A biopic of Madonna, titled Blond Ambition, has been named the most admired unproduced film script currently in the Hollywood system. Written by Elyse Hollander, Blond Ambition has topped the newly published Black List, which invites film executives to vote on their favourite scripts that will not have started shooting before the end of 2016.

Blond Ambition topped the pile of 73 scripts, taking 48 votes; its description is: “In 1980s New York, Madonna struggles to get her first album released while navigating fame, romance, and a music industry that views women as disposal [sic].” Hollander appears to be a genuine industry newcomer, having written and directed a series of short films and, according to IMDb, acted as an uncredited director’s assistant on Birdman.

Three scripts were in joint second place, taking 35 votes each. Life Itself, from experienced writer Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love; Tangled) is a drama “that weaves together a number of characters whose lives intersect over the course of decades from the streets of New York to the Spanish countryside and back”. The Olympian, by Tony Tost, is the “true story of an underdog rower trying to make it into the 1984 Olympics”. The Post, by Liz Hannah, tells the story of the Washington Post and publication of the Pentagon Papers.

The Black List, which has been published annually since 2005, stresses that it is a “most-liked” list, but it has become increasingly influential over the years, with several recent awards contenders, including Manchester By the Sea, Miss Sloane and The Founder, featuring on past lists.