Feature/104 pages
The Understudy
HighLogline
An understudy is hired to impersonate a missing star, then inherits her threats.
Synopsis
Lena is paid to finish a Broadway run as the lead who walked out. The wig fits. The threats, which arrive addressed to the star, start fitting too. The company would rather keep the house full than file a report.
Comparable titles
Pitch shorthand: Stage Fright meets Black Swan
- Median budget
- $1.4M
- Median worldwide gross
- $8.4M
- Median multiple
- 6.0x
- 3 of 3 comps report both
- Newest comp
- 2010
- Older than ten years
| Title | Rating | Budget | Gross | Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Stage Fright 1950 Matched on stage, theater, impersonation, actress, performance A struggling actress tries to help a friend prove his innocence when he's accused of murdering the husband of a high-society entertainer. | 6.8 380 votes | $1.4M | $1.9M | 1.3x |
 Black Swan 2010 Matched on obsession, stage, theater, performance A committed dancer struggles to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake." | 7.7 16k votes | $13M | $329M | 25x |
 All About Eve 1950 Matched on stage, broadway, star From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington is determined to take the reins of power away from the great actress Margo Channing. Eve maneuvers her way into Margo's Broadway role, becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo's director boyfriend, her playwright and his wife. Only the cynical drama critic sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and perfect pattern of deceit. | 8.1 2k votes | $1.4M | $8.4M | 6.0x |
Comps average 7.5 across about 6k TMDB votes. Budgets and grosses are TMDB figures and leave out marketing.
Breakdown
Counted from the draft's scene headings and character cues. The scene-by-scene list opens with the file.
- Pages
- 8
- About 8 min on screen
- Scenes
- 13
- Speaking roles
- 6
- Locations
- 7
- Night exteriors
- 1
- Usually the costliest scenes to shoot
- Dialogue
- 36%
- of 1,385 words
Speaking roles
| Name | Speeches | Words | Scenes | First page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
LENA |
Pages on file
FADE IN: INT. MERIDIAN THEATRE - BACKSTAGE CORRIDOR - NIGHT A narrow hall lit by work lights. Costume racks. A dressing room door with a star on it, the paint chipped where someone tried to scrape a name off and gave up. LENA VOSS (30s), coat still on, stands in front of the door with a garment bag over her arm. She has been told to wait here. She has been waiting for forty minutes. DEVON PIKE (40s), stage manager, headset around his neck, comes around the corner at a jog. DEVON: You're Voss. LENA: I'm Voss. DEVON: You know the blocking? LENA: I've known the blocking for eleven months. I've done it twice. Both matinees. DEVON: Tonight's not a matinee. He opens the dressing room door. Doesn't
A draft is on file. Download opens after the writer accepts a request.
Writer
Mara Ellison
Writes crime, horror, and performance stories. Staff writer on Harbor Desk for three seasons. A TMDB person id on a profile is a claim Tycoon stores. It is not an identity check.
No TMDB person id on the profile.