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States with Most High-Grossing Screenwriters: Pennsylvania

By Lou Monaco
January 3, 2024 03:04pm
Fact Checked by Pat McLoone

Awards season is approaching, and all eyes Sunday will be on Hollywood and the 81st Golden Globe Awards. This event honors the people who bring stories to life on the big screen. Those folks also will get more well-deserved recognition Jan. 5 during the eighth National Screenwriters Day.

PennStakes.com decided to take a break from covering PA sportsbooks to look at which states have produced some of the best screenwriters in the history of film-making. We utilized The-Numbers.com to collect the top 100 grossing screenwriters in Worldwide Box Office. We then utilized the IMDB’s database to find the birthplace of all 100 to develop the states that have produced the best screenwriters. 

States with the Best Screenwriters

Overall RankState# of Screenwriters
1New York29
2California22
3New Jersey7
4Florida5
5Illinois4
T-6Massachusetts3
T-6Pennsylvania3
T-6Maryland3
T-6Michigan3

 

Pennsylvania Has Impressive Names

The Keystone State is tied with Maryland, Massachusetts and Michigan for sixth on the list with three, a huge gap from New York’s top spot of 29. California (22), New Jersey (7), Florida (5) and Illinois (4) rounded out the top five. 
 
Who are some of the top screenwriters from the Commonwealth? Here are just a few:

  • M. Night Shyamalan comes in at No. 41. Shyamalan, who was born in India but was raised in Penn Valley (a Philadelphia suburb), has generated an average $230.75 million per movie (15 total) and has posted a worldwide box office of more than $3.461 billion in total. Shyamalan is a huge fan of the Sixers, who currently have the fifth-best odds (+1200) to win the NBA title at ESPN Bet Pennsylvania.
  • Sylvester Stallone slots in at No. 16. Born in Hell's Kitchen, Stallone is a Philadelphia native and went to Abraham Lincoln High School. His 18 movies have totaled more than $2.512 billion in worldwide box office and have averaged more than $139.61 million per film. Stallone’s repertoire is vast, but he is well-known for his Rocky films.
  • Philadelphia native Alvin Sargent is No. 61. His eight films - featuring “The Amazing Spider-Man,” “Spider-Man 2” and “Spider-Man 3” - have attracted a worldwide box office of more than $2.497 billion and an average of $312.15 million per film.
  • Gary Dauberman (No. 65) grew up in Glen Mills, went to Penncrest High School and attended Temple University. His nine films, featuring the Annabelle trilogy, “The Nun” and “The Nun II,” have generated more than $2.324 billion in worldwide box office and an average of $258.27 million per film.

Key Awards Dates

Just a reminder on key award dates in the not-so-distant future: Oscar nominations voting runs from Jan. 11-16 and the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards will be Jan. 15. The 96th Oscar nominations will be announced Jan. 23 and the ceremony is March 10.

Be on the lookout for Philadelphia’s own Bradley Cooper this award season as well. He should have more space for his expected hardware in his award case. 

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Author

Lou Monaco

Lou Monaco had been East Coast Scene columnist for Gaming Today in Las Vegas since June 2019, covering the East Coast sportsbook scene with emphasis on NJ and PA. He also currently is a part-time writer for the high school sports department for NJ Advanced Media (NJ.com) in Iselin, NJ. Lou has over 30 years sports experience with previous stints at ESPN SportsTicker, Daily Racing Form and Oddschecker.

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