Script Intelligence · Benchmark
How many locations does a screenplay use?
The median produced feature moves through 60 distinct places. Rooms within one building count as one place, so this is a measure of worlds, not slugline variants.
Published 12 August 2026 · n=268 produced features, 2000-2026 · Snapshot anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-08-v1 · Methodology
Half of produced features use between 41 and 83 locations.
Unique locations, n=268 produced features; scripts above 165 grouped at the right · snapshot anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-08-v1
63%
of scenes play interior on the median script
Middle half: 52% to 73%
61%
of time-stamped scenes play in daylight
Middle half: 48% to 74%
Locations by genre.
This is where produced scripts defy the write-it-cheap advice most plainly. Even the most contained genres in the cohort sit far above the handful-of-locations ideal that budget-minded notes recommend.
Median location count by genre.
n per genre beside each label · snapshot anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-08-v1 · dot: median, band: middle 50%
A writer aiming at a contained, financeable script is competing with a cohort that mostly does not hold back. That is an opportunity as much as a warning: a genuinely contained script stands out here, and the benchmark tells you exactly how far under the median you are.
About these figures
Every number is counted deterministically from the screenplay text of 268 professionally produced features, released 2000-2026. Figures are medians with the middle 50% stated; genre cells below n=20 are counted but not described. Benchmarks describe the cohort, not rules: the full caveats live in the methodology. These figures come from The Anatomy of a Produced Screenplay, where they sit in context.
Use this research
The PreList Industry Intelligence (2026). "Location Counts: Produced Feature Benchmarks." n=268 produced feature screenplays, 2000-2026. https://www.theprelist.io/research/screenplay-locations
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-2026-08-v1; every number above traces to it.