Samples of 24 Plot Points from Produced Screenplays/Movies
BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID
- Butch and Sundance return to Hole in The Wall.
- Butch beats up Harvey and takes his idea to rob the flyer.
- Butch and the gang rob the flyer. (Inciting incident)
- Butch and the gang rob the flyer a second time.
- The super posse arrives.
- Butch and Sundance go on the run. (Act Break). ACT II
- Butch and Sundance try to elude the posse but cannot.
- Butch and Sundance visit an acquaintance and realize they can’t escape the fate that is awaiting them.
- Butch and Sundance escape the Posse by jumping off a cliff (Plot Twist)
- Butch and Sundance return to Etta
- Butch and Sundance learn that Lord Baltimore is tracking them and the leader of the posse is Leforge and the posse won’t stop until they are dead.
- Butch, Sundance and Etta head off for Bolivia to avoid the posse. (mid‐point)
- The group arrives in Bolivia - it’s not what they expected.
- A robbery attempt fails when they can’t speak the language.
- They rob their first bank.
- Butch and Sundance think they see Laforge and get scared.
- Butch and Sundance go straight by taking a payroll guard job.
- The payroll is robbed and they realize they can’t go straight. ACT III
- Etta leaves for America.
- Butch and Sundance return to crime.
- A young boy notices their stolen horse.
- Federal troops arrive unknown to Butch and Sundance.
- Federal troops arrive, unknown to Butch and Sundance.
- Butch and Sundance go out in a blaze of glory.
THE WIZARD OF OZ
- Dorothy Gale lives on a farm in Kansas but dreams of better places.
- Miss Gulch arrives to take Toto away for biting her.
- Dorothy runs away from home but meets Professor Marvel.
- A massive tornado forces Dorothy and Toto to shelter in her house.
- The house is swept up by the storm and carried to a strange land.
- Dorothy lands in OZ and kills Wicked Witch of the East. ACT II
- She begins her journey on the yellow brick road to find the Wizard.
- Dorothy meets a Scarecrow who wants to ask the Wizard for a brain.
- The group encounters a Tin Man who needs a heart to feel emotions.
- A Cowardly Lion joins them in hopes of finding courage.
- They successfully arrive at the gates of the Emerald City.
- They get to see the Wizard who commands them to bring him the broomstick of the Wicked Witch before he will help.
- The group travels into the dark and dangerous Haunted Forest.
- The witch's flying monkeys capture Dorothy and take her to the castle.
- The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion infiltrate the castle to rescue Dorothy.
- The witch traps the friends and threatens to destroy them.
- Dorothy accidentally douses the witch while trying to save the Scarecrow.
- Dorothy melts the Wicked Witch with a bucket of water. ACT III
- The group returns to the Emerald City with the broomstick in hand.
- The Wizard prepares to depart in a hot air balloon without them.
- Toto exposes the Wizard as an ordinary man behind a curtain.
- The Wizard gives the friends symbolic tokens of wisdom, love, and courage.
- Glinda the Good Witch tells Dorothy she had the power to go home all along.
- Dorothy clicks her ruby slippers together and wakes up back in Kansas.
HEAVEN CAN WAIT
- Rams Quarterback Joe Pendleton is given the starting job for Sunday’s game.
- Joe is “apparently” killed in an accident and goes to a heavenly way station. (INCITING INCIDENT)
- Joe and Mr. Jordan realize he was taken in error.
- Mr. Jordan tries to put Joe back in his body but it has been cremated.
- While shopping for bodies, Joe sees Betty Logan and falls for her.
- Joe agrees to be Leo Farnsworth temporarily so he can meet Betty Logan. ACT II
- Joe/Leo meets Betty Logan wants to save Pagleshim.
- Joe/Leo starts to shake up his corporation.
- Joe wants to remain as Leo Farnsworth. (PLOT TWIST)
- Joe/Leo tells his murderous wife that he wants a divorce
- Joe/Leo tells Max who he is and that he wants to train to be QB.
- Joe/Leo buys the Rams and makes the team (MID POINT)
- Joe asks Betty to marry him.
- Joe/Leo is told he can no longer be Leo Farnsworth.
- Joe is killed. (PLOT TWIST)
- The search for Leo Farnsworth.
- The Super Bowl starts
- Jarrett dies in the game, and Joe assumes his body. ACT III
- Farnsworth’s body is found
- Leo’s wife and secretary confess to the murder.
- Joe/Jarrett wins the Super Bowl.
- Joe/Jarrett starts to forget his past.
- Max realizes that Joe is completely gone.
- Joe/Jarrett meets Betty Logan and the two share a spark..
JO JO RABBIT
- Jojo goes to a Nazi Youth Camp.
- Jojo can’t kill a rabbit, he’s too kind. (INCITING INCIDENT)
- Jojo is branded a coward, runs away and gets nicknamed Jojo Rabbit
- Jojo’s imaginary Hitler friend gives him a pep talk and convinces Jojo to embrace his new nickname and to be the best little Nazi ever.
- Jojo returns to the Youth Camp and gets injured by a hand grenade.
