Plays, Screenplays and TV
Written by Ian McEwan
Jack Flea’s Birthday Celebration (1976)
An episode of Second City Firsts (S06E04). First broadcast on BBC TV, 10th April 1976.
Screenplay published in ‘The Imitation Game’ (see main listing).
Solid Geometry (1979)
A television play based on McEwan’s short story with the same title. Production was cancelled by BBC management four days before filming was due to start. Ian McEwan’s personal account of the cancellation was published in Theatre Papers – The Third Series (1979-80) Number 8: The Warehouse: A Writer’s Theatre.
Screenplay published in ‘The Imitation Game’ (see main listing).
The Imitation Game (1980)
An episode of Play For Today (S10E27). First broadcast on BBC TV, 24th April 1980.
Screenplay published in ‘The Imitation Game’ (see main listing). First published in the literary magazine Quarto No. 5, April 1980.
The Ploughman’s Lunch (1983)
Feature film with original screenplay by McEwan. Theatrical release in the UK in May 1983.
Screenplay published by Methuen (see main listing).
The Last Day Of Summer (1984)
TV film with screenplay by Ian McEwan based on his short story with the same title. First broadcast on Channel 4 UK, 7th June 1984.
Before The War (1988)
Unproduced screenplay by Ian McEwan. A copy of the screenplay is in the MW collection along with two covering letters; one from lawyers of producer Fernando Ghia permitting Rastar to submit the script to Tom Cruise and Kevin Costner and one from Doreen Bergson, President of Rastar to a CAA agent (suggesting Tom Cruise and Paulina Prozikova for the leads).
Flies (1988)
Unproduced screenplay by Ian McEwan. A sequel to David Cronenberg’s ‘The Fly’ (1986). Excerpts were published in Areté 20 (2006).
Soursweet (1988)
Feature film with original screenplay by McEwan based on the novel by Timothy Mo. Theatrical release in the UK on 15th May 1988.
Screenplay published by Faber (see main listing).
The Innocent (1993)
Feature film with screenplay by McEwan based on his novel. Theatrical release in the UK on 24th June 1994 and in USA on 1st September 1995.
The Good Son (1993)
Feature film with original screenplay by McEwan. Theatrical release in the USA on 24th September 1993.
Two different copies of the screenplay are in the MW collection, dated 29th July and 3rd October 1991, and show various changes during development. There was also a paperback novelisation by Todd Strasser published by Pocket Books in the USA (ISBN: 0-671-86751-2).
The Child In Time (2017)
Made for TV film (but had a UK theatrical release) with screenplay by McEwan based on his novel. Theatrical release in the UK on 24th September 2017.
On Chesil Beach (2017)
Feature film with screenplay by McEwan based on his novel. Theatrical release in the UK and USA on 18th May 2018.
The Children Act (2017)
Feature film with screenplay by McEwan based on his novel. Theatrical release in the UK on 24th August 2018 and in USA on 14th September 2018.
Adapted from original works by Ian McEwan
Schmetterlinge (1988)
Feature film with screenplay adapted by Wolfgang Becker from the McEwan short story ‘Butterflies’. Filmed in West Germany and released there on 10th November 1988.
The Comfort Of Strangers (1990)
Feature film with screenplay adapted by Harold Pinter from the McEwan novel. Theatrical release in the UK on 30th November 1990 and in the USA on 15th March 1991.
Screenplay published by Faber & Faber 1990. ISBN: 0-571-14419-5.
The Cement Garden (1993)
Feature film with screenplay adapted by Andrew Birkin from the McEwan novel. Theatrical release in the USA on 11th February 1994.
Rozmowa z czlowiekiem z szafy (1993)
Feature film with screenplay adapted by Mariusz Grzegorzek from the McEwan short story ‘Conversation with a Cupboard Man’. Made in Poland and released there on 24th March 1994.
First Love, Last Rites (1997)
Feature film with screenplay adapted by David Ryan and Jesse Peretz from the McEwan short story. Theatrical release in the USA on 7th August 1998.
Solid Geometry (2002)
Short film made for television with screenplay adapted by Dennis Lawson from the McEwan short story. First broadcast on British television 28th November 2002.
Foglie Di Cemento (2005)
Short film in Italian adapted from the McEwan short story ‘Butterflies’ although the title translates as ‘Leaves of Cement’.
Enduring Love (2004)
Feature film with screenplay adapted by Joe Penhall from the McEwan novel. Theatrical release in the UK on 26th November 2004.
Butterflies (2005)
Short film with screenplay by Max Jacoby adapted from the McEwan short story. Made in Luxembourg.
Ian McEwan: On Chesil Beach (2007)
Documentary to promote the novel ‘On Chesil Beach’. Features interviews with Ian McEwan, Nan Talese, Michael Berkeley and others. DVD sold by Powell’s Books, Portland, OR, USA.
Atonement (2007)
Feature film with screenplay by Christopher Hampton based on McEwan’s novel. Theatrical release in the UK on 3rd September 2007 and in USA on 7th December 2007.
The screenplay was published by Newmarket Press 2007. ISBN 978-1-55704-799-1.
Two unpublished copies of the screenplay are in the MW collection; one marked ‘shooting script’ and the other in perfect-bound wrappers with the logo of Focus/Working Title and a Dreamworks stamp on the cover.
The Cement Garden (Play) (2014)
Stage adaptation by David Aula & Jimmy Osborne of the Ian McEwan novel.
The script was published by Bloomsbury in 2014. ISBN 978-1-4725-8383-3.
