Script Intelligence
The anatomy of a produced screenplay.
We measured 428 produced feature screenplays, 2000-2026. The median script runs 117 pages and 124 scenes, moves through 62 locations, and has 42 detected speaking characters. These are separate medians, not one representative script.
Published 13 August 2026 · Measured with engine 1.5 · Snapshot anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-09-v5 · Methodology
Key findings
- The median produced feature runs 117 pages; half of the eligible sample sits between 106 and 131 (n=428).
- Scenes are short: the median script’s typical scene is 4 eighths of a page, roughly half a page for this per-script measure (n=401).
- The median script uses 62 distinct locations and plays 62% of its scenes indoors (n=401).
- 42 characters speak in the median measured script; the median share attributed to its largest speaking part is 29.2% of the dialogue (n=233).
- Dialogue outweighs action on the page: 1.13 lines of dialogue for every line of action at the median (n=395).
How long a produced feature actually is.
The famous rule of thumb says a page a minute and a hundred and twenty pages. In this eligible sample, the middle half of script lengths spans 25 pages, with an upper quartile of 131.
View data table
| Interval | Scripts |
|---|---|
| 60 to <70 | 1 |
| 70 to <80 | 4 |
| 80 to <90 | 17 |
| 90 to <100 | 42 |
| 100 to <110 | 78 |
| 110 to <120 | 93 |
| 120 to <130 | 72 |
| 130 to <140 | 46 |
| 140 to <150 | 26 |
| 150 to <160 | 15 |
| 160 to <170 | 16 |
| 170 to <180 | 6 |
| 180 to <190 | 5 |
| 190 to <200 | 2 |
| 200 to <210 | 2 |
| 210 to <220 | 1 |
| 220 to <230 | 1 |
| 230 to <240 | 0 |
| 240 to <250 | 0 |
| 250 to <260 | 1 |
| Total eligible scripts | 428 |
median 117; eligible n=428. Intervals include the lower bound and exclude the upper bound. The final “or more” interval, where shown, includes the grouped tail.
Page count, n=428 eligible produced features 2000-2026 · snapshot anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-09-v5
The package also retains a median modelled runtime of 117 minutes (n=395). This is an estimate from script composition, not observed film length. The model has not been validated on this full cohort; see the runtime assumptions and limits.
How scene length varies across scripts.
The median scene count is 124 (n=401). Scene length is a separate measure: we take each script’s median scene length, then the median across those scripts. That result is 4 eighths of a page (n=401). It does not mean half of all individual scenes have that length.
View data table
| Interval | Scripts |
|---|---|
| 1 to <2 | 17 |
| 2 to <3 | 75 |
| 3 to <4 | 101 |
| 4 to <5 | 60 |
| 5 to <6 | 64 |
| 6 to <7 | 31 |
| 7 to <8 | 14 |
| 8 to <9 | 10 |
| 9 to <10 | 7 |
| 10 to <11 | 4 |
| 11 to <12 | 7 |
| 12 or more | 11 |
| Total eligible scripts | 401 |
median 4; eligible n=401. Intervals include the lower bound and exclude the upper bound. The final “or more” interval, where shown, includes the grouped tail.
Median scene length per script, in eighths of a page; scripts above 12 eighths grouped at the right, n=401 eligible produced features 2000-2026 · snapshot anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-09-v5
View data table
| Interval | Scripts |
|---|---|
| 20 to <40 | 9 |
| 40 to <60 | 16 |
| 60 to <80 | 30 |
| 80 to <100 | 67 |
| 100 to <120 | 61 |
| 120 to <140 | 58 |
| 140 to <160 | 51 |
| 160 to <180 | 37 |
| 180 to <200 | 20 |
| 200 to <220 | 15 |
| 220 to <240 | 10 |
| 240 to <260 | 7 |
| 260 to <280 | 5 |
| 280 to <300 | 4 |
| 300 to <320 | 5 |
| 320 or more | 6 |
| Total eligible scripts | 401 |
median 124; eligible n=401. Intervals include the lower bound and exclude the upper bound. The final “or more” interval, where shown, includes the grouped tail.
Scene count; scripts above 320 scenes grouped at the right, n=401 eligible produced features 2000-2026 · snapshot anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-09-v5
62 places, mostly indoors, mostly daylight.
The median measured script moves through 62 distinct places. Rooms within one building are counted as one place, so this is a measure of worlds, not slugline variants.
View data table
| Interval | Scripts |
|---|---|
| 0 to <15 | 7 |
| 15 to <30 | 35 |
| 30 to <45 | 56 |
| 45 to <60 | 85 |
| 60 to <75 | 88 |
| 75 to <90 | 42 |
| 90 to <105 | 28 |
| 105 to <120 | 27 |
| 120 to <135 | 14 |
| 135 to <150 | 10 |
| 150 to <165 | 2 |
| 165 or more | 7 |
| Total eligible scripts | 401 |
median 62; eligible n=401. Intervals include the lower bound and exclude the upper bound. The final “or more” interval, where shown, includes the grouped tail.
Unique locations; scripts above 165 locations grouped at the right, n=401 eligible produced features 2000-2026 · snapshot anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-09-v5
62%
of scenes play interior on the median script
Middle half: 53% to 72%
n=401 eligible features
60%
of time-stamped scenes play in daylight
Middle half: 45% to 72%
n=354 eligible features
Big casts, concentrated voices.
