ANGELS & DEMONS
Written by
Akiva Goldsman
April, 2008
INT PAPAL APARTMENT DAY
CLOSE ON an ornate ring. It's intricately carved with a seal, an
image of St. Peter casting a net. The ring is carried on a satin
pillow through a darkened, regal apartment. In the distance,
BELLS ARE TOLLING -- the slow, solemn tones that announce a death.
A dozen men in scarlet cassocks, ROMAN CATHOLIC CARDINALS, bend
down to inspect the ring, nodding in affirmation, part of an
ancient ritual.
A younger man (the CAMERLENGO) in a black cassock takes a silver
knife and scratches the ring's seal twice, once horizontally and
once vertically, in the sign of the cross.
Now the ring is placed on a lead block. The Camerlengo raises a
silver mallet and SMASHES it down, shattering the ring into a
thousand tiny pieces.
As the Cardinals confirm to their satisfaction that the ring has
been destroyed, the HUSHED VOICE of a NEWS REPORTER comes over the
image.
REPORTER
-- the Ring of the Fisherman, which
bears the official papal seal and by
Vatican law must be destroyed
immediately following the Pope's
death.
IN THE HALLWAY JUST OUTSIDE THE APARTMENT,
the Cardinals file out in a solemn procession. Behind them, the
Camerlengo closes and locks the doors to the apartment entrance,
helped by an AIDE who stretches red silk across the doors in the
form of an X.
REPORTER (O.S.)
The Pope's Chamberlain, or
"Camerlengo," then seals the papal
apartments ---
At the juncture point of the doors, the Camerlengo places a glob
of hot wax, then raises a seal and BURNS it into the wax with a
hot SIZZLE. TWO SWISS GUARDSMEN, traditionally attired, step in
front of the doors, their eight-foot swords held in a low cross.
REPORTER (O.S.) (cont'd)
--- and Swiss Guard will remain posted
outside the doors for at least nine
days of mourning, a period known as
tempe sede vacante, or ---
2.
INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA DAY
In St. Peter's Basilica, we move in toward an empty chair, a chair
so magnificent it can only be called a throne.
REPORTER (O.S.)
--- "the time of the empty throne."
A ring appears around the empty throne and --
DISSOLVE TO:
INT CERN - DETECTOR ROOM DAY
-- a ring as ornate in its way as the Ring of the Fisherman, except
this one is a mass of technological sophistication. It's twenty-
five feet across, covered with wires, sensors, gizmos. It's the
centerpiece of a massive laboratory the size of a football field.
SCIENTISTS and TECHNICIANS read off checklists in a variety of
languages, none of them English so far. The place is a hive of
activity and sound; cooling water WHOOSHES through pipes, the
static HUM of high levels of current floats in the air.
VITTORIA VETRA, an intense woman in her mid-thirties with the long
stride of an impatient person, makes her way across the floor to
PHILLIPE, the project manager, a Frenchman around fifty. She
follows him as he climbs down a scaffolding that surrounds the
detector wheel and heads toward a console across the room.
VITTORIA
(in Italian, subtitled)
Somebody pulled us off the grid,
Phillipe.
PHILLIPE
(responds in French,
also subtitled)
You hit 36kV down there yesterday.
The whole synchrotron only loads 18.
VITTORIA
(switching to French)
And the LEAR's specked up to 42. It's
all approved by the Director, you want
me to call him?
Reluctantly, Phillipe sits down at a console and starts entering
commands, shaking his head.
3.
PHILLIPE
Waste of power, what're you
extracting, still ten to the seventh
APs a second? How long to produce
a gram at that rate?
VITTORIA
About two billion years. At that
rate.
He looks at her sideways, didn't like the sound of that. He
hits a few last keystrokes and a series of flashing lights
reconnect what looks like a lower laboratory complex to the main
grid. She nods her thanks and starts to go.
PHILLIPE
Vittoria.
(switching to soft
ITALIAN)
Please don't blow us all to heaven.
And on the word "heaven," everything goes white and --
DISSOLVES TO:
INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA DAY
--- a veil of thin white silk billows down over the face of the
dead pontiff. TWO VATICAN FUNEREAL WORKERS pull a second veil over
his face, then another over his head and hands.
A burled cypress lid slides over the top of the coffin, which is
carried out of frame and into ---
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE DAY
--- St. Peter's Square, packed with THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MOURNERS,
including kings, queens, presidents, and prime ministers.
REPORTER (O.S.)
Following the elegy Mass, the body of
the pontiff, borne by the traditional
twelve pall bearers will be sealed in
a zinc crypt deep in the Vatican
Grottoes along with the bodies of
twenty-five other popes.
The PROCESSION OF CARDINALS is a ribbon of red making its way
through the kaleidoscope of colors of the assembled religious
dignitaries. On the brilliant array of colors ---
CUT TO:
4.
INT CERN - DETECTOR ROOM DAY
--- another array of colors, this one like the best fireworks
display you've ever seen. Pulling back, we realize it's on one
of the giant monitor screens in the detector room at CERN, all of
which are lit up with similar arrays.
Something has happened and there's an enormous amount of
excitement in the room. More Scientists and Technicians pour
in, take their seats at consoles, CONFER excitedly. A
computerized voice speaks English over a loudspeaker:
VOICE (O.S.)
Beam on beam collisions are active.
It repeats the message in Italian, German, French, and Chinese.
INT CERN TUNNEL DAY
Elevator doors open in a subterranean tunnel and Vittoria steps
out. A long tube, about four feet across, runs off into the
distance, and as Vittoria heads off in the other direction, we see
that the tunnel, and its cylinder, go on forever that way too.
TWO MORE TECHNICIANS hurry down the tunnel and jump into the
elevator she just vacated.
Vittoria steps up to a security panel and places her chin in a
cup. A vertical laser sweeps across her eyeball and we --
CUT TO:
INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA DAY
--- an ancient carved incense holder that swings back and forth at
the end of a chain, swung by a PRIEST in St. Peter's Basilica. A
THOUSAND FAITHFUL are gathered for ---
REPORTER
--- the Pope's elegy Mass, led by
Cardinal Saverio Mortati, Dean of the
College of Cardinals ---
At the front, CARDINAL MORTATI stands behind a massive altar, arms
outstretched, praying in Latin for the assembled luminaries.
As he performs the service, intoning in a dead language --
INT ANTIMATTER LAB DAY
--- Vittoria steps through an airlock and emerges in a gleaming
white underground lab. Everything, everywhere, is white.
5.
There are a dozen columns of polished steel about three feet tall,
each of which supports a transparent canister the size of a tennis
ball can. They appear empty.
LEONARDO BENTIVOGLIO, sixtyish, black pants and a short-sleeve
black shirt, is at work at a command console in the center of the
room. (They speak to each other in Italian, subtitled.)
VITTORIA
Power should be back five by five.
LEONARDO
It is, extraction's already started.
He turns around, and we thought his black pants and shirt looked
familiar -- now we see his Roman collar and realize this physicist
is also a priest.
LEONARDO (cont'd)
We're in God's hands now.
While Leonardo and Vittoria work at the console, we move slowly
across the room toward those strange vertical pillars.
INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA DAY
In St. Peter's, we're in a complimentary move, down the aisle past
the College of Cardinals, one hundred sixty-five aging men in
brilliant red robes, seated near the altar.
REPORTER (O.S.)
The College of Cardinals will lock
itself in the Sistine Chapel for
Conclave literally, the word means
"with key" -- the process by which
the Church chooses a new leader for
the world's one billion Catholics.
We move onto the altar, close enough to Mortati to get a good look
at him. He's in his late seventies, grave, eyes closed in
religious fervor as he consecrates the communion host.
INT ANTIMATTER LAB DAY
In the lab, we're still moving, close to one of the pillars and to
the transparent tube on top of it. The tube isn't empty, as we
first thought, there's something suspended in the middle of it, a
drop, round and white, floating in mid-air.
INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA DAY
Mortati reaches the religious climax of the ceremony and holds
aloft the round white communion host.
6.
A THOUSAND VOICES begin singing in St. Peter's, we go in close on
the host and dissolve to ---
INT ANTIMATTER LAB DAY
--- that otherworldly drop, also round and white, a perfect match
for the host, but so different, hovering in the tube like a hot
blob of mercury, defying gravity.
Everything abruptly goes black and a title bleeds on screen:
ANGELS AND DEMONS
CUT TO:
INT HARVARD COLLEGE - NATATORIUM DAWN
The bottom of a swimming pool. A lithe figure SLASHES like a
knife through the water, doing laps.
The swimmer is the only one in the pool, but still pushes like
he's got someone to beat. His strokes echo off vacant bleachers
in an oldish college natatorium.
As he reaches the end of the pool, he sees a murky figure through
the water. The swimmer stops, pulls off his goggles.
ROBERT LANGDON is fiftyish, but looks ten years younger, must have
something to do with two hundred laps at dawn every day.
CLAUDIO VINCENZO is heavier, dressed in a sport jacket and slacks,
looks exhausted. He speaks with an Italian accent.
VINCENZO
Professor Langdon?
LANGDON
Swim might help your jet lag.
VINCENZO
I beg your pardon?
Langdon gets out and pulls a towel off a nearby bench.
LANGDON
(GESTURING)
Bags under your eyes, up at five a.m.,
Italian accent... Do I hear Naples in
those Rs?
7.
VINCENZO
(smiles, shows an ID)
Claudio Vincenzo, Corpo della
Gendarmeria Vaticano.
LANGDON
Vatican Police? I was expecting
another letter.
(Vincenzo looks confused)
My request for access to the Archives?
Vincenzo has no idea what he's talking about.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Shouldn't you be in Rome? Busy time
for you guys.
VINCENZO
In fact I was in New York, on
vacation. I got a call in the
middle of the night --- find Robert
Langdon. A matter of great urgency.
LANGDON
Urgent Vatican business, involving me?
I doubt that.
He heads for the locker room. Vincenzo calls after him.
VINCENZO
They said to show you this.
Langdon turns back. Vincenzo's holding a single sheet of paper in
his right hand. Langdon, curious, makes his way back to him.
Takes the paper ---
--- and, it is safe to say, feels the earth give way beneath his
feet. He looks up, eyes wide, and mutters a single word:
LANGDON
llluminati?
CUT TO:
EXT HARVARD CAMPUS DAWN
As the sun comes up, Langdon and Vincenzo leave the natatorium.
VINCENZO
Yes, of course, but it couldn't be
the llluminati as we knew them, they
disappeared a hundred years ago.
8.
LANGDON
Did they? Look at the paper.
VINCENZO
I've seen it.
LANGDON
Look again.
Vincenzo looks at it. The word llluminati is written in ornate
script. Vincenzo looks back up --- so?
LANGDON (cont'd)
Turn it upside down.
Vincenzo does. Incredibly, the word reads exactly the same way
upside down.
LANGDON (cont'd)
It's called an ambigram, the same
backwards and forwards. That's common
in a symbol, like a Jewish star, or
yin-yang, or a swastika, but this is a
word. People have searched for the
llluminati ambigrammatic symbol for
four centuries, modern symbologists
even tried to create it, but nobody
could pull it off, not even by
computer. Most had concluded it was a
myth. I wrote a book about it.
(REALIZING)
Which is why you're here, isn't it?
VINCENZO
"The Art of the llluminati," by Robert
Langdon.
CUT TO:
INT LANGDON'S APARTMENT DAY
A hand skims along a bookcase and stops at that very title, a
heavy academic tome. Langdon pulls it out and drops it on the
desk in his apartment with a THUD.
(The apartment is cluttered with esoterica, the home of a man
whose taste in furnishings was very fashionable about four hundred
years ago. A single man -- no kid stuff, no cats.)
Langdon flips the book open to an illustrated section in the
middle, filled with renderings of previous attempts to create the
symbol he now holds in his hand.
9.
LANGDON
Incredible. Either someone just
figured out how to make this, or they
found it. Recently. Which would
mean the llluminati have returned.
(looks at Vincenzo)
An ancient brotherhood, enemies of the
church, surfacing just after the death
of a Pope? I'd pull you off
vacation too.
VINCENZO
It's worse than just that. Four
cardinals were kidnapped from their
quarters inside the Vatican some time
between three and five a.m. this
morning. Shortly afterward, the Office
of the Swiss Guard received that
document, along with the threat that
the Cardinals will be publicly
executed, one per hour, starting at
seven p.m. tonight, in Rome.
LANGDON
(mind racing ahead)
Conclave?
VINCENZO
Was to begin today. We have
postponed its start for a few hours, a
story of illness, there are no
suspicions. Yet.
LANGDON
What do you want from me?
VINCENZO
The perpetrators of this heinous act
sent that -- ambigram, you say? -- as a
provocation, a taunt. But it may
also be their undoing. If you can
help us learn their identity, perhaps
we can stop them.
LANGDON
Why me?
VINCENZO
Your expertise. Your erudition. And
your involvement with recent Church --
shall we say "mysteries?"
10.
LANGDON
I wasn't under the impression that
episode had endeared me to the
Vatican.
VINCENZO
Oh, it didn't. But it made you --
what is the word?
(Italian pronunciation)
Formidable. Formidable. A plane
is standing by twenty minutes from
here. Will you come with me?
Langdon doesn't move, just stares at the ambigram, still amazed.
VINCENZO (cont'd)
Professor Langdon, you have spent ten
years of your academic life searching
for the very symbol you now hold in
your hand. And the madman who
created it, or who knows the secrets
of its origin-- that person is in Rome.
(checks his watch)
How much longer must we pretend you
have not already decided to come?
CUT TO:
EXT AIRPORT DAY
A small private plane SCREAMS into the sky.
EXT ROME DAY
We soar over Rome, the Eternal City. A helicopter WHOOSHES into
frame below us.
INT HELICOPTER DAY
The papal helicopter is plush inside, and nearly silent. A very
pricey piece of equipment. Vincenzo stares out the window.
VINCENZO
If the llluminati have returned and
are in Rome, we will hunt them down
and kill them.
Langdon, seated across from him, stifles a laugh.
LANGDON
Spoken like a Roman Catholic.
Vincenzo looks at him sharply.
11.
LANGDON (cont'd)
The llluminati didn't become violent
anti-Papists until the 17th century.
Initially, they were physicists,
mathematicians, astronomers. Their
name means "the Enlightened Ones." In
the 1500s, they started meeting
secretly to share their concerns about
the church's inaccurate teachings.
They were dedicated to the quest for
scientific truth. And for that, the
church -- to use your words -- hunted
them down and killed them. Drove
them underground.
Langdon turns and looks out the front window of the helicopter as,
up ahead, the marble facade of St. Peter's Basilica blazes like
fire in the afternoon sun.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Into a secret society.
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE DAY
Pulling away from the helicopter, we see a coat of arms emblazoned
on its side -- two skeleton keys crossing a shield and papal crown.
The helicopter SWOOPS over St. Peter's Square, filled with more
tourists than usual, due to the impending start of Conclave.
We drift toward a structure on the far side of the Square, closer
to its huge, ornate windows. As we approach, large swaths of
black drop down, draping over the windows, closing off our view.
INT SISTINE CHAPEL DAY
Inside, WORKERS continue to drape large bolts of black velvet over
the windows, sealing this room off from outside. Pulling back,
we realize it's not just any room ---
--- it's the Sistine Chapel. As the last window is blackened,
the room is bathed in a profound darkness lit only by candles.
ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-ONE MEN in red robes are gathered inside the
Chapel, the College of Cardinals. They talk in a polyglot of
languages, milling about the place, conferring, catching up on old
friendships.
Cardinal Mortati, the Dean of the College who led the Pope's elegy
mass, is the type of man one crosses a room to see, not the other
way around.
12.
He chats in Italian with two other Cardinals, until a black-
cassocked aide (FATHER SIMEON) outside the open doors of the
Chapel catches his eye. Mortati excuses himself, steps through
the open doorway, and into ---
INT SALON DAY
-- the salon just outside the Chapel. Father Simeon is an unctuous
man in his fifties with eyes that are always looking for whoever's
behind you. (They speak in Italian, subtitled.)
MORTATI
And?
FR. SIMEON
Commandante Rocher assures me the
Guard is doing everything humanly
possible to find the prefiriti.
MORTATI
A very long way for him to say very
little.
FR. SIMEON
What if you were to begin in their
absence?
MORTATI
They are the four leading candidates.
If they're not present, they're not
eligible. There will be no
consensus without them, wid are we to
vote for?
Father Simeon gives him a look -- perhaps you?
MORTATI (cont'd)
It is as much a sin to offer flattery
to accept it.
FR. SIMEON
(chastened, but not
REALLY)
The Camerlengo asks how long you can
postpone the opening prayer without
making another announcement to the
public?
MORTATI
Two years and three months.
(Simeon looks confused)
The conclave of 1316?
(never mind)
(MORE)
13.
MORTATI (cont'd)
Tell the Camerlengo the Cardinal
Electors will take every minute
required to perform their sacred
trust. No further announcements are
necessary.
FR. SIMEON
He's be concerned about the public
dimension. People will think-
MORTATI
(cutting him off)
What we tell them to think.
CUT TO:
EXT VATICAN - STREET DAY
On the ground now and behind Vatican walls, Langdon and Vincenzo
walk briskly around a corner and are met by ERNESTO OLIVETTI, a
solidly-built man in his late thirties.
OLIVETTI
Professor Langdon, welcome to Vatican
City. Ernesto Olivetti, Inspector
Generale of the Vatican Police Force.
He takes Langdon by the arm and gestures down a narrow passageway.
OLIVETTI (cont'd)
This way, please, we'll meet in the
headquarters of the Swiss Guard.
LANGDON
I assumed you were Swiss Guard.
OLIVETTI
No. The Gendarmerie is responsible
for everything inside the Vatican
walls, with the exception of the
security of His Holiness and the
Apostolic Palace. That is Swiss
Guard. The Commandante Generale of
the Roman Carbinieri has joined us as
well, in an advisory capacity, and
the Guarda Nacionale have sent a
representative.
LANGDON
(CONFUSED)
So jurisdictionally, this is-
OLIVETTI
A God damn nightmare.
14.
They turn a corner and approach a squat stone building labeled
"Offizia della Guarda Suiza."
TWO SWISS GUARDSMEN are standing outside the entrance to the
building. They're somewhat comically dressed in puffy tunics
vertically striped in brilliant blue and gold, with matching
pantaloons and spats, topped by a black beret.
Langdon can't completely hide a smile. Olivetti notices. The
Guards raise their eight-foot swords, allowing the three of them
to enter the building.
INT SWISS GUARD OFFICES - CORRIDOR DAY
The interior of the Swiss Guard offices is ornate and filled with
artwork, like every other Vatican building. As they walk,
Langdon studies the row of statues of male nudes that lines both
sides of the hallway, all wearing fig leaves.
LANGDON
The Great Castration.
OLIVETTI
I beg your pardon?
LANGDON
1857. Pius IX felt the male form might
inspire lust, so he got a hammer and
chisel and unmanned two hundred
statues. These plaster fig leaves
were added later.
Olivetti stops abruptly, outside a heavy steel door with a
security keyguard beside it.
OLIVETTI
Are you anti-Catholic, Professor
Langdon?
LANGDON
Me? No, I'm anti-vandalism.
OLIVETTI
I urge you to guard your tone in there.
The Swiss Guard is a calling, not a
profession, and it encourages a certain
-- zealotry. Commander Rocher, the
head of the Guard, is a deeply
spiritual man, and he was close to the
late Pope. Understood?
LANGDON
(SINCERE)
I just hope I can help.
15.
OLIVETTI
So do I. You were my idea.
He enters a five-digit number on the keypad and the steel doors
slide open.
INT SWISS GUARD HEADQUARTERS DAY
The headquarters of the Swiss Guard is in a lushly adorned
Renaissance library crammed with sophisticated communications and
surveillance equipment. It's crowded, Swiss Guard (in suits and
ties, the pantaloons are more for show), uniformed Carbinieri, and
Vatican Police crammed around different stations, some working
together, others arguing, mostly in Italian.
OLIVETTI
Wait here.
He crosses the room to a tall, fair-haired man around sixty,
weathered like steel -- maybe "tempered" is the better word.
While they confer, Langdon notices a woman to his left. We
recognize Vittoria Vetra, the physicist we saw at CERN.
She catches Langdon's eye, forces a grim smile, recognizes they're
both strangers here. Olivetti comes back with COMMANDER ROCHER,
the tall man, very much in charge. He speaks with a French/Swiss
ACCENT�
ROCHER
(to Vittoria)
Ms. Vetra? I'm Commander Rocher,
Commandante Principale of the Swiss
Guard. Thank you for coming. And
Professor Langdon?
LANGDON
That's right. Rocher looks him up and
down, so, you're Langdon.
ROCHER
Thank God, the symbologist is here.
Ms. Vetra, this way, please.
He leads Vittoria across the room, to a surveillance monitor.
Langdon, puzzled by the cold shoulder, looks at Olivetti, who
leans in.
OLIVETTI
There's been a development. We
received another threat from the
kidnapper.
16.
Across the room, they hear Vittoria GASP. Olivetti goes to join
them, nodding to Langdon to follow.
AT THE MONITOR,
Langdon and Olivetti join Rocher and Vittoria and stare at the
image on a video monitor -- it's a familiar-looking canister, in
which a metallic drop of liquid shimmers in the middle, suspended.
The acronym CERN is stenciled up its side. On its base is an
LED display, counting down from about six hours.
At the top of the monitor flashes superimposed text -- LIVE FEED,
CAMERA #86.
VITTORIA
(CONTINUING)
-- canister was stolen from our lab
around midnight last night. The
intruder killed my research partner,
Leonardo Bentivoglio, and mutilated
him in order to bypass security.
They look at her, don't quite see the connection.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
We use retinal scanners.
(they still don't get it)
They cut out his eyes.
They cringe.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
That canister contains an extremely
combustible substance called
antimatter. We need to locate it
immediately or evacuate Vatican City.
ROCHER
I'm quite familiar with incendiaries,
Ms. Vetra. I haven't heard of
antimatter.
VITTORIA
It's new, energy research technology.
It uses a reverse polarity vacuum to
filter out anti-matter positrons
generated in particle accelerations in
the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
They look at her blankly. She points at the screen,
17.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
The anti-matter is suspended, there,
in an airtight nanocomposite shell
with electromagnets at each end. But
if it were to fall out of suspension
and come into contact with matter --
say, the bottom of the canister -- the
two opposing forces will annihilate
one another. Violently.
ROCHER
And what might cause it to fall out of
suspension?
VITTORIA
The battery going dead. Which it
will.
(looks at the screen)
In six hours and eleven minutes.
Silence for a moment.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
Where is that camera? Number eighty-
six?
OLIVETTI
It's wireless. It too was stolen.
That could be anywhere inside the
Vatican walls.
VITTORIA
You've got to find it.
ROCHER
We're a bit preoccupied with four
missing cardinals at the moment.
VITTORIA
You don't understand. An
annihilation is a cataclysmic event.
It would be a blinding explosion,
equivalent to about five megatons.
The blast radius alone would be --
Softly, Langdon speaks up from behind her.
LANGDON
"Vatican City will be consumed by
light."
A few voices fall still. They turn and look at him.
18.
ROCHER
Those are the exact words the
kidnapper used.
INT ROCHER'S OFFICE DAY
A few moments later, they're crowded around the communications
console at Rocher's desk, where a dimly-lit video recording is
playing back on a computer screen. (The office is behind a
glass wall to one side of the headquarters.)
The images on the recording are of FOUR OLDER MEN, some in their
sixties, the others in their seventies, filmed in dim light behind
bars in a dank, dungeon-like space.
A lightly accented VOICE speaks from behind the camera.
VOICE (O.S.)
We will destroy your four pillars...
brand your preferiti and sacrifice
them on the altars of science... and
then bring your church down upon you.
Vatican City will be consumed by
light.
LANGDON
It's an ancient llluminati threat.
(Rocher pauses the recording)
The destruction of Vatican City
through light. The four pillars --
he probably means the kidnapped
cardinals. You didn't mention they
were the preferiti.
(to Vittoria)
The favorites to be chosen as the new
Pope. Play it again.
VOICE (O.S.)
We will destroy your four pillars...
brand your preferiti and sacrifice
them on the altars of science...
LANGDON
Stop it there.
Rocher does
LANGDON (cont'd)
"Brand" them, another llluminati
legend, this one says there are a set
of five brands, each one an ambigram.
(MORE)
19.
LANGDON (cont'd)
The first four are the fundamental
elements of science -- earth, air,
fire, water. The fifth -- is a
mystery. Maybe it's this.
He pulls the "llluminati" ambigram from his pocket.
ROCHER
He said they'd be killed publicly. In
churches.
LANGDON
(nods, not surprised)
Revenge for La Purga.
ROCHER
La Purga?
LANGDON
Don't you guys read your own history?
1668. The church kidnapped four
llluminati scientists and branded
their chests with the symbol of the
cross. To "purge their sins."
Murdered them and left their bodies in
the street as a warning to others to
stop questioning church rulings on
scientific matters. It was after La
Purga that a darker, more violent
llluminati emerged. This sounds
like retribution.
(to Rocher)
Is there any more?
Rocher hits play again.
VOICE (O.S.)
.... and then bring your church down
upon you. Vatican City will be
consumed by light...
While listening this time, Langdon notices a darkened video
monitor, inlaid at an angle on Rocher's desk. It faces away
from the outer office, and instead of an on/off switch, there is
an oddly-shaped keyhole.
VOICE (O.S.) (cont'd)
A shining star at the end of the Path
of Illumination.
Langdon looks up sharply.
20.
LANGDON
The Path of Illumination?
Rocher stops the video.
LANGDON (cont'd)
I need to get into the Vatican
Archives.
Rocher shakes his head, looks at Olivetti harshly, is embarrassed.
OLIVETTI
Professor, this is not the appropriate
moment to-
ROCHER
Your petition has been denied seven
times, Mr. Langdon.
LANGDON
This has nothing to do with that,
(FAST)
The Path of Illumination is an ancient
trail through Rome that leads to the
Church of the Illumination, a secret
place where llluminati members could
meet in safety. If I can find the
Segno, the sign that marks the start
of the Path, I'm willing to bet the
four churches along it are where he
intends to murder your cardinals. If
we can get to one of them before he
does, we can stop it. But to find
the start of the path, I need to get
into the Archives.
ROCHER
Even if I wanted to help you, access
is only by written decree of the
curator and the Board of Vatican
Librarians.
LANGDON
Or by papal mandate.
ROCHER
Yes. But as you've no doubt heard,
the Holy Father is-
LANGDON
What about Il Camerlengo? Let me
talk to him.
21.
ROCHER
The Camerlengo? He's just a priest
here, the former Pope's Chamberlain.
LANGDON
Doesn't the power of the Holy See rest
with him during tempe sede vacante?
They just stare at him. Shit, this guy's good. Langdon checks his
watch, getting irritated.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Hey, fellas --- you called me.
CUT TO:
INT PAPAL OFFICES DAY
A spectacular view of St. Peter's Square, through the windows of
the Papal offices. Moving down, we find a figure dressed in a
simple black cassock, his back to us, staring out at the crowd.
FATHER SEBASTIAN GUTTIEREZ, the Camerlengo, speaks with a soft
Spanish accent.
CAMERLENGO
His Holiness once told me that a Pope
is a man torn between two worlds...
the real world and the divine.
Assembled in the grand office are Langdon, Rocher, Olivetti, and
Vittoria. The Camerlengo's back is still turned.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
He warned that any church that ignored
reality would not survive to enjoy the
divine.
He turns around. He's younger than we thought, in his mid-
thirties, deep, dark eyes. The kind of priest who often
inspires, before the years of dogma catch up with him.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
It seems the real world is upon us
tonight.
(to Langdon)
I'm familiar with llluminati lore, and
the legend of the brandings. La
Purga is a dark stain on the church's
history; I'm not surprised this ghost
has come back to haunt us.
22.
He sits behind the massive desk, and if he seemed young before, he
seems like a child now, overcome by the position he's in. But
when he speaks to Rocher, he's in command.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
Commandante, have you begun a search
for this explosive device?
ROCHER
Of course, but it could be anywhere,
and the safety of the cardinals is my
primary concern at the moment.
CAMERLENGO
The Sistine Chapel is a fortress, as
long as the cardinals are in conclave,
your security concerns are at a
minimum. Devote as much of your
resources as possible to a search for-
ROCHER
Signore, if you're about to suggest
we make a naked-eye search of all of
Vatican City, I must-
CAMERLENGO
(SHARPLY)
Commander. Though I am not His
Holiness, when you address me, you are
addressing this office. Do you
understand?
ROCHER
Yes, Padre,
CAMERLENGO
Good. Now -- you said the image on
screen was illuminated by artificial
light. May I suggest methodically
cutting the power to various sections
of the City. When the image on your
screen goes dark, you'll have a more
specific idea of the device's
location.
Rocher looks at Olivetti -- gotta admit, that's a pretty damn good
idea.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
Ms. Vetra. Besides yourself and
your research partner, who knew about
your antimatter project?
23.
VITTORIA
Only the director of CERN. But
Leonardo kept detailed journals; if he
told anyone else about what we were
doing, he would have made a note of
it.
CAMERLENGO
(PAUSE)
Do you have these journals?
VITTORIA
I can have them flown here from Geneva
in an hour.
He pauses, thinking, then turns the phone on his desk to face her.
While she picks it up to dial, the Camerlengo comes around his
desk to speak privately to Langdon.
CAMERLENGO
Mr. Langdon. You're correct that I
may grant you access to the Archives.
LANGDON
Thank you, Padre.
CAMERLENGO
I said you're correct that I may, not
that I will. Christianity's most
sacred codices are in that archive.
Given your recent entanglement with
the church -- I need to ask you a
question first.
Langdon looks at him -- fire away.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
Do you believe in God, sir?
LANGDON
(DELICATELY)
Father, I simply believe that
religions can often-
CAMERLENGO
I didn't ask if you believe what man
says about God, I asked if you believe
in God.
LANGDON
I'm an academic. My mind tells me I
will never understand God.
24.
CAMERLENGO
And your heart?
LANGDON
Tells me I'm not meant to.
The Camerlengo looks at him -- that's not quite good enough.
LANGDON (cont'd)
I believe that faith is a gift, which
I have not been fortunate enough to
receive.
The Camerlengo looks at him for a long moment. Pretty damn good
answer. He puts a hand on Langdon's shoulder and leans in.
CAMERLENGO
Be delicate with our treasures.
CUT TO:
EXT APOSTOLIC PALACE DAY
The back doors of the Apostolic Palace BANG open and Langdon is
ushered out (fast) by Olivetti, the head of the Vatican Police.
OLIVETTI
The archives are this way.
They turn down a narrow passageway. A VOICE calls from behind
them.
VITTORIA (O.S.)
Professor Langdon!
Vittoria catches up to them.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
If this path really leads to the
Church of Illumination, that may be
where they've hidden the antimatter.
LANGDON
"A shining star at the end of the
Path." My thoughts exactly.
OLIVETTI
(to Vittoria)
If we find this bomb, can you
deactivate it?
25.
VITTORIA
No, but I can change its battery, as
long as it has more than five minutes
of life. That would give us another
twenty-four hours to get it back to
CERN.
Olivetti nods to her, come on along. They walk again, holds a hand
out to Langdon.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
Vittoria Vetra. Are you really a
symbologist, or was he mocking you?
LANGDON
Both. You're a physicist?
VITTORIA
(NODS)
Bio-entanglement physics.
Interconnectivity of life systems.
LANGDON
Okay.
VITTORIA
What are we looking for in the
archives?
LANGDON
A little book written by Galileo.
VITTORIA
Galileo was llluminati?
LANGDON
And a devout Catholic. He thought
science and religion weren't enemies,
but two different languages telling
the same story. He wanted like
minds to be able to find the Church of
Illumination, but he couldn't exactly
advertise its location, so he created
a coded path. An unknown llluminati
master sculpted four statues, each a
tribute to one of the four fundamental
elements -- earth, air, fire, water --
and put them out in public, in
churches throughout Rome. Each
statue held a clue, pointing to the
next. And at the end of the trail was
the Church of Illumination.
26.
Vicenzo, leading them, turns up Via Sentinel and starts up the
hill toward the Archives. They follow, quickly.
OLIVETTI
What makes you think he's going to
murder the cardinals in the churches?
LANGDON
The llluminati called those four
churches by a special name -- L'Altare
di scienza. The altars of science.
VITTORIA
(making the
CONNECTION)
"Sacrifice them on the altars of
science," he said.
Langdon stops in his tracks.
LANGDON
Oh. Oh, wow.
He's staring up at the impressive facade of the Vatican Archives.
He takes a deep breath, then steps forward to enter. But
Vincenzo doesn't follow. Langdon looks at him.
LANGDON (cont'd)
We go in alone?
OLIVETTI
Vatican Police aren't allowed access
to the archives, only Swiss Guard. Lt.
Chartrand will meet you inside. I'll
be here when you're done.
Langdon turns back to the Archives with a look of deep contentment
-- he's wanted in here for a long, long time.
And steps through the double doors.
CUT TO:
INT APOSTOLIC PALACE DAY
The Camerlengo walks briskly through the hallways of the Apostolic
Palace, deep in thought. He reaches the top of the Royal
Staircase, and can hear the RUMBLING of activity in the Sistine
Chapel below.
Looking down the stairs, he sees the doorway open, and the
gathering of cardinals inside. As he reaches the base of the
stairs, Cardinal Mortati, who has been summoned, steps outside to
meet him, flanked by his aide, Father Simeon.
27.
Vincenzo, leading them, turns up Via Sentinel and starts up the
hill toward the Archives. They follow, quickly.
They speak in English, their common language.
CAMERLENGO
You've been informed of the new
situation?
MORTATI
(NODS)
May God's mercy be upon us.
CAMERLENGO
And the other cardinals?
MORTATI
Await your word.
The Camerlengo thinks, feels the weight of this decision on his
young shoulders.
CAMERLENGO
May I ask your guidance, Padre?
MORTATI
My belief is we should proceed with
the sealing of conclave.
CAMERLENGO
At this hour? That would be highly
unorthodox.
MORTATI
And yet within church law. It's in
my power, I've been chosen Great
Elector.
CAMERLENGO
The cruelest honor in Christendom.
MORTATI
The only ambitions I have are for my
church. St. Peter's church, which
is under attack at its most vulnerable
moment. This is not a coincidence.
