Ghost World: The Screenplay

by Daniel Clowes, Terry Zwigoff

Adapted from the comic book by Daniel Clowes, this screenplay, written by Clowes and Director Terry Zwigoff, reimagines the original story, developing an exhilarating, expansive variant, while maintaining the hilarious and melancholy tone of the source novella. Included is the original shooting script. With over thirty pages of material not used in the final film, along with a sixteen-page color section featuring rare artwork, production drawings, photographs of the cast and crew, and detailed annotations by the screenwriters.

Genres: Comics, Fiction, Film, Graphic Novels

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

Daniel Clowes is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter whose work helped define the landscape of alternative comics and bring the medium into mainstream literary conversation. Rising to prominence through his long-running anthology Eightball, he used its pages to blend acidic humor, social observation, surrealism, and character-driven storytelling, producing serials that later became acclaimed graphic novels including Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, Ghost World, David Boring, Ice Haven, and Patience. His illustrations have appeared in major publications such as The New Yorker, Vogue, and The Village Voice, while his collaborations with filmmaker Terry Zwigoff resulted in the films Ghost World and Art School Confidential, the former earning widespread praise and an Academy Award nomination for its screenplay. Clowes began honing his voice in the 1980s with contributions to Cracked and with his Lloyd Llewellyn stories for Fantagraphics, but it was Eightball, launched in 1989, that showcased the full range of his interests, from deadpan satire to psychological drama. Known for blending kitsch, grotesquerie, and a deep love of mid-century American pop culture, he helped shape the sensibilities of a generation of cartoonists and became a central figure in the shift toward graphic novels being treated as serious literature. His post-Eightball books continued this evolution, with works like Wilson, Mister Wonderful, The Death-Ray, and the recent Monica exploring aging, identity, longing, and the complexities of relationships, often through inventive visual structures that echo the history of newspaper comics. Clowes has also been active in music and design, creating artwork for Sub Pop bands, the Ramones, and other artists, and contributing to film posters, New Yorker covers, and Criterion Collection releases. His work has earned dozens of honors, including multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards, a Pen Award for Outstanding Body of Work in Graphic Literature, an Inkpot Award, and the prestigious Fauve d’Or at Angoulême. Exhibitions of his original art have appeared across the United States and internationally, with a major retrospective, Modern Cartoonist: The Art of Daniel Clowes, touring museums beginning in 2012. His screenplay work extended beyond Ghost World to projects like Art School Confidential and Wilson, and he has long been a touchstone for discussions about Generation X culture, alternative comics, and the shifting boundaries between the literary and graphic arts.

Reviews

[D.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

'I've been reading alot of scripts lately...it's a lot cheaper than going to the movies.' -Troy McClure

First, there was the Ghost World graphic novel (to be fair, probably the Ghost World serialised story in Eightball was first, but...) then came the moderately successful film from Terry Zwigoff (starring future superstar Scarlett Johannson and rapidly declining star Thora Birch), and at last came this book edition of the screenplay of the movie of the comic. While this third 'chapter' in the Ghost World saga may seem superfluous and merely published as a way to further milk the collection-obsessed comic audience, it does manage to go a good way beyond that.
The bulk of this book is, indeed, the blue-paged screenplay for the film. That alone offers a deeper glimpse into the movie, with scenes and lines which didn't make it to the final cut as well as insight into intent behind different scenes which did. Beyond that there are two introductions, one by Zwigoff and one by project originator Daniel Clowes, a brand-new mini-strip starring the two female protagonists, colour production photos and illustrations, and a full-colour storyboarding of (what appears to be just one of several of) the opening sequence of the movie. After the script is another full-colour section of annotations to the script, including more illustrations and stills, as well as a brief synopsis of why and how they got Sophie Crumb (daughter of underground comix godfather Robert Crumb) to do Enid Coleslaw's sketchbook images. There's even a two-page listing of the cast and crew. It's all wrapped in a newly-illustrated (by Clowes) jacket depicting the filmic representations of his comic creations.
I've seen a good number of filmbooks and illustrated screenplays, and they all could learn something about presentation from this little book. If you're a fan of either incarnation of Ghost World, this is certainly a book for you.

[Kieran · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating look at one of my favorite movies. The illustrations are varied and interesting. It's amazing how much didn't make it into the final film.

Also, let's not forget that the co-author is the amazing Mr. Terry Zwigoff.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm trash for Ghost World, so anything that can give me more content I will definitely check out.

There's obviously minor differences from the final draft and what made it into the movie. I'm kind of glad a lot of the Josh and Enid stuff was cut out lol - I'm sorry but I just never really saw much chemistry between Josh and Enid. Also, if the movie ended like this screenplay had intended that's kind of depressing *nervous laughter* it definitely would have sucked that Enid and Seymour never had their chat at the end (like in the movie).

[Wendelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

better than the graphic novel, because Enid is now sufferable

[Chris Simerly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of the comic and film, so it was nice to see parts that were edited out of the film, as well as the stories behind a lot of the props used in the film!

[Nick Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ending washes over whatever flaws.

Sublime

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is actually one of those movies everybody else loves and I never liked very much. Sacrilege, I know, but the two characters weren't endearingly alienated so much as insufferably annoying and condescending.

I am curious about the original comic and comics in general, so I'll give this one a look.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw the movie and read the graphic novel. It is interesting to see just how much did not make it into the film. I am curious why so much of the storyline was changed from the original graphic novel. It seems unnecessary.