A Lieutenant in a drug gang, misreads a situation killing his boss. This sparks an internal war eventually leading to the destruction of his gang, his death and the loss of their terroritary.

After killing his boss, driven by his girlfriend and a misunderstanding, a drug dealer embarks on a bloody coup, ambition isn't enough resulting in his death and the destruction of the gang he aimed to control.

Going back through the script. He is stuck in a bubble. He can't see the bigger picture. He was unsure if he should do what he thought he was told to do. ?Driven by his girlfriend (in it for free drugs and ambition), he does kill his boss. But the gang goes into free fall as he doesn't know how to step up. ?As the gang begins to implode he sees an opportunity to take control but a few people stand in his way.

From the likability situation. Think of it like a slasher film. Everyone know Freddie, Jason, Jigsaw. ?We have empathy for their victims. ?After all there is a series called the ?walking dead? not ?people trying to survive other people and avoid zombies?.

Thanks again.

Yep - bad people are far, far more interesting.

However - my best advice here is to make sure we have some empathy for this guy at the start/first 10 minutes.

I mean... Tony Soprano - loved his family, right? Don Corleone too. Joker was bullied.

You know what I'm saying. We probably won't stick around if he's an out and out horrible person. We should at least understand why he's an asshole - at least in the first 10.

Also - goes against Aristotle. A depraved horrible person who reaches a terrible end/undeserved misfortune. Basically - no one will care.

However - if it's an intermediate hero with bad and good qualities who meets tragic end/undeserved misfortune. We'll care. And it'll hurt. And we'll feel something. (I honestly reckon Don Corleone and Joker fit the bill here.)

This advice is more geared towards the read I think.

If you were a PT Anderson/Tarantino/already in the industry - you could probably get away with making him an out and out villain. Not as easy when you're trying to get that script read.

Anyways - good luck!

Have you considered changing the concept slightly? What if another lieutenant kills the boss, and he stands to take the blame. This way, his vie for power could become a means of survival rather than a murderous rampage for the sake of it.