Is it possible our enemies hope to
distract us from our sacred task?
CAMERLENGO
The church will not fall in a day. We
may be wise to consider evacuation.
28.
MORTATI
That is exactly what they want,
publicity and panic. We must not
give them oxygen for the media fire.
CAMERLENGO
What of the safety of the cardinals?
MORTATI
Surely there is not an elector present
who values his physical being more
than the unbroken leadership of the
Holy See.
CAMERLENGO
And the people in St. Peter's Square?
MORTATI
They care as deeply about their church
as we do. Their faith will sustain
them.
CAMERLENGO
But if their faith does not protect
them from an explosion?
MORTATI
We're all bound for heaven eventually,
are we not?
CAMERLENGO
Spoken like one who has enjoyed the
blessings of a long and full life.
Mortati bristles at the thinly-veiled insult.
MORTATI
Signore, do not confuse the power of
the office you temporarily hold with
your true place here in the Vatican.
You were a favorite of His Holiness,
but His Holiness is with his Father
now.
CAMERLENGO
Mea culpa.
Satisfied, Mortati looks back over his shoulder, at the anxious
faces in the Chapel. Then turns back to the Camerlengo.
MORTATI
Seal the doors.
29.
With a heavy THUD, the huge doors close and bolts SLAM into place.
An ancient key GRINDS in an ornate lock, two heavy chains RATTLE
into place, FOUR SWISS GUARD take position in front of the doors
and at that very moment --
INT VATICAN ARCHIVES DAY
-- two huge, modern glass doors WHOOSH open, revealing what looks
like a 23rd century library. It's a massive underground space,
like a darkened airplane hangar, with a dozen glass boxes evenly
spaced throughout. They're lit up from within, each containing
row upon row of bookshelves, neatly filled with books, papers, and
arcana.
LT. CHARTRAND, a twenty-five year old member of the Swiss Guard
(in a suit and earpiece, not the traditional garb), leads Langdon
and Vittoria toward the glass enclosures.
CHARTRAND
(Swiss accent)
The chambers are hermetic vaults,
oxygen is kept at lowest possible
levels. It's a partial vacuum
inside. More than ten minutes in the
vault is not recommended without
breathing apparatus.
He stops at one particular chamber and gestures to the sign on its
door -- "Il Processo Galileano."
CHARTRAND (cont'd)
I'll be just outside the door.
Langdon starts toward the entrance to the vault, but Chartrand
puts a hand on his chest, stopping him.
CHARTRAND (cont'd)
Watching you, Mr. Langdon.
Langdon looks at him. He's not popular around here.
INT GALILEO VAULT DAY
The electronic revolving door spins and admits Langdon to the
interior of the vault. He takes a deep breath, holds it, and lets
it out.
Vittoria follows shortly behind him, and she's unprepared -- the
lack of oxygen hits her hard, she dizzies.
30.
LANGDON
Take a moment. If you feel double
vision, double over.
VITTORIA
(bends over)
Feels like I'm... scuba diving... with
the wrong mixture.
LANGDON
Plenty of time.
He checks his watch. It's 7:07.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Uh... actually, I take that back.
CUT TO:
INT A DARK SPACE DAY
In a dark space, a tea bag bobs delicately up and down in a cup of
hot water. An elegant man in his forties, dressed in a casual
suit, no tie, HUMS softly to himself as he steeps his tea. No
idea of his name, but his suit is gray, so how about MR. GRAY.
The tea is on an old wooden table, being heated by a small can of
sterno. While Mr. Gray bobs the tea bag, he stares at something
to his right.
Money. A lot of it, in a number of different denominations,
neatly segmented in a briefcase. And three passports, all
different colors (and nationalities), neatly placed on top of it.
Satisfied, Mr. Gray CLICKS the briefcase shut and slides it under
the table, tucking it up against the wall. He removes the cup
from the heat, still bobbing the tea bag.
He walks, lit by candlelight that throws harsh shadows on strange
walls. He heads down a very dark hallway, past a row of
stonewalled cells, and within each is the dimly lit figure of the
older men we saw on the videotape earlier -- the kidnapped
cardinals.
He stops at the last cell, where the man, CARDINAL LAMASSE, looks
up at him from the wooden bench he's sitting on.
MR. GRAY
You have no idea what you're missing.
LAMASSE
Conclave will go on without us. The
voice of God will not be silenced.
31.
MR. GRAY
I was referring to my tea. Last
chance, I'd be happy to make you a
cup.
LAMASSE
May God forgive you for what you've
done.
MR. GRAY
Father, if God has issues they won't
be with what I've done --
(seems genuinely saddened)
-- but with what I'm about to do.
A MOMENT LATER,
Mr. Gray's hand takes the burning tin of sterno and tosses it into
a fireplace, where the liquid fire consumes a pile of dry
kindling. He picks up something else and places it in the heart
of the flames.
A long-handled iron rod.
CUT TO:
INT VATICAN ARCHIVES DAY
Inside the archive, Vittoria is searching the lower shelves while
Langdon, on a ladder, digs through folio bins higher up.
LANGDON
-- confiscated from the Netherlands by
the Vatican shortly after Galileo's
death. I've been petitioning to see
it for almost ten years. Ever since
I realized what was in it.
VITTORIA
What makes you so sure the Segno is
there?
LANGDON
(while searching)
The number 503. I kept seeing it over
and over in llluminati letters, scribbled
in the margins, or sometimes just signed
that way, "503." It's a numerical
clue, but to what? Five, of course, is
the sacred llluminati number -- the
pentagram, Pythagoras, a dozen other
examples in science -- but why three?
(MORE)
32.
LANGDON (cont'd)
It made no sense. And then I thought --
what if it were a Roman numeral?
VITTORIA
(THINKS)
D-I-I-I?
LANGDON
D3. Galileo's third text.
(ticking them off)
Dialogo. Discorsi.
His eyes light up as he pulls a slender volume out of a folio bin
on one of the top shelves.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Diagramma.
A MOMENT LATER,
Langdon, now wearing white cotton gloves, sets the tiny manuscript
on a viewing stand.
LANGDON
Diagramma della Verita. The Diagram
of Truth.
VITTORIA
I know about Dialogo and Discorsi --
Galileo laid out his theories about
the earth revolving around the sun,
and the church forced him to recant.
But what was this?
LANGDON
This is where he got the word out. The
truth, not what the Vatican forced him
to write. Smuggled out of Rome and
printed in Holland on sedge papyrus.
That way any scientists caught with a
copy could simply drop it in water and
the booklet would dissolve.
Carefully, he turns the first page.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Between its delicate nature and the
Vatican burnings, it's said this is
the only copy that remains.
(turns the second page)
(MORE)
33.
LANGDON (cont'd)
And if I'm right the Segno should be
hidden --
(and the third)
-- on page number --
(and the fourth)
-- five.
He stops. They study the page,
LANGDON (cont'd)
Latin. Can you --- ?
VITTORIA
A bit.
She reaches for the book, to pull it towards her, but Langdon
SLAPS her hand. He holds up his own, glove
LANGDON
Finger acids.
She rolls her eyes and leans in, studying the page. There are
sketches on the page as well.
VITTORIA
(READING)
Movement of the planets... elliptical
orbits... heliocentricity...
Langdon's nervous. This doesn't sound right. Vittoria turns the
page, turns it back.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
I'm sorry, I don't think there's
anything that could be interpreted
as a-
LANGDON
Do that again.
She turns the page, then turns it back. Noticing something in
the deep crevice of the margin as the page moves, Langdon grabs a
magnifying glass on the end of a long pole and swings it over.
There, in the print gutter, what looked like a smudge is revealed
under the magnifier to be --
LANGDON (cont'd)
A line of text. In English.
(CONT'D)
34.
VITTORIA
English? Why English?
LANGDON
No one spoke it at the Vatican. It
was considered polluted. Too free-
thinking, the language of radicals
like Shakespeare and Chaucer.
He rotates the book.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Another line.
He keeps rotating the book, finds two more tiny lines written at
the very edges, barely visible to the naked eye.
LANGDON (cont'd)
"The path of light is laid, the sacred
test..." I need a pen, we have to
transcribe this.
VITTORIA
Sorry, Professor. No time.
Before Langdon can do anything to stop her, she RIPS the page from
the text and shoves it in her pocket.
Langdon's jaw drops. He shoots a look over his shoulder at Lt.
Chartrand, but the man's back is turned.
LANGDON
Ah, what the hell.
He SNAPS the magnifying glass off the end of its pole.
CUT TO:
EXT VATICAN ARCHIVES DAY
The doors SLAM on a Vatican police car and the tires SQUEAL as
Olivetti hits the gas.
INT CAR DAY
Olivetti is behind the wheel, Vittoria's in front, Langdon leans
in from the back seat.
OLIVETTI
Twenty minutes till eight, where are
we headed?
35.
LANGDON
I'll know in a minute, give me the
paper.
Vittoria pulls the page from the Diagramma out of her pocket and
hands it to Langdon. He pulls the magnifier from his coat and
studies the thin paper, turning it in his hands.
LANGDON (cont'd)
(READING)
From Santi's earthly tomb with demon's
hole...
OLIVETTI
Where did you get that paper?!
LANGDON
'Cross Rome the mystic elements
unfold.
VITTORIA
We borrowed it.
LANGDON
The path of light is laid, the sacred
test...
OLIVETTI
Are you insane?!
LANGDON
Let angels guide you on your earthly
quest.
OLIVETTI
You removed a document from the
Vatican Archives?!
LANGDON
Huh? Oh, um -- well, she moved so
fast.�.
VITTORIA
The first marker sounds like it's at
Santi's tomb.
LANGDON
(MUSING)
Sounds like.
VITTORIA
But who is Santi?
36.
LANGDON
Raphael.
VITTORIA
Raphael? The sculptor?
LANGDON
Santi was his last name.
VITTORIA
So the path starts at Raphael's tomb!
LANGDON
(not entirely
CONVINCED)
Yeah.
OLIVETTI
Raphael is buried at the Pantheon.
VITTORIA
Is the Pantheon even a church?
OLIVETTI
(snatching up the
RADIO)
Oldest Catholic church in Rome!
Langdon has fallen silent, but it all makes perfect sense, so he
says nothing as Olivetti cranks the wheel hard --
EXT ROME - STREET DAY
-- the car fishtails into a 180, and they take off in the opposite
direction, headed for the Pantheon.
CUT TO:
EXT PANTHEON - SIDE STREET DAY
The police car pulls to a stop, as quietly as possible, across an
open plaza from the Pantheon.
Two black Alfa-Romeos with tinted windows glide to a stop on
either side of them. As Langdon and the others get out,
Commander Rocher and THREE MORE SWISS GUARD, all in black suits,
surround them. Rocher goes straight to Langdon, highly skeptical.
ROCHER
I've just pulled a dozen of my best
men from Vatican City during conclave
and left the search for the antimatter
device in the hands of secondary
officers. You'd better be right.
37.
LANGDON
I believe I am.
ROCHER
The Pantheon is one of the busiest
tourist spots in Rome, how could he
hope to get away with it? It's
impossible.
LANGDON
As impossible as kidnapping four
cardinals from Vatican City? The
poem is precise.
Olivetti catches eyes with Langdon, who's still clutching the page
pulled from the Diagramma. He slips it quietly into his jacket
pocket.
ROCHER
The poem. Unbelievable. I'm
basing this operation on an American's
interpretation of a four hundred year
old poem.
VITTORIA
The information we have clearly refers
to Raphael's tomb, and Raphael's tomb
is inside that building.
She points to the Pantheon, its edifice shimmering in the early
evening light.
LANGDON
The Pantheon is your one chance to
catch this guy.
ROCHER
One? I thought you said four. A
pathway, four markers. We'll have
four chances to catch him.
LANGDON
You would have, a hundred years ago.
The Vatican had all the pagan statues
in the Pantheon removed and destroyed
in the late 1800s. Whatever marker
was there to lead us to the next
church is gone now. The path is
dead. This is your chance.
Rocher looks at him for a long moment, then turns abruptly to a
UNIFORMED OFFICER.
38.
ROCHER
Separate approaches. Cars to Piazza
della Rotunda, Via degli Orfani,
Piazza Sant'Ignazio, and
Sant1Eustachio. No closer than two
blocks, no uniforms, three minutes.
Understood?
The Officer salutes and they snap into action.
ROCHER (cont'd)
And I need a set of eyes inside.
Two BEEFY GUARDSMEN in black suits step forward.
VITTORIA
Wait a minute, you'll scare him off.
ROCHER
They're not in uniform.
VITTORIA
I'm sorry, two weightlifters in
matching black suits and earpieces,
they're hardly disguised.
ROCHER
There's no time to get undercover men
here.
VITTORIA
Fine. I'll go.
ROCHER
I'm not sending a wom-
Her arched eyebrow stops his sentence in its tracks.
ROCHER (cont'd)
-- a civilian into this situation. You
have no communications and you can't
carry a walkie-talkie, it's too
conspicuous.
VITTORIA
Tourists have cell phones, don't they?
(pulls out her own and
holds it to her ear)
Hi honey, I'm at the Pantheon, you
should see this place!
39.
Rocher seems to be thinking about it. Langdon looks at her, his
protective instincts aroused.
LANGDON
You can't send her in there alone.
ROCHER
I don't intend to.
EXT PANTHEON - TWO MINUTES LATER
CLOSE ON a pair of hands, linked. Vittoria and Langdon, holding
hands like lovers, walk slowly toward the entrance to the
Pantheon. A COUPLE DOZEN TOURISTS, blissfully unaware, mill about
the square while up on the rooftops, SNIPERS have them in view.
Langdon looks around, this wasn't what he had in mind. Vittoria
glances at him, amused.
VITTORIA
You're crushing my hand.
LANGDON
I'm sorry.
VITTORIA
A nervous newlywed?
LANGDON
Ancient newlywed.
VITTORIA
Try harder.
He puts an arm around her waist, feels a lump in her back.
LANGDON
You really know how to use that gun
gave you?
VITTORIA
I can tag a breaching porpoise from
forty meters off the bow of a rocking
ship.
LANGDON
Thought you said you were a physicist,
VITTORIA
I am. Long story.
LANGDON
Make it short.
40.
VITTORIA
(THINKS)
Can't be done. What time is it?
Langdon raises his hand and checks his watch.
LANGDON
Seven minutes to eight.
VITTORIA
(of the watch)
Was that Mickey Mouse?
LANGDON
Long story.
VITTORIA
Make it short.
LANGDON
(THINKS)
Can't be done.
And with that they step through the entrance and into --
INT PANTHEON DAY
-- the Pantheon, a massive, circular room with a 141-foot
unsupported span even larger than the cupola of St. Peter's. There
are a DOZEN TOURISTS scattered around, and a TOUR GROUP on one
side hearing a lecture from a MUSEUM DOCENT.
Langdon looks up at the hole in the ceiling through which a bright
shaft of light is shining.
LANGDON
The oculus. That could be the
"demon's hole" in the poem.
Looking around, Vittoria sees several sarcophagi scattered around
the room, all pointing obliquely in a certain direction. As they
move stealthily through the crowd, they speak in low tones:
VITTORIA
Why are the tombs at an angle?
LANGDON
To face east. Sun worship.
VITTORIA
But this is a Christian church.
41.
LANGDON
(SHRUGS)
New religions often adopt existing
holidays to make conversion less
shocking. December 25th was the pagan
holiday of the Unconquered Sun. Made
it a handy choice for Christ's
birthday.
VITTORIA
You're saying Christianity is
repackaged sun worship?
LANGDON
Where do you think halos came from?
Not just sun worship though, the
Catholics borrowed Communion from the
Aztecs, canonization from Euphemerus,
the cruciform from the Egyptians ---
VITTORIA
No wonder they don't like you around
here.
LANGDON
Just trying to keep the conversation
lively.
(POINTS)
Check the recesses. I'll go left.
See you in a hundred eighty degrees.
He starts to the left, she goes to the right, walking in the
shadowy recesses behind the pillars at the edges of the room.
Langdon walks slowly, checking out faces. Tourists. Couples.
Teenagers. More tourists.
Around every column, there are shadows, and in those shadows --
--- nothing.
He looks at his watch. Five minutes to eight. And then --
--- a SHRIEK from the other side of the room. He whirls, sees
Vittoria backing away from something.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Vittoria!
He races across the room, reaches her at the far side. Her face is
ashen. She's pointing at something, aghast.
42.
VITTORIA
Raphael's tomb! But --
Langdon rushes forward to the crypt. There doesn't seem to be
anything out of the ordinary, except ---
VITTORIA (cont'd)
--- it's the wrong one!
LANGDON
What are you talking about?!
He leans down, looks at the plaque on it.
VITTORIA
He was moved here, in 1759. A century
after Diagramma was published!
LANGDON
That's not possible, the poem said-
VITTORIA
Where was he originally buried?
LANGDON
I don't know... Urbino, I think...
(thinking like crazy)
Santi's earthly tomb... what else
could it possibly... Santi 's tomb...
His eyes flit around the room, from one ornate sarcophagus to
another. And then it hits him:
LANGDON (cont'd)
Damn it! "Santi's tomb" must mean
one of the chapels he built! He's
not buried in it, he designed it! Rich
people commissioned burial chapels in
churches all over Rome in his day!
(looks up)
And the "demon's hole," it isn't the
oculus, it's an undercroft, a crypt,
common sixteenth century term!
At that very moment, the tour group is passing them, and the
elderly Docent asks his group the perfunctory wrap-up:
DOCENT
Does anyone have any questions?
Langdon busts in on the group.
43.
LANGDON
Yes! Did Raphael Santi ever design
a chapel with an ossuary annex and
angel figure commissioned by the
Catholic Church?!
The Docent blinks. Wasn't expecting quite so esoteric a
question.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Well?!
DOCENT
I'm sorry, I... I can only think of
one.
Langdon suppresses the urge to grab him by the lapels and shake it
out of him.
LANGDON
One'll do.
CUT TO:
EXT PANTHEON DAY
A clock in the square outside the Pantheon says 7:56. Langdon
and Vittoria face Rocher, Olivetti, and half a dozen Swiss Guard.
ROCHER
Wrong? What do you mean, wrong?!
LANGDON
(FAST)
The first altar of science is the
Chigi Chapel, in the church of Santa
Maria del Popolo, about a mile from
here! It used to be called Capella
della Terra, Chapel of the Earth.
Earth, the first element! This is
it, I'm certain.
ROCHER
You were certain of the Pantheon.
LANGDON
Please, we have four minutes!
Rocher looks at Langdon with contempt, then BARKS orders to his
men in Italian. They begin to head for their cars.
VITTORIA
Back to the Vatican?! You can't!
44.
LANGDON
Commandante, if you care at all about
your church-
ROCHER
My church? My church feeds the
hungry, comforts the sick and dying.
What does your church do, Professor?
(no answer)
Ah, that's right, you haven't one.
He turns and walks away, glaring at Olivetti.
ROCHER (cont'd)
Take him if you want, but I'm done
with him.
CUT TO:
EXT PIAZZA DEL POPOLO DAY
Olivetti's car SCREECHES to a halt in the Piazza del Popolo at
sunset. Langdon, Vittoria, Olivetti, and Vincenzo, the Vatican
cop who first came to see Langdon, all climb out, start scanning
the square.
LANGDON
This is the place.
He points to an obelisk in the center of the square.
LANGDON (cont'd)
An obelisk, with a pyramid at the top.
Both Masonic symbols.
VITTORIA
The Freemasons? Are Illuminati?
LANGDON
The Illuminati were infiltrators.
There isn't a powerful organization on
earth they didn't place members in.
Look at a dollar bill some time. A
pyramid, an occult symbol representing
convergence upward, with the eye of
illumination above it, and beneath it
the Latin for "New World Order."
45.
VITTORIA
The United States government was
infiltrated by Illuminati?
LANGDON
FDR's vice-president was a high-
ranking Freemason. Convinced him
the words in Latin actually meant "New
Deal."
A church bell begins to TOLL.
OLIVETTI
Eight o'clock!
Langdon takes off running, toward and eleventh-century church at
the southwest corner of the plaza, covered in scaffolding.
At the front door of the church,
Langdon hops over the sawhorses blocking the entrance and tries
the door. Locked. A sign says the place is under
construction.
At a side door,
Olivetti races alongside the church, followed by the others.
He reaches a door with a large, heavy ring, and pulls it toward
him. But the door won t budge. He pushes, throws his shoulder
into it. Locked.
LANGDON
(APPROACHING)
No, no, it's an annulus!
But Olivetti just races onward, looking for another door, followed
by Vincenzo. As they disappear around the back of the church,
Langdon steps up to the large ring, gives it an almighty twist --
INT SANTA MARIA DEL POPOLO DUSK
-- and the heavy door CLUNKS open.
The interior of the church is an obstacle course of torn-up
flooring, brick pallets, mounds of dirt. Silt drifts in the
dying sunlight that shines through the broken windows and walls.
Nothing moves. Dead silence. Langdon and Vittoria walk
slowly to the middle of the floor, at one end of the chapel.
There are eight recesses, four on either side of a central aisle,
all covered with large sheets of plastic, to protect them during
construction.
46.
LANGDON
(WHISPERING)
The chapel is in one of those apses.
The plastic RUSTLES ominously. Anything could be behind any one
of them.
Vittoria pulls the gun from her waistband and holds it in front of
her. Langdon notices, it makes him uncomfortable.
LANGDON (cont'd)
You have to give that back.
She looks at him --- what are you, nuts? Something rushes at them
from the side, she whirls --
--- and nearly blows Olivetti to kingdom come as he and Vincenzo
barrel in through the side door.
Langdon gestures --- everybody quiet. Olivetti points to the left
gestures to Langdon and Vittoria to go to the right.
They separate, to either side of the main aisle.
AT THE FIRST CHAPEL,
Langdon pulls the plastic aside, eyes scan the chapel. Nothing.
ON THE OTHER SIDE,
Olivetti does the same, at another chapel. Nothing.
AT THE THIRD CHAPEL,
Vittoria pushes the plastic aside, gun in front of her. There's
a sudden movement to her left, she whirls --
--- and a rat scurries away.
AT THE FOURTH CHAPEL,
Langdon pushes the plastic aside, steps inside --
-- and GASPS.
Moving behind him, we see a Christian chapel like no other we've
ever seen. Finished entirely in chestnut marble, overhead it
has a domed cupola with a field of illuminated stars and the seven
planets (as known in Galileo's day).
Further down the wall, there are tributes to earth's four seasons
but most incredible of all are the two huge structures that
dominate the room from either side.
47.
Pyramids. Ten feet high.
Vittoria steps in behind him.
LANGDON
Pyramids. In a Catholic church.
This is it.
Behind them, the plastic rustles, as if drawn by a wind, and as
Langdon turns, he hears, faintly, a DOOR CLOSING far away.
He turns back, eyes drawn to the floor. There is a large oval
medallion there, with a skeleton carved into it. It's slightly
off center, raised. As if it's been opened recently, and
hurriedly replaced.
LANGDON (cont'd)
The demon's hole.
IN THE DEMON'S HOLE,
we're looking up now as the medallion GRINDS to the side. Faces
peer down at us -- Langdon, Vittoria, Olivetti, and Vincenzo. They
recoil from a stench.
UP TOP,
Langdon squints, trying to see inside.
LANGDON
Anybody got a flashlight?
Vincenzo hands him one. Langdon shines it down into the crypt.
There are shapes, but thirty feet down and hard to make out.
There's one in particular, in the darkness, seems too short to be
a person, but it's moving slightly.
OLIVETTI
Can you tell what it is?
LANGDON
Not from up here.
He reaches down, rattles the ladder that leans against the wall of
the crypt. Takes a deep breath, looks at the others.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Those guns. Keep 'em handy?
48.
IN THE DEMON'S HOLE,
Langdon reaches the bottom, still shining the light at the figure
in the distance. It's brighter here, he can see it's flesh-
colored, but still indistinct. He takes a step toward it --
-- and something CRUNCHES under his feet.
He shines the light down. He's standing on a pile of human skulls
OLIVETTI
(calling down)
You okay?
LANGDON
More or less.
He takes two more steps, closer to the swaying figure on the other
side of the crypt. He can now clearly see a man's naked back.
LANGDON (cont'd)
He's here! I think he's -- sitting.
(moves closer)
Hello?
(closer still)
Are you all right?
It's a human figure. As Langdon draws close, he sees the source
of the movement --- rats, gnawing at the dead body.
They scurry away as Langdon comes around the front, and we pull
back to see what he sees.
It's Cardinal Lamasse.
He's been buried in the earthen floor of the crypt up to his waist
his jaw broken, his mouth crammed full of dirt.
But that's not the worst of it. Langdon GAGS as he sees the
blackened word that has been branded into the red flesh of the
Cardinal's chest. It's an ambigram, like we've seen before, but
this time it says --
EARTH.
CUT TO:
INT SISTINE CHAPEL DAY
Cardinal Mortati sits regally at the main altar at the front of
the Sistine Chapel as the electors, one by one, cast their votes
in the traditional manner.
49.
An AFRICAN CARDINAL at the front of the line kneels before him.
AFRICAN CARDINAL
(SUBTITLED)
I call as my witness Christ the Lord,
who will be my judge that my vote is
given to the one who before God I
think should be elected.
The African Cardinal stands, holds his ballot over his head, t
lowers the ballot to the altar, where a plate sits atop a large
chalice.
He places the ballot on the plate, then picks up the plate and
uses it to drop the ballot in the chalice. He then replaces the
plate over the chalice, bows to the cross, and heads for his seat.
The next cardinal steps up to repeat the process.
A SHORT TIME LATER, A DISSOLVE,
and the line is gone. Mortati holds the chalice with all the
votes. He shakes it, chooses one---
MORTATI
Eligo in summum pontificem --
-- and reads an unfamiliar name.
He makes a note in a ledger, then raises a threaded needle and
pierces the ballot through the word "Eligo," sliding the ballot on
the thread.
A SHORT TIME LATER, ANOTHER DISSOLVE,
and there are a hundred and sixty-one ballots on the thread,
Mortati looks up from his ledger and speaks to the room.
MORTATI
The first ballot has failed.
He takes He thread carrying all the ballots and ties the ends
together to create a ring.
He lays the ring of ballots on a silver tray. Dusts the tray
heavily with a yellowish powder.
A DOOR OPENS
on a small incinerator. The ring of ballots is hurled inside and
bursts immediately into flame.
50.
A dark, brackish smoke billows up from the burning ballots, and we
follow the smoke up, up, into the chimney --
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE DUSK
--- and to the roof of the Sistine Chapel, where the black iUPke
puffs out into the early evening sky.
Below, a CROWD OF THOUSANDS GROANS in disappointment as the
message is sent --- no new pope yet.
But while they are all watching the smoke, we turn our attention?
to the opposite direction, to the east, across Rome, to where ---
CUT TO:
EXT PIAZZA DEL POPOLO DUSK
--- those black Alfa Romeos, four this time, glide silently to a
halt outside the church where Langdon just found the corpse. Swiss
Guard in black suits pour out of the vehicles and hurry into the
church, trying to attract as little attention as possible.
INT SANTA MARIA DEL POPOLO DUSK
The inside of the church is being sealed off as a crime scene.
Rocher, just arriving, takes charge as the plastic is RIPPED off
the Chigi Chapel.
ROCHER
Get that body out of there and search
the rest of the building.
Swiss Guardsmen drop into the demon's hole to remove the body.
ROCHER (cont'd)
(to another Guardsman)
Outside -- a perimeter. Secure but
invisible. No lights, no guns, no
one knows. Understood?
Langdon, lost in thought, drifts through the small chapel, studying
the intricate carvings and other artwork.
LANGDON
Earthly symbology... everywhere...
Rocher passes through his field of vision, livid:
ROCHER
Why the hell didn't you figure this
out in the first place?
51.
It was more a rhetorical question, but Langdon answers honestly,
still lost in thought, his voice soft.
LANGDON
I made a mistake.
He drifts toward a statue, of the highest quality white marble,
resting in a niche on the far side, out of the way of the mayhem.
Vittoria joins him.
VITTORIA
Is it Raphael?
LANGDON
The chapel is. But the sculptures
are Bernini.
(STUNNED)
The unknown Illuminati master was
Bernini.
VITTORIA
Didn't he work for the Church?
LANGDON
Almost exclusively. It means the
Illuminati even infiltrated the
Vatican. They hid in plain sight.
He steps closer to the statue. It's of two life-size human
figures, intertwined, one a regal, bearded man, the other a
cherub, floating overhead.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Habakkuk and the Angel.
VITTORIA
Habakkuk?
LANGDON
The prophet who predicted the
annihilation of the earth. This is
the first marker.
He steps closer, studying it carefully.
LANGDON (cont'd)
"Let angels guide you on your lofty
quest..."
His eyes move slowly over the statue, and ours do too, from the
angel's innocent face, down his arm, and to his right hand, which
is outstretched, one finger extended --
52.
-- pointing the way.
LANGDON (cont'd)
The Path is alive.
CUT TO:
EXT PIAZZA DEL POPOLO DUSK
Langdon dashes down the stairs outside the church and into the
middle of the piazza. It's getting dark now, shadows streaking
the square.
LANGDON
Southwest... it points southwest...
He gets his bearings, looks to the southwest, sees nothing but
buildings in the way.
He runs back up the church steps, where Vittoria and Rocher are
just coming outside. Langdon's mind is racing.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Earth-air-fire-water, we're looking
for a Bernini sculpture having
something to do with air...
(to Rocher)
And the next church is southwest of
here.
ROCHER
You're sure this time?
LANGDON
I need a map. One that shows all
the churches in Rome.
Rocher just stares at him, studying him.
LANGDON (cont'd)
I could use it now.
Rocher starts down the steps toward his car.
LANGDON (cont'd)
And a compass!
He looks around, sees the rickety scaffolding outside the church,
and ---
53.
A MOMENT LATER,
--- he climbs into our view, now on the scaffolding. He's moving
upward, fast, toward ---
EXT CHURCH ROOF DUSK
--- the roof of the old church, also undergoing renovation. The
view of Rome is spectacular from up here, and Langdon rushes to
the western wall, looking intently off in that direction.
He sees something that makes him suck in his breath, hears a voice
from behind him ---
VITTORIA (O.S.)
Robert!
--- and turns as Vittoria tosses something small and black up to
him.
A compass. He catches it, holds it steady, and walks toward the
edge of the roof as the compass needle swivels and settles on SW.
Langdon looks up, following the line of the needle, up over the
rooftops of Rome, to a massive structure in the distance, exactly
in line with the compass needle.
A huge dome on the horizon blots out the setting sun.
ST. PETER'S BASILICA.
CUT TO:
INT CAR NIGHT
CLOSE ON a map of Rome, unfolded in the back seat of a racing car
and spread out over Langdon and Vittoria's laps. Langdon has a
pen and is drawing a line on the map, through --
LANGDON
The black rectangles with crosses are
churches, and none of them intersect
the line until it comes to an end,
right in the middle of St. Peter's
Square.
Night has fallen, and the four Alfa Romeos are now speeding across
Rome. No sirens, but lots of speed. Olivetti drives, Rocher
is in the passenger seat.
54.
ROCHER
Your theory doesn't hold up,
Professor. Michelangelo designed
St. Peter's, not Bernini.
LANGDON
The Basilica is Michelangelo, but the
square is Bernini. The second
marker must be a statue in the square.
VITTORIA
It's ten minutes till nine! Can we
go any faster?!
ROCHER
Not unless we want the full attention
of the world press.
She looks down, to two television screens mounted into the backs
of the front seats. Both are tuned to coverage of the papal
selection process, REPORTERS doing stand-ups from the middle of
crowded St. Peter's Square.
We move in on one of the images, then into the image, coming out -
CUT TO:
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
--- on a television monitor in St. Peter's Square. The Reporter, a
JAPANESE WOMAN, is giving a stand-up report on the progress so
far, gesturing to the chimney over the Sistine Chapel.
The crowd has grown, now four thousand, maybe five. FLASHBULBS
POP. A few PROTESTERS CHANT.
Almost silently, behind them all, half a dozen black Alfa Romeos
race in, too fast, and come to an abrupt halt.
IN ROCHER'S CAR,
they all get out, trying to avoid causing a panic.
Langdon walks into the square, eyes focused on an object in the
middle.
LANGDON
Another obelisk. We're close.
He looks up, at row after row of statues that ring the square from
atop the oval colonnades.
SHARPSHOOTERS scurry among the statuary, setting themselves up.
55.
In the crowd, Rocher MUTTERS into his radio and to undercover
SWISS GUARD scattered throughout. The crowd is unaware of them.
Langdon keeps walking, turning in circles, looking above him, to
the tops of the colonnades that border the square.
VITTORIA
There must be a hundred statues up
there, which one is it?
LANGDON
How in God's name would anyone make a
sculpture about air?
And indeed there are. Langdon looks at his watch. Two
minutes to nine.
And then he freezes. Staring down, not up.
He takes a step back. There is a fresco carved into the square
beneath his feet, or more accurately --
LANGDON (cont'd)
Bas relief!
He takes a step back, to look at the carving, as does Vittoria.
LANGDON (cont'd)
The other half of sculpture is bas
relief.
(to Vittoria)
Look for more! Something having to
do with air!
They move through the crowd, pushing people aside, causing a bit
of a ruckus as they try to uncover the elaborate carvings in the
stone of the square.
(IF WE ARE EAGLE-EYED, at this point we will see TWO ROBED MEN,
one helping the other, who carries a cross, as they pass through
the crowd behind Langdon.)
Remembering something, Langdon rushes forward, toward the center
of the square, uncharacteristically brusque with the crowd,
shoving his way through now.
He draws close to one carving in particular, slows to a stop, and
stares down at it, eyes wide.
It's a carving of an angel's face, cheeks billowing outward as it
blows a gust of wind, symbolized by five vertical streaks. Its
title is ---
56.
LANGDON (cont'd)
"West Ponente." The West Wind. An
angel's face and five streaks. Air!
So this is it, but now what? They look around frantically,
scanning the crowd. So does Rocher, so does Olivetti. The
BELLS of St. Peter's start to TOLL the hour.
NEARBY,
a LITTLE GIRL dances with a doll. Happily unaware of what's
going on.
ELSEWHERE,
some PROTESTERS tangle. Some believe one thing, others don't.
Swiss Guard and Vatican Police race in to break it up. But there's
no bloodshed.
