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Paul Schrader Scripts Collection: Screenplays Download

Although his name is often linked to that of the “movie brat” generation (Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Brian De Palma, etc.) Paul Schrader’s background couldn’t have been more different than theirs. His strict Calvinist parents refused to allow him to see a film until he was 18.

Although he more than made up for lost time when studying at Calvin College, Columbia University and UCLA’s graduate film program, his influences were far removed from those of his contemporaries–Robert Bresson, Yasujirô Ozu and Carl Theodor Dreyer (about whom he wrote a book, “Transcendental Style in Film”) rather than Saturday-morning serials.

After a period as a film critic (and protégé of Pauline Kael), he began writing screenplays, hitting the jackpot when he and his brother, Leonard Schrader (a Japanese expert), were paid the then-record sum of $325,000, thus establishing his reputation as one of Hollywood’s top screenwriters, which was consolidated when Martin Scorsese filmed Schrader’s script Taxi Driver (1976), written in the early 1970s during a bout of drinking and depression.

The success of the film allowed Schrader to start directing his own films, which have been notable for their willingness to take stylistic and thematic risks while still working squarely within the Hollywood system. The most original of his films (which he and many others regard as his best) was the Japanese co-production Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985).

Below are all the screenplays available online. If you find any of his missing screenplays please leave the link in the comment section.

When you are done reading take a listen to Apple and Spotify’s #1 Screenwriting Podcast The Bulletproof Screenwriting Podcastwith guest like Oscar® Winner Eric Roth, James V. HartDavid ChaseJohn AugustOliver Stone and more.


(NOTE: For educational and research purposes only).

THE YAKUZA (1974)

Screenplay by Paul Schrader, Leonard Schrader and Robert Towne – Read the Screenplay!

TAXI DRIVER (1976)

Screenplay by Paul Schrader – Read the Screenplay!

OBSESSION (1976)

Screenplay by Paul Schrader – Read the Screenplay!

ROLLING THUNDER (1977)

Screenplay by Paul Schrader – Read the Screenplay!

BLUE COLLAR (1978)

Directed and Screenplay by Paul Schrader – Read the Screenplay!

HARDCORE (1979)

Directed and Screenplay by Paul Schrader – Read the Screenplay!

RAGING BULL (1980)

Screenplay by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin – Read the Screenplay!

CAT PEOPLE (1982)

Directed by Paul Schrader – Read the Screenplay!

MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS (1985)

Directed and Screenplay by Paul Schrader – Buy the Screenplay!

THE MOSQUITO COAST (1986)

Screenplay by Paul Schrader – Buy the Screenplay!

THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (1988)

Screenplay by Paul Schrader – Read the Screenplay!

LIGHT SLEEPER (1992)

Directed and Screenplay by Paul Schrader – Read the Screenplay!

AFFLICTION (1997)

Directed and Screenplay by Paul Schrader – Read the Screenplay!

BRING OUT THE DEAD (1999)

Screenplay by Paul Schrader – Read the Screenplay!

FIRST REFORMED (2017)

Directed and Screenplay by Paul Schrader – Read the Screenplay!

THE CARD COUNTER (2021)

Directed and Screenplay by Paul Schrader – Read the Screenplay!

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