Scott is spot on. You're looking at the wrong scripts. Find the page lengths of action specs that sold from first time or relatively new writers in the last 1-2 years. I guarantee those are much trimmer than the scripts you listed.

Answer is a very loud YES! Feel free two write 120, 130, 150 pages scripts down the line when you're a top-listed writer. But to get in, to even get past the readers, it needs to be crisp, very crisp. Your script could be fantastic at 125 pages - it doesn't matter. The reader will flip to the last page first, see the page numer and either toss your script or at the very least put it at the bottom of his pile. 110 tops, 105 good, 100 excellent (from a reader's pov).

Battle: LA - 110
The Good Time Gang - 102
Stash House - 98
The Numbers Station - 109
Earth Prime - 111

The ones you listed are from guys/teams that don't have to deliver a 105 page spec anymore. And like Scott said, those are shooting drafts. The ones above are specs that either sold or have been hovering around sales and there's only 1 of them over 110. And that one's a HUGE sci-fi spec.

You can always trim.

"First this assumes that cutting out "complete scenes/beats" is a bad thing."

This is one of my favorite things to do to. When I finish a script, I find the scenes that if they were gone, the movie would still make sense. Then I highlight 'em and hit DELETE.

And that's not even because of page count.

It really surprises me how much you can cut and the story still make sense. And generally, it makes the script better. Less exposition. The reader/viewer has to fill in more blanks with their imagination -- which is actually more engaging than spelling it out.

What I'd do if I had a high page count is read the script and note any place where I found myself bored. Then I'd see if I could cut that entire scene from the script. Odds are, you most likely can.

Sometimes you realize you can combine two scenes. You may like the setpiece from one scene, but it does nothing. And like the dialogue from another, but there's no dramatic action in it. Combining them can usually make two scenes that weren't working at all into a pretty cool scene.

As for long scripts -- most of them that I have seen are usually shooting scripts. That have pages like 14A, 14AA, 14B because of a ton of revisions. The PDF file will balloon to 200 some pages easily. But the script is still usually 120ish.

And then there's some like James Cameron stuff -- where he's describing what lights he's going to use, and why all the dogs are Dobermans -- not only is he James Cameron, but he's writing for himself. In a way, his scripts are notes to himself on the image he sees in his head. So the scripts tend to be fat.

Nice long ass comment on keeping things short!

I may have read this in an interview you carried here in GITS, not sure, but there's a story out there that when Nick Schenk's Gran Torino script was handed to Clint Eastwood, he asked how long it was. When told it was 97 pages, his response: "It's already the most brilliant script I've ever read..."

Hollywood already has one thousand reasons to reject your script and half of them aren't even your fault. Why give them one thousand and one?

Yes, definitely cut... with extreme prejudice.

A gimmick I've done is imagine my script isn't mine.

A friend gave it to me and asked me to edit it down for him. "Just hack away," he said. "I need at least 20-30 pages gone."

So I do...and it doesn't hurt nearly as much cuz' it ain't mine.

My first, first draft was 129.

I just cut it to 91 based on these comments.

Anyone have Tom Hanks' phone number?