CLOSE TO THAT,
a ROBED MAN carrying a small wooden cross falls to the ground.
Somebody near him SCREAMS.
NEARBY,
the Little Girl is jostled by a HOMELESS MAN, drops her doll.
THE ROBED MAN
is helped to his feet by the Police. He's fine. He wanders
away, holding his cross high.
And as he passes us, we catch just a glimpse of his face ---
--and recognize Mr. Gray.
THE LITTLE GIRL
bends down, picks up her doll, and sees --
-- IT'S COVERED IN BLOOD.
She looks down at the ground, sees a trail of blood, follows it
with her eyes to where ---
-- the Homeless Man, dressed in torn rags, leans against a
fountain, gasping for breath.
ACROSS THE CROWD,
57.
Vittoria and Langdon hear the SCREAMS. They're closest, and
they're at the fountain in just a few seconds.
Langdon drops to his knees, turns the Homeless Man over.
Through the man's torn shirt, he can see a black and red brand
burned into his chest.
Three letters, ornate script, reading the same front to back:
AIR.
Vittoria grabs his arm, feels for a pulse.
VITTORIA
He's still alive!
But the dying Cardinal is gasping for breath, his mouth opening
and closing like a fish on a dock.
She bends down, arches his neck, closes her mouth over his, and
blows air into his lungs.
Immediately, a fog of red mist BILLOWS from two puncture holes in
the man's chest, covering Langdon in blood --- his face, his
clothes.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
His chest! They punctured his lungs!
Langdon recoils in horror, overcome, completely out of his depth.
Rocher arrives, as does Olivetti, as do a DOZEN MORE SWISS GUARD
and VATICAN POLICE. Rocher looks around, defeated and enraged,
as the Cardinal expires and the Crowd panics, fleeing in all
directions.
He presses his radio to his lips and keys the mic.
ROCHER
Clear the square.
CUT TO:
INT BATHROOM NIGHT
Blood and water swirl down a drain. Langdon looks up from the
sink, water rushing from his face. He dries himself, looks in the
mirror. He holds up his hands. They're shaking.
He's standing in a lavish marble bathroom, now cleaned up and
changed into black pants and a black long-sleeved shirt. No
Roman collar, they don't just give you those, but clearly the
clothes of a priest. He steps out of the bathroom and into ---
58.
INT PAPAL OFFICE NIGHT
-- the papal office, where the Camerlengo, Rocher, Olivetti, and
Vittoria are gathered again, as are HALF A DOZEN other security
officers. It's crowded, busy, little knots of jurisdictional
arguments and competing theories around the room.
The Camerlengo, at his desk, is stunned, speaking to Olivetti.
Langdon edges close enough to hear, but not too close.
CAMERLENGO
When did this call come in?
OLIVETTI
Three, four minutes ago. The same
voice as on the tape. We're
analyzing the accent now, Alsatian is
our best guess at the moment.
CAMERLENGO
And he actually claimed responsibility
for the death of His Holiness?
OLIVETTI
Not personally, but he said it was the
Illuminati. He said they murdered
him.
CAMERLENGO
That's ridiculous, the Holy Father
died of a stroke. Did he say how
they claim to have done it?
OLIVETTI
The Pope's own medication. A drug
known as Heparin?
There is silence for a moment. Rocher looks up. Looks away.
VITTORIA
The Pope took Heparin?
CAMERLENGO
He had thrombophlebitis. He took an
injection once a day. But no one
knew that.
OLIVETTI
Someone knew.
59.
ROCHER
His Holiness had health concerns; he
was subject to seizures as well. But
he took steps to make sure he was --
watched. For safety. That's all
he wished to be made public, and
that's all we should discuss.
VITTORIA
(ignoring him)
Heparin is lethal in the wrong dosage.
An overdose would cause massive
internal bleeding and brain
hemorrhages. At first it might look
like a stroke, but in a few days his
body would show signs, we could easily-
Rocher spins on her, livid.
ROCHER
Ms. Vetra, in case you're unaware,
papal autopsies are prohibited by
Vatican Law. We are not about to
defile His Holiness's body just
because his enemies claim to-
CAMERLENGO
Of course we're not. We'll make a
public announcement refuting this
absurd claim.
Father Simeon, Cardinal Mortati's aide, steps forward.
FR. SIMEON
I'm afraid that's out of the question.
Cardinal Mortati has insisted this
entire matter be kept internal.
CAMERLENGO
Cardinal Mortati shouldn't even be
aware of this, he's locked in
conclave.
FR. SIMEON
His final instructions before sealing
the doors were very clear -- no outside
communications unless absolutely
necessary.
CAMERLENGO
Cardinal Mortati will remember that he
is Dean of the College of Cardinals,
not His Holiness himself.
60.
FR. SIMEON
As you say. Yet, technically, now that
Conclave has begun, it is his
privilege and duty to control public
announcements. I've drafted a short
release about the incident in the
square, but any other statements are
specifically prohibited. For that, the
Cardinal has asked me to remind you --
we have a chimney.
The Camerlengo just stares at him, a power struggle. Which he is
going to lose.
CAMERLENGO
As you say.
(turns away)
Commander Rocher, the search for the
device?
ROCHER
We've turned the power off and on to
about twenty percent of Vatican City.
Nothing on the video yet.
CAMERLENGO
Mr. Langdon, you've been right so far,
if belatedly, about the Path. It's now
nine fifteen, how quickly can you find
the next church?
Langdon refers to a map spread out on the desk.
LANGDON
The line of the breath in the carving
points due east, directly away from
Vatican City, but there are five
lines, so there's room for error.
While he talks, an AIDE in a business suit is ushered quietly in
the door by a Swiss Guardsman. He's carrying a satchel.
Vittoria recognizes him, and he goes to her.
LANGDON (cont'd)
There are about twenty churches that
intersect it. None of their names
invoke "fire," but there must be a
Bernini sculpture inside one of them
that does. I'm going to need to get
back into the Archives to find it.
61.
CAMERLENGO
(to Olivetti)
Escort him.
Langdon looks to Vittoria -- you coming? She looks up from a table,
where she's opened the satchel brought in by the Aide. She holds
two leather-bound books in her hand.
VITTORIA
The journals I asked for. I'd like
to stay here and study them. If
Leonardo told anyone else about our
project, that could be the killer.
CAMERLENGO
Fine.
The group starts to break up, half of them headed for the doors.
As Langdon rolls up the map on the desk, the Camerlengo notices
his black clothes for the first time.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
Professor, would it surprise you to
find those clothes suit you?
Langdon manages a sliver of a smile, starting to like this guy.
LANGDON
It would surprise the hell out of me.
CUT TO:
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
St. Peter's has been cleared out, the throng moved to barricades
at its edges so that the crime scene can be properly investigated.
Flashbulbs POP everywhere.
The row of TV REPORTERS is nearly shoulder to shoulder, and we
move along them --- first up is an ITALIAN REPORTER:
ITALIAN REPORTER
(SUBTITLED)
-- a statement just released by the
Vatican expressing sympathy for the
family of the mugging victim, a
tourist from Dusseldorf --
Still moving, we pass a CHINESE REPORTER.
62.
CHINESE REPORTER
(SUBTITLED)
--- who is now confirmed dead.
Vatican Police have a suspect in
custody, and after photographing the
crime scene ---
Still moving, a FRENCH REPORTER.
FRENCH REPORTER
(SUBTITLED)
--- will allow the crowds of faithful
back into St. Peter's Square, where
security will be doubled.
Still moving, a BBC REPORTER, in English.
BBC REPORTER
Sadly, the Vatican spokesman points
out, where crowds go --
And finally, an AMERICAN.
AMERICAN REPORTER
--- so often follows crime. We're
trying now to get the name of the
tourist who was- wait a-
The American Reporter looks confused, somebody's talking to her in
her earpiece.
AMERICAN REPORTER (cont'd)
We're getting word now of -- smoke,
smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney,
apparently there's been another vote I
And almost as one, the row of TV cameras all swing away from the
crime scene in the square and up, to the Sistine Chapel chimney,
where there is indeed a thick cloud --
--- of black smoke. Still no new pope, and the subject is
effectively changed.
CUT TO:
INT VATICAN ARCHIVES NIGHT
Langdon and Lt. Chartrand, the young Swiss Guardsman, walk quickly
down the row of hermetically sealed vaults in the Vatican
Archives.
Langdon's leading, looking at the names on the outsides of each of
the individual vaults.
63.
CHARTRAND
What are you looking for this time?
LANGDON
Assets.
CHARTRAND
I beg your pardon?
LANGDON
Artwork is valuable, and corporations
tend to keep track of their holdings.
CHARTRAND
The Catholic Church is not a
corporation, Signore, it is a beacon,
a source of inspiration for one
billion lost and frightened souls.
LANGDON
Sure sure, I get that.
He stops, pointing up at a sign on the end of one of the vaults --
BANCO VATICANO.
LANGDON (cont'd)
But it's also a bank.
He takes one last breath of oxygen-rich air, pushes through the
revolving door --
INT VAULT NIGHT
--- and comes through the other side, eyes scanning the place. A
moment later, Chartrand follows him through the door. Langdon
looks at him --- you're coming in too?
CHARTRAND
Cfmmander Olivetti said I was not to
leave your side this time.
LANGDON
(a mutter)
Wasn't me, it was her,
MOVING FAST ALONG THE LEATHER-BOUND VOLUMES, Langdon searches the
place as fast as he can.
BAM!
A book drops onto a table, pages flip by, Langdon studies it,
SLAMS it shut.
64.
BAM! BAM! Two more books, flipped open, compared, pages rifled,
nothing.
BACK IN THE STACKS,
his hand finds a five-inch thick ledger marked "Bernini."
ON A TABLE,
it SMACKS down and opens to the first page. Langdon sits, begins
turning the pages, one by one.
LOOKING AT THE PAGE,
his vision momentarily blurs. He rubs his eyes, it clears
again.
He looks up, at a vent over the doorway. Thin ribbons flutter in
the breeze of the minimal oxygen that's being pumped in.
He goes back to work. Chartrand watches him.
CUT TO:
INT PAPAL OFFICE NIGHT
Looking out the window of the papal office, we see the barricades
removed from the edges of St. Peter's Square. The crowds
return.
Pulling back, we see the Camerlengo looking out at them, thinking,
troubled. There are still half a dozen Security Officials in
the papal office, but the Camerlengo turns and looks at Vittoria,
working alone at a desk on the far side of the office.
AT THE DESK,
Vittoria pores over the journals sent from Geneva. Sensing
something, she looks up. The Camerlengo is standing over her.
He speaks quietly.
CAMERLENGO
What sort of signs?
VITTORIA
I'm sorry?
The Camerlengo looks over his shoulder, to make sure their
conversation is private.
CAMERLENGO
If the Holy Father were given an
overdose of Heparin... what signs
would his body bear?
65.
VITTORIA
Bleeding of the oral mucosa.
(off his questioning look)
His gums. Postmortem, the blood
congeals and turns the inside of the
mouth black.
CAMERLENGO
Even though he died fourteen days ago?
VITTORIA
It wouldn't show up until at least a
week after his death.
He looks around the room once more. Then back to her?
CAMERLENGO
He was... very important to me.
VITTORIA
I understand.
He thinks for a long moment, then --
CAMERLENGO
Please come.
--- turns and leaves the room. She makes sure no one's looking,
then follows him out.
She leaves the journals behind.
CUT TO:
INT VATICAN ARCHIVES NIGHT
CLOSE ON the Bernini ledger, which Langdon is now almost halfway
through. He tiyrns a page, scans the list of items written
there, then moves on to the next.
He blinks, his vision blurring again. He looks over at Chartrand,
who's suffering even worse, panting for air, hands on his knees.
LANGDON
You don't smoke, do you?
CHARTRAND
(yes, a lot)
A little bit.
LANGDON
Sit down before you fall down.
66.
Chartrand half-stumbles into a chair on the opposite side of the
table. Langdon goes back to what he was doing, flipping a page--
--- and then immediately flipping it back.
There is a hand-written notation alongside one of the entries.
LANGDON (cont'd)
My Italian's no good, what does this
note say? Next to the entry for The
Ecstasy of St. Teresa?
Chartrand leans over the ledger, squinting hard, trying to focus.
CHARTRAND
"Moved at suggestion of the artist."
LANGDON
Moved to another church? At
Bernini"s suggestion?
Chartrand, really suffering for air, can't follow it.
CHARTRAND
I don't know.
Langdon flips the page back, to a photograph of the sculpture in
question.
THE STATUE
is of a woman, seemingly in the throes of ecstasy, while an angel
hovering over her holds a spear aloft.
Langdon raises an eyebrow.
The word "Seraphim" jumps up from the page, words in quotes after
it -- "Seraphim, meaning 'the fiery one...'"
LANGDON
Fire.
More words pop out at us -- "His great golden spear... filled with
fire..."
LANGDON (cont'd)
Fire.
Still more -- "woman inflamed by passion's fire..."
And now a close-up of her enraptured face.
67.
LANGDON
Fire.
And now three things happen in quick succession:
-- Langdon SLAMS the ledger shut,
-- the ribbons on the air vent fall as the oxygen into the vault is
cut off, and
-- one by one, ALL THE LIGHTS IN THE ARCHIVES GO OUT.
Total silence for a moment.
Langdon and Chartrand look at each other in the darkness.
LANGDON (cont'd)
The door -- ?
CHARTRAND
Electronic.
LANGDON
That's too bad.
CUT TO:
INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA NIGHT
The Camerlengo, flanked by two Swiss Guardsmen, escorts Vittoria
rapidly across the deserted floor of St. Peter's Basilica.
VITTORIA
Where are we going?
CAMERLENGO
To see my father.
VITTORIA
I don't understand.
They circle past a pillar and she sees an orange glow up ahead,
seeming to emanate from beneath the floor in the center of the
basilica.
CAMERLENGO
I was orphaned when I was nine years
old. A bombing in Madrid -- Basque
separatists protesting the visit of a
Catholic archbishop.
As they draw closer, she sees it's the entrance to a sumptuous
underground chamber, surrounded by scores of glowing oil lamps.
68.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
The archbishop felt responsible, and
he adopted me the following day. I
was raised by him, and by the church.
The Camerlengo starts down a winding stairway, rimmed by the
lamps,
ON THE STAIRCASE,
they descend, lit by the spectral glow of the oil lamps.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
He was the wisest man I ever met, even
with my youthful foolishness. He
always saw the middle way. I wanted
to be ordained, but I also refused to
be excused from military service.
So he suggested I fly rescue missions,
helicopters bringing the wounded to
hospital.
He stops at the bottom of the stairs and looks up at her.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
He was a great man.
VITTORIA
He died?
CAMERLENGO
(NODS)
Fourteen days ago.
Vittoria, stunned, realizes who he's talking about.
CUT TO:
INT VATICAN ARCHIVES NIGHT
KA-CHUNG! Emergency lights switch on in the Vatican Archives,
casting a weird, reddish glow over everything.
But the ribbons at the oxygen panel remain limp.
Below, Langdon pushes, again and again, on the deadened exit
button, trying to activate the doors. Nothing doing.
He's weak, weaving, barely on his feet.
Chartrand's already slumped against a wall, his radio in hand,
keying it over and over again, but getting only static.
69.
LANGDON
Anything?
Chartrand gestures weakly around the room.
CHARTRAND
Walls... lead-lined... no signal.
Langdon blinks, his vision becoming seriously impaired. He holds
his eyes closed for a moment, opens them, it's not much better.
Langdon looks at the glass wall on the far side of the vault. Then
at the row of bookcases. Gets an idea.
He goes to the last bookcase, which is about six feet from the
glass wall. He hoists himself up on the shelf of the bookcase
opposite it, wedges himself in.
And pushes with one leg. The giant bookcase teeters, but just
barely.
Langdon hoists himself further up, gets both legs up against the
bookshelf.
Pushes again -- more movement this time.
Now he puts everything he has into it, straining like hell. The
bookcase starts to tip, goes just past the point of no return,
starts to fall, gloriously headed straight for the glass wall,
which it SLAMS into with enormous power and --
--- stops.
Leaning against the wall. Forget cracks, there's not even a
scratch.
Langdon CURSES under his breath, looks around for another idea.
He hears a soft THUD from the other side of the room, sees
Chartrand has slumped over, unconscious.
But his jacket has fallen open, revealing the sidearm he carries
in a shoulder holster.
LANGDON'S HAND
slips the gun out of the holster and hefts it. Safe bet he's
never held one of these before.
He staggers over toward the glass wall, raises the gun, and pulls
the trigger. Nothing happens. Trigger doesn't even move.
70.
After a moment of oxygen-poor thinking, he figures out how to
CLICK off the safety. Tries again.
(Pow.)
The sound of the shot is barely audible to Langdon. His brain's
going fast.
If he was hoping to bring the whole wall down, he failed, but
there's a faint HISSING sound coming from the bullethole, and he
goes to it and takes a deep breath of air from the outside.
He stands back, his brain clearing momentarily.
Seized by an idea, he looks up at the wall, at its four corners,
and at the tiny web of cracks radiating out from the hole he just
made in the center.
He raises the gun again and fires off FOUR SHOTS in quick
succession. They're in an odd pattern-- upper left corner, upper
right, not quite as high, lower middle-left, and the very lower
right corner.
Now there are four new holes, each HISSING slightly, and the first
hole, in the center.
Shaking his head once more to clear it, Langdon steps forward to
the glass wall, but instead of barreling against it or throwing a
chair, he simply raises one hand, places it flat over the first
hole he made, the one in the center of the glass wall ---
-- and presses gently.
Almost immediately, a SHARP SOUND comes from the hole beneath his
hand and a jagged crack leaps out from the first hole, shooting up
to connect with the hole in the upper left corner.
He presses just a touch harder and a SECOND CRACK starts,
shooting down to the lower right. Then a third, and a fourth,
the glass is cracking like ice in springtime, all four extremities
connecting with the central hole, and with a huge GROANING SOUND -
-
-- the entire glass wall falls to pieces at his feet.
Air RUSHES into the vault.
And, wouldn't you know it, the power comes back on in the Archives.
CUT TO:
71.
INT VATICAN GROTTOES NIGHT
Vittoria, the Camerlengo, and the two Swiss Guard reach the
entrance to the Holy Vatican Grottoes just as --
-- their power goes out.
Two flashlights CLICK on, and the Guardsmen lead the way in. On
both sides, hollow niches line the walls. Recessed in the
alcoves, as far as the flashlights let them see, the hulking
shadows of sarcophagi loom.
On top of each tomb are life-sized marble carvings of each Pope,
shown in death and wearing full papal vestments, arms folded
across their chests.
CAMERLENGO
If the Holy Father was murdered, the
implications are profound. Vatican
security is impenetrable, no one from
the outside could have gotten anywhere
near him.
VITTORIA
Meaning it was someone on the inside.
CAMERLENGO
We can trust no one
He steps up his pace, taking the lead, knows exactly where he's
going. The others fall behind, as everyone slowly realizes what
he intends to do. And they're not at all sure they're up for
it.
AT THE LATE POPE'S SARCOPHAGUS,
the Camerlengo closes the last few feet alone. He knees down in
front of the bright marble carving, a likeness of the late Pope.
He WHISPERS.
CAMERLENGO
Father... Holy Father... You told me
when I was young that the voice in my
heart was that of God. You told me
I must follow it no matter what
painful places it leads. I hear it
now, asking me the impossible. Give
me strength. Forgive me. What I
do, I do in the name of everything you
believe.
BEHIND HIM,
72.
the others watch as he finishes his private prayer, stands, and
turns to them.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
Remove the covering.
Nobody moves. Just stares at him.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
Did you hear me?
SWISS GUARDSMAN
Signore, by law we are at your
command. But we are also bound by-
CAMERLENGO
I ask your forgiveness for putting you
in this position. Vatican laws are
established to protect the church. But
it is in that very spirit that I
command you to break them now.
A moment of silence, and then --
-- they step forward. Set their flashlights on the floor.
And step to the tomb. Bracing their hands against the marble
covering near the head of the tomb, they plant their feet and
push.
It doesn't move.
They push harder.
Vittoria and the Camerlengo join them.
With an almost primal GROWL of stone on stone, the lid slides,
rotating off the top of the casket and coming to rest at an angle.
The Camerlengo picks up a flashlight and shines it in the crypt.
Vittoria leans forward.
The light creeps up the Pope's body, over his burial vestments,
past his folded hands, and finally to his face.
His cheeks have collapsed, the Pope's mouth gapes wide --
-- and his tongue is black as death.
CUT TO:
73.
EXT VATICAN ARCHIVES NIGHT
The face of Langdon's Mickey Mouse watch is smeared with blood
from a cut on his hand, but we can still read the time.
It's 9:41.
Langdon and Chartrand stagger down the front steps of the Vatican
Archives, where they're immediately met by three Vatican Police
cars. Olivetti leaps out of one and meets them at the base of
the steps, holding his hands up in defense almost before Langdon
can lay into him.
LANGDON
Are you out of your minds?!
OLIVETTI
Please. In the car.
LANGDON
Someone tried to kill me.
OLIVETTI
Do you know where the next church is?
LANGDON
Yes.
OLIVETTI
Then get in the car!
Langdon jumps in the back seat of the car with Olivetti, and they
SQUEAL away from the Archives.
IN THE CAR,
they continue as the DRIVER tears through the streets of Rome.
OLIVETTI
We had no idea that --
LANGDON
You heard me ask permission! You
assigned me an escort! Don't try to
tell me you didn't know I was in
there!
OLIVETTI
(let me finish)
Of course I knew, but we had no idea
that portions of our white zones are
74.
OLIVETTI (cont'd)
cross-wired with that building.
Commander Rocher was extending the
search, if he'd known the Archives
were on that grid, he never would have
killed the power.
Langdon looks at him evenly, sees in Olivetti's eyes that they may
be thinking the same thing.
LANGDON
Or there is the other possibility.
Olivetti doesn't answer. But he's thinking about it.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Infiltration is the Illuminati
specialty -- why not the head of the
Swiss Guard?
OLIVETTI
(AGONIZED)
Perhaps.
LANGDON
I want to speak to the Camerlengo.
OLIVETTI
Il Camerlengo is unavailable,
LANGDON
Unavailable? Why?
OLIVETTI
He's found evidence that the Holy
Father was indeed murdered. He is
seeking guidance.
LANGDON
From whom?
Olivetti looks at him -- what are you, an idiot?
OLIVETTI
From God.
LANGDON
Oh, right.
OLIVETTI
Please. Make an effort.
CUT TO:
75.
INT PAPAL OFFICE NIGHT
Vittoria, escorted by the two Swiss Guardsmen from the grottoes,
returns to the papal office.
She goes to the desk where she was sitting earlier, to resume her
examination of the journals.
But the desk is bare.
VITTORIA
The journals. Where are they?
The Guardsmen look at her blankly.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
Who took the journals from this desk?!
INT APOSTOLIC PALACE - GREAT STAIRCASE NIGHT
The Camerlengo, in deep meditation, slowly descends the stairs
that lead to the Sistine Chapel.
At the bottom, Four Swiss Guard (in traditional garb) guard the
locked doors.
The Camerlengo reaches them. Hesitates. Looks heavenward for
one last word of encouragement, and then --
CAMERLENGO
Unseal the doors.
INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT
There is an audible GASP from the assembled cardinals as the heavy
locks CLUNK open, the chains RATTLE away, and the main doors of
the Sistine Chapel sweep open.
The Camerlengo walks in, a stark presence in his black cassock
amid the sea of red robes. Cardinal Mortati steps from behind the
altar to meet him.
MORTATI
Signore, do you realize that for the
first time in Vatican history, a
Camerlengo has just crossed the sacred
threshold of conclave after sealing
the doors?
CUT TO:
CAMERLENGO
There has been a development.
76.
EXT ROME - STREET NIGHT
Olivetti's Alfa Romeo races through the streets of Rome, trailed
by three other cars.
INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT
The Camerlengo has just passed on the shocking news, and the
whispered word "murder" can be heard in several languages.
Even Mortati is shaken. The Camerlengo speaks to the Cardinals.
CAMERLENGO
Please... a moment... if I...
He strides quickly up the steps of the altar to address the group
-- again, to the shock and surprise of this most conservative and
rule-bound group.
But no one stops him.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
It is true we are under attack from an
old enemy. And this time they've
struck from within, murdering our Holy
Father and threatening us all with
destruction at the hands of their new
god, science. So what are we to do?
INT OLIVETTI'S CAR NIGHT
CLOSE ON the dashboard clock in Olivetti's car, which now reads
8:57. Langdon looks up from it, staring intently through the
windshield.
On the horizon, he sees a faint orange glow.
LANGDON
Oh no.
INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT
The Camerlengo continues, and the cardinals are listening.
CAMERLENGO
Since the days of Galileo, the church
has tried to slow the relentless march
of science, sometimes with misguided
means, but always with benevolent
intention. Still, they call us
backward, ignorant.
77.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
But who is more ignorant? The man
who cannot define lightning, or the
man who does not respect its awesome
power?
INT OLIVETTI'S CAR NIGHT
Through the windshield of Olivetti's car, we see that orange glow,
closer now. It's a building on fire.
INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT
The Camerlengo continues, growing passionate.
CAMERLENGO
The promises of science have not been
kept. We're a fractured and frantic
species, moving down of destruction in
the name of progress.
EXT SANTA MARIA DELLA VITTORIA NIGHT
The police cars come to an abrupt stop in front of the Church of
Santa Maria della Vittoria. Flames glow like evil eyes through
the stained-glass windows fifty feet above the ground.
A small CROWD has gathered, stabbing at their cell phones. A
SIREN WAILS in the distance.
INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT
Mortati's Aide, Father Simeon, takes advantage of the open Sistine
Chapel doors and slips inside. He takes a place just behind
Mortati as the Camerlengo goes on.
CAMERLENGO
Science and religion are not enemies.
But there are things that science is
simply too young to understand. We
are here to lead, but how?
EXT SANTA MARIA DELLA VITTORIA NIGHT
With three sharp CRACKS, Olivetti fires into the lock in the front
door of the church. He KICKS it open --
-- and flame RIPS out into the night air.
INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT
The Camerlengo speaks faster now:
78.
CAMERLENGO
Shall we cloak ourselves in silence
and secrecy, as in the past? Or do
we open the doors, take down the
blackened curtains, and speak to our
flock?
INT SANTA MARIA DELLA VITTORIA NIGHT
Olivetti, Langdon, and four other VATICAN POLICE make their way
into the burning church. There is a massive pile of church pews
in the center aisle, burning wildly.
INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT
The Camerlengo's wrapping up:
CAMERLENGO
Signores, I ask, no, I pray that you
break this conclave. Open the
doors.
INT SANTA MARIA DELLA VITTORIA NIGHT
In the burning church, two heavy incensor cables run from the
walls of the church and rise above the burning pews at an angle,
strung tightly to a center point. Langdon follows the wires up
with his eyes --
INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT
CAMERLENGO
Evacuate St. Peter's Square.
INT BURNING CHURCH NIGHT
-- the wires meet at a center point, just above the roaring
flames, where --
INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT
CAMERLENGO
Tell the world the truth.
INT BURNING CHURCH NIGHT
-- the third cardinal, still alive, is suspended over the searing
flames.
A word is branded into the center of his bared chest:
FIRE.
79.
Vatican Police, led by Olivetti and Vincenzo, race into the
building and draw their weapons. Olivetti SHOUTS to them in
Italian, looking for a way to cut down the agonized cardinal.
Langdon races toward the pyre, but is repelled by a wall of heat
ten feet away.
The Cardinal SCREAMS, and Langdon looks to the sides, following
the cables that reach to the walls.
One of the Vatican Cops ducks
INTO THE LEFT SIDE AISLE,
which is lit only by the wild orange flames. He creeps forward,
gun in front of him, toward a fire extinguisher mounted on the
wall.
He reaches for it --
-- but a HAND reaches for him from behind, he's pulled off his
feet and --
IN THE MAIN AISLE,
Olivetti and Vincenzo whirl as TWO GUNSHOTS come from the darkened
side aisle. They race toward it.
AT THE BONFIRE,
Langdon SHOUTS to two more Vatican Cops, pointing upward.
LANGDON
The cleat, on the wall! Get
something to stand on!
He's pointing at a cleat, maybe ten feet up on the wall, where the
right guide wire is attached.
Vatican Cops 2 & 3 drag a half-burned pew out of the fire and pull
it underneath, leaning it against the wall for greater height,
Langdon starts to climb it, to uncleat the wire.
IN THE DARKENED LEFT AISLE
Olivetti creeps forward, gun at the ready, Vincenzo close behind
him.
They see a form on the floor in front of them and Olivetti bends
down -- it's the first Vatican Policeman.
Dead in a pool of his own blood.
80.
Vincenzo, standing behind Olivetti, looks down, horrified, and in
that moment of distraction, a figure creeps up behind him --
-- and twists his head 180 degrees with one smooth motion.
Olivetti whirls, but his gun comes around a split-second slower
than he does and in that split-second a shadow falls over him,
something SLASHES through the air and --
IN THE MAIN AISLE,
Langdon struggles to climb the pew that's leaned against the wall
as Vatican Cop 4 finds a long-handled candle snuffer and races
toward the edge of the fire with it.
Blinking back the intense heat, he manages to hook the Cardinals
manacled foot with it, he turns to Langdon--
-- who, stretched as far as he possibly can, just manages to
loose the wire from its cleat, holding tightly to it so as not to
let the Cardinal go into free-fall.
But the pew on which he's balanced starts to wobble, then- --
-- BLAM! BLAM!
Two gunshots THUD into the chests of Vatican Cops 2 & 3, who were
supporting the pew. They fall, the pew tips --
-- and Langdon, falling --
-- loses his grip on the chain.
The Cardinal falls toward the flames. Vatican Cop 4 tries to pull
him to safety, but doesn't have enough of WHIRRS through the
pulley until it reaches its the Cardinal to an abrupt stop, six
feet lower
-- and directly in the middle of the bonfire.
His SHRIEK of agony echoes through the burning church.
Langdon SLAMS to the floor just at the edge of the burning church
pews, maybe CRACKING a rib on the hard floor of the church.
A FIGURE steps out of the shadows, looming over him, Langdon looks
up, expecting a gunshot, but instead --
-- sees the bleeding figure of Olivetti, staggering toward him,
clutching his slit throat in his last moments of life.
NEARBY,
81.
Vatican Cop 4 is desperately trying to pull the Cardinal from the
flames, the end of the candle-snuffer is now hooked around the
Cardinal's foot, he pulls him closer, reaches out, can almost grab
his ankle --
-- until he is SHOT in the back. He falls to the floor,
drawing and dropping his gun in the process, losing his grip on
the long-handled pole as well.
On the ground, bleeding, he sees his gun, just a foot away from
his hand.
He reaches for it.
And a foot steps on his wrist, BREAKING it.
Mr. Gray stands over him, implacable.
FROM A DISTANCE,
we see Mr. Gray fire two shots into the ground where Cop 4 is
lying.
Then he turns toward us.
NEARBY,
Langdon, still on the ground, looks up at the sound of the shots.
Through the burning church pews he can see Mr. Gray, starting
toward him.
Langdon crawls, on all fours, through the outskirts of the
bonfire, toward a recessed part of the wall ten or fifteen feet
away.
Mr. Gray steps up behind him, raises his gun --
VOICE (O.S.)
Polizia!
-- and turns. TWO MORE COPS, Roman Carbinieri, have run into
the burning church and are making their way down the center aisle,
straight toward him.
Mr. Gray raises his left (non-gun holding) hand, displaying a
leather billfold with a badge in it.
MR. GRAY
(good Italian accent)
Gendarmeria Vaticano!
Recognizing the ID, the two Cops glance away for a second, to
search the rest of the church --
82.
-- and Mr. Gray BLASTS two shots into each of them.
They drop, dead, but one of them squeezes off a single round
before falling.
Mr. Gray looks down, at his right shoulder, where a dark red stain
is spreading on his suit. He touches it, more annoyed than
anything.
UNDERNEATH THE BURNING PEWS,
Langdon has crawled as close as he dares to the raging fire, and
the sleeve of his shirt is ablaze. He rolls out the other side
of the embers, stamping out the flames, gets to his feet, and
takes off running.
Mr. Gray pursues, only slowing his gait slightly to DOUBLE TAP two
shots into the head of a dying Vatican Cop.
ACROSS THE CHURCH,
Langdon hurls himself over a balustrade and into a chapel on the
far side of the church. Bullets SHATTER the glass of an
elevated crypt, three feet off the floor. (Inside is a superbly
detailed wax statue of a saint in death.)
Langdon dives under it and crawls backwards, staring in horror at
Mr. Gray's feet as they approach the chapel from across the
church.
Langdon's back THUDS into a wall.
Dead end.
But there's an old wooden grating in the wall. He turns, KICKS
it with both feet.
The grating CRUNCHES into pieces, revealing a narrow crawlspace
IN THE CRAWL SPACE,
Langdon army-crawls through it.
Mr. Gray's face appears in the entry to the crypt. He pauses to
change clips on his handgun --
-- the floor beneath Langdon abruptly runs out --
-- Mr. Gray raises his gun --
-- and Langdon disappears. The gunshots THUD into cement wall
where he was, not where he is.
83.
UNDERGROUND,
Langdon CRUNCHES to a hard landing on a subterranean stone floor,
rolls over, and sees Mr. Gray above him, now pointing down.
But there's another crawl space, and Langdon scurries into it.
IN THE SECOND CRAWL SPACE,
it's hopelessly dark, an even tighter space than the last one,
filled with cobwebs that Langdon blindly claws his way through.
He hits another hole in the floor, falls a second time ---
INTO THE CATACOMB,
-- and lands on top of a pile of long-decayed skeletons in the
nearly-black bottom of the church's underground warren of hiding
places.
He looks up. He's ten feet from the nearest handhold, only a
fool would follow him down here
BACK UP IN THE BURNING CHURCH,
-- and Mr. Gray is no fool. He steps back over the balustrade
and leaves the chapel.
The waxen face of the carving in the sarcophagus melts in the
intense heat of the out-of-control fire.
CUT TO:
INT SISTINE CHAPEL - SALON NIGHT
In the salon outside the Sistine Chapel, the Camerlengo waits
alone. From inside can be heard the sound of VOICES in debate.
Finally, the big doors open and Cardinal Mortati emerges, goes to
him.
