The Black List is an annual survey of the "most-liked" motion picture screenplays not yet produced. It has been published every year since 2005 on the second Friday of December by Franklin Leonard, a development executive who subsequently worked at Universal Pictures and Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment. The website states that these are not necessarily "the best" screenplays, but rather "the most liked", since it is based on a survey of studio and production company executives.
A Black List live script reading panel at the 2018 ATX Television Festival (pictured from L–R): Moderator Franklin Leonard, with Matt Lauria, James Lafferty, Jason George, Katherine Willis, Taylor Dearden, Nick Wechsler, Tyrel Jackson Williams, and Riley Scott.
American Hustle is a 2013 American black comedy crime film directed by David O. Russell. It was written by Eric Warren Singer and Russell and inspired by the FBI Abscam operation of the late 1970s and early 1980s. It stars Christian Bale and Amy Adams as two con artists forced by an FBI agent to set up an elaborate sting operation on corrupt politicians, including the mayor of Camden, New Jersey. Jennifer Lawrence plays the unpredictable wife of Bale's character. Principal photography took place from March to May 2013 in Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, as well as New York City.
Theatrical release poster
American Hustle is Russell's highest-grossing film
Image: Christian Bale 2014 (cropped)
Image: Amy Adams UK Nocturnal Animals Premiere (cropped)