- Jojo returns to discover a hidden room in the walls and learns his mother has been letting a Jewish girl named Elsa hide in their attic. ACT II
- Jojo and Elsa don’t tell Rosie (Jojo’s mother) that they’ve met.
- Nazi Captain K suggests to Jojo that someone should write about on how to identify a Jew.
- Jojo askes Elsa to tell him everything about the Jewish race so he can write a book.
- Elsa tells Jojo fake stories about Jews for his book and they bond.
- Rosie and Elsa talk, we learn that Rosie’s daughter (Jojo’s sister) is dead.
- Jojo witnesses his mother handing out seditious (anti-Nazi) leaflets. (MID POINT)
- Jojo is visited by the Gestapo for a “routine” inspection.
- Captain K mysteriously shows up at Jojo’s house
- Elsa appears from upstairs pretending to be Jojo’s sister Inga.
- Elsa gives Captain K Inga’s papers. He asks her birthdate. She gets it wrong. He says nothing.
- Elsa and Jojo realize Captain K knew she wasn’t Inga, but he let it slide. They worry the Gestapo may return.
- The city prepares for the allies to invade as Jojo finds his mother has been killed. by the Nazis. ACT III
- The Allies attack the city, chaos ensues.
- Jojo Learns Hitler has committed suicide and Germany is falling, his world is crumbling.
- Jojo is given a Nazi uniform as he witnesses the carnage of war for the first time.
- Jojo is captured by the Americans and put in with other captured Nazis
- Jojo has a moment with Captain K who saves then Jojo’s life claiming he’s a Jew.
- Jojo returns home and tells Elsa the Nazis won the war so he can keep her with him then relents and tells her the truth. They dance to symbolize their freedom.
DIE HARD
- John McClane arrives at Nakatomi Plaza to reconcile with his wife, Holly.
- McClane freshens up in the bathroom while the Christmas party continues in the main hall.
- Hans Gruber and his team of heavily armed men take control of the building.
- The terrorists cut the phone lines and lock the party guests in the boardroom.
- McClane narrowly avoids capture and retreats into the building's maintenance area.
- Gruber kills the company executive Takagi when he refuses to provide the vault codes. ACTII
- McClane pulls the fire alarm to alert the authorities, but Gruber's men investigate.
- McClane kills a guard and uses his radio to call for outside help.
- Officer Al Powell arrives at the building but fails to notice anything unusual.
- McClane throws the guard's body onto Powell's police car to force a response.
- Gruber realizes an intruder is interfering and sends men to hunt McClane down.
- McClane kills the attackers and confirms to Powell that there is a hostage situation.
- The police and FBI surround the building, unknowingly playing into Gruber's plan.
- Gruber identifies McClane as the man disrupting his operation and targets him directly.
- McClane kills a terrorist carrying C4 explosives and realizes their goal is theft.
- Gruber cuts the power to the building, forcing the FBI to disable the roof's electrical grid.
- The FBI sends helicopters to the roof, which Gruber destroys with rocket fire.
- McClane barely escapes the roof explosion by jumping off with a fire hose. ACTIII
- McClane finds his way back inside the building, severely wounded and exhausted. unsure he will make it.
- Gruber discovers that Holly is McClane's wife and takes her hostage.
- McClane realizes Gruber is preparing to execute everyone remaining on the floor.
- McClane confronts Gruber and creates a final distraction to gain the upper hand.
- McClane shoots Gruber, who falls from the skyscraper window while clutching Holly's watch.
- McClane and Holly leave the building together as the police secure the area..
THOR: RAGNOROK
- Thor defeats Surtur and secures the crown to prevent Ragnarok.
- Thor returns to Asgard and discovers Loki has been impersonating Odin.
- Thor forces Loki to take him to Earth to find their missing father.
- Odin reveals he is dying and warns his sons about their sister, Hela.
- Hela appears, shatters Mjolnir, and overpowers Thor and Loki.
- Hela banishes Thor and Loki to the planet Sakaar. ACT II
- Thor is captured by a scavenger and sold to the planet's ruler, the Grandmaster.
- Thor is forced to fight in the Grandmaster's gladiator arena.
- Thor discovers that the Hulk is the current reigning champion of the arena.
- Thor attempts to recruit Valkyrie and the Hulk to help him return to Asgard.
- Thor battles the Hulk and eventually manages to calm him down.
- Thor realizes he can summon lightning without his hammer and gains new power.
- Thor wins the gladiator match but the Hulk refuses to leave the planet.
- Thor convinces the Hulk and Valkyrie to join him on a mission to save Asgard.
- Loki attempts to betray the group but ultimately chooses to help them escape.
- The group arrives on Asgard to find Hela terrorizing the population.
- The heroes fight Hela's undead army while the people attempt to evacuate.
- Hela blinds Thor in one eye, forcing him to unleash his full power. ACT III
- Thor decides that the only way to defeat Hela is to trigger Ragnarok.
- Loki goes to the vault to place Surtur's crown into the Eternal Flame.
- Surtur is resurrected and grows to a massive size to destroy Asgard.
- Hela attacks Surtur but is consumed by the destruction of the planet.
- The Asgardian survivors flee onto a spaceship as their home explodes.
- Thor accepts his new role as King of the Asgardian people.