MORTATI
My son... God answers all prayers.
He puts a hand on the Camerlengo's shoulder.
MORTATI (cont'd)
But sometimes the answer is no.
The Camerlengo closes his eyes -- this is a terrible, terrible
mistake.
84.
MORTATI
The College will not break conclave.
CAMERLENGO
We can't hide this anymore. The
burning church --
MORTATI
A despicable act of terrorism.
Father Simeon will make a suitable
announcement lamenting the loss of
life. May I suggest you direct
your energies to helping the Swiss
Guard confront the possibility of this
explosive device, and leave church
leadership --
He gestures to the open doors to the Sistine Chapel, and the
assembled cardinals within.
MORTATI (cont'd)
-- to its leaders.
The Camerlengo looks at him for a long moment, then turns and
wa1ks away.
Father Simeon, who had been lurking in the open doorway to the
chapel, now glides up beside him and touches Mortati's arm.
FR. SIMEON
Eminence. There is a growing fear
that without the four prefiriti, a two-
thirds majority for any candidate may
be impossible. Unless --
He trails off, gestures vaguely.
MORTATI
Speak plainly.
FR. SIMEON
It is the recommendation of many that
you ask to be removed from your post
as Great Elector --
Mortati raises an eyebrow, seeing where this is going.
FR. SIMEON (cont'd)
-- thereby making yourself eligible
to wear the Ring of the Fisherman.
85.
Mortati looks at him for a moment, then looks back, over his
shoulder, where a small knot of Cardinals, who have clearly
discussed this, are looking at him in confirmation.
MORTATI
If it is God's will, may His will be
DONE
CUT TO:
INT OFFICE OF THE SWISS GUARD NIGHT
CLOSE ON a handwritten page, half-filled with mathematical
computations; the other half with a scratchy handwritten prose.
(IF WE'RE EAGLE-EYED, we'll notice the phrase we move past just as
we cut into the scene is "may His will be done," the same phrase
we just heard Mortati utter.)
Commandante Rocher is at his desk, Vittoria's leather-bound
journals on the desk in front of him. He's studying them
carefully, and seems troubled by what he reads.
Through the glass walls of his office, we can see a commotion in
the still-chaotic Swiss Guard headquarters. Someone is walking
toward us, briskly, a WOMAN'S VOICE complaining loudly in Italian.
Rocher calmly places the journals on top of the screen of the
video monitor inlaid in his desk, the one we saw earlier, with a
keyhole where a power switch should be.
He pushes a button and the monitor rotates shut, into an inlaid
panel in the desk's surface. It closes just after --
VITTORIA (O.S.)
Those journals are private property.
-- Vittoria arrives in the doorway, livid.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
I demand that you return them to me.
ROCHER
(no attempt at a
DENIAL)
They are material evidence in a
Vatican investigation.
VITTORIA
I am an Italian citizen and I have a
right to-
86.
ROCHER
This isn't Italy. It isn't even
Rome. The Vatican is its own
country, with its own laws, and when
those journals crossed our border they
became our property. You will get
them back when I have decided they
contain nothing of value to this
investigation.
She looks at him, then down at the desk, where the outline of the
hidden panel is visible in the veneer of the wood.
VITTORIA
Do you have something to hide,
Commandante Rocher?
ROCHER
Do you, Doctor Vetra?
He stresses her title, as if it offends
CUT TO:
EXT SANTA MARIA DELLA VITTORIA NIGHT
The burning church, now mostly extinguished. But a LARGE CROWD
has gathered, along with a dozen police and fire vehicles.
INT SANTA MARIA DELLA VITTORIA NIGHT
As FIREMEN put out the last of the flames (not using water, but
Halon gas, which creates no steam), a metallic TAPPING sound comes
from somewhere.
One of the Firemen approaches another, gets his attention -- stop
what you're doing and listen.
They shut down a hose and stop, listening.
There it is again. They SHOUT in Italian to the others, now
everybody shuts down their hoses and listens.
The metallic TAPPING echoes in the smoldering church.
They walk toward it -- it's coming from an oval plate in the
floor, like a manhole cover, heavy and carved. We've seen one
of these before, it leads to a Demon's Hole.
The TAPPING is louder now, rhythmic. Somebody's down there.
Crowbars are produced, the cover of the Demon's Hole is pried off
and shoved aside, revealing --
87.
-- Robert Langdon, wedged into the top of the opening, holding a
rock in one hand as he clings precariously to the walls he has
climbed.
Strong hands reach down, haul him to his feet --
AT THE FRONT OF THE CHURCH,
-- and those same feet hurry to the front of the smoldering
church, coming to a stop in front of --
-- Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa.
The statue he came here to find. Now, as the Italian-speaking
police and firemen work around him, Langdon moves, as if in his
own world. He looks to the statue, repeating fragments of the
poem he has by now memorized:
LANGDON
Let angels guide you on your lofty
quest...
Directly over the recumbent saint, against a backdrop of gilded
flame, hovers Bernini's angel. The angel's hand clutches a
pointed spear of fire.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Cross Rome the mystic elements
unfold...
Langdon's eyes follow the direction of the shaft, arcing toward
the right side of the church.
VOICE (O.S.)
Professor?
A ROMAN POLICEMAN, a member of the Carbinieri, comes up to
Langdon, discussing him in Italian with TWO OTHER COPS as he
approaches.
ROMAN COP
Langdon, is it?
Langdon ignores him, pointing at the wall instead.
LANGDON
What direction is that?
ROMAN COP
Direction? West, I think. Mr.
Langdon, we've confirmed with the
Vatican that they invited you into
this investigation, but what I-
88.
LANGDON
Map.
A MOMENT LATER,
as if by command, a map CRINKLES out on the floor of the church.
It's detailed, a fire department map, and Langdon drops down on
all fours, studying it.
LANGDON
We're here... Piazza Barberini...
Langdon whips a glance over at the angel, gets bearings, and
rotates the map to match.
His finger travels over the map and --
CLOSE ON THE MAP,
we watch as his finger crosses church after church after church,
tiny black boxes with crosses in them. There must be two dozen.
LANGDON
Damn it.
He sits back for a moment.
The Roman Cop bends down next to him. Treats him like a crazy
person.
ROMAN COP
Professor, I need to know what you saw
here.
LANGDON
Fire and death. Show me where Santa
Maria del Popolo is.
(the Cop doesn't
UNDERSTAND)
The Church, it was the first altar of
science.
The Cop points to a spot at the top center of the map.
LANGDON (cont'd)
And St. Peter's is...
The Cop points to a spot at the bottom center.
Langdon's eyes widen, he grabs the Cop by the lapels --
-- and pulls a pen from the man's pocket.
89.
He turns back to the map and draws a straight line, from north to
south, connecting the two churches the Cop just pointed to.
LANGDON (cont'd)
And we're over here --
He puts the pen on a point on the eastern side of the map.
LANGDON (cont'd)
-- and west is --
He draws a line straight across the map, to the west, sucking in
his breath as he realizes something.
LANGDON (cont'd)
'Cross Rome...
Now he stands, slowly, and as he stands, we rise up, to get a
birds-eye view of the map on the floor.
On which he has drawn a perfect cross.
LANGDON (cont'd)
It's a cross. The poem meant it
literally. The four altars of
science form a perfect cross.
The Cop, who has no clue what he's talking about, gets a call on
his radio and turns away to take it.
LANGDON (cont'd)
(muttering to himself)
Which means the fourth element, water,
should be right about --
He drops to his knees again, and traces the horizontal line to
where it stops on the western side of the city, exactly as far
from the center line as was the church on the eastern side.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Here.
ROMAN COP
(behind him)
Professor, I am asked to escort you to
the Vatican immediately. Commander
Rocher has asked to see you.
LANGDON
(ignoring him)
Water.
90.
As Langdon peers down, we see the line on the map comes to a stop
in the center of a place called Piazza Navona, and as we go in
closer on the map, an odd-shaped object in the middle of the
Piazza starts to move, to ripple, right there on the map, and we
hear the sound of running water as it slowly dissolves to --
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT PIAZZA NAVONA NIGHT
-- Bernini's spectacular Fountain of the Four Rivers in the
Piazza Navona.
There is a black van parked beside the fountain, and we drift over
toward it. Passing through the passenger window, we go inside
to find --
-- Mr. Gray, facing the rear of the van, his jacket off and his
shirt open, engaged in battlefield surgery on his injured right
shoulder. Using a long-handled tweezers, he digs into his own
flesh, gets a hold of the bullet that pierced him, and tosses it
onto the metal floor of the van with a TING.
It lands beside a lumpy tarp, and as metal hits metal, the tarp
jumps.
There's a human being in there. Mr. Gray speaks to the lump.
MR. GRAY
Were it up to me, it would not be this
way. It is a sin to kill with pain.
(SIGHS)
But I am a sinner.
We pan off him quickly and look out the driver's window, up at a
clock tower on the far side of the plaza.
It's sixteen minutes to eleven.
CUT TO:
EXT BURNING CHURCH NIGHT
Langdon hurries down the steps of the still-smoldering church,
followed closely by the Roman Cop and TWO OTHER COPS.
ROMAN COP
Professor! The Vatican insists that-
91.
LANGDON
(turning on him)
The Vatican is about to see its fourth
Cardinal murdered tonight.
He realizes he spoke too loudly, and there is quite a crowd
assembled outside the smoking church. Langdon lowers his voice
and presses in.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Now you can either do what they tell
you and force me to go to the Vatican,
where we can all mourn his death
together, or you can show them how
real cops act and take me to the
Piazza Navona, where we might be able
to stop it.
The Cop looks at him, thinking, confers with another Cop in rapid
Italian. Langdon checks his watch.
LANGDON (cont'd)
By all means, talk it over. But in
fourteen minutes he'll be dead.
CUT TO:
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
St. Peter's Square is even more crowded than before. Another
move down the row of international television reporters, but this
one's about twice as fast as the last one. (Anybody not
speaking English is subtitled.)
SOUTH AFRICAN REPORTER
-- possibility of terrorism, as the
church has now confirmed arson at one
of its oldest and holiest churches
Moving on, to an Asian Reporter:
ASIAN REPORTER
-- resulting in at least six confirmed
deaths --
To a Brazilian:
BRAZILIAN REPORTER
-- initial rumors that one of the
dead was Cardinal Ebner of Frankfurt --
To an American:
92.
AMERICAN REPORTER
-- been refuted by the Vatican, which
has asked international media not to
engage in, quote, "wild speculation"--
And to a French Woman:
FRENCH REPORTER
-- as conclave goes on, with no sign
of agreement on a new pope yet.
CUT TO:
INT OFFICE OF THE POPE NIGHT
In the papal office, the Camerlengo sits, alone, in front of the
fireplace, staring into the flames, thinking.
Behind him, a small knot of Swiss Guard debate their next move in
Italian. He speaks softly to them, in Italian, subtitled.
CAMERLENGO
At 11:15, if the church is still in
peril, give the order to evacuate the
cardinals. But with dignity, let
them exit into St. Peter's Square,
with their heads held high. I don't
want the last image of this church to
be frightened old men sneaking out a
back door. If Cardinal Mortati
protests, escort him bodily. Do you
understand?
The Guardsmen are uncomfortable with that idea.
SWISS GUARDSMAN
If you think it is the right thing,
Signore.
CAMERLENGO
I'm certain it's the wrong thing,
and I will be removed from my post
for it. But I also know we have
no choice.
They just look at him. You're the boss.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
Please clear the room so that I may
pray on the matter.
93.
They get out. He stares into the flames.
CUT TO:
EXT PIAZZA NAVONA NIGHT
Piazza Navona is lightly peopled on this soft summer night with so
much attention directed toward the Vatican.
The hood of a car glides into view, nearly silent, on the far side
of the fountain. Langdon and the two Roman Cops step out and
survey the area.
Langdon looks to the fountain. Its central core is twenty feet
tall, a rugged mountain of marble with caves and grottoes through
which water churns. Atop it stands an obelisk that climbs
another forty feet.
LANGDON
(eyes searching)
Let angels guide you...
But there's no angel anywhere. He turns to the first Roman Cop.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Isn't there an angel on this fountain?
ROMAN COP
Not anymore.
LANGDON
The marker's no good without an angel,
pointing to the final-
ROMAN COP
Blame Mussolini. He wanted it for
his summer-
But the Cop stops mid-sentence as he notices the black van parked
on the far side of the fountain.
Silently, the Cops gesture to each other to go opposite ways
around the fountain, and to Langdon to stay where he is.
Langdon, frustrated but no action hero, watches them as they
slowly encircle the van.
AT THE DRIVER'S SIDE,
the First Cop approaches the Driver's Window, sees Mr. Gray
sitting implacably behind the wheel. He taps lightly with a
knuckle, his drawn gun at his side, just out of view.
94.
Mr. Gray opens the window.
MR. GRAY
Si?
The Roman Cop looks down, ever so briefly, at a small spreading
bloodstain on Mr. Gray's shirt. When he looks back up --
-- there is a silenced pistol pointing directly at him.
PHOOM.
He takes a bullet in the forehead, slumps forward against the
window, and --
FROM A DISTANCE,
we see his body pulled rapidly into the van through the driver's
window. Whole thing took about three seconds. DINERS at an
outdoor cafe don't even notice.
FROM LANGDON'S POINT OF VIEW,
on the other side of the fountain, the van rocks slightly, but he
can't see anything out of the ordinary.
He turns, looks to the Second Cop, who is just now approaching
from the rear of the van.
WITH THE SECOND COP,
this one's got his gun in front of him, he's ready for anything.
We creep around the back of the van with him, and just as he comes
around to where he can see the driver's side --
-- the barrel of the silencer presses into his forehead. A
quick exchange in Italian:
SECOND COP
Per favore?
MR. GRAY
Non posso.
PHOOM.
Another bullet, another slumping Cop, and
FROM LANGDON'S POINT OF VIEW,
the van rocks again, but he can't see anything more detailed than
that. All he knows is the two cops aren't coming out from the
other side of the van, something is going on --
95.
-- and the bell in the clock tower starts to BONG.
EVEN UNARMED, LANGDON STARTS TO MOVE FORWARD, JUST AS --
-- the sliding door on the fountain side of the van SLAMS open
-- revealing the figure of the FOURTH CARDINAL, wrapped in chains
and with manacled hands and feet. He thrashes against the iron
links, but the chains are too heavy. One of the links bisects
his mouth like a horse's bit, stifling his cries for help. Mr.
Gray hovers over him.
Langdon GASPS --
-- and Mr. Gray shoves the bound figure roughly out of the van.
The Cardinal rolls, falling into the fountain with an enormous
SPLASH. His weighted body sinks immediately to the bottom.
There is a moment, frozen in time, in which Langdon locks eyes
with Mr. Gray, still hunched in the back of the van as the clock
tower continues to BONG, the only sound we can hear.
Langdon looks at him, then down at the body in the fountain, then
back up at Mr. Gray--
-- who salutes him ---
-- the van door SLAMS shut, and the van tears ass out of there.
Langdon looks from its receding taillights to the idling police
car, its door hanging open, he could jump in and give chase, but
then his eyes go back to the fountain, where the drowning cardinal
must not have much time left, and it's really no decision at all.
Langdon covers the distance to the fountain in two quick strides
and leaps in.
IN THE FOUNTAIN,
the water is waist deep and like ice. Steady streams of bubbles
rise up from the bottom, churning it.
Langdon reaches the body of the Cardinal, plunges in --
UNDERWATER,
-- and struggles to get both arms underneath the drowning man.
Through the watery haze, we can see the man's bare chest, branded
with the final ambigram:
WATER.
96.
Langdon struggles to lift him, but the weight is too much, he can
barely get him a few inches off the bottom of the fountain, much
less all the way to the surface.
Langdon, running out of air, bursts to the surface and -- ON THE
SURFACE,
-- takes a deep breath, then plunges back --
UNDERWATER,
-- but he still can't move the Cardinal.
He makes eye contact with the dying man, who seems to be accepting
his fate, maybe even welcoming it.
Langdon changes his grip, strains like hell, and actually gets him
a few inches higher this time, but nowhere close to the air
supply.
But with the new position, his eyes fall on something behind the
cardinal -- a plastic tube, six inches across, streaming bubbles
into the fountain.
He goes back --
ABOVE THE SURFACE
-- takes another breathy and sees the fountain of bubbles rising
up to the surface just above the tube. Air!
Several PASSERS-BY notice the commotion in the fountain as Langdon
dives back under the water.
UNDERWATER,
Langdon drags the body of the Cardinal a few feet across the
bottom of the fountain and RIPS the tube free from its mooring,
pulling it to the Cardinal's mouth.
He clamps it down over the man's lips, and the Cardinal sucks a
few greedy breaths from it. Enough to keep him alive.
Langdon takes the tube and draws a couple breaths of his own, then
digs his hands back underneath the Cardinal to lift him, but this
time --
-- SIX MORE HANDS come in from all sides.
Several Passers-by have jumped into the fountain to help, and as
they all strain together --
97.
ON THE SURFACE,
-- the Cardinal's bound body breaks the surface and he GULPS deep
lungfuls of air.
He is saved. Langdon sags against the side of the fountain,
exhausted and freezing, as the others pull the Cardinal's body to
safety.
In the distance, SIRENS.
Langdon, gathering himself, goes to the Cardinal, speaks in rapid
Spanish, subtitled.
LANGDON
Cardinale Guidera?
CARDINAL GU
Si...si...
LANGDON
The Church of Illumination. It's
where you were being held, isn't it?
Guidera nods weakly as, around them, it seems like everybody
arrives at the fountain -- Carbinieri, Swiss Guard, Vatican
Police, paramedics -- car after car after car.
LANGDON (cont'd)
(still to Guidera)
Where is it?!
CARDINAL GUIDERA
Castel... Sant'Angelo...
CUT TO:
INT OFFICE OF THE SWISS GUARD NIGHT
CLOSE ON a row of weapons in a cabinet in the Office of the Swiss
Commander Rocher selects a pistol and slips it into a harness.
While his back is turned to the room, Lt. Chartrand, the young
Swiss Guardsman who escorted Langdon to the Archives, hurries up
behind him.
CHARTRAND
Langdon says Cardinal Guidera will be
killed in Piazza Navona. He's on
his way there with two Carbinieri.
98.
ROCHER
Send everyone we can spare.
He closes and locks the cabinet, heads for the door. Alone.
CHARTRAND
You?
ROCHER
Staying here to continue the search
for the explosive.
He leaves. Chartrand looks back at the weapons cabinet. Sees
the space from which the pistol was taken.
CUT TO:
EXT CASTEL SANT'ANGELO NIGHT
We fly over a bridge, flanked by a dozen angel statues standing
sentinel on either side, leading directly toward--
-- the Castel Sant'Angelo, Castle of the Angels, its ancient
stone ramparts lit by floodlights. Soaring swiftly up its
facade, we close in on a mammoth bronze angel standing atop the
citadel.
It points the way, all right, its sword aimed directly downward,
at the castle itself, as if to say you've found it.
DOWN ON THE GROUND,
several Police Cars come to a stop in front of the castle at the
same time.
Langdon climbs out the back of one just as Vittoria gets out of a
car driven by a SWISS GUARDSMAN.
Langdon grabs her, thrilled to see her.
LANGDON
You're all right?
VITTORIA
I'm all right, what about you?!
LANGDON
Cold and wet but alive. Where's
Rocher?
VITTORIA
I don't know. He took the journals,
he's hiding something.
99.
More Cops arrive, and a SECURITY GUARD is pressed into service
behind them, opening the massive front doors to the Castle,
LANGDON
This is it. The Church of
Illumination is somewhere in the
castle.
Cops pour into the courtyard of the castle. Langdon and
Vittoria follow.
EXT CASTEL SANT'ANGELO - COURTYARD NIGHT
They dash around the outer bulwark of the Castle. The courtyard
beneath them looks like a museum of ancient warfare -- catapults,
stacks of marble cannonballs, fearful contraptions.
As the Cops quickly and silently search every nook, Langdon and
Vittoria follow closely.
LANGDON
The Vatican used this place for
centuries as a hideout, a prison for
enemies of the church -- there are
passages and catacombs everywhere. It
makes sense, the Illuminati
infiltrated the Church's own
stronghold. Bernini was chief
architect here, he left clues
everywhere, it's even surrounded by a
pentagonal park!
They reach the central core of the castle.
Another angel statue, similar to the one atop the citadel, stands
in front of them, its sword held in the same position, pointing
downward at an angle.
Langdon studies it, follows the line of the angel's sword -- and
sees a gated drive that cuts across the courtyard itself.
LANGDON (cont'd)
There.
A MOMENT LATER,
he and Vittoria are down in the courtyard, at the mouth of the
gated drive. The gate is open and leads to a tunnel, a gaping
entry in the central core.
100.
LANGDON
A traforo. Commanders on horseback
used them to ride directly into a
castle from the outside.
He gestures to the nearby Cops, who are already on it, and they
all head into the darkened tunnel.
INT TUNNEL NIGHT
Police flashlights switch on and their beams bounce crazily off
the walls of the tunnel.
Footsteps CRUNCH as they all press in, Langdon and Vittoria
content to let men with guns lead the way.
It gets darker as they descend, and then, by the echo of their
footfalls, they can tell they've entered --
A LARGE CHAMBER.
More lights are switched on, illuminating the space, which
terminates in three stone walls.
LANGDON
It's a dead end.
But the Police attention is focused on the black van parked in the
center of the room.
Roman Police snap into action, flashlight beams bounce everywhere,
guns point in every possible window of the van, SHOUTS for
whoever's inside to get the hell out now, now, now.
The doors are flung open.
The van is empty.
Except for the two dead policemen from the Piazza Navona.
The police frenzy reaches an even higher level, URGENT MESSAGES
passed along on radios, half the Cops turning and heading back out
of the tunnel.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Where are they going?
Vittoria listens to the orders being given in Italian.
VITTORIA
Back to search the outer castle.
101.
LANGDON
No... no, it has to be here!
But there's no stopping the Cops, and the only two that remain are
posted outside the van, guarding their fallen colleagues.
VITTORIA
Robert, it's a dead end.
Langdon walks forward, to the stone wall at the end of the tunnel,
and feels his way along it.
It joins smoothly with the wall on the right side.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
Robert...
But he waves her off, this has to be it. He feels all along the
wall toward the other corner, and as he looks down at the ground,
his eyes widen.
LANGDON
Bring a flashlight.
Vittoria borrows a flashlight from one of the two remaining Cops,
who now get a CRACKLY MESSAGE on their walkie-talkies and race out
of the tunnel, toward the top, leaving Langdon and Vittoria alone
in the dead end.
She brings the light to Langdon, who shines its beam down at the
floor. There, in the corner, is a granite block.
LANGDON (cont'd)
None of the other blocks are granite.
And they're all square.
He bends down, looks closer.
LANGDON (cont'd)
This one's a pentagram. It points --
Sure enough, the block is carved in the shape of a pentagram, with
the tip pointing into the corner.
LANGDON (cont'd)
-- at nothing.
But as he shines the light, there's something off about the shadow
it casts in the corner of the room. It creates an odd, dark
slit.
Langdon crouches in the corner and slides his hand along the back
wall of the chamber. When he reaches the point at which it
should intersect the side wall --
102.
-- his hand disappears.
LANGDON (cont'd)
The walls overlap.
He flattens himself against the back wall, shining the light
straight at what should be the intersection of the walls. Half
the flashlight's beam falls on the side wall, and the other half --
INT SECRET PASSAGE NIGHT
-- shines through into the secret passage behind the wall.
Langdon draws in his breath and forces himself through the tiny
slit, just wide enough for a determined person to squeeze through.
Vittoria follows.
They look ahead, shining the light. They're in an extremely narrow
passageway.
They start carefully down it, flashlight in front of them. They
whisper.
LANGDON
Do you still have the gun?
VITTORIA
You told me to give it back.
She pulls the gun from her waistband.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
I ignored you.
LANGDON
Ignore me any time you like.
To their right, they pass half a dozen tiny jail cells, the iron
bars on most eroded away. Several of the larger cells are
intact, and on the floor of one they see black robes and red
sashes.
They approach an iron doorway in the wall. The door is ajar and
beyond it there is some sort of passage. Langdon squints at two
words above it -- II Passetto.
Vittoria gestures -- that way?
Langdon shakes his head no.
103.
LANGDON (cont'd)
(WHISPERS)
Leads to the Vatican. Or from it.
An ancient escape route.
They round a corner, where the tunnel takes a ninety degree turn
to the right. At the corner, Langdon notices another
pentagrammal block in the floor.
He bends, studies the direction it's pointing, feels the wall --
LANGDON (cont'd)
Another overlap.
-- and finds another overlapping angle, this one even smaller
than the last. The wall is actually joined at the floor, seems
to open out at the middle (in roughly the shape of a human form
turned sideways), and joins again at the top.
HE TAKES A DEEP BREATH, SLIPS THROUGH THE GAP --
-- and finds himself at the base of a set of steep spiral stairs.
Langdon looks up, to the top of the stairs. There is an
archway, adorned with a tiny carved angel.
Vittoria slips through the gap, sees the carving too.
VITTORIA
An angel.
Langdon, sensing they're close, starts up the stairs.
CUT TO:
INT APOSTOLIC PALACE - HALLWAY NIGHT
Commander Rocher, eyes dead-set, walks down a hallway in the
Apostolic Palace. He passes two Swiss Guardsmen with radios.
ROCHER
Get on the radio and put the word out.
Conclave is to remain sealed.
SWISS GUARDSMAN
But the Camerlengo gave the order for
evacuation at eleven fif-
ROCHER
I'm countermanding it.
SWISS GUARDSMAN
BUT-
104.
ROCHER
That door stays SHUT! Do you
understand?
SWISS GUARDSMAN
Yes sir.
Rocher keeps walking.
CUT TO:
INT CHURCH OF ILLUMINATION NIGHT
Langdon and Vittoria creep into the Church of Illumination, and we
get our first good look at it.
The embellishments, though faded, are replete with familiar
symbology. Pentagram tiles. Planet frescoes. Pyramids.
VITTORIA
We have thirty minutes left, I can
still change the battery if we can
find the cannister.
Langdon nods, but he's fascinated by the place.
In the center of the room, there is an open fireplace, its embers
still smoking. The four Illuminati brands, their faces wiped
clean, have been placed back in a molded velvet case.
Langdon, fascinated, spots an empty slot in the very center of the
case, surrounded by the four used brands.
But this one's missing.
Vittoria arrives over his shoulder, having completed a quick
search of the place.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
It isn't here.
LANGDON
There's a fifth brand.
VITTORIA
What?
He touches the indentation in the velvet, puzzling it out.
LANGDON
Two crossed keys.
105.
VITTORIA
The symbol for the Vatican?
LANGDON
The papacy.
(THINKING)
They're going to kill him. Before
they blow up the Vatican they're going
to kill and brand the pope himself.
VITTORIA
But there is no pope.
LANGDON
Technically, there is.
VITTORIA
The Camerlengo?! We have to-
MR. GRAY (O.S.)
Please place your gun on the floor.
They freeze. Vittoria looks at Langdon, who nods -- you'd better
do it. She does.
MR. GRAY (cont'd)
Now turn around.
They turn and face Mr. Gray. He looks quite dapper, and not too
much the worse for wear. There is a briefcase on the ground
beside him, and he's changed into a fresh shirt.
MR. GRAY (cont'd)
Kick it to me.
She does. He picks it up, ejects the clip and the round in the
chamber, pockets them, and tosses the gun into the smoldering
fire.
LANGDON
You could have been long gone by
now.
MR. GRAY
Some do God's work for love, others
for money. Which do you take me
for?
As if to answer his own question, he picks up the briefcase from
the floor beside him. Then studies Langdon for a moment.
106.
MR. GRAY
You're not one of them.
LANGDON
Neither are you. I was expecting a
fanatic.
MR. GRAY
When they call me -- and they all
call me -- it is so important to
them that I know what they ask is
the Lord's will. Or Allah's, or
Yahweh's. And I suppose they're
right. Because if He were not
vengeful, I would not exist, would
I?
He picks up his briefcase.
MR. GRAY (cont'd)
Be careful. These are men of God.
He turns to go. Langdon can't help himself:
LANGDON
Why didn't you kill us when you had
the chancer
Vittoria looks at Langdon like he's nuts. Mr. Gray turns back,
seems puzzled by the very thought.
MR. GRAY
Because no one asked me to.
He leaves.
Langdon and Vittoria pause for a moment, look at each other --
LANGDON
We've got to get to the Vatican.
CUT TO:
INT PAPAL OFFICES - HALLWAY NIGHT
Rocher reaches the office of the Pope. Two uniformed Swiss Guard
are stationed outside.
Another Swiss Guardsman steps out of the office, reporting back
from within.
107.
SWISS GUARDSMAN
The Camerlengo says he will grant you
an audience.
ROCHER
I'd like to see him alone.
The Swiss Guards look at each other.
SWISS GUARDSMAN
That's impossible, sir. No one-
ROCHER
Have you forgotten who you work for?!
Rocher is truly intimidating when he wants to be.
SWISS GUARDSMAN
No, sir.
He nods to the other Guards, who raise their swords, allowing
access.
CUT TO:
INT SECRET PASSAGE NIGHT
Vittoria and Langdon barrel down the stone stairs, into the
passage, and through the open doorway to Il Passetto.
INT IL PASSETTO NIGHT
The passetto is narrow and dark, lit only by streaks of moonlight
coming through the vertical slits in the walls.
But up ahead, there's light. They race for it.
CUT TO:
INT OFFICE OF THE POPE NIGHT
The Camerlengo kneels in prayer in front of the fire. He hears a
sound behind him and turns as the door to the papal office opens.
Rocher enters, closes and locks the door behind him.
CAMERLENGO
Have you come to make me a martyr?
CUT TO:
108.
INT/EXT IL PASSETTO NIGHT
Vittoria and Langdon race up a flight of stairs, and the passetto
comes out into the open for a hundred yards or so as it leaves the
Castel Sant'Angelo.
Ahead, they see a rope ladder over the side. They look down.
Directly below them, Mr. Gray is getting into an Alfa Romeo parked
discretely at the end of a dead end street, making his escape.
DOWN ON THE STREET,
the car door SLAMS.
IN THE CAR,
Mr. Gray turns the key.
UP ON THE PASSETTO,
Langdon and Vittoria are running toward the Vatican again when the
EXPLOSION rips through the still night.
They stagger and turn back, in time to see Mr. Gray's car go up in
an enormous fireball.
VITTORIA
Men of God.
Langdon grabs her arm and they take off. The Passetto descends
again, into --
INT IL PASSETTO NIGHT
-- another underground space. The outline of a steel gate
looms ahead, blocking their way.
But as they draw closer, they find the ancient lock hanging open,
and the gate swings freely. This tunnel has been used, and
recently.
FURTHER AHEAD,
they plow onward, and now there is a low ROARING sound from above
them. Langdon pauses, looks up.
LANGDON
We're under St. Peter's Square.
They keep on.
CUT TO:
109.
INT PAPAL OFFICES - HALLWAY NIGHT
In the hallway outside the Pope's office, there are raised VOICES
from behind the closed door. Lt. Chartrand approaches
nervously.
He and the Guards look at each other, don't know what to do. From
the other direction, Father Simeon, Cardinal Mortati's Aide,
strides toward them.
FR. SIMEON
I demand to speak to the Camerlengo.
AN ANGRY SHOUT from behind the door draws their attention --what
the hell is going on in there?
CUT TO:
INT IL PASSETTO NIGHT
Langdon and Vittoria hit another gate, this one heavier, but it
too is unlocked. The sound of St. Peter's Square fades behind
them now.
UP AHEAD,
they turn a corner and, without warning --- the tunnel ends.
There is only a thick iron door, and as Langdon searches it with
his flashlight, he finds no handle, no knob, no keyhole, no
hinges.
LANGDON
Senza chiave! A one-way portal, the
only access is from the other side!
With a ROAR of anger, he starts to POUND on the door. Vittoria
joins in.
INT OFFICES OF THE POPE - HALLWAY NIGHT
CLOSE ON a watch -- 11:40. Outside the door to the Pope's
office, Lt. Chartrand is desperate.
While Father Simeon attempts to argue with him in Italian,
Chartrand turns, hearing the POUNDING coming from down the hall.
He heads toward it, rounds a corner --
INT POPE'S PRIVATE LIBRARY NIGHT
-- and steps into the Pope's private library, where the POUNDING
is louder.
110.
He steps to a heavy door in the wall, looks unused for a century,
but it's clearly the source of the sounds. He looks down, sees
three keyholes in the door, and an ancient key in each of them.
Chartrand puts his ear to the door, hears VOICES --
INT IL PASSETTO NIGHT
-- and, on the other side, Langdon and Vittoria squint at the
light as the heavy door is hauled open before them.
Chartrand looks at them in amazement -- how'd you get here?
LANGDON
The Camerlengo is in danger!
INT PAPAL OFFICES - HALLWAY NIGHT
Chartrand, Langdon, and Vittoria round the corner and race down
the hallway toward the Pope's office, just as --
-- a BLOODCURDLING SCREAM comes from behind the closed doors. The
Swiss Guard move fast, throwing open the door.
INT POPE'S OFFICE NIGHT
Langdon and the others race into the pope's office and find a
truly bizarre scene.
Rocher is near the fireplace, brandishing his sidearm, aimed at
the Camerlengo, who lays on the floor, writhing in agony.
His cassock is torn open, and his bare chest is seared black. A
large, square brand is on the floor at Rocher's feet.
Two of the Swiss Guard act without hesitation -- they open fire.
Two bullets SLAM into Rocher's chest and he crumples.
Father Simeon bursts into the room, and as he does the Camerlengo
rolls over onto one side, points his index finger at Simeon, and
cries out a single word:
CAMERLENGO
ILLUMINATUS!
FR. SIMEON
You bastard! You sanctimonious-
He rushes at the Camerlengo and Chartrand reacts on instinct,
putting three bullets in Father Simeon's back.
111.
He falls to the floor, dead.
Chartrand and the Guards dash to the Camerlengo, who clutches his
chest, convulsing in pain.
Langdon walks toward him, stunned, as the Guards pull the
Camerlengo's hands away from his wound, revealing the fifth brand.
The crossed keys, seared into the flesh of his chest.
Langdon looks at Rocher in utter disbelief. Rocher's still alive,
trying to say something, holding out a hand.
Everyone else in the room is focused on the Camerlengo, so Langdon
bends down, takes the dying man's hand.
Rocher looks up at him, desperation in his eyes, trying to
communicate something but too weak to say more than:
ROCHER
For safety.
And his eyes close.
Langdon withdraws his hand from Rocher's, and finds the dying man
has pressed something into his palm.
A key.
Langdon looks at it, and it gives him a thought. He turns, looks
at the Camerlengo, whose chest is exposed.
The crossed keys are indeed branded there -- but they're upside
down.
Langdon slips the key in his pocket and approaches the Camerlengo
as Chartrand gets to his feet, on his radio.
CHARTRAND
I need a Medevac to St. Peter's
Square, right now!
The Camerlengo struggles to a sitting position.
CAMERLENGO
Order the evacuation. We only have
nineteen minutes.
LANGDON
(POINTING)
The keys. They're upside down.
112.
VITTORIA
You think it's a sign?
LANGDON
Everything has been a sign, why should
this be any different?
He looks at Rocher, dead on the floor. Back at the branded
keys.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Crossed keys -- the symbol for the
papacy, upside-down.
CAMERLENGO
St. Peter.
LANGDON
(YES)
The first pope, he was crucified
upside-down, on Vatican Hill. Right
beneath where we're standing.
CAMERLENGO
"Upon this rock I will build my
church."...
LANGDON
Or bring it down upon itself.
He looks back at Rocher, and at Father Simeon, dead on the floor.
LANGDON (cont'd)
They were conservatives, the former
Pope was becoming more and more
liberal. Maybe they loved their
church so much they were willing to
destroy it.
CAMERLENGO
(thinking, repeats)
Upon this rock I will build my church.
LANGDON
St. Peter's tomb is the very core of
Christendom.
CAMERLENGO
The bomb is in St. Peter's tomb!
LANGDON
(almost admiring it)
The ultimate infiltration.
113.
VITTORIA
I can still change the battery if we
hurry!
CUT TO:
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
The square is more crowded than ever, and now the helicopter.
Chartrand called SWOOPS in low overhead as Vatican Police
frantically try to clear a landing area.
CUT TO:
INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA NIGHT
Langdon, Vittoria, the Camerlengo, and two Swiss Guard are
hurrying across the deserted floor of St. Peter's Basilica when
the lights go out.
CHARTRAND
The grid is still cycling -- the power
to this section must be down.
They race down the center aisle, to the candlelit balustrade which
surrounds the winding staircase into the grottoes.
CAMERLENGO
Oil lamps. Grab one!
They do, and run down the center stair.
On the staircase,
the ninety-nine burning oil lamps throw exaggerated shadows on
stone walls.
VITTORIA
What's down here?
LANGDON
The Necropolis. City of the dead.
Oh.
The Camerlengo drops to his knees and opens an iron grate in the
marble floor.
CUT TO:
114.
INT THE NECROPOLIS NIGHT
Vittoria, Langdon, the Camerlengo, and Chartrand drop down through
an open hole and into an underground city of ancient, winding
streets. Part museum, part ruin, they run past ancient
structures, some hundreds, some thousands of years old.
The rectangular tombs are similar to little houses, complete with
doorways, thresholds, windows, and terraces.
AROUND A CORNER,
the Camerlengo seems to know exactly where he's going; he leads
them down a narrow stone passageway.
AROUND ANOTHER CORNER,
they hurry up a small hill. At the top of the grade, there is a
stone grotto, toward which the Camerlengo is racing.
He reaches the grotto, searches, but finds nothing.
Langdon and Vittoria come to a stop behind him, breathing hard.
CAMERLENGO
It must be here! It must be!
He rips aside some protective tarps, finds that underneath the
actual burial site is an underground area, part of a dig in
progress.
He climbs down into it, we see just the top of his head as --
-- a soft glow seems to emanate from beneath him.
The Camerlengo's head is wreathed in light for a moment, and then,
as he climbs out, we see that he's holding in his hands --
-- the glowing canister of anti-matter.
ON THE GROUND NEARBY,
Vittoria drops to her knees, a tiny silver pellet in one hand, two
wires leading from opposite ends of it.
VITTORIA
Set it down flat.
The Camerlengo does. Langdon bends close. Vittoria checks
the timer.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
We still have seven minutes. Good.
115.
She leans down, reaching for the canister's baseplate.
As she does, a drop of sweat rolls to the tip of her nose She
freezes.
Wipes the sweat away, thinking about it
VITTORIA (cont'd)
It's hot down here. Isn't it?
LANGDON
What's wrong?
VITTORIA
Heat decreases battery life. We may
have less than five minutes.
CAMERLENGO
So?
VITTORIA
If I pull the power with less than
five minutes, the residual charge
won't hold suspension. We should leave
it and get clear if we can. At least
if it goes off down here the damage
will be-
CAMERLENGO
NO.
And with that, he snatches up the canister and takes off running,
back the way they came.
VITTORIA
Wait!
LANGDON
Father, please!
But he's already gone, around a darkened corner.
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
In St. Peter's Square, the helicopter that was brought in for the
Camerlengo waits, propellers spinning.
The Crowd seems even bigger now, and a REPORTER tells us why:
REPORTER
-- in St. Peter's Square where,
despite a bomb threat and order of
evacuation, the crowd is actually
growing in size as we await --
116.
INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA NIGHT
The Camerlengo emerges from the spiral staircase, accidentally
kicks over one of the oil lamps, spilling its burning oil on the
floor of the Basilica.
He ignores it, racing for the front doors.
INT THE NECROPOLIS NIGHT
Langdon and Vittoria come around a corner in the Necropolis,
having taken slightly longer to find their way.
Langdon spots the circular entry by which they first came in.
LANGDON
There it is!
They race toward it and climb up.
INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA NIGHT
They hurry across the floor of St. Peter's Basilica and burst out
the huge doors that open onto St. Peter's Square, just as --
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
-- the helicopter lifts off.
The Crowd watches in amazement, and the PILOT stands in the
square, talking animatedly to two Swiss Guard, gesturing toward
the helicopter. But if he's not flying it...
Langdon looks up at the helicopter as it climbs, straight upward.
LANGDON
Oh my God...
INT HELICOPTER NIGHT
The Camerlengo is indeed at the controls of the helicopter,
piloting it upwards and away from the crowd below. The canister
is beside him on the passenger seat.
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
The crowd falls silent, all eyes turning upward, watching the
helicopter recede into the clouds.
117.
INT HELICOPTER NIGHT
The canister BEEPS on the seat beside the Camerlengo -- still a
few minutes left on its timer, but the urgently flashing red power
light can't be considered a good sign.
The Camerlengo looks at it.
Crosses himself.
Raises the crucifix from around his neck and brushes it against
his lips.
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
All eyes are upturned, all voices have fallen still, watching as
the helicopter's anti-collision lights disappear into the clouded
night sky.
EXT IN THE SKY NIGHT
High above the square, the helicopter still climbs, rotating in
circles.
INT HELICOPTER NIGHT
CLOSE ON the canister as the red light flashes even faster, and a
shrill BEEPING fills the cockpit.
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
In the crowd, faces turn, PEOPLE point. There's something in
the sky above them.
Langdon and Vittoria see it too -- a faint white speck, far up in
the sky. This is the explosion?
EXT IN THE SKY NIGHT
No, the faint white speck is a billowing parachute -- and the
Camerlengo dangles at the end of it.
ABOVE HIM,
the helicopter continues to climb, far up into the night.
INT HELICOPTER NIGHT
And in the canister, the BEEPING sound becomes continuous and the
light winks out altogether.
118.
The shimmering bead of anti-matter falls out of suspension and
drops, slowly, toward the bottom of the canister, it barely
touches the surface --
EXT IN THE SKY NIGHT
-- and the helicopter explodes in a blinding pinpoint of white
light.
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
Up in the sky over St. Peter's Square, the pinpoint of light is
tiny at first, then it shoots out to either side in a searing
white line, then the white line balloons out on either side,
expanding into a gigantic ball of hot white light.
And then the sound hits.
THIS is the explosion, and it is so much more ferocious than we
could have imagined.
The entire image is bleached white, with only the faint outlines
of people visible within it.
And then concussive force of the blast hits, like heat waves,
rippling everything in its way. SCREAMING and panic.
EXT IN THE SKY NIGHT
The Camerlengo, clinging to the parachute, is buffeted wildly,
spun over and over, tangling him in his cords, which makes him
fall faster.
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
The second wave of the blast comes, and this one's ten times as
powerful as the first.
Everything standing is flattened -- PEOPLE, camera trucks, the
fountain in the middle of the square collapses in a shower of
marble and water.
INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA NIGHT
Ceiling tiles fall and SMASH on the floor inside St. Peter's,
statues topple.
EXT IN THE SKY NIGHT
The Camerlengo falls, unconscious now, tumbling over and over,
dropping too fast. He SLAMS off an angled rooftop, headed for the
ground.
119.
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
In the square, Langdon and Vittoria dodge falling debris.
Vittoria loses her footing as a chunk of plaster CRUNCHES off a
building, plummeting toward her.
Langdon pulls her to safety as the plaster PULVERIZES itself in
the square.
EXT IN THE SKY NIGHT
The Camerlengo CRUNCHES off the side of another building and
drifts downward, fast, toward the crowd in St. Peter's.
His unconscious form SMASHES through a dozen people before SLAMMING
to the ground at one edge of the square.
AND IN THE SKY ABOVE,
the blast suddenly turns inward on itself, the heat and light and
sound all seeming to suck back up into a perfect horizontal line,
which then collapses in from the sides, until once again it is
just a speck of white hot light --
-- that disappears into the night.
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
The only sound that remains in the square is a soft night wind.
The wounded pick themselves up off the ground.
The crowd, realizing the blast is over, turns its attention to the
body of the Camerlengo, on the far side of the square.
Langdon and Vittoria try to make their way toward him, but the
crowd surges past them, and we soar over the heads of the crowd,
wanting to get there first, wanting to be the first ones to see
--- his eyes open. He's alive.
WIDE ON THE SQUARE AS
a great CHEER rises up from the crowd.
CUT TO:
INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT
The CHEERS from outside are clearly audible in the Sistine Chapel,
where the doors have been thrown open and they have gotten the
news. Jubilation reigns.
A SWISS GUARDSMAN runs in, finds Cardinal Mortati.
120.
SWISS GUARDSMAN
Signore Mortati, he is alive! The
Camerlengo is alive!
MORTATI
Praise God.
But he looks around him -- the Cardinals have split into small
groups, they're discussing something with great animation amongst
themselves.
Mortati watches, doesn't like what he's seeing.
CUT TO:
INT OFFICE OF THE SWISS GUARD NIGHT
Langdon and Vittoria, on a bench in the office of the Swiss Guard,
are having superficial wounds treated. The buzz in the office is
intense, just as excited as in the square and the Sistine Chapel.
Langdon looks over at Vittoria.
LANGDON
Are you okay?
She looks back at him, nods. Smiles. He reaches over, interlaces
his fingers with hers, and takes her hand.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Thank God.
She smiles, turns his hand, noticing the glass on his wristwatch
is broken. He notices, seems distressed.
VITTORIA
Do we have time for that story now?
LANGDON
Do I have someone to tell it to?
She smiles and kisses the back of his hand -- yes. A ROAR
comes from outside and we see --
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
-- the crowd in St. Peter's Square, in rapture. There is SINGING,
there's CHANTING of the Camerlengo's name. It's exactly
midnight.
121.
INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT
In the Sistine Chapel, Cardinal Mortati is in hushed, urgent
conversation with a group of seven or eight Cardinals.
MORTATI
Signores... you are no doubt aware
that by Holy Law the man is ineligible
for election to the papacy. He is
not a cardinal, he is a priest, a
chamberlain. And there is the
matter of his inadequate age. I'm
sorry, the protocols of conclave are
not subject to modification. I will
not call a ballot on this matter.
The African Cardinal who cast his vote earlier speaks up.
AFRICAN CARDINAL
But Signore, you would not call the
ballot. Surely you remember -- you
gave up your post as Great Elector.
Mortati looks at him. Boxed into a corner.
Outside, the crowd in St. Peter's can be heard, singing joyously.
A SECOND CARDINAL steps forward.
SECOND CARDINAL
They are singing in St. Peter's
Square! What happened here tonight
transcends our laws!
MORTATI
Does it? Is it God's will that we
abandon reason and give ourselves over
to frenzy? Discard the rules of the
church?
A THIRD CARDINAL now, a peacemaker:
THIRD CARDINAL
Perhaps they need not be discarded.
They all look at him.
THIRD CARDINAL (cont'd)
I am thinking now of Romano Pontifici
Eligendo, Numero 63.
Most of the Cardinals look puzzled -- but Mortati's face darkens.
122.
THIRD CARDINAL (cont'd)
Balloting is not the only method by
which a Pope can be elected. There
is another, more divine method.
MORTATI
"Acclimation by Adoration."
THIRD CARDINAL
Si, signore!
The Second Cardinal sparks to this idea.
SECOND CARDINAL
Of course!
(answering those around
him who look confused)
Election by Adoration occurs when
all the cardinals, as if by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
freely and spontaneously,
unanimously and aloud, proclaim one
individual's name.
THIRD CARDINAL
And the law states that Adoration
supersedes all other eligibility
requirements. The candidate need
only be an ordained member of the
clergy.
(DRAMATICALLY)
BUT!
(they listen)
He must be present in the Sistine
Chapel at the moment of election.
Many cries now of "Bring the Camerlengo to us!"
Mortati looks deeply troubled.
CUT TO:
INT ROCHER'S OFFICE NIGHT
Bandaged now, Langdon and Vittoria are ushered into Rocher's
office by a Swiss Guardsman.
SWISS GUARDSMAN
Please wait here while we arrange your
transportation. May I get you
anything?
123.
They shake their heads, no thanks. Settle into chairs to the
side of Rocher's desk.
They look uncomfortable -- it's weird to be in a dead man's
office.
Vittoria looks at his desk. Thinks of something.
She gets up and goes to it, running her hand lightly over it.
LANGDON
What are you doing?
VITTORIA
Leonardo's journals. I want them
back.
She feels in the surface of the desk and finds the square outline
of the inlaid panel where Rocher hid the journals. She tries
prying it open, but that doesn't work, she tries pushing down on
the front of it --
-- and the panel slowly rotates open. The journals, which were
laid on top of the television monitor, slide out and onto the
desk.
Vittoria scoops them up and is about to close the panel again
when --
LANGDON
Wait a minute.
He looks down at the monitor. Thinking.
At its odd, key-shaped on/off switch.
He pulls something from his pocket -- the key Rocher gave him,
just as he died.
IN LANGDON'S MIND,
he sees Rocher's face, looking up at him, dying:
ROCHER
For safety.
BACK IN THE OFFICE,
Langdon looks at the key, and its odd shape. Looks down at the
monitor, the same odd shape where its switch should be.
124.
IN LANGDON'S MIND,
they're back in the Pope's office, but Rocher is alive, and saying
words he said earlier:
ROCHER
The Holy Father was subject to
seizures... but he took steps.
BACK IN THE OFFICE,
Rocher's voice continues over, but Langdon mouths the words as he
remembers them:
ROCHER'S VOICE (O.S.)
"MADE SURE HE WAS WATCHED."
IN LANGDON'S MIND,
Rocher is back in the office again, finishing his sentence:
ROCHER
For safety.
IN ROCHER'S OFFICE,
Langdon holds the key up, repeating those last words:
LANGDON
For safety.
He lowers the key to the monitor, extending it toward the keyhole
-- and it's a perfect fit. He twists it.
And with a ZZZZT of power, the monitor winks to life. An image
comes into focus.
VITTORIA
Where's that?
LANGDON
That...is the papal office.
On the monitor,
they are indeed looking at an image of the Pope's office. There
are two dead bodies on the floor, covered with sheets, and VATICAN
POLICE are photographing everything. Must be live.
IN ROCHER'S OFFICE,
Langdon's figuring it out.
125.
LANGDON
The Pope spent a lot of time in
contemplation, alone. If he was
worried about seizures, he must have
asked Rocher to install a camera
without telling anyone. To keep an
eye on him. For safety. And
maybe --
He reaches down to the screen, toward a touch panel at the bottom.
You don't have to be a symbologist to understand these symbols-
play, pause, fast forward.
And rewind. Langdon touches it.
ON THE MONITOR,
the image ZIPS backwards, rapidly, to the shooting, and the all
the way back to when Rocher and the Camerlengo were alone
together. Rocher stands just behind him, the Camerlengo still
kneels before the fireplace.
As the image starts to play forward, in real time, we go in close
on the monitor and come out --
INT POPE'S OFFICE NIGHT
-- in the papal office, to watch the scene in person.
CAMERLENGO
The scientist kept journals? So?
ROCHER
You figure prominently in them.
The Camerlengo turns his eyes back to the flames, stirring the
embers with a poker.
CAMERLENGO
Really.
ROCHER
Leonardo wasn't just a physicist, he
was a Catholic priest. Deeply
conflicted about the implications of
his work and in need of spiritual
guidance. About a month ago, he
requested an audience with the Pope.
But you'd know that, because you
granted the audience, and were present
during it.
The Camerlengo twists the poker in the fire. Speaks softly.
126.
CAMERLENGO
The fool thought he had duplicated the
moment of creation.
ROCHER
And the Holy Father urged him to go
public. His Holiness thought the
discovery might actually prove the
existence of a divine power -- begin
to bridge the gap between religion and
science.
CAMERLENGO
Science. The new God. Ignore the
weapons and chaos and madness.
The Camerlengo looks up at him, and his expression is different
than we've ever seen it. Contemptuous. Angry. Violent.
CAMERLENGO (cont'd)
His work was not religious, it was
sacrilegious!
ROCHER
But you saw the Pope's position as a
softening of church law. An old
man's weakness. Your father's
weakness.
CAMERLENGO
He raised me to protect the church.
Even from within.
ROCHER
So you brought an old enemy back from
the dead to frighten people.
CAMERLENGO
Nothing unites hearts like the
presence of evil.
ROCHER
It didn't work, Father.
CAMERLENGO
It isn't finished.
ROCHER
I've informed Father Simeon of what I
learned and he'll get word to the
Cardinals the moment conclave opens.
The Camerlengo looks at him calmly for a moment --
127.
CAMERLENGO
I was planning on doing this alone.
-- and then removes the poker from the fire. But it isn't a
poker, it's a long-handled brand, with a cross of some kind at the
end.
Rocher pulls his gun, holds it at his side.
ROCHER
Put that down.
The Camerlengo rips open his cassock with his free hand.
CAMERLENGO
But perhaps it's better that you're
here.
ROCHER
(raising the gun)
Put it down!
But the Camerlengo RAMS the red-hot brand into the exposed flesh
of his bare chest. His skin SIZZLES and smokes, Rocher SHOUTS,
the Camerlengo SCREAMS in agony, and we know the rest --
-- the door bursts open, Swiss Guard pour in, Rocher is shot,
Father Simeon races toward the Camerlengo --
FR. SIMEON
You bastard! You sanctimonious-
-- and the Camerlengo rolls over, pointing one long finger at
Father Simeon and CRYING OUT:
CAMERLENGO
ILLUMINATUS!
As we saw before, Lt. Chartrand FIRES THREE TIMES, killing Father
Simeon in his tracks, we pull back, the image turns to --
INT ROCHER'S OFFICE NIGHT
-- video again, and as we complete the move out from the monitor,
we see it isn't Langdon and Vittoria watching the image this time --
--- but Cardinal Mortati, flanked by two other red-robed Cardinals
and a half-dozen Swiss Guardsman.
Langdon and Vittoria stand to one side as Mortati turns and looks
at them. Suddenly, he seems very, very old.
CUT TO:
128.
INT GRAND STAIRCASE NIGHT
The Camerlengo, escorted by two Swiss Guardsman, descends the
Royal Staircase that leads to the Sistine Chapel.
Though he is injured and limping, he radiates confidence, even
benevolence, a man certain this is the greatest day of his life.
He approaches the chapel doors, speaks to the Swiss Guard posted
there as he approaches.
CAMERLENGO
I have been summoned by the College of
Cardinals.
Oh, they know all about it. They lift their swords, the doors
sweep open, the Camerlengo strides boldly across the threshold --
INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT
-- and stops, right there, the look of imminent ascendancy frozen
on his face.
The Cardinals are looking at him, all right, but not in joy, not
in wonder, not for leadership. One hundred sixty-one faces are
turned toward his, with an expression of ---
-- utter condemnation.
He stands there for a moment, searching their faces, trying to
figure out what could possibly have happened.
But it doesn't matter.
They know. And he knows they know.
He takes two steps backwards, almost involuntarily.
Starts to teeter, balances himself in the doorway.
Then straightens himself, smoothes his cassock.
And turns and walks away, back up the staircase.
Two Swiss Guard move to go after him, quickly, but Cardinal
Mortati gestures to them.
MORTATI
Gently. But within our walls.
The Swiss Guard follow the Camerlengo up the staircase.
CUT TO:
129.
INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA NIGHT
The Camerlengo comes out of a doorway and into St. Peter's
Basilica. He heads for the main doors --
-- just as HALF A DOZEN SWISS GUARD step in from outside,
blocking his way. Some MURMUR softly into their radios.
He stops, turns around to come back the way he came ---
-- but TWO SWISS GUARD appear in that doorway, also with radios.
He turns again, no way to go but toward the front of the Basilica.
He sees the candlelit balustrade near the front, the one that
leads to the grottoes and the Necropolis. He picks up his pace.
The Swiss Guard follow, at a slight distance.
The Camerlengo reaches the spiral staircase and stops, looking
down, seeing the oil lamp he kicked over earlier.
He thinks. He picks up a fresh lamp, holds it to his face --
-- and blows out its flame with a soft PUFF.
ACROSS THE BASILICA,
we're with the Swiss Guard as they walk slowly toward him.
But they hear a CRY from ahead, he's gone down the stairs a short
distance, and they can hear the sound of liquid SLOSHING.
They break into a run as they realize what he's about to do,
they're twenty feet away, then ten, then just close enough to see
the Camerlengo as he --
-- SMASHES a burning oil lamp at his feet. The flames leap
onto his oil-soaked clothes and --
-- HE IGNITES IN A PILLAR OF WHITE FLAME.
CUT TO:
INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT
CLOSE ON a bundle of one hundred sixty-one slips of paper, pierced
by a needle and strung together.
They're tossed into the fireplace in the Sistine Chapel, where
they too burst into flame.
We rise up again, ahead of the smoke this time, all the way up to --
130.
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE DAWN
-- the chimney above St. Peter's Square, where the throng is
still gathered, waiting for some word as the sun rises on the
horizon. And this time, the smoke that billows from the chimney --
-- is white.
There is a new pope. The crowd ROARS its approval, BELLS begin
to toll --
INT PAPAL APARTMENT DAY
-- the red silk sash covering the doors to the papal apartment is
SLICED apart --
-- the wax seal BREAKS as the doors are flung open, and we --
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE DAY
-- St. Peter's Square, later the same day. The Crowd, if you can
believe it, is even bigger.
A STRING OF REPORTERS fills us in for the last time (non-English
speakers subtitled).
BBC REPORTER
Church sources now confirm that
Camerlengo Father Sebastian Guttierez
has died of internal injuries
sustained in his heroic fall --
A BRAZILIAN REPORTER:
BRAZILIAN REPORTER
-- which has spurred calls for his
immediate canonization and sainthood.
The Vatican also announced the death
of three of its cardinals in the fire
at Santa Maria Delia Vittoria --
An AMERICAN REPORTER:
AMERICAN REPORTER
-- but all eyes here are on the papal
balcony as we await the appearance of
the new Holy Father, who, despite
terrorist attempts at disruption --
We move off the Reporter and up, toward the papal balcony, its
doors hanging open, curtains billowing.
131.
AMERICAN REPORTER (cont'd)
-- seems to have been selected in one
of the swiftest and smoothest
conclaves in modern church history.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT PAPAL APARTMENT DAY
Inside the papal apartments, Robert Langdon sits stiffly on a
straight-backed chair in a hallway. Couldn't look more
uncomfortable if he tried.
A Swiss Guardsman stands on either side of him.
The door to his right suddenly opens, another Guardsman nods to
him, and Langdon gets to his feet, straightening his jacket.
INT OFFICE OF THE POPE DAY
Langdon is shown into the office, where a robed figure is being
dressed by two VATICAN ATTENDANTS -- the clothes he dons are
unmistakably papal vestments. The figure, his back to us,
gestures to a nearby table.
One of the Swiss Guardsmen goes to the table and picks up an
envelope, hands it to Langdon.
SWISS GUARDSMAN
A token of thanks from His Holiness.
Langdon, puzzled, opens the envelope and lets the contents fall
into his hand.
It's a thin volume, but a familiar one -- the only surviving copy
of Galileo's Diagramma. Langdon nearly GASPS.
The figure in the papal robes turn around. It is, of course,
Cardinal Mortati.
MORTATI
This should help you complete your
scholarly work, Professor.
Langdon is too stunned to speak,
MORTATI (cont'd)
I ask only that in your last will and
testament you ensure it finds its way
home.
LANGDON
I -- yes, I -- of course.
132.
Mortati takes a few steps forward, studying Langdon,
MORTATI
When you write of us -- and you will
write of us -- may I ask one thing?
Langdon looks at him questioningly.
MORTATI (cont'd)
Do so gently?
LANGDON
I'll try.
MORTATI
Religion is flawed, Mr. Langdon, but
only because man is flawed.
Including this one.
He touches his chest lightly.
The Aides now pick up the miter, the spade-shaped papal hat. He
stands still while they place it on his head, completing his
attire.
LANGDON
I hear you've chosen the name Luke.
There have been Marks and Johns, but
never a Luke.
MORTATI
It's said he was a doctor.
LANGDON
Is that a message? Science and
faith all in one?
MORTATI
The world is in need of both.
Science can heal, or science can kill.
It depends on the soul of the man
using the science.
Langdon looks at him. Likes the sound of that.
LANGDON
You'll lead wisely.
MORTATI
I'm an old man. I'll lead briefly,
Mortati comes closer to Langdon, raises his right hand, and makes
a gentle sign of the cross over him, murmuring softly.
133.
MORTATI (cont'd)
Thanks be to God, for sending someone
to protect His church.
LANGDON
I -- don't believe He sent me,
Father.
MORTATI
Oh, my son...
He smiles.
MORTATI (cont'd)
Of course He did.
He turns, and his Aides part the billowing silk curtains that lead
to the papal balcony.
We move forward with him as he steps out over St. Peter's Square
and a great ROAR rises up from below.
Cardinal Mortati, Pope Luke I, holds his arms out to his sides, an
embrace to take in the world --
-- and behind him, hidden in the shadows of the papal apartment,
just behind the billowing curtains, Robert Langdon folds his hand
in front of him --
-- and bows his head.
THE END
by
Ed Solomon and John August
current revisions by
Zak Penn
EARLY DRAFT
August 11, 1999
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99
FADE IN:
EXT. THE BIG BLUE SKY - DAY
A VIRGIN AIR 747 bursts through the clouds and levels off.
INT. VIRGIN AIR 747 - DAY
We move through the FIRST CLASS CABIN. It's the regular
mix of first class people: OLD MONEY in Gucci enjoying
freshly baked cookies, a MILLIONAIRE in jeans and a T-
shirt, BUSINESS PEOPLE relaxing after a tough day, and...
...a very nervous MAN.
Shifty-eyed. Alone in an aisle seat, the emergency row.
We hold on him for a moment, but not for too long. Then
we continue moving into --
THE COACH SECTION
Stopping at the lavatory, the "OCCUPIED" sign switches to
"VACANT" and...
JAMES EARL JONES
(or actually, a James Earl Jones type, who for ease of
description, we'll simply refer to as James Earl Jones)
steps out of the restroom, in full African regalia:
multi-colored dashiki, mufti (it's a kind of hat), the
works. He heads up the aisle towards --
THE FIRST CLASS CABIN
Where he is stopped by a --
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
I'm sorry, sir. This cabin is
restricted to first cl...
Mr. Jones now removes a FIRST CLASS TICKET.
JAMES EARL JONES
Is this what you're looking for?
She looks at it -- a little confused as to why he's just
handing it to her now -- but then she nods. As he passes:
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
Oh, I'm sorry. Please. Is there
anything I can get you?
JAMES EARL JONES
Scotch, blended. Straight.
He continues into the first class cabin and toward --
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 2.
THE FIRST CLASS EMERGENCY ROOM
Where he slides in past the nervous, shifty-eyed man (his
name is PASQUAL) and sits by the window.
After a moment, Pasqual quietly clears his throat and
leans, slightly, towards Jones.
PASQUAL
(tentatively)
They say birds can't fly this high.
JAMES EARL JONES
They say only angels can.
Now Pasqual nods. Nervously begins to remove something
from his pocket when they are interrupted by --
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
Shall I pour your scotch?
JAMES EARL JONES
No -- I'll take the bottle. Thank you.
She hands him the airplane-sized bottle -- he waves off
the glass. She shrugs, leaving...
Pasqual to resume what he was doing. Slowly, he removes
a roll of Certs. He looks to Jones -- "Well? What about
your end of the bargain?"
From within his dashiki, Jones pulls out a black velvet
pouch. He hands it to Pasqual, who opens it to find
diamonds. A helluva lot of diamonds. Pasqual smiles.
He hands the roll of Certs to Jones. It's not breath
candy at all, but a tiny roll of explosives, with a tiny,
high-tech triggering mechanism.
JAMES EARL JONES
Ah, c-5. The most dangerous
explosive material ever invented.
Hard to believe that this little
contraption could blow up ten city
blocks.
PASQUAL
Be careful with it, huh?
Both men smile. Pasqual's very relieved that the deal is
done.
Then suddenly, the lights blink out.
Pasqual looks around, nervous. But it's just the in-
flight movie beginning. Clouds, and a woman holding a
torch.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 3.
CONTINUED:
Columbia Pictures presents... David Spade and Adam
Sandler in "BOSOM BUDDIES: THE MOVIE."
James Earl Jones shakes his head, rolls his eyes.
JAMES EARL JONES
Another movie from an old TV show?
PASQUAL
Well, what're you gonna do?
JAMES EARL JONES
Walk out.
PASQUAL
That's very funny.
But James Earl Jones is dead serious.
JAMES EARL JONES
No. It isn't.
Jones grabs Pascal in a headlock and turns toward the
back of the plane, shouting:
JAMES EARL JONES (CONT'D)
EVERYONE! FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS!
Now Jones does the unthinkable. Holding Pasqual tight,
he yanks open the emergency door release.
With a RUSH, the cabin decompresses.
Panic erupts as air, paper and everything not belted in
screams out of the open door, including --
EXT. THE BIG BLUE SKY - FALLING AWAY FROM THE 747 - DAY
-- James Earl Jones, still holding Pasqual in a bear hug.
They plummet, wind violently tearing at them. Pasqual's
frantic SCREAMS doppler quite nicely.
DROPPING WITH THEM
They continue to fall, gaining speed. Pasqual is
terrified, but Jones doesn't seem worried. In fact,
casually, he glances at his watch, and then looks --
FAR BELOW THEM - ACROSS THE SKY
At the tiny black speck gradually grows larger in the
distance...
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 4.
CLOSER - ON THAT BLACK SPECK
It's a jet helicopter. Its door opens, and now a SKYDIVER leaps
out, helmet down, arms back, streaking across the
sky in aerodynamic perfection, heading directly towards
JONES AND PASQUAL
who are still plummeting toward the earth at terminal
velocity. Jones begins to let go of Pasqual, who SCREAMS
and tries to clutch onto him, desperate.
JAMES EARL JONES
(over the rushing wind)
PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER. WE HAVE
COMPANY.
PASQUAL
WHAT?
Suddenly -- WHOMMPPPH!! -- the skydiver spread-eagles,
stopping the wild dive directly behind Pasqual, and
immediately binds his arms and straps a parachute on him.
All three are still free-falling.
James Earl Jones nods at the Skydiver who, even under the
helmet and goggles, is clearly a beautiful woman.
Meet ALEXANDRA "ALEX" MUNDAY, one of Charlie's Angels.
She's a sultry bombshell -- a classic femme fatale --
only she's playing for the good guys.
She gives James Earl Jones a wink, then jerks Pasqual's
rip cord and -- WHOOMPH. Pasqual's chute deploys. He
flies upward, leaving --
Alex and James Earl Jones, both still falling. Below the
ocean screams up at them. Not much time left.
James Earl Jones pulls his belt -- and his mufti flies
up. It's actually a tiny drogue chute, deploying his
entire dashiki. His outfit hides a parachute rig.
Alex pulls her own rip cord and -- WHOOMPH -- her chute
unfurls, and now...
Alex and James Earl Jones gently float towards --
EXT. THE BIG BLUE SEA - DAY
A cigarette boat floats through the choppy water, a
gorgeous young woman expertly throttling up the growling
V-8.
Say hello to NATALIE THOMPSON, Charlie's second angel.
At a glance, she's the brainy-shy girl next door.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 5.
CONTINUED:
But put her behind the wheel of any vehicle, and she's
unstoppable.
Natalie glances ahead, maneuvering the boat perfectly under
Alex, who drops on deck. Alex gathers her chute, then whips off
her helmet to give her cascading mane a wild shake.
Here comes James Earl Jones. Natalie guns the boat
underneath...a perfect catch. Alex helps him with his
dashiki-chute, and then all three look up...
Here comes Pasqual. Natalie whips the boat around,
catching him as he helplessly drops into the seats, still
bound, still scared out of his wits. He gapes wild-eyed
at the two Angels, then whirls on James Earl Jones.
PASQUAL
You crazy bastard!
JAMES EARL JONES
I think you mean crazy bitch.
With that, James Earl Jones reaches up and pulls his face
off. Latex rips free, and standing there (without his
dashiki, James Earl Jones has a great figure) is...
... stunningly beautiful DYLAN SANDERS, angel number
three. She's the wild one.
Pasqual's jaw drops as Dylan shakes her hair free, then
reaches in her mouth --
DYLAN
(still with James Earl Jones' voice)
Don't need this anymore.
-- and extracts a voice-modifying chip.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
(now in her real voice)
But I sure could use this.
And she pulls from her pocket the airplane-size bottle of
Johnnie Walker Black. She twists it open and downs it.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Damn I hate to fly.
