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Scripts

JACOB'S LADDER - first draft (1981)

Picture
JACOB'S LADDER 1981 FIRST DRAFT SCRIPT (SCAN) Click here for PDF
​

IMDb    Wikipedia     Bruce's commentary

Jacob's Ladder premiered on October 29, 1990.
​

In a December 1983 article, One in a Million, in AFI's American Film magazine, author Steve Rebello listed ten of the best unproduced scripts in Hollywood, scripts he said “were just too good to get produced.” Rebello had read 125 scripts recommended by respected industry connections. The final ten screenplays included Jacob’s Ladder, The Princess Bride, Total Recall and At Close Range. Rebello wrote in part:
Admirers of Bruce Joel Rubin’s '
Jacob’s Ladder' flat out refuse to describe this screenplay. Their only entreaty? ‘Read it. It’s extraordinary.’ And it is… page for page, it is one of the very few screenplays I’ve read with the power to consistently raise hackles in broad daylight.
NOTE: Steve Rebello would have read the first draft script available to read/download above.

Commenting on Rebello's article, Bruce has said:
I was living in DeKalb Illinois a million miles from Hollywood and any hope of ever actually becoming a presence there when I was told about an article by Steve Rebello in American Film. In it he mentioned my script for JACOB’S LADDER as one of the top ten best unproduced scripts in Hollywood. It came out of the blue and changed my life. I had no idea it was in the works.  Suddenly I was recognized and acknowledged for my work. It really was the ignition for my career. 

More Scripts Coming Soon!

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  • MY LIFE
  • MY LIFE IN PHOTOS
  • FILMS
    • ABOUT
    • FILMOGRAPHY
    • SCRIPTS
    • INTERVIEWS ETC
  • BOOKS
    • IT'S ONLY A MOVIE: A MEMOIR
    • THREE VISIONARY SCREENPLAYS
  • MEDITATION
    • ABOUT
    • TALKS >
      • TALKS 2025
      • TALKS 2024
      • TALKS 2023
      • TALKS 2022
      • TALKS 2021
      • TALKS 2020
      • TALKS 2019
      • TALKS 2018
      • TALKS 2017
      • TALKS 2016
      • TALKS 2015
      • TALKS 2014
      • TALKS 2013
      • TALKS 2012
      • TALKS 2011
      • TALKS 2010
      • TALKS 2009
      • TALKS 2008
      • TALKS 2007
      • TALKS 2006
      • TALKS 2005
    • MEDITATION SESSIONS
    • WORKING PHOTOS
  • PHOTOGRAPHY
    • ABOUT
    • GALLERIES
    • ARCHIVES >
      • ARCHIVES 2025
      • ARCHIVES 2024
      • ARCHIVES 2023
      • ARCHIVES 2022
      • ARCHIVES 2021
      • ARCHIVES 2020
      • ARCHIVES 2019
      • ARCHIVES 2018
      • ARCHIVES 2017
      • ARCHIVES 2016