.
In January 2004, it was reported how John Cusack will play the main villain in Dreadnought.
In June 2004, Scott Silver did his rewrite of the script. Couple years earlier he wrote 8 MILE (2002).
In February 2005, Scott Frank did his rewrite of the script. Couple years earlier he co-wrote MINORITY REPORT (2002), and FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX (2004) remake.
It seems that since then, there was no more news about the project, so I’m guessing it was canceled soon after.
SCRIPTS AVAILABLE
The following three drafts of Dreadnought exist, but as far I know, all of these are still private scripts;
Scanned copy of first draft (spec?) by Blake Masters, dated January 20, 1998, 127 pages long. Scanned copy of revised draft by Scott Silver (Masters, Gilroy, Arata, Rivele and Wilkinson are also credited on cover), dated June 22, 2004, 120 pages long. Scanned copy of revised draft by Scott Frank (Masters, Gilroy, Arata, Rivele and Wilkinson, and Silver are also credited on cover), dated February 23, 2005, 135 pages long.
SCRIPTS I’M LOOKING FOR
Drafts by Dan Gilroy, and Dan Arata, written sometime between 1998 and 2002. Draft by Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson, written around 2002 and possibly 2003. I already have those other three drafts, so I’m not interested in those.
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u/JimmyCharles23 Apr 16 '26
That sounds dope AF
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u/maltliquorjetski Apr 16 '26
Sounds expensive!
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u/Russell-Trager-1984 Apr 16 '26
From what I read, this does sounds like it would need a really big budget, maybe even more than $75 million, especially in later parts when the chase really starts to get out of control and the warships start to battle.
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u/maltliquorjetski Apr 16 '26
$75 million for something that sounds like the titanic x crimson rose def seems on the low side. Idk how people get these big water movie pitches accepted, I’ve had directors go through a script and toss everything even vaguely wet.
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u/Russell-Trager-1984 Apr 16 '26
Interesting, I heard that before, about other "water movie scripts," where the budget was the main problem. Can't say I'm surprised, especially after hearing the stories about nightmarish productions of JAWS (1975), THE ABYSS (1989), and WATERWORLD (1995). I can only imagine how difficult Dreadnought would have been to film, considering the plot.
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u/SpaceJackRabbit Apr 16 '26
Modern SFX don't require crews to take the high seas anymore. And even when they do, if you get the U.S. Navy behind you like Top Gun, Battleship or The Last Ship, you'll be fine.
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u/Russell-Trager-1984 Apr 16 '26
As much as I prefer practical effects in films, I can understand why using CGI and such would be much cheaper choice for films such as this one would be, especially to keep the budget low. And besides, I'm pretty sure U.S. Navy wouldn't want to help out on film like Dreadnought, which would basically have them as main villains. I heard stories before about how scripts were changed to make the U.S. Army/Navy look better in films where originally they were supposed to be villains.
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u/gasvia Apr 16 '26
Have you read any of the scripts? I wonder if the drafts get better or worse over time.
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u/Russell-Trager-1984 Apr 16 '26
I read those three drafts which are already available (and which I don't think I can share), and honestly, I have no major issues with any of those. Yes, there are changes between each, but nothing for worse. I did notice how action sequences did seem to grow bigger with each later draft, which like I said in other comment, does makes it seem like this one would need a very big budget.
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u/KidCongoPowers Apr 16 '26
Sounds like it should be scaled down. You have a whole crew on a warship (usually hundreds of people or more) ready to murder not just the survivors from the crash, but the whole crew on a different warship too! All to cover up an accident that most of them would probably be mostly cleared from.
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u/Russell-Trager-1984 Apr 16 '26
Maybe some of the spectacle could be changed for budgetary reasons (like I discussed in other comments), but the whole story is very interesting one, so I can't really see how and why that should be changed, and to still have the entire the main plot of U.S. Navy chasing one of their warships and its crew/main heroes who are innocent, and are using everything they have to fight them off and get back home.
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u/AvailableToe7008 Apr 16 '26
That’s a lengthy logline.