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Screenplay findings you can quote, charts you can reuse and data you can check. A reference for journalists, educators and researchers, with the limits kept in view.

For journalists and editors

The Anatomy of a Produced Screenplay measures structural features of 428 produced feature screenplay PDFs from 2000 to 2026. These findings describe this sample, not rules for writing a successful film.

Data release: 20 September 2026. Resource page updated: 3 November 2026. Each result below has its own eligible sample.

  • PDF pages

    Median 117; middle half 106 to 131. Eligible sample: 428 scripts.

    PDF pages include covers and other front matter.

  • Scenes

    Median 124; middle half 93 to 162. Eligible sample: 401 scripts.

    Scenes are detected from screenplay scene headings.

  • Dialogue lines per action line

    Median 1.13; middle half 0.77 to 1.59. Eligible sample: 395 scripts.

    This compares rendered lines, not words or screen time.

  • Named locations

    Median 62; middle half 45 to 84. Eligible sample: 401 scripts.

    Normalised names in scene headings, not a count of filming sites.

  • Detected speaking characters

    Median 42; middle half 31 to 54. Eligible sample: 233 scripts.

    Detected cues include minor speaking parts and can contain extraction errors.

Download findings and credits (TXT)Check the methods

Reusable charts

Download a PNG for publication or an SVG for resizing. Keep the caption, sample and source credit with the figure. The text and figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; screenplay text and third-party imagery are excluded.

The distribution of screenplay length

PDF page-count distribution across 428 produced features. Median 117; middle half 106 to 131 PDF pages, including front matter.
Source: The PreList, The Anatomy of a Produced Screenplay, release anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-09-v5. CC BY 4.0. Findings describe the sample, not a target for a draft.
Download The distribution of screenplay length (PNG)Download The distribution of screenplay length (SVG)

Five screenplay measurements

Five measured screenplay features, with a separate median, middle-half range and eligible sample for each. The values are also available in text above.
Source: The PreList, The Anatomy of a Produced Screenplay, release anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-09-v5. CC BY 4.0. Findings describe the sample, not a target for a draft.
Download Five screenplay measurements (PNG)Download Five screenplay measurements (SVG)

For educators

Use the figures to discuss the difference between a descriptive benchmark and a writing rule. This short exercise works with a screenplay students have permission to study; it needs no account or upload.

  1. Choose pages or scenes. Read the definition, eligible sample and middle-half range in the linked finding.
  2. Count the same quantity in a script using that definition. Include covers and front matter for PDF pages; count scene headings for scenes.
  3. Discuss why a result outside the middle half is not evidence of poor writing, and why this sample cannot predict a draft’s success.
Download the classroom exercise (TXT)

A short glossary

Median
The middle value after ordering the observations, or the average of the two middle values for an even sample.
Middle half
The range from the lower to the upper quartile. It describes the central half of this sample.
Eligible n
The number of usable observations for one measure. It can be smaller than the full cohort.
Withheld
A genre cell below n=20 is counted but its statistics are not published. Missing or withheld is not zero.

For researchers

The dataset overview describes the variables and provides the original CSV, complete JSON rows, dictionary and reproducible ZIP. Use the versioned evidence record to identify exactly which release you used.

This is an available-script sample of produced features. It is not representative of all submissions, and extraction can miss or misclassify structure. The cohort and exclusion rules, per-measure flags and correction history are part of the evidence.

Explore and download the dataset

Citations and licence

Credit The PreList, identify the release and link to the finding or version used. Cite the specific study alongside any chart. The licence covers the derived data and our figures, with CC BY 4.0 attribution.

BibTeXRISCSL JSON

Suggested citation

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)

Download research ZIPVersion details and manifestMethodology and limitations

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. Screenplay text and third-party imagery are not included in this licence.

Contact and updates

The PreList publishes this research alongside its commercial screenwriting workspace. The measurements are separate from its AI script coverage and exclude private user scripts. Source and extraction reviews are described in each release; they are not external academic peer review.

For research questions, reporting, teaching use or corrections, email enquiries@teamprelist.com. Please include the release and measure when reporting an issue. Company details and brand assets are on the press page.

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