Benny:

Though my own thinking diverges on particular elements, the more I think about your general premise,? the more I am inclined to suggest? that it has a lot of potential.? (In a previous career incarnation, I worked in the belly of the beast, the law-enforcement-criminal-detention industrial complex, witnessed first hand its peculiar pathologies.)

So I am so bold as to suggest that you write the script in a way to set up a franchise, a series.? Specifically, don’t try to solve in one film every dramatic question embedded in your premise.? He might want to find out who he really is,? and prove his innocence, but first things first.

And the first thing is to survive the “gladiator game” , win his freedom.? I suggest that be the focus of the 1st film (and logline).

In the course of fighting for his freedom, he discovers he isn’t who he has been told he is, that he is? an innocent man — that would be a late 2nd Act or 3rd Act Big Reveal.? Leave dangling the solution to his identity and his innocence.? The film could end with him walking off into the sunrise in the Outback determined? to recover his past (Part 2) and prove his innocence (Part 3).? If the 1st film is successful, you’ll get a chance to explore those story line,? resolved those questions.? If not, the story will still have ended on an upbeat note:? he beat all the odds, won his freedom.

>>>the television show had been a form of crime prevention reducing it to all time lows

A generation ago, a “scared straight” solution to crime might have been credible story element.? We knew much less about human psychology, human behavior and audiences were less sophisticated, too.? But now days I doubt whether a mass audience would buy it.? I think the story should build on and tease out current insights.

And current trends in penology and criminal enforcement.? I bring to your attention that here in the United States, there has been a trend to outsource prison management to private companies. The rationale is to save taxpayer money.? (In the US it’s an article of faith in the conservative canon that a private company can perform a government function more efficiently and more cheaply.)? Well, why not go a step further and develop as? your backstory? that private companies running prisons develop the TV series as a revenue source to save even more tax payer money, turn prisons from a fiscal drain into a profit center for government.

In two ways.? 1] Government gets a cut of the broadcast revenues.? 2] Government legalizes and gets a cut of the action from placing bets on the outcome of the games — on who survives, on who dies, when and how.

Yes, the “Hunger Games” has betting on the outcome but it’s not developed or explored as a motivating factor for the existence of the games.? But in your story it would be a central motivation.? Build on the fact that right now? governments have legalized gambling as a way to fund schools and infrastructure instead of raise taxes. And that means that governments can make even more money by collecting a cut of all bets? on players in this modern version of a? “gladiator” game.

IOW: I suggest taking current trends to their logical and absurd conclusion.? In the quest to cut government spending, save taxpayer money, criminals are exploited to become economic assets instead of liabilities. (Building on current trends also makes your story more relevant.? It’s becomes an indicting parable instead of merely an action plot.)

fwiw