Shooting Script

Loaded with extras, the official screenplay book to the uproarious American hit comedy from Fox Searchlight- a family on the verge of a breakdown.
In 2000, screenwriter Michael Arndt had no credits, no agents, no publishing history when he took a year off to write "a salable script" that got him an agent and a deal fourteen months later, and five years after that, one of the big hits of 2006. Exclusive to this book are the complete shooting script, Arndt's introduction and scene notes about his filmmaking experience, and a humorous essay "How to Write a Sundance Hit in Nine Easy Steps." Also included are the full credits and a 12-page colour photo section. Brazenly satirical yet deeply human, Little Miss Sunshine introduces the Hoovers, whose trip from Albuquerque to Redondo Beach, California, to a pre-pubescent beauty pageant results not only in comic mayhem but in death, transformation, and a moving look at the surprising rewards of being losers in a winning-crazed culture. A runaway hit at the Sundance Film Festival, where it played to standing ovations, the film strikes a nerve with everyone who's ever been awestruck by how their muddled families seem to make it after all. The Hoover family members are played by Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Abigail Breslin, Paul Dano, and Alan Arkin. When they pile into their rusted-out VW bus and head west on a three-day tragicomic journey to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant, the entire misfit family will change in ways they could never imagine. This Newmarket Shooting Script? Book includes: * Foreword by directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris * Introduction by screenwriter Michael Arndt * Complete Shooting Script * Scene Notes * "How to Write a Sundance Hit in Nine Easy Steps" * Complete cast and filmmaker credits Reviews "It's difficult to convey the sheer joy of watching these characters interact. It's testament to the naturalness of Arndt's screenplay that this movie feels less like a scripted narrative and more like a spectacularly successful improv exercise." Jessica Reaves, Chicago Tribune "Screenwriter Michael Arndt [is] an awesomely original voice in a profession that rewards imitation. I like to think Little Miss Sunshine dropped from celluloid heaven as a sign that, despite continual evidence to the contrary, movie miracles still hapeen. You'll be delighted, if a bit breathless from laughing, to be along for the ride." Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle