You'll have to forgive us for missing this at the end of last week, but we'll make up for it now. For every year in Hollywood a poll is taken amongst creative types of the best unproduced scripts currently doing the rounds in Tinsel Town. Granted, all of the ones on the list are in the works somewhere, but none of them are in front of the camera yet.

The list is the work of a man called Franklin Leonard, who in previous years has highlighted the likes of Juno and Lars And The Real Girl. And his list has dug up some fascinating projects this year too.

What particularly caught our eye here is the script at number one in the list. It's called The Muppet Man, and is a biopic of Jim Henson, written by Christopher Weekes. Is it just us who would buy a ticket to see that right now? Henson was a groundbreaking, visionary genius of a man, taken from us way, way too young. His legacy clearly lives on, and given that it's his own company that's looking to produce the film, then the hope is that The Muppet Man would be a respectful biopic to a genuine great.

Second is The Social Network, written by Aaron Sorkin and shortly to go before the cameras of David Fincher. We wrote about that recently here.

Going down the list, there's Michael R Perry's The Voices, which Entertainment Weekly describes as the story of what happens when "a schizophrenic worker at a bathtub factory, accidentally kills an attractive woman from accounting". The twist? Said worker then starts taking advice from, er, a talking and foul-mouthed cat and dog.

Prisoners, by Aaron Guzikowski, is billed as Silence Of The Lambs crossed with Mystic River, and director Antoine Fuqua will be helming the film for Warner Bros.

Cedar Rapids, at five, is by Phil Johnston, is about the small town insurance seller who reaches the middle of his life without anything of note happening. This comedy, however, then gives him the chance to represent his firm at the Cedar Rapids insurance convention. Given how The Office-like this sounds, it's unsurprising that Ed Helms is attached to star here, with Miguel Arteta set to direct. The supporting cast will be rounded out by John C Reilly Anne Heche and Sigourney Weaver.

Londongrad is David Scarpa's adaptation of the book The Terminal Spy: A True Story Of Espionage, Betrayal And Murder (which was written by Alan Cowell). It's the story of poisoned former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. It's been picked up by Warner Bros, but that's as far as the news goes thus far.

L.A. Rex is also based on a novel, this time by Will Beall, who has also written the screenplay. It appears to be a mismatched cops story, as a rookie LAPD officer is partnered with the more experienced and scarred older cop. What differentiates L.A. Rex is its willingness to go into the dark underbelly of Los Angeles crime. Paramount has picked up an option on the film.

Desperados, at eight in the list, is written by Ellen Rapoport. Isla Fisher has apparently already signed up for this one. It's the tale of a woman who basically sends an e-mail to the man who could be her true love, and goes on a big journey to delete it before he sees it. Isla Fisher is a fine actress in need a better leading role than the ones she's had thus far. Perhaps this could be it.

John Hlavin's The Gunslinger is billed as "No Country For Old Men fused with Death Wish", and sits at nine, with Warner Bros on board.

Finally, there's a tie for tenth between Matt Cook's By Way Of Helena and Chad St John's The Days Before. The former is about a Texas Ranger and his bride investigating the bodies of Mexican people in a small town that are turning up in the river. It looks like the tale of the secrets hiding beneath the covers of said small town, and certainly sounds intriguing. The latter is the only science fiction film on the list, with a man from the future who travels back in time day by day to stop aliens from wiping us all out. Warner Bros has picked the film up.

We've not read any of these scripts, we should note at this point, and you can read about them in more detail at Entertainment Weekly. But there certainly sounds like a few intriguing movies in there to our eyes.

Please, though, can someone get on with making The Muppet Man soon?

Entertainment Weekly