Taken from http://www.craftyscreenwriting.com/hook.htmlA hook is the concept of the picture in a nutshell. Not just any concept. A hook is a fresh idea for a story that instantly makes show business people interested in reading your script, and then makes the audience want to see your movie.
Here are some good hooks:
- A man is about to commit suicide when an angel shows him what his town would be like if he had never lived. (It's a Wonderful Life)
- Two people who hate each other write each other anonymously and fall in love. (The Shop Around the Corner, You've Got Mail)
- A bunch of unemployed Brits decide to put on a striptease act to earn some money. (The Full Monty)
- A cynical advertising executive suddenly develops the power to read women's thoughts. (What Women Want)
- A lawyer suddenly loses his ability to lie. (Liar Liar)
- Some Jamaicans decide to enter the Olympics as a bobsled team, although there is no snow in Jamaica. (Cool Runnings)
- A strange genius discovers a number that may be the name of God. (p)
- Three filmmakers went into the woods to tape a documentary on a legendary witch. These are the tapes we found after they disappeared. (The Blair Witch Project)
- A puppeteer finds a secret tunnel into John Malkovich's brain. (Being John Malkovich)
- There's a bomb on a crowded city bus. If the bus slows below 50 miles an hour, the bomb will go off. (Speed)
- A man discovers he has been replaced by his clone. (The Sixth Day)
- A journalist finds a heart wrenching love letter in a bottle. She tracks down the man who wrote it, and falls in love with him. (Message In A Bottle. I didn't say a film with a great hook had to be good, did I? I only said you need a great hook to get your screenplay made.)
