Original data
What We See in Real Screenplays: 101 Scripts From 35 Writers
Updated October 14, 2026.
Medians and the middle half
The middle half runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile: half of all scripts fall inside it.
Page count
- Median
- 124 pages
- Middle half of scripts
- 98 pages to 133 pages
Scene count
- Median
- 104 scenes
- Middle half of scripts
- 79 scenes to 126 scenes
Speaking roles
- Median
- 42 roles
- Middle half of scripts
- 31 roles to 53 roles
Dialogue share of words
- Median
- 62.6%
- Middle half of scripts
- 54.7% to 71.9%
Average scene length
- Median
- 1 page
- Middle half of scripts
- 0.8 pages to 1.2 pages
Structure score
- Median
- 76
- Middle half of scripts
- 55 to 86
Dialogue balance score
- Median
- 66
- Middle half of scripts
- 39 to 79
Scene economy score
- Median
- 73
- Middle half of scripts
- 62 to 78
Character spread score
- Median
- 92
- Middle half of scripts
- 83 to 95
| Median | Middle half of scripts | |
|---|---|---|
| Page count | 124 pages | 98 pages to 133 pages |
| Scene count | 104 scenes | 79 scenes to 126 scenes |
| Speaking roles | 42 roles | 31 roles to 53 roles |
| Dialogue share of words | 62.6% | 54.7% to 71.9% |
| Average scene length | 1 page | 0.8 pages to 1.2 pages |
| Structure score | 76 | 55 to 86 |
| Dialogue balance score | 66 | 39 to 79 |
| Scene economy score | 73 | 62 to 78 |
| Character spread score | 92 | 83 to 95 |
What stands out
- 55% of feature scripts run longer than 120 pages.
- 42% keep dialogue between 35% and 65% of the words on the page.
- 44% give more than 65% of their words to dialogue.
- 75% give lines to more than 30 speaking characters.
- Dialogue balance has the lowest median of the scores, at 66 out of 100.
How the scripts spread
- 60 to 7914
- 80 to 9913
- 100 to 11916
- 120 to 13939
- 140 to 1599
- 160 to 18010
- 0 to 393
- 40 to 598
- 60 to 7915
- 80 to 9916
- 100 to 12937
- 130+22
- 0 to 91
- 10 to 196
- 20 to 2916
- 30 to 3917
- 40 to 5942
- 60+19
- 0 to 248
- 25 to 347
- 35 to 445
- 45 to 548
- 55 to 6429
- 65 to 10044
- 0 to 145
- 1 to 1.544
- 1.5 to 28
- 2 to 2.50
- 2.5 to 34
- 3+0
- 0 to 191
- 20 to 390
- 40 to 5928
- 60 to 7928
- 80 to 10044
- 0 to 1917
- 20 to 399
- 40 to 5917
- 60 to 7936
- 80 to 10022
- 0 to 190
- 20 to 390
- 40 to 5920
- 60 to 7962
- 80 to 10019
- 0 to 190
- 20 to 390
- 40 to 593
- 60 to 7914
- 80 to 10084
Under 60 pages (shorts and pilots): 103 scripts
Kept apart from the numbers above. Short films and TV pilots are different shapes.
Page count
- Median
- 18 pages
- Middle half of scripts
- 9.5 pages to 30.5 pages
Scene count
- Median
- 16 scenes
- Middle half of scripts
- 9 scenes to 27.5 scenes
Speaking roles
- Median
- 8 roles
- Middle half of scripts
- 4 roles to 12 roles
Dialogue share of words
- Median
- 67.3%
- Middle half of scripts
- 45.7% to 76.1%
Average scene length
- Median
- 0.9 pages
- Middle half of scripts
- 0.8 pages to 1 page
| Median | Middle half of scripts | |
|---|---|---|
| Page count | 18 pages | 9.5 pages to 30.5 pages |
| Scene count | 16 scenes | 9 scenes to 27.5 scenes |
| Speaking roles | 8 roles | 4 roles to 12 roles |
| Dialogue share of words | 67.3% | 45.7% to 76.1% |
| Average scene length | 0.9 pages | 0.8 pages to 1 page |
Method
- We read 589 screenplay uploads from the ScriptLix coverage tool. Only files writers uploaded themselves are counted. Our own generated sample scripts are not in this data.
- 237 had no account, visitor id or email attached, so we could not tell who uploaded them or rule out our own tests. Those were removed.
- 60 were exact repeats of a file already counted (the same text uploaded again), so we kept only the latest copy.
- 8 came from our own team or test accounts and 24 were internal test files or a produced film used for checks. Those were removed.
- 52 did not read as a screenplay: the parser needed at least 0.15 scene headings and 1 spoken character cue per page.
- The headline numbers cover feature length only, 60 to 180 pages. 103 shorter scripts and 4 longer ones are left out of them.
- That leaves 101 scripts from 35 writers, uploaded September 2026 to October 2026. Page counts come from the parser, so they can differ slightly from the page numbers in the PDF.
These are scripts writers chose to upload to a coverage tool, mostly drafts, not a random sample of produced films. Some writers uploaded more than one script. Read the numbers as what working drafts look like, not as industry rules.
What the four scores mean
Each score runs 0 to 100 and is calculated by code from the pages, not by an AI model, so the same file always gets the same number. More on that on how ScriptLix coverage stays honest.
- Structure: how close scene breaks fall to the quarter, half and three-quarter marks, and how evenly scene lengths run.
- Dialogue balance: whether dialogue sits between 35% and 65% of the words, overall and stretch by stretch through the script.
- Scene economy: the share of scenes between 0.25 and 3 pages long, with a small penalty for long unbroken action blocks.
- Character spread: whether the busiest speaker carries a large but not overwhelming share of the lines, and how long they go without one.
The deep report also scores formatting. It is left out here because the screenplay filter above only keeps cleanly formatted files, so almost every script would score at the top.
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