EXT. BEACH DOCK - DAY
Now, MEN IN "FBI" WINDBREAKERS haul Pasqual away, two of
them carefully handling the certs-explosive. A harmless
fellow pushes his way past them and onto the dock.
It's JOHN BOSLEY, Charlie's lieutenant.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 6.
CONTINUED:
He reaches the boat, which Natalie ties off while Alex
and Dylan neatly fold their parachutes.
BOSLEY
Well, Angels, the experimental
explosives are back in the hands of
the government, and the free world
can breathe just a lit-tle bit
easier tonight, thanks to you three.
Alex, Natalie and Dylan stroll from the dock onto the sand,
each starting to unzip/unbutton/unsnap their action gear and
hand it to Bosley as they continue walking.
NATALIE
And thanks to you, too, Bos.
ALEX
We couldn't have redirected the
flight path without your help.
Bosley puffs, proud. He speaks over the ever-growing
pile of chutes, body suits, goggles, the dashiki...
BOSLEY
Nothing a little teamwork can't do.
At least, that's what Charlie's
always telling us, right ladies?
DYLAN
Charlie will be joining us, won't he?
BOSLEY
He sends his regrets. But he
wanted you to know that dinner is
on him, so feel free to celebrate.
By now, the Angels have stripped off all of their
equipment, revealing eye-popping evening gowns.
ALEX
If it's on Charlie, we will.
The Angels share a laugh as they arrive in their sassy
duds at a private beach club, where a WAITER greets them
with a tray of champagne flutes.
They each take a glass, turn to each other and raise
them. Another Angels Mystery... Case Closed.
FREEZE FRAME. And the TITLE SEQUENCE BEGINS...
CHARLIE (V.O.)
Once upon a time...
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 7.
CONTINUED:
THREE FOURTH GRADE SCHOOL PHOTOS FILL THE FRAME, side by
side by side. These are three very different girls.
NATALIE, with a page-boy cut and wearing a Catholic
schoolgirl's uniform, sports glasses and braces; a bit
awkward and gangly, even shy.
ALEX, formally dressed with perfect pig-tails, is
sophisticated and self-possessed; a class act, even at ten.
DYLAN, wild blond hair and faded T-shirt, has a jaded,
street-wise smirk; even at this young age, her isolation
and disillusionment are masked by seeming confidence.
CHARLIE (CONT'D)
... there were three very
different little girls.
The triptych remains on screen. Now it shifts into:
VIDEO TAPE - THE THREE GIRLS (STILL IN TRIPTYCH)
Now TEENAGERS, on HOME VIDEO.
NATALIE, working the A-V equipment at school, hides her
face in embarrassment, uncomfortable with the camera.
FREEZE.
ALEX, in riding gear, accepting her steeple-chase trophy.
She knows where to look for the camera. FREEZE.
DYLAN, smoking with her tough-girl friends in the girls'
room of her reform school, is caught on camera. She
flips it off. FREEZE.
CHARLIE (CONT'D)
Who grew up into three very
different women.
TRIPTYCH CONTINUES
They're all WOMEN now, in their early twenties.
NATALIE, a research fellow at MIT (and beautiful, but not
flaunting it) demonstrates a chess-playing computer
program to a room of impressed advisors.
ALEX, valedictorian at Oxford, passionately delivers her
address to a crowd of rapt students, faculty and parents.
DYLAN, in leather and a helmet, steps off a Harley. She
sees a punk with a mohawk slapping around his girlfriend.
She decks him, then enters the back door of a seedy punk bar.
CHARLIE (CONT'D)
With three things in common...
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 8.
TRIPTYCH ENDS
With photographs again. The women, as they are now:
Natalie, Alex, Dylan. All gorgeous, all self-assured.
CHARLIE (CONT'D)
They're brilliant. They're
beautiful. And they work for me.
Now, FIREBALL EXPLOSIONS completely fill the screen.
CHARLIE (CONT'D)
My name is Charlie.
ANGEL SILHOUETTES appear, in flames. New MUSIC kicks in.
"CHARLIE'S ANGELS"
...And a new title sequence takes over:
VARIOUS SHOTS: MONTAGE (OVER MUSIC)
Credits continue as we watch the Angels in action (from,
presumably, previous adventures...)
-- A microscope-peering Natalie cuts a ruby, drops it in
a laser housing, shoots a red beam.
-- Dylan, wielding kendo sticks, spars with two Yakzuza.
-- Alex side-kicks two baddies, spins, drops a third.
ZOOM BACK: she is at the Parthenon.
-- A motocross race. Natalie digs in for the finish,
attacking the last jump with gusto.
-- Dylan, in traditional Islamic robes, finds a secret
switch. She pushes back a bookcase to reveal secret stairs.
-- At a ballroom dance competition, Alex wows the crowd
while keeping her eye on a nefarious couple.
-- Bosley, as "Luka, the Bad Ass Pimp," bitch-slaps a
couple of "ho's" -- actually Dylan and Alex -- then winks
at them as unsuspecting drug dealers back off, scared.
-- Natalie bites into a messy hot-dog, has to just laugh.
-- The three angels elbow their way through a roller-
derby match.
-- In orange prison jumpsuits, Alex and Dylan work in
female chain-gang.
-- Window-washer Natalie peers into a skyscraper office,
surreptitiously photographing the meeting inside.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 9.
CONTINUED:
-- On an Italian street, the three Angels buy a paper,
grin at the headline, "Mystery Women Save European
Union." As they high-five, Dylan's cone of gelato drops
to the sidewalk. The Angels look at it, look at each
other...and just have to laugh.
TITLE SEQUENCE ENDS.
OVER BLACK we hear a DIGITAL RING...
INT. TINY HOUSEBOAT BEDROOM - DAY
CLOSE ON Dylan as she wakes up in a tangle of ugly
sheets, disoriented and a bit hungover. She hears the
RINGING -- where is it coming from? Why is it drilling
into her head?
Checking the floor, she finds her jeans. Digs in the
pocket to find her cell phone. Answering...
DYLAN
Hi.
(recognizing voice)
Hi. Okay. I'll be right in.
She clicks the phone off, then starts looking around.
Where the fuck is she?
From the next room, we hear a male VOICE singing "My
Sharona." She checks under the sheets. Oh God. She's
naked. She pulls her shirt from the floor, puts it on.
Closing her eyes, she prays...
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Not him. Not him, not him, not him.
THE VOICE
'Morning starfish.
DYLAN
Oh God no.
At the door, skinny shirtless CHAD holds a skillet of eggs.
CHAD
Hungry?
EXT. CHAD'S CRAPPY BOAT - DAY
Blinded by the daylight, Dylan emerges from below,
relieved to see the boat is docked. Chad follows her
outside, pleading...
CHAD
C'mon Dylan. You + Me. It's
magic.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 10.
CONTINUED:
DYLAN
It's a mistake. A horrible,
horrible mistake.
She jumps onto the dock.
CHAD
Then how come we keep getting back
together? It's fate.
Dylan just keeps walking.
CHAD
(yelling after)
Is it because I live on a boat?
WHIP TO:
CLOSEUP - MAN'S FACE
This is Jason Gibbons, handsome, action-movie stud. He's
concentrating fiercely.
ALEX (O.S.)
If you don't defuse this bomb,
Logan, L.A.'s going to be a new
underwater attraction.
A bead of sweat drops down Jason's face.
JASON
Get off my back, Sanchez. I know
what I'm doing.
REVEAL ALEX, her face right next to his.
ALEX
Which wire? The red one or the blue one?
JASON
Marix has a thing for red. Red
cars, red boats, red-headed hookers.
ALEX
So the red one.
JASON
That's why I'm gonna say blue.
He makes a "snip" motion. They both breathe a sigh of relief.
ALEX
You saved the world again, Logan.
She leans forward, closer and closer, right in his face.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 11.
CONTINUED:
JASON
That's my job.
Alex kisses him. It's a damn good kiss. Jason's into
it, but pulls away for a second.
JASON (CONT'D)
I don't think Sanchez would kiss
me. He's a forty-year-old man.
Pull back to reveal...
ALEX and JASON are in a fully macked out Airstream,
sitting on a bed, leaning over an open screenplay. We
can tell from our surroundings that Jason is a big deal
Hollywood action star, and this trailer is his home away
from home.
She licks the bridge of his nose, then kisses him again.
ALEX
Let's have it rewritten.
As she smiLes, a cell phone RINGS. Both Alex and Jason
reach for their phones. It's hers.
ALEX (CONT'D)
Hello?
EXT. JASON'S AIRSTREAM - DAY
Jason stands in the doorway in his robe as Alex tosses
her stuff in the back of a very excellent car.
JASON
So when you coming back?
ALEX
Not sure. Whenever I can. I'll
call you.
JASON
Oh, great, that's helpful.
(watching her prepare to go)
I don't get it, what kind of
executive assistant is on 24 hour call?
ALEX
A very good one.
JASON
You ask me, your boss is an asshole.
(beat)
When do I get to meet this Charlie
guy, anyway?
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 12.
CONTINUED:
ALEX
Charlie's not very social.
JASON
Yeah, well I think you should
quit.
ALEX
Charlie needs me.
JASON
I need you.
Alex looks back -- that was more personally revealing
than she expected.
A P.A. comes up next to Jason.
P.A.
Mr. Gibbons? We're ready for you
on the set.
Jason nods, then back to Alex.
JASON
I gotta go save the world.
Alex smiles at the irony of that.
ALEX
My hero.
She blows him a kiss and speeds off.
EXT. BEACH APARTMENT WALKWAY - DAY
Natalie KNOCKS on the door to 113. A beat later, the
door swings open to reveal BOB.
Natalie SCREAMS in astonishment.
BOB
(freaked)
What! Natalie, what?
NATALIE
I thought you were dead.
She pushes past him.
INT. BOB'S APARTMENT - DAY
Natalie makes a beeline for his keys on the table.
Starts taking one key off the ring.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 13.
CONTINUED:
NATALIE
I thought the police might be here.
Or your neighbors. Or your parents,
here to identify your remains.
He has no idea what she's talking about. She goes to
THE BATHROOM,
where she retrieves a toothbrush.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
I saw your car was here, so I knew
you weren't carjacked and brutally
beaten, left to die on the highway.
Her cell phone RINGS.
BOB
I'm not...
She holds up a finger, just a sec.
NATALIE
(answering phone)
Hello. Absolutely. I'll be right in.
She hangs up.
BOB
I'm not dead.
NATALIE
But you can understand why I
thought so. You missed our date
last night. You didn't call or
anything. I was just sitting
there by myself.
ANGLE ON Bob. What can he say?
NATALIE (CONT'D)
I can tolerate a lot, but punctuality
and attendance, those rank very high
in my list of dating priorities.
BOB
I can explain.
Behind Natalie, a door opens. A topless BLONDE looks out.
BLONDE
Bobby?
BOB
(to Natalie)
I can explain.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 14.
CONTINUED:
Behind the Blonde, ISAAC HAYES looks out. He's also topless.
ISAAC HAYES
Bobby?
BOB
Damn.
Beyond weirded out, Natalie just leaves.
CUT TO:
EXT. SUNSET BOULEVARD - DAY
Passing cars reveal the one and only CHARLES TOWNSEND
DETECTIVE AGENCY. That's what the sign says.
INT. CHARLES TOWNSEND DETECTIVE AGENCY - DAY
In foreground, a blender WHIRRS. Still hungover, Dylan
cringes from the sound. Natalie pours out three fruit
smoothies for the angels.
NATALIE
Just once, I want to date a normal
man, without a wife, or a drug
addiction, or bondage issues.
DYLAN
Here here.
She and Natalie toast. Alex is only half-in. Off their look...
ALEX
What? I've got a great relationship.
DYLAN
Your boyfriend thinks you're a
secretary.
ALEX
That way, he doesn't ask about my work.
Bosley walks in with a folder. He eyes their drinks.
NATALIE
I'm sorry, Bosley. I only made
enough for three.
BOSLEY
No, that's...That's okay.
It's not okay, but that's our Bosley. He takes his seat
behind his desk. Now we see the biggest addition to the
office, the Angels Wall of Fame.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 15.
CONTINUED:
Pictures of every angel, from the original cast members to some
fictitious ones we've never seen before. The rest of the office
is exactly as we remember it, right down to the
SPEAKERPHONE.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
Good morning, Angels.
ANGELS
(sing-songy)
Good morning, Charlie.
The angels take a seat on couches and chairs.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
I'm sorry to call you back from
vacation, but we've got a case
that just can't wait.
As he's talking, the far blinds close themselves. A white
screen lowers from the ceiling, ready to catch the
projected VIDEO:
A handsome MAN IN HIS 20'S in a CNN profile. The sound is
muted, be we see him attending a gala; in an office surrounded
by computers; rock climbing; smiling in a sit-down interview.
CHARLIE'S VOICE (CONT'D)
Meet Eric Knox.
NATALIE
He's cute.
BOSLEY
He is.
Oops, did Bosley say that out loud?
CHARLIE'S VOICE
He's 28-years old, and in three days
he'll be a billionaire, when his
company, Knox Technologies, goes public.
DYLAN
It's good to be him.
ALEX
So what's the catch?
CHARLIE'S VOICE
Last night, Knox was kidnapped
from his own office.
ON VIDEO: Surveillance camera footage of a parking
garage. Two MEN IN HOODS shove Knox into black car.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 16.
CONTINUED:
NATALIE
Any ransom?
CHARLIE'S VOICE
No one's heard a thing from the
kidnappers.
A WOMAN'S VOICE
They don't want money. They just
want to sink our company.
A striking WOMAN IN A SUIT stands in the doorway.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
Angels, meet Vivian Wu, vice
president of finance for Knox
Technologies. She's hired us to
find Knox.
VIVIAN WU
(entering)
The initial public offering is in
three days. If we don't get Mr.
Knox back, or if word gets out
that he's missing, the company
stands to lose a billion dollars.
She seems to direct this next sentence right to Natalie.
VIVIAN WU (CONT'D)
We need your help.
ALEX
Charlie, where do we start?
CHARLIE'S VOICE
Alex, I want you and Bosley to
stake out Roger Corwin.
Bosley is excited to hear his name mentioned.
ON VIDEO: Roger Corwin. He's an unpleasant-looking man,
who's even nastier when he tries to smile. We see logos
for his company, Red Star Systems
CHARLIE'S VOICE (CONT'D)
For the past year, he's been
trying to buy Knox's company and
their new browser software. Knox
refused to sell. His company, Red
Start Systems, has the most to
gain from Knox's disappearance.
ALEX
Kidnap the founder and you sink
the company.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 17.
CONTINUED:
CHARLIE'S VOICE
Exactly, Alex. Let's keep our eyes
on Mr. Corwin, Angels. If Knox is
still alive, Corwin might lead us
to him.
DYLAN
We're on it.
NATALIE
Any chance you can join us,
Charlie?
CUT TO:
CHARLIE'S POV
We see his chalky fingers grabbing into a hand hold.
We're halfway up the face of Yosemite's El Capitan -- the
ground is hundreds of feet below.
CHARLIE (O.S.)
I'd love to, angels, but I've got
my hands full this morning.
Two beautiful and buxomly CLIMBING BUDDIES smile at him.
WIPE TO:
EXT. PALM SPRINGS SPA - DAY
Establishing...
EXT. SPA DECK / OUTSIDE WALKWAY - DAY
Built into the Palm Springs Hills, this very exclusive
spa has a fantastic view of the desert.
Dressed in a crisp spa uniform, Alex has a sidebar with a
white-robed Bosley. She shows him a tiny electronic
device shaped like a bullet.
ALEX
This is a transmitter. I'll be
able to hear everything you say.
BOSLEY
Where do I hide it?
(leaning close)
I'll be nude.
Alex takes a plastic cup, drops the transmitter into it.
Covers it over with ice chips from a nearby bucket.
Bosley nods, clever.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 18.
CONTINUED:
ALEX
Try to get Corwin to talk about
the industry, Knox, anything.
BOSLEY
Understood.
She points him in the direction of the men's spa. But he's
frozen with excitement.
BOSLEY (CONT'D)
I'm going undercover.
ALEX
I know. You'll do great.
INT. MEN'S STEAM ROOM - DAY
A burst of steam clears, revealing Bosley. He waddles forward
in his shower clogs, which SQUISH with every step. He's wearing
two towels: one around his waist, and a second around his
chest.
As more steam dissipates, we see there are SEVEN MEN sitting on
the risers. Six are gorgeous, ranging from Calvin Klein models
to Marlboro Men. Bosley looks around, taking a keen interest.
Maybe he's checking them out, maybe he isn't. We just don't
know.
The seventh man is ROGER CORWIN, who we recognize from
the videotape. He's leaning forward, a gold chain
dangling. It's beside him that Bosley takes a seat.
He sets the ice cup -- and the transmitter -- in a
strategic location.
Noticing that none of the other men have towels around
their bosoms, Bosley nervously undoes his, revealing skin
the color of cooked salmon. He fluffs up his sparse chest hair,
then decides to smush it back down.
He tries to make eye contact with Corwin, working way too
hard. Annoyed, Corwin finally looks over.
BOSLEY
Hot in here, isn't it?
Corwin shakes his head, idiot.
BOSLEY (CONT'D)
Just came here to unwind a little.
Business these days is go go go. My
company just held an initial pubic offering.
Yes, he said "pubic." He's about to correct himself when
a very hot guy across from him moves his towel to wipe off
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 19.
CONTINUED:
some sweat. We don't see the promised land, but Bosley
does. It flusters him.
He sees another guy eating ice chips. Good idea. Bosley
does the same. He eats another. And another.
BOSLEY (CONT'D)
(re-composed)
So, what business are you in?
Corwin seems wary, but Bosley is clearly harmless.
CORWIN
Computers. Software.
BOSLEY
Computers, hunh? What do you know
about this new browser from Knox
Technologies?
Corwin bristles at the mention.
BOSLEY (CONT'D)
Word on the street is, once they
raise capital, they'll rule the
industry.
CORWIN
I don't see that happening.
BOSLEY
Really? Why not?
The door opens, a rush of steam. ADONIS HIMSELF enters.
Picking a seat behind Bosley, he pulls off his towel as
he passes. We just see a bit of ass, but Bosley is face-
to-face with the babymaker.
One ice chip is not going to do it. He chugs the rest of
his cup, including
THE TRANSMITTER
which BLEEPS. Corwin and others look over. What the hell
was that?
The device still in his mouth, Bosley has no choice but to
smile and swallow. His eyes go wide as he chokes it down.
Corwin gets up to leave.
BOSLEY (CONT'D)
Nice talking with you.
Another BLEEP. He shuts his mouth tight. Smiles. Rubs
his chest a bit, trying to get the transmitter down.
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 20.
INT. PRIVATE MASSAGE ROOM - DAY
Corwin walks into a lushly-appointed private massage
room. A masseuse dressed in a skimpy robe, her back to
us, oils up her hands sensuously near the window.
MASSEUSE
(German accent)
Please to take off clothes, Mr. Corvin.
Corwin gets under the sheet, on his stomach. The
masseuse turns around, and now we see that it's Alex.
Alex starts to work on his back. She is clearly an
expert at this. This is a legit place, but there's
something undeniably sensual about the whole experience.
ALEX
You're carrying a lot of tension
along ze fourth und fifth vertebrae.
Let me see if I can vork it out.
Under the table, we look up to see Corwin's face in the
cradle. He's in a tortured rapture.
Alex works along Corwin's back and neck. She pulls his
arms out to the side.
ALEX (CONT'D)
The human body is an amazing instrument.
Just by activating ze right energy
points, you can improve ze circulation,
alleviate pain, or...
Corwin goes limp.
ALEX (CONT'D)
(losing the accent)
... knock a man unconscious.
Confident Corwin is out cold, she slides the key strap
off his wrist.
INT. EXECUTIVE LOCKER ROOM - DAY
Making sure she's alone, Alex uses the key to open a
locker. She carefully sorts through Corwin's things,
finding his Palm Pilot organizer. She clicks it into a
special device, which BLIPS as it downloads all his
information.
Putting the Palm Pilot away, she shuts the locker.
INT. MASSAGE ROOM - DAY
CLOSE ON Corwin as he suddenly wakes up, disoriented.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 21.
CONTINUED:
Just when we think Alex's plan has failed, we TILT UP to
see Alex is right there. She's massaging him.
ALEX
You must have dozed off.
A beat. Yeah, he must have. A patented ANGELS FLIP
leads us to...
CUT TO:
INT. NATALIE'S EXCELLENT CONVERTIBLE - DAY
The Angels are all in the car together, cruising down
Sunset Boulevard. Dylan drives, Alex in the passenger seat,
Natalie in the back seat with her computer on her lap.
NATALIE
Can you not drive my car so fast,
Dyl? I'm trying to type.
DYLAN
(to Alex, under her breath)
I drive too fast. Look who's talking.
She pulls into an In N' Out Burger, right up to the drive thru.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Three double doubles, animal style.
Fries. Three chocolate shakes.
While they wait for their order, Natalie punches
something up on her computer.
NATALIE
Here's Corwin's itinerary.
ONSCREEN -- we see a list of all Corwin's plans for the
next week. Two events in particular stand out:
TUESDAY NIGHT -- INVESTOR RECEPTION, BILTMORE HOTEL
THURSDAY -- SAN DIEGO RACEWAY
Dylan glances over the schedule.
DYLAN
Alright, we'll hit the reception tonight.
I only wish we had a clue to go on.
The food comes, Dylan takes it.
NATALIE
Hold that thought.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 22.
CONTINUED:
Natalie goes back to the computer again, slipping a CD
into the drive. Dylan hands out the food, spilling a lot
of it. A big glop of chocolate shake lands on the
keyboard.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
Uh, hello? Expensive equipment.
DYLAN
Sorry.
Natalie licks the shake off her fingers, tapes away at
the keyboard.
NATALIE
Check this out. New program I just
got from a friend in the Bureau. We
take that footage from the kidnapping...
On screen, the footage downloads from the CD, into the
program. Natalie fast forwards through it until she
comes to a shot of one of the kidnappers where his mask
is partly pulled away from his face.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
... isolate the part of the suspect's
face that's revealed, then retriangulate
his bone structure...
The program zooms in on the revealed part of his face,
then runs a series of calculations. A new drawing starts
to appear.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
... and voila! We've got a composite.
Natalie's portable printer spits out a simulated
composite of one skinny, bad-looking dude. Dylan grabs
it, looks it over.
DYLAN
Sweet. Now we've got someone to
look for.
She hands it to Alex to inspect.
ALEX
Oh yeah. He'll be easy to spot
with that open head wound.
She turns the composite around, revealing that Dylan has
smudged his head with ketchup.
They all just have to laugh.
WIPE TO:
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 23.
INT. BILTMORE BALLROOM - DAY
A sophisticated reception is in full swing, an ocean of
smart suits and power ties.
Dressed as a catering waitress, Natalie carries a tray of
hors d'oeuvres. MOVING WITH her, we pass ROGER CORWIN, who
talks with another suit, and further on, a conservatively-
dressed DYLAN who chats up a group of WALL STREET TYPES.
DYLAN
The average investor sees technology
stocks as discrete entities, "This one is
up 50 points, this one is down 10." It's
only through derivative analysis that one
sees the real power of that sector.
A few nods. She makes a good point.
BROKER GUY
Which analysis method do you prefer?
On Dylan. Shit. She tries to stall...
DYLAN
Well, there are so many options.
I mean, who can say what the one
best choice is?
ACROSS THE ROOM
Still walking, Natalie talks to no one...
NATALIE
Keppler-Wilson.
BACK WITH DYLAN
DYLAN
For my money, Keppler-Wilson is a
strong choice.
More nods, ad-libbed agreement. The Broker Guy is impressed.
Excusing herself, Dylan turns and subtly touches her ear,
where she's wearing a hidden radio.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Thanks.
AT THE BAR
Natalie loads champagne flutes onto her tray.
NATALIE
Anytime.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 24.
CONTINUED:
MAN'S VOICE (O.S.)
Anytime what?
She looks up to see a very cute bartender, PETE (26).
She didn't realize he was so close.
NATALIE
(covering)
Anytime, day or night, I am... excited
... to be handing out champagne.
Oh God. What did she just say? But he smiles anyway.
She heads back out into the crowd. You can almost see
the big L on her forehead.
BY THE FOUNTAIN
Dylan has been watching this. We INTERCUT between her
and Natalie.
DYLAN
He's cute.
NATALIE
I'm working.
DYLAN
Sixty-five percent of relationships
begin in the workplace.
NATALIE
He's a bartender. I need dependable.
I need reliable. I need a Volvo man.
Natalie walks past Dylan, not acknowledging her. Dylan
snaps her fingers.
NATALIE
Miss! Miss! I'd love some champagne.
Natalie comes back, a little annoyed. Dylan takes a
glass for herself, then foists the other glasses on
everyone around her, whether they wanted it or not.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
(to Natalie)
Why don't you get some more?
She nudges Natalie in that direction.
AT THE BAR
We TILT UP from a Japanese comic book to Pete. He
suddenly realizes Natalie is waiting for him.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 25.
CONTINUED:
PETE
Sorry.
He starts filling more flutes.
NATALIE
What are you reading?
He holds it up.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
That's the new Michio Kazura.
That's not even out in America.
PETE
You know Michio Kazura?
NATALIE
Hello? Warriors of the Broken Earth? Classic.
PETE
I know. I just moved back from
Tokyo. It was the biggest thing
since Haikiri Nomura.
NATALIE
Tomuru nasgawa ishi Tokyo sen!
PETE
Nagada quing-gong ni. Ni zeru.
Imagine that. Natalie takes her tray and reluctantly
heads off.
ON DYLAN
DYLAN
Ask him out. Ask him out.
ON NATALIE
She turns and heads back.
NATALIE
I'm Natalie.
PETE
Pete. Good to meet you.
NATALIE
Listen, there's an animation festival
at the Egyptian this week. I was
wondering if you might want to...
PETE
Tomorrow night? Eight o'clock?
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 26.
CONTINUED:
NATALIE
I'll meet you there.
ON DYLAN
She smiles, hearing the deal close. Pushing through a
cluster of investors, she bumps into a THIN MAN.
DYLAN
Pardon me.
He doesn't respond, but something about this man raises
her suspicions. Where has she seen him before? As he
moves out of earshot...
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Natalie. Nine o'clock. Thin man.
ON NATALIE
NATALIE
I'm on it.
Spotting the Thin Man, she heads his way.
NATALIE
(offering)
Vegetarian spring roll?
He waves her away, no. Oops, she drops a napkin in front
of him. She kneels down to get it.
As we move in VERY CLOSE ON her tray, we see that there's
a tiny Digital display. A metal detector is built into
the rim.
It BLIPS as she moves past his ankle. And again as she
rises up past his chest. The man just keeps walking.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
(to earpiece)
Two guns. One ankle, one shoulder.
DYLAN
You call it.
NATALIE
You take point. I'll circle behind.
DYLAN
Copy.
INT. HALLWAY - DAY
The Thin Man is headed down the hall. Looking back, we
see Dylan enter from the ballroom.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 27.
CONTINUED:
DYLAN
Excuse me?
He doesn't turn back.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Excuse me, do you know which way
the ladies' room is?
The man takes a sudden right into a service hallway.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Why do they always run?
She slips off her heels to give chase.
INT. SERVICE HALLWAY - DAY
The Thin Man comes around the corner. We stay TIGHT on
him, until he suddenly stops.
NATALIE
has come around from the other side. His bad guy instincts
tell him these women are working together. He's boxed in.
And then, a DING!
Elevator doors open beside him. He looks in to see the clue-
less BELLBOY, who had a funky groove going on his headphones.
In a single motion, the Thin Man yanks the guy out into the
hallway and takes his place. Hits the button.
From opposite directions, Natalie and Dylan run to the
elevator, but the doors have already shut. Checking the
panel.
DYLAN
He's going down.
They take the stairs.
INT. BASEMENT SERVICE HALLWAY - DAY
Natalie and Dylan emerge from the staircase to find the
elevator empty. To the left, exit doors swing tellingly.
EXT. DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - DAY
Nat and Dylan smash through the exit doors and out into
the sun-drenched streets of beautiful, downtown Los
Angeles. Natalie immediately spots the Thin Man, booking
down the alley.
NATALIE
That way.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 28.
CONTINUED:
And they take off after him.
What ensues is the fastest, wildest, two chicks and one
guy foot chase you've ever seen. Here are some highlights:
-- Thin Man pulls himself, clumsily, over a chain link
fence. Dylan and Natalie pull an old Jackie Chan trick
and run up the side wall and hop over easily.
-- Thin Man, still on foot, waits for traffic to slow,
then darts across the Harbor Freeway. By the time Dylan
and Natalie get there, traffic is roaring again.
Undeterred, they make their way through, tucking and
rolling under the wheels of a moving semi.
-- Dylan is racing down an alley, when a car comes barrelling
at her. She leaps up onto the hood of the car as it drives
underneath her, a la one of those That's Incredible! stunts.
-- They chase the Thin Man into an industrial laundromat.
The scene goes something like this:
INT. INDUSTRIAL LAUNDRY ROOM
Thunderously LOUD, with industrial washers and dryers operating
at full tilt. Natalie and Dylan are just entering when
THREE SHOTS
ring out. They dive for cover behind a massive washer
assembly.
NATALIE
There are times I wish we carried
guns.
DYLAN
Where's the challenge in that?
ANGLE ON the Thin Man, planning his next move. With no
good shot at the angels, he aims high, both guns BLAZING.
He shots out the pipes over their heads, sending down a
cascade of hot water.
Dylan and Natalie scramble back to avoid getting scalded.
Other pipes SHATTER from the change in pressure, leading
to an interior thunderstorm. Steam fills the room as an
inch of water grows on the floor.
Natalie and Dylan push rolling laundry carts in the Thin
Man's direction. He shoots at them, but quickly realizes
they're just trying to waste his bullets.
Holstering one of his guns, he dials his cell phone.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 29.
CONTINUED:
On the far wall, Natalie switches on the overhead hooks,
which circle on a wire like a ski lift. The Thin Man
looks up, distracted, not noticing --
DYLAN
As she creeps up behind the cover of the rolling laundry
carts. She's succeeded in circling behind the Thin Man
as he talks on the phone.
She clears her throat. The Thin Man turns. She kicks
him in the jaw.
Knocked back, he drops the phone, which CRACKS and slips
under a washing machine.
He crab-walks back, then suddenly springs back to his feet.
We weren't expecting that kind of ninja move out of this guy.
HE TURNS TO SEE
NATALIE
right behind him. With a coiled towel, she grabs his gun
arm and expertly flips him. But he reacts smoothly, rolling
over to charge at Natalie, picking her up like a sack of
potatoes. As he does, he grabs her right in the tit.
NATALIE
Hey! Hands off, assh....
Before she can finish her sentence, the Thin Man throws
Natalie at Dylan, knocking them both down. He jumps up,
and with a single motion grabs an overhead pipe and kicks
another, releasing a wall of steam -- we can't see a thing.
By the time the fog clears, the Thin Man is long gone.
NATALIE
Okay, to summarize? Damn.
Lying down in the water, Dylan reaches under the washer
to fish out the Thin Man's busted cell phone.
INT. TOWNSEND AGENCY BACK ROOM - DAY
Natalie sits at a glowing computer monitor, the Thin
Man's cell phone connected by a data cable to the
Townsend Agency computers. Rapidly touching the screen,
she calls up a list of the last thirty-five phone calls
he received. They're all from the same location.
BOSLEY
Well. That was easy.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 30.
CONTINUED:
NATALIE
No, it wasn't.
She points to some code next to the numbers.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
I've seen this before, he's
scrambling his calls through a
secondary location.
BOSLEY
In English?
NATALIE
We need to tap this phone line
at the source, THEN we'll know
where his calls were coming from.
DYLAN
(checking out the numbers)
503? That's not local, where is it?
NATALIE
Bos, can we check a directory?
ALEX
Don't bother. I know where it is.
I used to spend every winter there.
As she says it...
CUT TO:
EXT. ASPEN - NIGHT
The sign says it: Welcome to Aspen.
VARIOUS ESTABLISHING SHOTS of the gorgeous mountain town,
still somehow quaint despite its astonishing wealth.
EXT. COWBOY BAR -- NIGHT
A rowdy establishment just outside of town.
INT. COWBOY BAR -- CONTINUOUS
The kind of place that rich weekend skiers don't come.
Lots of over-aggressive, cowboy-biker types, drinking more
than they should. There are only a few women in the place,
and they are either waitresses or biker chicks. Suddenly,
everyone stops what they're doing and turns to the door.
CHARLIE'S ANGELS have entered the room. Dressed in their
stylish ensembles, they couldn't possibly look more out of
place.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 31.
CONTINUED:
NATALIE
Hey look! Mechanical bull.
DYLAN
Eyes on the prize, Nat. We gotta
tap the phones.
ALEX
That looks like our target.
She points to a door at the back of the bar that leads
into a glassed-in office. Two, beefy bouncer types are guarding
the door.
ALEX (CONT'D)
I'm gonna need a distraction.
Dylan and Natalie smile at each other.
DYLAN
I think that can be arranged.
The Three Angels split up, Bosley tagging along with Dylan.
DYLAN
sidles up to the bar. A group of three rednecks are
downing shots, one after another.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Three shots of tequila, please.
(Bosley whispers in her ear)
And one Tom Collins.
The rednecks stare at Dylan, drooling. Dylan turns to the first
one.
REDNECK
Hey baby, why don't you ditch that
stiff and come sit on ma lap?
Bosley tries to make himself small.
DYLAN
Ooh, that is an enticing offer.
But I got a better idea. How
about a shot contest? My treat?
The three rednecks hoot and holler.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Okay, I'll take that as a yes. Bartender?
Bring ten shots of tequila over to my
table. And keep em coming.
BY THE MECHANICAL BULL
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 32.
CONTINUED:
A group of wanna bes are waiting their turn at the
mechanical bull. Natalie wanders over behind them.
NATALIE
Mind if I try?
The crowd parts for her, and Natalie hops up on the bull.
She cranks it up, and lets
BY THE BAR --
Dylan downs a shot, slams it on the table. Countless
other glasses surround her.
REVEAL that two of the rednecks are down for the count, one
falling out of his chair, the other passed out on the table.
The third redneck is slurring badly, trying to keep up
with Dylan.
DYLAN
Hey, I've got an idea. Now let's
have a chair throwing contest.
