The Expanded Ultimate Story Checklist: Is the story marketable without revealing the surprise?

It’s great to have a big surprise up your sleeve, but beware of a common mistake: The twist is not the concept. The concept is the compelling idea that sells the story. The twist is what wakes up the story once the original concept starts to run out of steam. 

There was a TV show a few years ago called The 4400. The creators pitched it to the networks like this: All of these people have been abducted over the years by lights in the sky, and one day they all return at the same time with superpowers. At first, it seems like a standard alien abduction story, but then we get to the big twist: They weren’t abducted by aliens. They were abducted through time travel by postapocalyptic humans who have given them these powers to prevent the apocalypse from happening!

Wow, what a pitch! Every network got excited. Then the network execs asked when the truth would be revealed. The writers got big grins on their faces and said, “That’s the great part: We don’t find this out until the end of season five!” Suddenly, all of the joy went out of the room.

The writers hadn’t thought this through. By their own admission, it seemed like a generic X-Files knockoff until they revealed the twist. They knew that they’d never sell it to the network without revealing the big twist, but they somehow expected the network to be able to sell the generic version to the audience for five years. It gradually sunk in to the writers that their plan made no sense. They hastily came up with a better plan, in which the twist is revealed at the end of the original miniseries.

The makers of The 4400 belatedly realized that “time travel” wasn’t the twist but the concept, so it had to be set up before the actual series began.

The 40 Year Old Virgin	YES.
Alien	YES.
An Education	YES. Somewhat. It’s heavily implied.
The Babadook	YES.
Blazing Saddles	YES.
Blue Velvet	YES.
The Bourne Identity	YES.
Bridesmaids	NA
Casablanca	YES.
Chinatown	YES.
Donnie Brasco	NA.
Do the Right Thing	YES.
The Farewell	YES.
The Fighter	YES.
Frozen	YES. It’s actually really concerting to see the promotional materials in which Hans is smiling as part of the gang.
The Fugitive	YES.
Get Out	YES. Blumhouse did an amazing job marketing without revealing the twist.  (The biggest spoiler was the title)
Groundhog Day	Sure.
How to Train Your Dragon	YES.
In a Lonely Place	YES.
Iron Man	YES.
Lady Bird	N/A
Raising Arizona	YES.
Rushmore	YES.
Selma	YES.
The Shining	NA
Sideways	NA
The Silence of the Lambs	YES. Mostly. They marketing did hint at the escape.
Star Wars	YES.
Sunset Boulevard	YES.