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Publication history

Archived release

Expanded cohort

anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-08-v2

Expanded to 438 scripts. This version predates measurement-family guards.

This is an earlier release. Read the current corrected study.

Published
13/08/2026
Cohort
438 features
Measurement engine
1.5

Inspect the full manifest and checksums (JSON)

Published figures

The original aggregate table, with each measure’s eligible sample. Missing values are unavailable, not zero. The package includes genre and decade tables and code to reproduce them.

MeasureEligible nMedianMiddle half
pages438117.5106 to 132
scenes43812087 to 160.75
mean scene eighths4217.25.6 to 9.6
median scene eighths42143 to 5
interior share pct42162.251.7 to 72.6
day share pct3666045.53 to 72.57
unique locations4386041 to 82
location changes43810074 to 141.75
speaking characters4384331 to 58
dialogue blocks438891.5730.25 to 1,056.5
dialogue words4388,670.56,617.25 to 10,495
dialogue action ratio4381.090.74 to 1.58
monologues4381810 to 30
top character pct43427.320.83 to 34.4
dialogue line share pct4383933 to 45
action line share pct4383628 to 44
runtime minutes (modelled estimate)438118108 to 128
parenthetical rate4380.110.06 to 0.16

Reproduce this release

The ZIP contains the original CSV, complete derived rows and aggregate tables, an expanded analysis CSV, manifest, field dictionary, inclusion/exclusion records, measurement guards, checksums, licence and a standalone reproduction script. No screenplay text or private file links are included.

Original files retained unchanged. These releases predate the per-record metadata review ledger; missing historical provenance and incomplete credits are disclosed in the package. Approval preserves the published record and does not certify missing metadata.

What is on your pages?

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Use this research

The PreList Industry Intelligence. The Anatomy of a Produced Screenplay. Snapshot anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-08-v2; cohort n=438, eligible n varies by measure. https://www.theprelist.io/research/versions/anatomy-of-a-produced-screenplay-2026-08-v2

Version details and manifest

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-v2; every number above traces to it.