42 characters speak in the median measured script. Separately, the median share of dialogue attributed to a script’s largest speaking part is 29.2%. “Speaking characters” counts detected character cues, not principal roles; extraction can occasionally split one name or misread a line as a cue.
View data table
| Interval | Scripts |
|---|---|
| 0 to <10 | 3 |
| 10 to <20 | 16 |
| 20 to <30 | 34 |
| 30 to <40 | 55 |
| 40 to <50 | 56 |
| 50 to <60 | 30 |
| 60 to <70 | 15 |
| 70 to <80 | 11 |
| 80 to <90 | 6 |
| 90 to <100 | 3 |
| 100 to <110 | 1 |
| 110 or more | 3 |
| Total eligible scripts | 233 |
median 42; eligible n=233. Intervals include the lower bound and exclude the upper bound. The final “or more” interval, where shown, includes the grouped tail.
Speaking characters; scripts above 110 characters grouped at the right, n=233 eligible produced features 2000-2026 · snapshot anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-09-v5
29.2%
of all dialogue belongs to the largest part on the median script
Middle half: 23% to 35%
n=233 eligible features
1.13
lines of dialogue per line of action on the median script
Middle half: 0.77 to 1.59
n=395 eligible features
The shape of each genre.
The middle bands overlap on many measures. For length, the page-count comparison below identifies the longest and shortest medians. These are patterns in this sample, not requirements for a genre.
View data table
| Genre | Eligible n | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Action | 53 | 116 | 128 | 152 |
| Thriller | 30 | 114.25 | 126 | 138.25 |
| Sci-Fi | 32 | 109 | 121 | 139.5 |
| Romance | 25 | 103 | 117 | 130 |
| Drama | 105 | 103 | 115 | 138 |
| Animation/Family | 41 | 101 | 115 | 128 |
| Comedy | 66 | 107 | 114 | 120.75 |
| Horror | 46 | 100 | 110 | 117.75 |
| Fantasy | 17 | Not shown | Not shown | Not shown |
| Crime | 13 | Not shown | Not shown | Not shown |
The middle half lies between the lower and upper quartiles. Results below n=20 are not shown. These ranges describe this corpus, not a target or quality score.
n per genre shown beside each label · 2000-2026 · snapshot anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-09-v5 · dot: median; band: middle 50%
Fantasy, Crime are measured but held back until they reach 20 eligible scripts for a measure: publishing a median over a handful of titles invites more confidence than the sample can carry. They unlock as the corpus grows.
What this means for a working writer.
The middle 50% is the range between the lower and upper quartiles. Half of this sample sits outside that band. Being inside it does not establish quality, and being outside it does not identify a problem. Use a comparison to frame a question about your draft, not as a target to write towards.
The sample is selective: available produced scripts often come from awards campaigns, and draft formats vary. Genre groups overlap. These figures cannot tell you whether a particular scene works, how a reader will respond, or whether a script will be produced.
Methodology in brief
- Cohort: Produced feature screenplays released 2000-2026, measured from the file we hold, excluding parses the engine rated low confidence. 129 of 557 corpus scripts were excluded, each with a stated reason, listed in the snapshot manifest.
- Structural counts come from a deterministic measurement engine (v1.5). Runtime is a fitted estimate. Repeatability does not prove extraction accuracy. No AI judgement scores or user scripts are included.
- Figures are medians with interquartile ranges. Genre cells below n=20 are suppressed. Publicly available produced scripts skew toward acclaimed titles, so this cohort describes produced screenwriting as it survives publication, not a random sample of everything shot.
What is on your pages?
Upload your screenplay to see its page, scene, location and speaking-part counts. The measurements and their export are available on the free plan, without an AI analysis. Use this research as context, not a score your draft needs to match.
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Publication history
Source review of all 448 in-range held files corrects draft writing credits and public provenance. Nine previously included files are removed after source-identity or screenplay-extent checks, leaving 428 features. Shared cue-quality checks and 68 targeted source-page reviews withhold suspect measurement families; the No One Will Save You exception is withdrawn. Median PDF pages is 117 (n=428), scenes 124 (n=401), locations 62 (n=401), and speaking characters 42 (n=233). Page counts include cover and front matter. This is a targeted review, not a whole-corpus accuracy estimate. Prior releases remain unchanged.
437 features; Nell excluded, Memory identified as the 2023 drama, and figures use eligible samples. Median 117.5 pages (n=436).
Introduced measurement-family exclusions. Nell and Memory metadata were later corrected in v4; original histograms did not apply these exclusions.
Expanded to 438 scripts. This version predates measurement-family guards.
268 produced feature scripts.
Use this research
The PreList Industry Intelligence (2026). "The Anatomy of a Produced Screenplay." Cohort: 428 produced feature screenplays, 2000-2026; eligible n varies by measure. Snapshot anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-09-v5. https://www.theprelist.io/research/anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay (version: https://www.theprelist.io/research/versions/anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-09-v5)
Licensed CC BY 4.0: reuse the figures, charts and dataset with attribution and a link back to this page. Snapshot anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-09-v5; every number above traces to it.