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  4. 5 Movies You Didn't Know Were Written by Famous Screenwriters

5 Movies You Didn't Know Were Written by Famous Screenwriters

claire-stern
By Claire Stern Updated Mar 06, 2017 @ 11:00 am
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SHE'S ALL THAT
Credit: Courtesy

Just as actors take on vastly different roles, screenwriters try their hand at scripts that deviate drastically from their typical genre, proving that anything is possible in Hollywood. From Tropic Thunder to She's All That, here are five memorable films written by surprising literary talents. Prepare to have your mind blown.

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TROPIC THUNDER

TROPIC THUNDER
Credit: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy Stock Photo

Ben Stiller's bizarrely genius action comedy about a motley crew of high-maintenance actors who go method to prepare for a war movie was co-written by Justin Theroux, who makes a brief cameo as a helicopter gunner. Theroux's other screenwriting credits include Iron Man 2, Rock of Ages, and Zoolander 2. 

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COYOTE UGLY

COYOTE UGLY
Credit: Moviestore collection Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo

Though most recognized for her role in Star Wars, the late Carrie Fisher also had an impressive run as a Hollywood script doctor (a writer hired by a production company to rework an existing script). One of her most underrated projects is arguably 2000's Coyote Ugly, the cult-favorite film based on the New York City bar of the same name.

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JOHN CARTER

JOHN CARTER
Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo

Few may know that the 2012 Disney film in which Taylor Kitsch travels to Mars was co-written by none other than Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Michael Chabon, the man behind The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. 

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CROSSROADS

CROSSROADS
Credit: Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection/Alamy

Britney Spears's big-screen debut about a trio of girlfriends who hitch a ride across the country with a scruffy tattooed guy was written by Shonda Rhimes, pre-Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder.

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SHE'S ALL THAT

SHE'S ALL THAT
Credit: Courtesy

Funnily enough, every '90s girl's favorite rom-com starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook as star-crossed teenage lovers was reportedly ghostwritten by M. Night Shyamalan, known for supernatural thrillers with shocking plot twists like The Sixth Sense and Signs.

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    1 of 5 TROPIC THUNDER
    2 of 5 COYOTE UGLY
    3 of 5 JOHN CARTER
    4 of 5 CROSSROADS
    5 of 5 SHE'S ALL THAT

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    5 Movies You Didn't Know Were Written by Famous Screenwriters
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