5 Keys to Writing a Blockbuster
The success of a blockbuster film often comes down to writing
When you think of blockbuster movies, what comes to mind? Big budgets? Star-studded casts? Jaw-dropping visual effects? While those are all essential factors, the success of a blockbuster film often comes down to something else: the writing. If the script isn’t strong, no amount of Hollywood glitz will make up for it. Here are five keys to writing a blockbuster that will keep your audience glued to their seats.
1. The Myth Genre
Making a blockbuster has to be more than just the star cast. That is where the story comes into play. To write a screenplay for a worldwide audience, you have to break many cultural boundaries so that the audience can relate to it. So the emphasis is now more on the genre. A genre is the crucial element to break those boundaries to reach the audience wherever they are. And they will relate to it. So now your focus is whether you are writing a comedy, horror, action, drama, or the list goes on. The bottom line, some genres travel well across the globe. Others don’t.
Why Does Myth Genre Stand Out?
Myth is the best and oldest form of the genre. I can be found more than any genre in blockbusters. Take the following movies from the box office, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, Lord of the Rings, Shrek, Star Wars, and Avatar.
This specific genre contains archetypal characters that resonate with the audience’s life experiences to relate to them. Like any other genre, Myth has several unique story beats that you can learn and include.
Bonus
Remember, Myth doesn’t come alone in blockbusters. It is usually paired with other genres like science fiction, fiction, horror, action, etc.
2. The Hero’s Goal
All excellent writing comes down to effective character development. Character development always depends on the desire the hero craves. Desire is the most important of the seven-story structure steps. Everything from characters, plot, dialogue, symbol, and theme depends on it.
Average screenwriters tend to make this mistake. Their goal is short-term, meaning it is accomplished very soon, and the audience loses interest because it becomes predictable.
Your hero needs a clear, compelling goal that will engage your audience. It has to be the right goal for the character at that moment, which could change as your story unfolds. In The Dark Knight, Batman’s priority is stopping Joker from destroying Gotham City — but in the end, he realizes his real mission is getting the people who support him to choose between right and wrong.
3. The Opponent
We know the antagonist is a bad guy. But if your antagonist is more petite than your hero, you aren’t writing a blockbuster. That’s the mistake most screenwriters make. Their lousy guy either needs support or secondary characters who aren’t visible to the audience all at the same time.
The least you could do is make your opponent more powerful than the hero, so there’s a thrill in the fight throughout the screenplay. It’s not enough for your villain or antagonist to have a cool name, a flashy costume, and an army of henchmen at their disposal. No, they need a good reason to go up against your hero — one that makes sense in the story’s context. For example, in Star Trek, Nero’s motivation is twofold: he wants revenge on Spock for stealing his planet and destroying Romulus, but he also wants to harness the power of time travel to go back and save Romulus before Spock destroys it. Now that’s some serious bad-guy power!
4. The Scam
Most blockbuster films aim for plot development, which is another story technique. And this is where 90% of the screenwriters fail to provide the best plot right in the middle of the screenplay. This can be achieved by making the protagonist’s or antagonist plan a scam or deceptive. This drives the audience’s attention to understand why and how that happened, which is the primary goal of every screenwriter; a reader’s attention.
5. The Story World
Finally, your screenplay needs one last thing to be considered a blockbuster: it has to take the audience on an adventure! They need to see something they’ve never seen before, whether it’s in outer space or New York City. And not just any old world will do either; there has to be some underlying mythology and rules that govern it (and we’re not talking about writing good manners and morals into your story). In Avatar, for example, writer-director James Cameron sets up his story world by showing audiences that the Navi are a warrior race who live in connection with their environment — and Jake Sully becomes the link between the two worlds.
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