REDNECK
Hunh?
DYLAN
Chair throwing? Never heard of
it? You just pick up your chair
and throw it as far as you can.
The redneck nods, lifts up his chair and heaves it across
the bar.
OKAY, HERE'S AN OUTLINE OF WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE REST OF
THIS SCENE:
Dylan and Natalie create a distraction, while Alex sneaks
into the back office with Bosley to get the phone number
of the chalet.
EXT. HIGH MOUNTAIN ROAD - NIGHT
A VW van climbs the winding road. As we get closer, we see the
side reads, "Chalet Grams."
A DING-DONG DING-DING-DONG doorbell rings.
INT. MOUNTAIN HOUSE / GREAT ROOM - NIGHT
TWO THUGS with shoulder holsters look up, hearing the bell.
One was tending to the fire.
THUG ONE
We expecting somebody?
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 33.
CONTINUED:
Thug Two shakes his head.
Checking his gun, Thug One grabs for his windbreaker.
Puts it on over.
EXT. FRONT PORCH - NIGHT
Thug One opens the door to find Dylan and Natalie dressed
in Swiss Miss outfits, complete with blonde braids.
DYLAN
Guten Tag!
NATALIE
(correcting Dylan)
Guten Morgen!
DYLAN
(correcting Natalie)
Guten Nacht!
DYLAN AND NATALIE
(to each other)
Guten Freund!
The girls lean in and hug each other, butts sticking out.
To the left, Bosley starts playing oommpa OOMMPA oommpa
OOMMPA on a wrap-around tuba. He's wearing lederhosen,
with a feather in his hat.
Natalie begins to YODEL.
Dylan hands a fancy envelope to the bewildered thug. Thug
Two is approaching from behind, curious what the hell is
going on.
Dylan begins to TALK-SING a song in German about a too-
curious goat and his worried mistress. Even with the pantomime,
we have no idea what's happening. It seems
wholesome, but occasionally one of the girls touches the
other in a weirdly coquettish, oddly sexual way.
Thug Two looks at the address on the envelope.
THUG TWO
(low)
They got the wrong address.
THUG ONE
Shut up.
As the angels continue their routine, the CAMERA RISES,
three quick cuts to take us to...
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 34.
EXT. THE ROOF - NIGHT
... where a black cat-suited Alex stands at the
chimney... A ribbon of smoke curls from the stack.
Pulling the pin from a canister, she drops it down the
chimney.
INT. MOUNTAIN HOUSE GREAT ROOM - NIGHT
A cheerful fire burns in the over-sized fireplace. The
canister drops into the flames from above, suddenly
venting a HISSING cloud of halon gas. The fire dies
immediately, the logs covered with a violent frost.
INT. THE CHIMNEY - NIGHT
Alex doesn't even need a rope. Her feet pressed to the
sooty walls, she expertly slides to the bottom.
INT. GREAT ROOM - NIGHT
Alex backs out of the fireplace to find a WAITING BAD GUY
swinging
A FIREPLACE POKER
at her head. She ducks just in time. The poker CHINGS
against the stone, making a spark.
Rolling, jumping and diving, Alex scurries as Pokerman
slashes and stabs. She ducks behind a chair, which
Pokerman catches with the hook, winging it across the
room.
Backed against the wall, Alex yanks on the heavy
curtains, pulling them down, along with the wooden
curtain rod. A spin, a flourish of velvet and the
curtain rings drop off to leave her with a trusty
quarterstaff.
She goes on the offensive. Thrust, parry, spin.
But he's a worthy adversary. One good karate kick breaks
her staff in two. She uses both pieces to club him in
the knees, then rolls back to the fireplace.
She grabs the remaining tool: the fireplace tongs.
Pokerman swings. Alex catches his weapon in the tong
scissors, yanking it free with such force the point sticks
in the wall.
A quick kick knocks Pokerman to the floor, where Alex
rolls on top of him. She catches his head in the tongs,
squeezing his temples. His eyes bulge.
ALEX
Where's Knox?
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 35.
INT. WINDOWLESS ROOM - NIGHT
Young billionaire ERIC KNOX paces. He's grungy, with
two days of stubble, but still a darn attractive guy.
Hearing a KICK at the door, he turns.
A second KICK blows the door open. It's Alex.
KNOX
Who are you?
ALEX
The calvary. Giddy up.
EXT. FRONT PORCH - NIGHT
Bosley is about to hyper-ventilate on the tuba, sweaty
and a little blue.
Dylan and Natalie's new song has them sharing the saddle
of an imaginary horse. When Dylan reaches back to slap
the "horse," she hits Natalie in the rump. Both women
tee-hee.
The thugs think it's pretty hot.
Dylan whispers a secret to Natalie. Natalie WHISPERS
back.
Turning to the thugs, they each lean in to WHISPER into
a different thug's ear. As the men smile, the angels
suddenly BONK the two men's heads together. Both men
fall, knocked out.
Stepping over the bodies, Dylan heads inside.
INT. MOUNTAIN HOUSE HALLWAY - NIGHT
Looking for the way out, Alex leads Knox to a closed
door. She opens it to find...
INT. TV ROOM - NIGHT
... TWO MORE THUGS sitting in front the big-screen TV,
watching a college basketball game (Duke vs. Maryland,
in case you care.) The guards look back, spotting Alex
with Knox.
That wouldn't be so bad, if it weren't for the
FIFTEEN OTHER THUGS
watching the game with them.
ANGLE ON Alex. It's an oh-shit moment.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 36.
CONTINUED:
ALEX
Sorry. Wrong room.
(to Knox)
Back! Run!
The thugs are out of their seats a moment later, each of
them pulling out a firearm.
EXT. FRONT PORCH - NIGHT
Holding down three keys on the tuba, Bosley talks into
the mouthpiece. It has a secret radio.
BOSLEY
Alex, what's your status?
INT. STAIRCASE - NIGHT
Running, Alex pushes Knox ahead of her, checking their
backs. She talks into a wrist-mic.
ALEX
Good news: I found Knox.
Another THUG steps out in front of her. She kicks him
down the steps.
ALEX (CONT'D)
Bad news: I found company.
Reaching the bottom of the steps, Knox is surprised to be
grabbed by Dylan.
DYLAN
This way.
At this point, he'll do whatever they say.
EXT. FRONT OF MOUNTAIN HOUSE - NIGHT
Dylan rushes Knox across the driveway to the waiting van
-- Natalie is pulling it around. Overhead, bright
security lights switch on.
Back at the front door, Alex pulls it shut. She attaches
a carabiner clip to the handle, running a thin steel cord
from it around the porch column.
INT. FOYER - NIGHT
The first of the thugs reaches the door, tries to pull it
open but can't. The next few guards try to help him,
while the rest start smashing through the windows.
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 37.
EXT. FRONT OF MOUNTAIN HOUSE - NIGHT
Running with the tuba, Bosley stops for a moment to catch
his breath, hands on his knees. Okay, ready to run
again.
He's the last to be pulled into the van. A spray of
gravel and they're off.
INT. THE VAN - NIGHT
Everyone is piled on top of each other. Dylan and Knox
have a few awkward moments as they get untangled. Bosley
keeps making inappropriate TUBA NOISES.
At the wheel, Natalie is fierce and focused, in total
control.
Looking out the back windows, Alex sees the kidnappers
piling into jeeps to give chase. From the side of the
house, more thugs appear on motorbikes.
ALEX
They're coming after us.
DYLAN
(to Knox, confident)
We were expecting that.
NATALIE
Okay, new problem.
Everyone's attention WHIPS FORWARD to see the headlights of
GIANT LOGGING TRUCK
coming up the high mountain road. It straddles the
center line, blocking both directions. There's no way
around it.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
Thoughts, suggestions, points to
consider?
BOSLEY
I don't suppose giving up would
be a...
No, it wouldn't. Then --
DYLAN
Right!
NATALIE
There is no right.
DYLAN
There!
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 38.
CONTINUED:
She points to a faded "CLOSED" sign that hangs from a
chain. In the darkness, who knows what it's blocking.
But as we hear the THUNDEROUS HORN from the oncoming
truck, we know there's no choice.
Natalie cuts a hard right, SMASHING through the sign.
The van THUMPS AND BUMPS its way across the low grass,
its headlights only showing ten feet ahead. At any
moment, the ground could stop in a cliff.
Like now.
The van leaps into empty space. Tires spin, helpless.
The van falls.
Everyone SCREAMS. Bosley is the loudest.
And then, touchdown. The van hits the ground, hard but
not catastrophically. Natalie hits the brakes, cuts the
wheel hard to avoid hitting
A CONCRETE WALL
in front of them. Everyone takes a beat to acknowledge
they're alive.
DYLAN
Where are we?
Suddenly, a BRIGHT LIGHT goes on overhead.
EXT. THE MOUNTAIN - NIGHT
One by one, a series of arc lights switches on, forming a
snake all the way to the bottom of the mountain.
INT. THE VAN - NIGHT
Looking out the back windows...
ALEX
It's a bobsled run.
They're facing backwards.
Up ahead, the kidnappers are charging down the access roads.
The first of two jeeps makes the jump into the bobsled chute.
NATALIE
If it goes down the mountain,
that's all I need.
Throwing it into reverse, Natalie peels out.
The jeeps follow.
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 39.
EXT. BOBSLED RUN - NIGHT
The VW Van leads the way down the mountain, tail-first.
As it builds speed, it starts to climb the wall, each turn
getting steeper and steeper.
The two jeeps are following. Facing the right direction,
they have a much easier time of it.
INT. VAN - NIGHT
Everything is shaking so violently, it looks like a NASA launch.
ALEX
(looking out the back)
Hard left! HARD LEFT!
Natalie makes the turn. The van rises up, nearly tilting
over. But they make it through the turn.
KNOX
(to Dylan)
Is this part of the plan?
DYLAN
Yes. Except for the bobsled run,
and the backwards part, it's
going exactly according to plan.
A beat. He smiles at her. He has a nice smile.
EXT. BOBSLED RUN - NIGHT
One of the jeeps makes a move, closing the distance to
the van. A RIFLEMAN leans out the passenger window,
lining up a shot. He FIRES.
INT. THE VAN - NIGHT
The shot blasts cleanly through the top of the windshield,
through the horn of Bosley's tuba, then out the back window. It
missed hitting somebody by millimeters.
Natalie is still focused, making each turn as Alex calls it.
EXT. BOBSLED RUN - NIGHT`
The front jeep gets even more aggressive, building speed.
It hits the next turn too fast, rising up too high along
the wall. It tips further, and further, finally rolling
over onto its back. It SCRAPES across the concrete, a
shower of sparks as it slows down.
With nowhere to go, the second jeep brakes hard, but can't stop.
It SMASHES into the first jeep, a tangle of steel.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 40.
CONTINUED:
The combined mass continues sliding down the run, like a
jagged pinball in the chute.
INT. THE VAN - NIGHT
Dylan looks out through the windshield as the jeep combo recedes
farther and farther away.
DYLAN
I think we're in the clear.
Just then, two MOTORBIKES race up along the chute walls, passing
the crippled jeeps. Two more MOTORBIKES jump in from above.
DYLAN
Or maybe not.
Suddenly, Natalie GASPS, remembering something.
NATALIE
Oh God, no.
DYLAN
What is it?
WHIP CUT TO:
EXT. EGYPTIAN THEATRE - NIGHT
A dejected Pete stands in front of the sign for the anime
festival, two tickets in hand.
WHIP BACK TO:
INT. THE VAN - NIGHT
NATALIE
I have a date with Pete. Right now.
DYLAN
Ouch.
ALEX
HARD RIGHT!
Natalie makes the hard right. The motorcycles are gaining on
them, but Natalie and Dylan have to talk through this first.
DYLAN
Call him, he'll totally understand.
NATALIE
"Gee, sorry Pete. I had to rescue a
billionaire."
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 41.
CONTINUED:
ALEX
Hard left!
She makes the left.
NATALIE
I'll sound like a flake. I can't
stand flakes.
DYLAN
He will so give you the second chance.
NATALIE
You think?
DYLAN
Hello, I saw the way he looked at you.
One motorcycle charges, coming up just feet from the
windshield. Natalie taps on the brakes. The freaked out
guy can't slow down in time. He SMACKS into the windshield,
then goes flying.
ALEX
We're at the bottom!
Indeed, we are. The concrete walls end, leaving open ground.
Slamming on the brakes, Natalie turns the van around.
Everyone goes flying. Bosley is still on the phone with
Charlie.
EXT. BASE OF THE MOUNTAIN - NIGHT
Back facing the right direction, the van charges onward.
The motorcycles race up to the passenger side, grabbing
for the door.
INT. THE VAN - NIGHT
Dylan SLAMS open the door, knocking one RIDER off.
The sliding door opens, another RIDER outside trying to get
in. Thinking fast, Knox grabs Bosley's tuba and shoves it
at the motorcyclist, who tumbles, taking out the fourth
rider in the process.
DYLAN
(genuinely impressed)
Well done.
KNOX
Thanks.
CUT TO:
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 42.
HELICOPTER
thunders over. We are...
INT. THE HELICOPTER - NIGHT
Natalie is at the controls, Bosley beside her. Alex leans
forward from the second row.
BOSLEY
I think that went very well. Charlie
should send me on more missions.
ALEX
We couldn't have done it without
you, Bos.
Natalie pats him on the arm. She and Alex exchange a quick
glance. They have to just laugh.
In the back row, Knox is looking out over the gorgeous lights
of Aspen.
DYLAN
Cocktail?
She offers him an airplane-sized bottle of Johnnie Walker
black. He takes it and toasts. They both down their drinks
in a single shot. A smile, and then...
MUSIC rises.
THE ANGELS TRIPTYCH descends.
The act is over. After a beat, we
WIPE TO REVEAL:
EXT. CHARLES TOWNSEND DETECTIVE AGENCY - DAY
Re-establishing.
INT. CHARLES TOWNSEND DETECTIVE AGENCY - (THE NEXT) DAY
Charlie is on the speakerphone. The angels are in their
usual lounging positions.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
Good work, Angels. Not only did you
save Knox, you saved his company as well.
DYLAN
I think that earns us a vacation.
NATALIE
Say, Fiji?
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 43.
CONTINUED:
ALEX
(to Natalie)
Any special guy you were thinking
of inviting?
Natalie grins a guilty smile.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
Sorry, Angels. Our work is only
half-done.
Knox enters. Clean-shaven and neatly pressed, he's still a
darn good-looking man. Vivian Wu follows him.
CHARLIE'S VOICE (CONT'D)
Meet your new client, Eric Knox.
KNOX
First off, thank you. You rescued
me, for which I am eternally grateful.
He's talking to all the angels, but his gaze seems to fall
most upon Dylan. She notices it.
KNOX (CONT'D)
But there's still a problem. Whoever
kidnapped me wasn't just trying to
screw up our IPO. They also stole
the proprietary software for our new
web browser. I'm sure it was Roger
Corwin, but I need proof.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
That's where you come in, Angels.
CIRCLING AROUND, we see the video images of Corwin and the
Red Star Systems logo on the big screen.
CHARLIE'S VOICE (CONT'D)
We need to break into Red Star's computer
systems to see if Mr. Knox's software is
indeed being converted for Red Star's use.
NATALIE
Sounds like a plan.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
Not as easy as that, Natalie. Red
Star's headquarters are as tightly
guarded as a military facility.
We're going to need reconnaissance
on their mainframe computer system,
and the best way to get that is
through Mr. Corwin himself.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 44.
CONTINUED:
A video image of Corwin's Palm Pilot Schedule comes up the
bigscreen. The shot pulls in close on "SAN DIEGO SPEEDWAY."
CHARLIE'S VOICE (CONT'D)
We need to pin a camera on him to get
footage of the inside of the building.
Thanks to Alex's work at the health spa,
we know that Corwin will be at the San
Diego Speedway on Thursday. Get close to
him Angels, but don't tip your hand.
ALEX
Consider it done.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
Dylan, I need you to arrange for Mr.
Knox's security. I'd hate to have him
kidnapped again.
DYLAN
Absolutely. But we'd all feel safer
if you could join us, Charlie.
CUT TO:
UNDERWATER
From Charlie's P.O.V., looking up at the sunlight. Three
manta-rays swim above us.
We can hear the BUBBLES from Charlie's regulator.
CHARLIE
I'd love to Angels. But I'm in a
bit over my head at the moment.
A manta-ray swims past, super-close, letting us...
WIPE TO:
EXT. KNOX HOUSE - DUSK
A majestic craftsman in the hills, Frank Lloyd Wright meets
conspicuous consumption.
INT. KNOX HOUSE ATTIC - DUSK
A flashlight beam sweeps past, revealing Dylan. With just
her shoulders above the rafters, she's checking a dusty
crawl space. She finds nothing suspicious.
INT. KNOX'S WALK-IN CLOSET - DUSK
Knox stands below, Dylan's boots on his shoulders. The heels
dig in a bit, but he's not complaining.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 45.
CONTINUED:
DYLAN
We're good.
He moves to help her down, but she does a reverse-pullup to
handle it by herself. She leads the way...
INT. KNOX'S BEDROOM - DUSK
The room is huge. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, we see
that we're up in the hills.
Knox follows her as she walks.
DYLAN
I've got surveillance on all the windows.
Don't answer the door, don't answer the phone.
We continue...
INT. KNOX LIVING ROOM - DUSK
Just as big, just as beautiful. Knox, or his decorator, has
great taste. Everything is top quality, but unpretentious.
DYLAN
Also, stay away from the windows.
KNOX
They're bullet-proof. The last
owner was paranoid.
DYLAN
(a smile)
Lucky for us.
She takes a marker-sized device off the table.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
This is a panic button.
(tosses it to him)
Press it and one of us can be here
in ten minutes.
KNOX
Which one of you?
DYLAN
Whoever's closest.
She takes her jacket off the couch, ready to go.
KNOX
I have a better idea.
DYLAN
What?
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 46.
CONTINUED:
He tosses her the panic button.
KNOX
Stay for dinner.
(preempting objections)
I'm a pretty good cook.
DYLAN
I can't Mr. Knox. I'm sorry. If you...
KNOX
(quickly)
I'm scared.
Dylan is surprised by this.
KNOX (CONT'D)
Look, I didn't want to admit it, but I
am. I was kidnapped once, and it wasn't
fun. I know, you probably have other
plans, but it would be very reassuring.
Dylan looks him over. Normally, she'd be suspicious, but
the guy WAS just kidnapped, and he seems sincere.
KNOX (CONT'D)
Come on, don't make me beg. I'm
embarrassed already.
She smiles.
DYLAN
Don't be.
She throws her coat back on the sofa.
INT. KNOX LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
We PAN OFF a half-played Scrabble game to find Dylan and
Knox at the windows. Dylan picks up a family photo, Knox
as a little boy with a father in a military uniform.
DYLAN
That's you, hunh? Cute kid. Cute
family.
KNOX
Thanks.
(taking the photo)
It's the only picture I have of me with
my parents. They died a week later.
DYLAN
Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. I had no idea...
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 47.
CONTINUED:
KNOX
Please, don't apologize. I was too
young to understand.
(looking at the photo)
I never knew how they died. When I
was a kid, when I got shuffled from
one foster home to another, I always
thought they just disappeared.
DYLAN
But...?
KNOX
I only found out later, my father was
in the military. He and my mother were
killed while he was on assignment,
somewhere in Eastern Europe.
(mostly to himself)
The files were classified, but I
read enough to know that he was a
good man. Apparently, he was
betrayed by one of his own team.
DYLAN
Wow. That's a lot for a kid to live with.
KNOX
Yeah, but it motivated me, losing my
family. It still does. I don't take
anything for granted.
Dylan nods.
DYLAN
Boy did I have you pegged wrong.
KNOX
(intrigued)
How do you mean?
DYLAN
Well, to be honest, I thought you
were a rich kid who inherited
everything. But that's pretty typical.
I've got instincts for the job, but
when it comes to men? Well...
KNOX
I'm glad you don't see me as just a client.
He brushes his hand against hers. She brushes back, fingers
against fingers. A long beat.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 48.
CONTINUED:
DYLAN
Oh. Well, you ARE, so...
KNOX
Is there someone you need to be going
home to?
DYLAN
No.
(beat)
But I...
He kisses her. After a moment, she breaks off. It's not that
it was a bad kiss. It was a damn good kiss. It's just...
DYLAN (CONT'D)
I shouldn't.
Knox moves towards her.
KNOX
Shouldn't you?
Dylan holds him back.
DYLAN
(firmly)
No. I shouldn't.
She stands up.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Thank you for dinner, Mr. Knox. And
lock the door behind me.
She gets up and leaves.
CUT TO:
FORMULA-ONE RACE CARS
ROARING past on the track. It's all thunder, smoke and
asphalt. We are...
EXT. SAN DIEGO SPEEDWAY - DAY
With a ROAR, another blur of racers whips past, with heat
and noise and speed. The lead car bears the familiar
markings of RED STAR INDUSTRIES. Roger Corwin is at the
wheel, steering calmly to a comfortable lead, when he is
suddenly BUMPED.
CORWIN
What the...?
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 49.
CONTINUED:
ANOTHER BUMP sends him screeching to the left. He almost
crashes, then gets back on course, just as he's passed by...
A SLEEK, BLACK CAR, sponsored by the SONY CORPORATION, and
manned by a mysterious driver with TEXAS TORNADO inscripted on
the helmet. We follow the black car as it pulls into the pit.
EXT. FREEWAY PIT - DAY
The racer pulls off her helmet as the pit crew surrounds her.
Of course, the racer is Natalie, aka BETTY LOU HOBERT, the Texas
Tornado.
PIT BOSS
(yelling over the
engine noise)
NICE RACING!
(beat)
CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'VE NEVER RACED
THIS TRACK BEFORE!
NATALIE
(Texas accent)
BACK WHERE AH'M FROM, WE RACE IN SWAMPS
AND BACK ROADS! THIS ALL'S A PIECE A CAKE!
Natalie shakes out her hair, winks at the pit boss.
The Pit Crew races in to make repairs. DYLAN, dressed in a
pit suit, kneels by Natalie's front tire. Natalie crouches
down next to her so they can talk.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
I nicked him. Should give you
enough time to do the deed.
DYLAN
I'm on it.
Dylan steals away, heading for...
CORWIN'S PIT CREW --
Corwin is seething mad as he pulls into his pit.
CORWIN
LET'S GO! WE'RE LOSING TIME HERE!
The pit repairs his car as Corwin is approached by another
racer, also wearing a Red Star racing suit. He leans into
Corwin's car and now we see that's it's... THE THIN MAN.
THIN MAN
You okay, Boss?
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 50.
CONTINUED:
CORWIN
No thanks to you! You're supposed
to be my head of security! Who is
that bitch?!
The Thin Man peers over at Natalie, but she's got her
back to him.
THIN MAN
Don't know. I'll keep an eye out.
CORWIN
Yeah. You do that.
Corwin peels out onto the track again, almost crushing
the Thin Man in the process.
AS CORWIN PULLS OUT
Dylan sneaks in. In all the cacophony, no one notices
as she grabs CORWIN'S SUITCASE out of the back seat of
his regular car, a bitching Mercedes. She checks both
ways to see if she's being watched.
BOSLEY (O.S.)
Coast is clear, Dylan.
CUT TO:
EXT. THE WINNER'S CIRCLE
Where Alex, dressed as a trophy girl, watches the race
through binoculars and keeps an eye on her pals. She
nods to BOSLEY, who is dressed as the Flag Waver. He
speaks into a walkie talkie.
BOSLEY
Let's make the switch.
BACK IN THE PIT --
Dylan pulls a briefcase out of her jumpsuit, and swaps
it with one in Corwin's car. She carefully switches all
his files from the old briefcase to the new one, then
gives Alex a thumbs up.
MEANWHILE BACK IN THE RACE --
NATALIE roars back onto the track, keeping Corwin in her
sights. Then she spots another Red Star car, coming up
right next to her. She locks eyes with the Thin Man.
The two of them recognize each other at the exact same
instant.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 51.
CONTINUED:
The Thin Man, realizing he's been made, jams on the
brakes and skids off to the right, which leads to a ramp
that heads out of the stadium.
Natalie, not wanting to lose him, does something crazy.
Even though she's at the front of the pack, she brakes
hard, swerves into a full 180 degree U-turn, and starts
heading the WRONG WAY on the race track.
Startled drivers pull off to the left and right as she
follows the Thin Man out of the racetrack.
EXT. SPEEDWAY ACCESS ROAD - DAY
To a chorus of CAR HORNS, the Thin Man's blue racer weaves
through the spectator traffic entering the speedway.
Looking back, we see Natalie is gaining on him.
Finally clear of the traffic, both cars let it rip.
CUT TO:
HELICOPTER VIDEO FOOTAGE
Looking down on a freeway, where a ubiquitous police
pursuit is in progress.
TV ANCHOR VOICE
If you're just joining us, we're
approaching hour five of a pursuit
that has lead us all across the
Southland, at speeds up to 80
miles an hour.
A beat-up gray Chrysler leads a phalanx of police cars
down the empty freeway. It's oddly calm and hypnotizing.
FEMALE ANCHOR VOICE
Chuck, time and again we hear the
question, "Why don't the police just
ram the other car, or shoot out the
tires?" The LAPD has a policy of
hanging back and following unless...
Suddenly, the blue Formula One car comes screeching past
the cops and the suspect, over 200 miles per hour.
TV ANCHOR VOICE
What was that?
INT. NATALIE'S RED CAR / ON THE FREEWAY - DAY
Still hot on the Thin Man's tail, Natalie has the engine
ROARING.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 52.
CONTINUED:
As she passes the police cars, we see several OFFICERS
look over -- what the hell?
Natalie catches up to the gray Chrysler. Looks over to
see the WILD-EYED SUSPECT, hunched over the wheel.
He looks back at her. A beat later, she's passed him,
just taillights on the freeway.
EXT. FREEWAY - DAY
With the lanes cleared for the other chase, there is
nothing preventing the Formula One cars from hitting top
speed -- which they do.
Natalie is catching up to the Thin Man.
As they head under an overpass, we see KIDS CHEERING.
INT. BLUE CAR - DAY
The Thin Man checks his gauges. The gas dial is perilously
close to empty -- these cars are meant to be refilled often.
Up ahead, he sees an exit. He starts to slow down...
EXT. FREEWAY - DAY
... but when you're going 200 miles per hour, that can
take a while. He misses the exit.
Natalie is trying to match his speed.
The Thin Man pulls over to the side, stops fully.
Braking as hard as she can, Natalie still passes him.
The Thin Man throws a U-turn, heading up the freeway on-ramp.
Natalie follows.
EXT. SAN DIEGO SHIPYARD - DAY
We catch glimpses behind fences and between train cars --
the two racers gliding slowly down the narrow roads, like
lions pacing.
INT. NATALIE'S RED CAR - DAY
Pulling off her helmet, Natalie scans right and left for
the blue car -- she's lost sight of him. The narrow
windshields of these racers doesn't make it any easier.
EXT. SHIPYARD - DAY
We LOOK DOWN on Natalie's car as she rounds a corner,
still searching.
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 53.
EXT. PIER - DAY
Natalie spots the blue racer reaching the end of the
long pier. It pulls a U-turn to face her, then stops,
engine idling. There's only way off the pier, and it's
past Natalie.
The Thin Man REVS his engine.
Natalie REVS hers.
ANGLE ON a white seagull, pecking at something on the
pier, halfway between the two racers. The bird looks up,
hearing the engines.
ANGLE ON the Thin Man. He pulls his harness tighter.
REVS his engine higher.
ANGLE ON Natalie. If it's a game of chicken he wants,
she'll give it to him. She REVS her engine higher still.
The noise scares the bird, who suddenly flies off. Like
a flag being dropped, that's the signal for both racers
to peel out.
A cloud of SMOKE. Rubber on asphalt.
Already reaching a tremendous speed, the racers are on a
collision course. The Thin Man isn't going to turn away.
Neither is Natalie.
Racing faster, and faster still, there's only one way
this can turn out. But then, at the very last moment,
the Thin Man wusses out. He cuts the wheel right,
missing Natalie and careening off the edge of the pier.
In SLOW MOTION, we watch as his racer hangs in mid-air,
wheels still spinning. Back-heavy, the tail hits the
water first.
Natalie brakes hard, cuts the wheel to avoid going off
the far end of the pier. She finally stops, the rear
tire just 1/4 inch from the edge.
CRANING UP along the side of the pier, we find Natalie
looking into the water where the blue racer went in.
There's just a slick of oil and a steady stream of bubbles.
CUT TO:
VIDEO / CAMERA'S P.O.V.
We see lots of hallways, doorways and security locks, all
from the POV of a man's hip.
The footage is from the camera in the switched briefcase
that Corwin is now carrying with him.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 54.
CONTINUED:
We PULL BACK from the video to see we are actually
watching it...
INT. CHARLES TOWNSEND AGENCY - DAY
... on the big screen. The angels and Bosley watch the
footage, along with Knox and Vivian Wu. Vivian has
seated herself close to Natalie. So close, in fact, that
Natalie keeps having to shift a few inches.
Dylan, meanwhile, sits across the room from Knox,
deliberately avoiding eye contact.
ON THE BIG SCREEN: As the videocamera passes a room
marked with an intimidating warning sign...
KNOX
There!
VIDEO FREEZES.
KNOX (CONT'D)
That's the room with the
mainframe. Everything at Red Star
goes through that system.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
So if we want to find proof that
Red Star stole Knox's technology,
that's the computer to tap.
KNOX
Exactly. But they have heavy firewalls
and encryption. You can't jack in from
outside. You'll have to physically be
in that room to get at the data.
ALEX
Even if we do get inside, there won't
be time to search for it. There's got
to be a hundred terabytes of
information there. It could take days.
NATALIE
So you install a transmitter.
All eyes go over to Natalie.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
Patch in directly to the relay,
broadcast on a high frequency.
That way, you can have access to
the mainframe from the comfort of
your own home. And they have no
idea that you can peek inside.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 55.
CONTINUED:
Knox is impressed. The other angels nod. It's a good idea.
VIVIAN WU
That's all fine in theory. But you
still have to get inside that room
to install it. What about security?
ALEX
Red Star has a lot of Government
contracts, so security is tight. Key-
card badges throughout. Redundant
security at all red-line areas with
biometric scanners and weekly keycodes.
Pervasive video surveillance, lasers,
air-displacement sensors. Plus a hard-
wired fail-safe at the relay to prevent
exactly this kind of tapping.
VIVIAN WU
It sounds impossible.
Alex checks with her fellow angels. They're in agreement.
DYLAN
It sounds like fun.
With a subtle RUSH, we move into a stylized MONTAGE that
shows How They Do It. It features WHIP PANS, FREEZE
FRAMES and ZOOMS to show us only the highlights.
NATALIE (V.O.)
Only the two directors can disengage the
fail-safe. We have to get their keys.
WHIP CUT TO:
INT. NUDE NUDE NUDE GIRLS - DAY
ANGLE ON DIRECTOR #1, 40's, part of the lunchtime crowd.
Alex and Natalie are on the catwalk, in the middle of a
grinding routine. Paying for his drink, he fumbles with
his wallet. His waitress helps him find the right bill.
As she walks away, we see the waitress is Dylan. FREEZE FRAME.
We ZOOM IN on the orange key-card she's grabbed from him.
EXT. BACK YARD BIRTHDAY PART - DAY
ANGLE ON Bosley, done up in full clown makeup. He tries
to twist a balloon animal, but no luck. Finally it POPS.
The CHILDREN CRY.
Entertaining the ADULTS, magician Alex whips open her silk
handkerchief to reveal that the "item" has disappeared.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 56.
CONTINUED:
ANGLE ON DIRECTOR #2, who looks very worried. Magician's
assistant Dylan takes off her giant hat to reveal the director's
billfold is underneath. Getting it back, he's
relieved.
Passing behind Dylan, Natalie takes the orange keycard
Dylan hands off. FREEZE FRAME. ZOOM IN.
ALEX (V.O.)
Then we have to get back into Red
Star. Problem is, their biometric
sensors are too good.
DYLAN (V.O.)
We need someone's help.
WHIP TO:
EXT. STREET OFF MULHOLLAND - DAY
ANGLE ON Roger Corwin, driving his Mercedes. He slows,
a road crew working ahead.
ANGLE ON Dylan, dressed in an orange vest, manning the
slow/stop sign. She makes Corwin stop, leans in to
apologize for the delay.
Behind the Mercedes, Natalie sneaks up. She quickly
picks the trunk lock, then quietly climbs in. She hoists
in a large duffel bag, then shuts herself inside.
INT. TRUNK OF CORWIN'S MERCEDES - DAY
We HEAR the car moving again.
Stripped down to a bra, Natalie attaches an illuminated mirror
to the underside of the trunk lid. Starts to pull more items
from her duffel bag: black shoes, a dress shirt, a tie.
EXT. RED STAR - DAY
Establishing. We see Corwin's Mercedes pull into the
parking garage.
INT. PARKING GARAGE / RED STAR - DAY
Walking away from the car, Corwin hits the remote. The
Mercedes BWOOPS.
A beat later, a hand comes out from under the trunk lid.
Natalie climbs out, only she's not Natalie anymore.
She's become Corwin -- identical to the last detail.
She tucks the last of the latex mask under her collar as
she walks. FREEZE FRAME.
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 57.
INT. SECURITY STATION - DAY
Corwin puts his right hand on the sensor grid. A laser
scans it. Approved.
The Security Guard hits the button, releasing the gate.
He goes back to his magazine as Corwin passes through.
A beat, then...
A VOICE
Tommy? You gonna let me through
or what?
Tommy the Guard looks up, sees Corwin is still at the
counter.
TOMMY THE GUARD
(confused)
Oh. Yeah, sorry Mr. Corwin.
He hits the button again, letting Corwin through. Tommy
goes back to his magazine, still a little perplexed.
INT. SECURE HALLWAY - DAY
The same places we saw on the videotape. Natalie-as-
Corwin swipes the two stolen failsafe cards in a reader,
sending the lights from red to green. FREEZE FRAME.
She splices in a transmitter the size of a cigarette pack.
Pulls up a tiny antenna. FREEZE FRAME.
INT. SECURE HALLWAY - DAY
Corwin walks down the hall, still talking with his
colleague. Natalie-as-Corwin is walking right towards
them. She turns away as she passes. He didn't even spot
her.
She smiles.
CUT TO:
EXT. POSH BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL - DAY
Establishing...
INT. RESTAURANT - DAY
As a group, the angels move through the upscale lunch
crowd to find Knox and Vivian Wu at a booth.
Alex opens a slim Sony laptop, sets it on the table.
ALEX
It's done. Red Star's mainframe
is open for business.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 58.
CONTINUED:
Astonished, Vivian Wu hits some keys, checking that what
they say is true.
DYLAN
(to a passing waiter)
Champagne, please. Your best.
Smiling, Knox motions for them to take a seat.
KNOX
Now I know why I hired you. You're
the best.
A look between the angels. They know it's true.
VIVIAN WU
(to Knox, re: laptop)
I'll have Systems get to work on
this right away.
She reaches for the laptop. Bosley snatches it away.
BOSLEY
Uh, actually Miss Wu, WE will get to
work on this right away. Any evidence
we find will be turned over to you AND
the proper authorities.
VIVIAN WU
I don't think you understand how
important that data is, Mr...
BOSLEY
Oh, indeed I do. And that's why I'll
take very good care of it when I find it.
VIVIAN WU
(reaching for the laptop)
But...
KNOX
Vivian, please. Do as the man says.
Reluctantly, Vivian Wu pulls her hand away. Bosley tucks
the laptop into a steel briefcase, then stands.
DYLAN
Where you off to, Bos?
BOSLEY
Vacation.
NATALIE
Uh oh, lemme guess. You're off to
chase bikinis at some tropical resort?
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 59.
CONTINUED:
BOSLEY
Exactly! Fire Island, here I come!
Dylan does a spit take, the other two Angels roll their eyes.
BOSLEY (CONT'D)
Goodbye, Angels. Mr. Knox.
(coldly)
Ms. Wu.
As Bosley exits the restaurant, Vivian Wu eyes him
carefully. Knox raises a glass to toast the Angels.
KNOX
More champagne?
NATALIE
Have to go. Plans tonight.
ALEX
Me too.
As they get up...
KNOX
(to Dylan)
And you?
She notices the other Angels staring at her. She doesn't answer
at first.
DYLAN
Um... well...
Natalie quickly picks up what's going on. She glances at
Alex, then clears her throat.
NATALIE
Hey Dylan, can we talk to you
for a second?
THE LADIES ROOM
Natalie, Alex, and Dylan kibbitz near the sinks.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
There's something going on between
you and Knox. Isn't there?
DYLAN
So what, so I like him. Is that
so wrong?
NATALIE
Uh, yeah Dylan, it IS. He's a client.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 60.
CONTINUED:
DYLAN
WAS a client. We finished the job.
ALEX
She's got a point.
NATALIE
What? She doesn't have ANY point, Alex,
I can't believe you're siding with her.
ALEX
I'm not siding with anyone, but
technically, he is no longer...
NATALIE
You know Charlie would NEVER
approve of this.
ALEX
Oh come on, Charlie wouldn't care. I
think you're just being overly cautious.
DYLAN
Uh, guys? GUYS!
They turn to look at her.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
I'm a big girl. I make my own
decisions. I'm going out with him.
She walks out of the ladies' room.
CUT TO:
INT. PARKING GARAGE / BEVERLY HILLS - DAY
Bosley hums "In the Navy" to himself as he walks through
a parking garage. He's alone in the echo-y garage, and
everything we know about movies tells us This Means Trouble.
BWEEP BWEEP as his alarm shuts off. Just as he's about
to lift the handle, he stops. Looks back over his shoulder.
Did he hear something? He scans the empty garage. No
one in sight. Must've been his imagination.
INT. BOSLEY'S MERCEDES - DAY
Bosley climbs in, shutting the door behind him. He's
putting the keys in the ignition, when...
A HAND clamps a chloroformed rag over his mouth. It's
the Thin Man. Bosley struggles, but in moments, he's
unconscious.
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 61.
OUTSIDE THE CAR
THE THIN MAN stuffs Bosley in the trunk, slams it shut,
revealing...
VIVIAN WU (O.S.)
Sweet dreams.
Vivian Wu, standing beside the Thin Man. She's holding
the case Bosley refused to give her before.
THE THIN MAN
So, now we have the transmitter, what
do we do with fat boy? Dirt nap time?
VIVIAN WU
NO! Not until I've got the
information I need. We'll take
him to the compound, hold him there.
(beat)
In the meantime, we've got to tie
up some loose ends.
THIN MAN
Whenever you say something like
that, it means more work for me.
VIVIAN WU
(ignoring him)
The Angels will figure out they
were duped. We can't afford them
jeopardizing our plans.
THE THIN MAN
Here it comes...
VIVIAN WU
(coldly)
We have to Kill Charlie's Angels.
The Thin Man sighs, whips out his cell phone.
THE THIN MAN
Guess I'll cancel my weekend plans.
And speaking of weekend plans...
CUT TO:
EXT. ITALIAN STREET - NIGHT
Jason and Alex are walking down a beautiful, tree-lined
cobblestone street, holding hands. The buildings and
outdoor cafes are reminiscent of a quaint, vaguely
European town.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 62.
CONTINUED:
JASON
Alex, I can't tell you how happy I
am you came.
ALEX
Me too.
JASON
No, I mean, it's weird. It's
weirding me out how happy I am when
you're around. Am I sick or something?
ALEX
(smiling)
Got me.
JASON
The only bummer is, I start to
jones when you're not around.
What the hell am I gonna do this
weekend, if you're not with me?
ALEX
We'll get you some sedatives.
You'll be fine.
He stops, takes her in his arms. With the moonlight
shining down, it's very romantic. They kiss. Then...
JASON
Hey. Wait a second. Come with me!
ALEX
Come with you?
JASON
Miami, on the Sony Jet. I've got
two tickets to the Final Four.
ALEX
Jason, I don't...
JASON
Wait, before you say no, let me just
say something, okay? I'm sick of how
little we see each other. I'm sick of
stealing a day here, or a week there.
ALEX
It's my job, Jason. I can't
explain it, but I have to be on
call, all the time, and...
JASON
What if I changed all that?
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 63.
CONTINUED:
JASON (CONT'D)
What if I told you to quit your
job, and come live with me. What
I'm saying, Alex, is that I want
you to...
BLAM! BLAM! Gunshots ring out!
ALEX
Gunfire! Get down!
Alex, in Angels mode, immediately throws him to the
ground and covers him. She feels something wet, looks
down to see Jason's chest, covered in blood.
ALEX (CONT'D)
My God, you're hit. You're...
JASON
Fine. I'm fine.
(he laughs)
They're squibs, it's fake. See?
He wipes off a little, puts it on her tongue. Finally
convinced, she almost lets herself laugh.
REVEAL
that we are in a soundstage, the cobblestones street is
just a set. The gunfire was coming from some effects
guys, who are test firing guns for the upcoming action
scene just outside the soundstage, visible through the
open loading door.
JASON (CONT'D)
Fake guns, too. They're just
setting up for the next scene.
He helps her up.
ALEX
Sorry about that, I...
JASON
(smiling)
God, I loved that. The way you
yelled and everything? Baby, you
been watching too many movies.
(he kisses her on the nose)
Alright, I gotta go reset these.
DON'T GO ANYWHERE. I want to
finish this conversation.
As he walks out of the soundstage, Alex is left behind,
alone. She cleans herself off, shaking her head at her
own paranoia.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 64.
CONTINUED:
ALEX
Nice, Alex. Real nice.
THIPP!
A wall next to her sprays a cloud of plaster. Alex looks
at the hole. That's strange.
THIP, THIP!
Two more little explosions, these barely missing her face.
ALEX (CONT'D)
Hey, is someone firing more squibs
or...
Suddenly, without warning, the wall is plastered with
SILENCED GUNFIRE. It's only Alex's instincts that let
her duck in time to avoid being turned into Swiss cheese.
She tucks and rolls behind a Styrofoam set as...
TWO GUNMEN with silenced SNIPER rifles fan out on the
fake city street.
ON ALEX --
crouched behind a wall.
She looks both ways. If she tries to break for the open
loading door, she'll lead the gunmen right back to Jason.
Only way out of here is to head for the far wall, all the
way across the building, where there's a fire exit.
Taking a deep breath, she darts across the fake street.
THE GUNMEN
fire at her, one of them pulling off his silencer and going
to machine gun mode. The sound of the gunshots are covered
by the sound of the effects guy, test firing guns outside.
ALEX --
Sees that the sets are held up by wooden support beams.
She lifts her leg and delivers a solid blow, cracking the
two-by-fours in half.
THE GUNMEN
move slowly through the fake street set. Suddenly, they
hear a creaking sound. They look up to see the whole,
fake building set collapsing!
They dive out of the way, just in time to see Alex race
through the fire doors.
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 65.
EXT. BACKLOT - NIGHT
Alex races out of the soundstage and jumps into her car,
parked nearby. The Gunmen emerge from the stage and spot
her, just as she gets the car started. She peels out as
a hail of gunfire just misses her windshield.
EXT. OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE SOUNDSTAGE
Jason has just gotten his squibs refitted. He's facing
the opposite direction, so he doesn't see Alex's car
whizz away in the background.
INT. SOUNDSTAGE
Jason walks into the Soundstage, followed by the effects crew.
JASON
Alex? ALEX?
Of course, she's nowhere to be found. While he looks
around, one of the effects guys fingers a bullet hole in
the set wall. He presses against it and a FLATTENED
BULLET FALLS OUT.
He thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. Couldn't be.
CUT TO:
INT. EGYPTIAN THEATRE - NIGHT
A passing FILMGOER reveals Natalie and Pete. Seated near
the aisle, they share a giant tub of popcorn. The movie
hasn't started yet, but there's a slide show of various
anime heroes and villains.
NATALIE
Thanks for the second chance. I
swear, I'm really not a flake.
He shrugs it off.
PETE
How can I deny any woman who's
seen all 23 "Lords of Wind and
Power"?
NATALIE
I bet there's a dozen women here
who fit that description.
She's right.
PETE
Honestly -- there's a looks
component as well.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 66.
CONTINUED:
NATALIE
Really.
PETE
You're the most beautiful woman
I've ever seen this close up.
How can she not be flattered by that? She would say
something back, but the moment has gotten so electrified
that each little glance just brings on more goofy-in-
loveness.
The only solution is to leave...
NATALIE
Ladies room. I'll be back in two minutes.
PETE
I'll be here.
INT. LADIES ROOM - NIGHT
A wee bit smitten, Natalie enters as the last WOMAN leaves.
We hear just the DRIP DRIP DRIP of a faucet and the Muzak
version of Power Station's "Some Like It Hot."
NATALIE
IN A STALL
Natalie shuts the door behind herself, then sets to work
putting down a tissue-paper seat cover.
SWEEPING ACROSS THE FLOOR
We look under stall doors to find a pair of black men's
boots stepping down from inside. Natalie is not alone.
IN HER STALL
Natalie is about to hoist her skirt when she stops. Her
Spider Sense is tingling.
A DOOR LATCH
CLICKS open. We TILT UP to see a WELL-DRESSED MAN. He's
at least 6'3".
He stops at Natalie's stall door, drawing his gun. A
beat, then he KICKS the door open, revealing...
AN EMPTY STALL.
The automatic toilet FLUSHES itself. The Man takes a
half-step in, confused. Suddenly --
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 67.
CONTINUED:
The door swings back, SMASHING into his right hand. He
drops the gun, looking up to see
NATALIE,
Who is perched atop the stall walls. She pushed the door
with her foot.
Grabbing an overhead pipe, she performs an acrobatic
swing, landing both feet on the guy's head. He falls
into the next row of stalls.
Natalie reaches for the gun, but the Man grabs her ankles.
He pulls her back across the tile floor, flipping her over.
That just makes it easier for her to kick him where it counts.
With a scissors lock around his neck, Natalie is pulled
up while the Man falls. She lands a knee on his windpipe.
NATALIE
Who do you work for?
He tries to pull her off. She leans in harder.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
Speak now or never again.
THE MAN
(motioning with eyes)
Jacket pocket.
Suspicious, she digs inside his coat to pull out a leather
billfold. Flips it open to reveal an I.D. that reads...
NATALIE
National Security Agency? You're with the NSA?
THE MAN
I've been following you. I didn't
know which side you were on.
(beat)
This is bigger than you think.
INT. MOVIE THEATER - NIGHT
The anime classic is playing. Pete keeps looking back
towards the door. He's been ditched again. Just when he's
about to give up hope, Natalie is there.
NATALIE
I'm so sorry, but I have to go. I
can't explain.
(hands card)
This is my cell phone number. Please
call me tomorrow. Please. I'm sorry.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 68.
CONTINUED:
With that, she goes. A beat, then she comes back.
Kisses him once, hard. Then goes for real.
CUT TO:
EXT. HOLLYWOOD HILLS - NIGHT
Dylan and Knox walk hand in hand up a quaint, woodsy path
behind Knox's home. We can hear music drifting up from
the hill in front of them.
DYLAN
Where's that music coming from?
KNOX
You'll see. Just a little farther.
He helps her up a steep part of the path. As she comes
over the crest of a hill.
DYLAN
Oh...
(taking in the view)
Oh wow.
DYLAN'S POV --
The hill behind Knox's house has a magnificent view right
into the Hollywood Bowl. The music is the symphony
playing something very romantic.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
That's amazing.
They stand there, together, just listening to the music,
Knox watching her reaction closely.
KNOX
Can I ask you a personal question?
DYLAN
Maybe.
KNOX
How much do you know about Charlie?
Dylan seems surprised by this question.
KNOX (CONT'D)
I just find it strange that you
work for a man you've never met.
DYLAN
Well, I don't know what he looks like,
but I feel like I know him. We all do.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 69.
CONTINUED:
KNOX
And none of you have any clue who
he actually is?
DYLAN
Nope.
KNOX
And you're never curious to find out?
DYLAN
Of course, but believe me, it's
impossible. I've tried.
(beat)
Let's not talk about Charlie,
okay? Or work.
She smiles t him, motioning for them to go back up to
Knox's house.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
In fact, let's not talk at all.
WIPE TO:
INT. KNOX'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Dylan and Knox are asleep in his bed, when the doorbell
CHIMES. Dylan bolts upright. She slips out of bed, peers
out the window. Vivian Wu is waiting by the front door.
DYLAN
Eric, it's Vivian.
KNOX
Hmmm. I wonder what she's here
for?
DYLAN
Want me to tell her to come back, or...
KNOX
No, no. I'd better deal.
(he kisses her)
You go back to bed.
Knox pulls on a robe, goes downstairs.
STAY ON DYLAN --
as she pulls on her clothes, her CELL PHONE rings. She
grabs it.
DYLAN
Hello?
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 70.
CONTINUED:
NATALIE
Dylan, we were set up. Vivian Wu is not
who she says she is. She's a former
assassin and an all around bitch.
DYLAN
Oh no. OH SHIT. Natalie, she's HERE!
NATALIE
What?!
DYLAN
I'm at Knox's, she just showed up!
EXT. FREEWAY - NIGHT
Driving her own highly excellent car, Natalie has it floored.
INTERCUT
NATALIE
I'm ten minutes away. Wait until I
get there.
DYLAN
I can't do that. Call Alex and meet
me here.
NATALIE
Dylan...
But Dylan's already hung up. Cursing her partner, Natalie
races the car even harder.
INT. KNOX'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Knox is sitting at the coffee table, signing papers. Vivian,
sitting across from him, has her cell phone open. They are
both surprised to see Dylan walk into the room.
VIVIAN WU
I see you take your bodyguarding
services seriously. Still, I worry
that no one is watching the door.
DYLAN
(covering)
Oh, I'm watching it. In fact, I just
called for back up.
From her bag, Vivian pulls a silver 9MM.
VIVIAN WU
All the same, I'm concerned about
Mr. Knox's safety.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 71.
CONTINUED:
Although Knox is clueless, it's clear the message Vivian
is sending to Dylan. She's in control here.
Vivian sets the gun on the table, in easy reach.
KNOX
(explaining)
Vivian just came over to run through
some numbers for the IPO.
VIVIAN WU
Please, take a seat. I'm almost
finished.
With a knowing glance at Dylan, she goes back to her
phone call.
No alternative, Dylan takes a seat beside Knox. Both face
Vivian, whose hand is very near the gun.
Dylan looks at Knox as he reads through his papers. He has no
idea there's anything wrong.
VIVIAN WU (CONT'D)
(on phone)
Really. How disappointing.
Vivian gestures to the abandoned Scrabble game on the table.
Why not play?
DYLAN
I'm not much for games.
VIVIAN WU
Pity.
As Knox flips pages in the report, Dylan casually begins
pushing Scrabble letters around, nothing serious. But she's
managed to spell...
ENEMY
She gets Knox's attention, looks to the word, up to Vivian.
Knox follows her intention, but doesn't seem to believe it.
While Vivian continues to talk on the phone, Knox sets his
report down. Pushes around some letters of his own. The
words finally come out as...
I KNOW
CLOSE ON Dylan. What does that mean?
Vivian snaps her phone shut.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 72.
CONTINUED:
VIVIAN WU (CONT'D)
(to Knox)
Bad news: The other angels are still
alive. Good news: Everything else
proceeding apace.
Dylan stands up. What the hell is going on?
Vivian draws the gun on her. Knox moves over toward
Vivian's side.
KNOX
Sorry Dylan. I knew this moment
would come sooner or later. I was
just hoping for later.
A long beat, Dylan trying to wrap her head around this.
DYLAN
All this time, we thought Red Star
was behind this, but it was you.
(realizing)
You faked your kidnapping.
Knox taps his nose. She's got it.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Why?
KNOX
To gain your trust. And get your
help.
(beat)
I want you to know, my personal
attraction to you was a sincere
and unrelated complication.
DYLAN
Oh, well, in that case I feel a lot
better about you being a lying pole
smoker.
Dylan looks like she's about to leap forward and tear Knox's
throat out. Vivian gestures for Dylan to keep stepping back.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
I can't believe I trusted you.
KNOX
Why not? You trust Charlie and you've
never even met him.
Dylan crosses the sill, out onto the balcony.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 73.
CONTINUED:
KNOX (CONT'D)
And believe me, there's a lot about
him that you don't know. Anyway,
I'm not going to be an idiot and
stand here talking when we could do
something useful, like KILL YOU.
Goodbye, Dylan, I'll miss you...
How right he is, because as soon as Vivian squeezes the
trigger...
Dylan drops to the floor, then rolls.
BLAM!
the bullet misses Dylan and slams into the bulletproof window
causing a spider-web crack to spread. Dylan sees her
opportunity and heads right for the window while Vivian
pumps off shots.
As she comes to the window, Dylan jumps up in the air and
does a flying kick, hitting right at the spot where the
bullet impacted.
SMASH!
The bulletproof glass shatters outward, and Dylan flies out
the window, onto the ledge.
KNOX (CONT'D)
Wow.
(to Vivian)
I've never seen YOU do something
like that.
VIVIAN WU
Oh, shut up.
CUT TO:
EXT. BALCONY - NIGHT
Dylan looks over the edge of the balcony. The drop-off is
incredibly steep -- the house is built on stilts -- and the
fall looks like it would kill her. But she doesn't have
much choice.
KNOX AND VIVIAN
come running out onto the balcony, just in time to see Dylan
jump. They rush to the edge, look down into a forbidding
thicket of trees.
VIVIAN WU
She can't have survived. It's too far.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 74.
CONTINUED:
VIVIAN WU (CONT'D)
(beat)
Still, I should probably check...
Knox shakes his head.
KNOX
We've got more important things to do.
The two of them head back inside. As they do...
We hold on the railing, then slowly start to drift down, to
the underside of the balcony. Dylan has attached her belt to
the bottom of the railing, and is hanging in the rafters. As
she pulls herself back up...
WIPE TO:
EXT. AIRPORT -- NIGHT
A black sedan pulls onto the tarmac. Knox and Vivian Wu emerge,
then hustle into a waiting private plane.
INT. ANGELS DETECTIVE AGENCY
Natalie, Dylan and Alex nurse their wounds and compare notes.
DYLAN
I can't believe Knox tried to kill me.
I mean, I've been lied to, I've been
cheated on, but no guy has ever
tried to SHOOT me before.
(coldly)
I'm gonna get him for that.
ALEX
He played us from the very start.
It was all just so he could get us
to tap into Red Star. He couldn't
figure out a way to do it himself.
NATALIE
Who knew that we are actually
tapping into the main servers for
The National Security Agency?
DYLAN
And now, thanks to us, he's had hours
to download whatever top secret
information he wants, for God knows
what reason.
The angels take a beat to let their indignation grow.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 75.
CONTINUED:
NATALIE
Wait a minute. We installed the
transmitter, yes, but we never gave
him the receiver.
ALEX
What?
NATALIE
That laptop was the only way to access
the transmitter. And we gave the
laptop to...
They look at each other...
ANGELS
Bosley!
And on that note...
EXT. BEACHFRONT COMPOUND - FLORIDA COASTLINE - DAY
We PUSH IN over the water to reveal the massive complex -- half-
villa, half-castle. Built into the green hills, it's
flanked by oversized windmills.
EXT. STAIRCASE - DAY
Armed guards, as if they were necessary, make sure no one
goes up or down a staircase that leans up into the tower,
where their dangerous prisoner is being held.
INT. COMPOUND TOWER - DAY
Bosley's cell, as such, is a round room.
Bosley flits about in a panic. He's hardly touched the gourmet
food on his tray. Except for the pudding. He loves pudding.
JUMP CUT TO:
Still a-twitter, Bosley flips through the 500 channels on
his big-screen TV. He watches a few moments of E!
JUMP CUT TO:
As the Thin Man takes the tray away, Bosley suddenly attacks
him with the silverware. With a single hand to Bosley's
forehead, the Thin Man holds him at arm's length, harmless.
He takes the weapons away.
JUMP CUT TO:
Bosley WHISTLES to a bright red songbird who has landed
on the windowsill. The bird WHISTLES back. Bosley thinks
they're having a conversation.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 76.
CONTINUED:
Bosley is going a little insane.
JUMP CUT TO:
In his spacious bathroom, Bosley is sitting on the toilet,
rocking as he makes spaceman noises.
We hear a PLOP in the water, and then a BLEEP BLEEP.
Curious, he stands up and looks in the bowl. He's surprised
by what he sees.
CUT TO:
INT. TOWNSEND AGENCY - DAY
Alex is on the phone, frantically dialing numbers.
ALEX
Come on, Bosley, answer.
(she hangs up, then,
to the Angels)
I've tried all his numbers and paged
him five times. No answer.
NATALIE
I don't even want to think about
what I'm thinking right now.
DYLAN
Don't! He's alive, he's gotta be. If...
(she pauses)
What IS that?
There's a very faint voice coming from Bosley's desk drawer.
Dylan walks around the desk, yanks it open...
BOSLEY (O.S.)
Angels! Angels, can you hear me!
Dylan grabs the radio receiver from the drawer, holds him up.
Bosley's voice gets louder.
BOSLEY (O.S.) (CONT'D)
I don't know if you can hear me. I don't
know if this thing is even working.
The Angels crowd around Dylan and the receiver. It seems
impossible.
EXT. COMPOUND TOWER - DAY
CLOSE ON a satellite mini-dish mounted to the roof. We CRANE
DOWN to look in a tower window, where Bosley is hunched over
the TV.
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 77.
INT. COMPOUND TOWER - DAY
On the top of the TV, a wire runs from the satellite feed to --
THE TINY RADIO
that Bosley swallowed at the spa. It's worked its way
through his system.
BOSLEY
I know you can't answer, but... I
really hope you can hear this.
EXT. RUINS OF TOWNSEND AGENCY - DAY
The angels still can't believe they're hearing his voice.
DYLAN
Can we trace him?
NATALIE
Not off a boosted signal. We'd
have to be within 20 miles.
ALEX
Come on, Bosley. Tell us where you are.
INT. COMPOUND TOWER - DAY
BOSLEY
I don't know where I am, really. I'm
in a round room. The walls are white.
Well. Not white-white. More of a
cream, or an eggshell. Vanilla. Yes,
I'm going to say vanilla.
INTERCUT
This isn't helping.
BOSLEY (CONT'D)
I can see the ocean.
ALEX
Bingo.
Dylan finds a globe amid the wreckage. Wipes off the soot.
BOSLEY
I don't know which ocean. I was
blindfolded the whole time. We were
flying. It must've been three or
four hours. Maybe more.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 78.
CONTINUED:
With her fingers, Dylan figures out how far he could have
flown. Estimates the circumference.
DYLAN
(frustrated)
He could be anywhere in North America.
The bird Bosley was whistling to lands on the TV, looks
at the transmitter, curious. SINGS its song.
BOSLEY
Wherever it is, they have really
good pudding.
Natalie holds up a finger -- stop.
DYLAN
(incredulous)
What, pudding?
The bird SINGS its song again. Natalie smiles.
NATALIE
Hear that? That's a blue spotted
egret. They only live in one place.
ALEX
Florida.
The MUSIC revs up, as we...
CUT TO:
EXT. VILLA COURTYARD
A HELICOPTER touches down inside the villa gates. Knox
and Vivian emerge.
INT. COMPOUND - DAY
Knox and Vivian walk into a fully macked computer room,
where the Thin Man is supervising a techie as he taps away
at Bosley's laptop.
KNOX
Well?
THIN MAN
Our access was cut off at the source.
KNOX
GODDAMNIT!
THIN MAN
But not before we retrieved the
information you wanted.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 79.
CONTINUED:
The Thin Man pulls a piece of paper out of a printer,
hands them to Knox.
THIN MAN (CONT'D)
The National Security Agency's secret file
on the man known as Charles Townsend.
Knox smiles. Takes the print-out.
KNOX
Finally.
(beat)
How about Bosley? Did we get the
information we wanted?
THIN MAN
Once we we drugged him, he sang like a bird.
The Thin Man hands Knox another print-out.
KNOX
Hmmm. Miami Arena. Preparations
have been made?
THIN MAN
Yes. We move out tonight.
KNOX
Excellent.
(beat)
Where IS Bosley?
THIN MAN
In the tower. We were waiting till
you gave the word.
KNOX
Well? No time like the present.
The Thin Man nods.
INT. KNOX COMPOUND - DAY
The Thin Man cocks his gun as he heads to the tower to do
away with Bosley. Then...
HENCHMAN
Sir? You should take a look at this.
The Henchman leads Thin Man into...
SECURITY ROOM
A room lined with monitors that survey the courtyard. Henchman
points to one in the corner.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 80.
CONTINUED:
HENCHMAN (CONT'D)
See here? Look at the timer on
the camera.
THIN MAN
It's not moving.
(beat)
Oh, this is the oldest one in the
book. Punch up camera three.
Another camera angle comes up, this also a view of the
empty courtyard.
THIN MAN (CONT'D)
Now pan left.
The Henchman does what he's told and, on the monitor...
WE SEE DYLAN, dressed in a black cat suit, as she rewires
a security camera. She glances around, making sure no
one sees her.
THIN MAN (CONT'D)
The old re-loop the video camera trick.
And look, she's not even carrying a gun.
(beat)
What is this, amateur hour?
CUT TO:
EXT. COURTYARD - DAY
Dylan sneaks her way through the courtyard, doing an
admirable job of trying to stick to the walls. As she
comes around the corner.
THIN MAN (O.S.)
Um, excuse me? I think you're
trespassing.
She whips around to see the Thin Man, standing right
behind her. She instantly swings at him, he blocks it.
She's about to swing again when five guns get cocked
against her temple. She's surrounded by guards.
NOW --
The thin man and his boys lead Dylan into the house.
THIN MAN (CONT'D)
No offense, but as "storming the
castle" plans go, this one sucked.
DYLAN
Oh yeah? And I suppose you could
do better?
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 81.
CONTINUED:
THIN MAN
Yeah, I sure as hell could.
DYLAN
Oh, right.
THIN MAN
How about an underwater entry? Or
hang gliding over the main tower?
There's a million good ways in, if
you just do your homework.
Dylan glares at him, and as she does...
We move in CLOSE ON Dylan's funky belt buckle. There's a
tiny camera concealed there.
EXT. OUTSIDE THE COMPOUND - DAY
Natalie and Alex huddle around a three-inch monitor,
getting live video from Dylan's camera.
ALEX
You heard the man.
NATALIE
Nice work, Dyl.
They move into action.
EXT. SECOND STORY VERANDAH - DAY
Dylan is led inside by the Thin Man. Knox is waiting for her.
THIN MAN
Present for you, sir.
KNOX
Dylan, how nice. Welcome to my
Florida home. Not as tasteful as
the one in LA, but much more private.
She shrugs off the goons -- enough already.
DYLAN
So tell me, Knox, what's the brilliant
plan? You gonna sell a list of our
foreign spies to the highest bidder?
Blackmail the President?
KNOX
The first plan is too complicated,
and the second is virtually
impossible.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 82.
CONTINUED:
KNOX (CONT'D)
Besides, I already have all the
money I need and my motivation is
much simpler...
(leaning in close to her)
... revenge.
DYLAN
Revenge? Against who?
KNOX
You know what? I'm not in a gabby mood
right now. I've got a score to settle.
He flips shut a suitcase filled with C-5 explosive, the
same stuff we saw Pascal selling in the opening scene.
DYLAN
Seems like you're going a bit overboard.
KNOX
No, just leaving myself plenty of
margin for error. Goodbye, Dylan.
With that, he walks out of the room.
The Thin Man signals to the Henchmen. Two of them force
Dylan to sit in one of the wooden deck chairs.
Then, with the thick packing tape, they begin binding her
arms to the arms of the chair. As they do:
DYLAN
I don't know why you bother. I've
already won.
THIN MAN
Is that so?
DYLAN
Every moment I sit here is a
moment I'm using to figure out how
to take you down. In fact, this
statement -- this one I'm making
right here-- is just me stalling
for time while I decide which of
your goons I'm going to flatten
first.
(whispering)
It's gonna be the guy behind me.
The Thin Man can't help but be amused. After all, there
are six guards and one blonde -- who is now taped to a
chair.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 83.
CONTINUED:
THE THIN MAN
Really?
DYLAN
By the time your guys are firing,
I'll be at about 180 on my reverse
inverted 360, which will land me
on Fat Boy there, as promised.
(nods to the second guard)
He'll take the chair seat in the
chin.
(re: two others; very slowly)
Now... I'm warning both of you:
I'm going to get you to shoot each
other. I know. Cliche as that
sounds.
(then to the last two)
Last, you guys -- hell, I'll make
something up. We'll have fun.
The Thin Man smirks oh-so-confidently.
THE THIN MAN
And what will you do to me?
DYLAN
You won't even be here. I mean, I
don't want to tell you how to do
your job, but you should've killed
me by now. Because I already know
that your people are onto my
people, which means any moment now
you're going to be called out to
go and deal --
Suddenly the door flies open and --
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Ah! See?
HENCHMAN AT THE DOOR
We have intruders.
With a glare to Dylan, the Thin Man follows him out.
INT. UNDERWATER GROTTO
Alex, dressed in a sexy bikini, emerges from the water
and instantly takes out two guards.
EXT. SMALL GARDEN - DAY
NATALIE hang-glides into a courtyard, knocking out two
henchmen as she does. Alex catches up with her, as
Natalie pulls out a small scanner.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 84.
CONTINUED:
NATALIE
Bosley's close.
ALEX
You find him. I'll get Dylan.
Natalie heads left. Alex goes right.
INT. TOWER OFFICE - DAY
Racing up the stairs, Natalie enters a round room with
open windows on all sides. A gentle breeze stirs the
curtains. There's an amazing 360 degree view, from hills
to ocean.
According to her scanner, Bosley should be here, but
there's no one.
NATALIE
(yelling)
BOSLEY! Bosley, can you hear me?
INT. BOSLEY'S ROUND ROOM DAY
Hearing her voice, the feral Bosley looks up.
BOSLEY
Natalie! Is that you?
INT. TOWER OFFICE - DAY
She hears him. She keeps yelling -- so does he -- until
they both realize that his room is above hers.
NATALIE
How do I get up to you?
BOSLEY
There's a staircase. Look for a
switch.
She begins frantically checking the desk, the shelves,
everything.
Her cell phone RINGS. She answers it.
NATALIE
Hello?... Pete, hi! How are you?
INT. BILTMORE HOTEL - DAY
On break, Pete is talking on a pay phone.
PETE
I'm good. I just -- you said you
wanted me to call.
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 85.
INT. TOWER OFFICE - DAY
Natalie keeps checking the shelves, looking for a secret
switch.
NATALIE
I did. I do. I mean, thank you
for calling.
INTERCUT
PETE
I'm not an insecure person or anything,
and I've really enjoyed the very brief
time we have spent together.
Two GOONS race up the stairs into the office. Natalie
turns to face them.
PETE (CONT'D)
I'm just wondering if it's
something I said or did that's
making this whole thing so weird
between us.
The Goons approach.
NATALIE
(into phone)
Can you hold on a sec?
Hitting MUTE, Natalie kicks the chair behind her and dives
under the desk. She comes up on the other side with a
SURGE SUPPRESSOR,
electric cords attached. She backhands it into the
goons, who jerk and twitch as electricity shoots through
their bodies.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
(un-muting)
One more sec.
She re-mutes.
With a roundhouse kick, she flattens one of the goons,
WHACKS the other with the cell phone.
The first goon charges at her, but she sidesteps at the
last moment, leaving Goon One to hit Goon Two. Both men
topple through the open window, falling. Yikes.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
(un-muting)
Sorry about that.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 86.
CONTINUED:
PETE
Listen, is this a bad time?
NATALIE
No. Not at all.
She starts searching again for the switch.
PETE
You just sound distracted.
NATALIE
You know, work this week has been
really busy. It's been hard to focus.
BEHIND NATALIE, Vivian Wu reaches the top of the stairs.
She moves stealthily. Natalie has no idea she's there.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
See, the thing is, I'm not a full-
time waitress. I should have been
more up-front about that, it's just...
At the last moment, Natalie catches a moving reflection
in a shiny trophy. Turns to find Vivian Wu swinging an
antique chair at her head.
She ducks. The chair SHATTERS the display case.
Scrambling to get away, Natalie drops the phone.
PETE
Natalie, what was that?
NATALIE
(yelling to phone)
Everything's fine!
VIVIAN WU
Hate to disagree.
Vivian upends the desk, nearly crushing Natalie. Vivian
jumps on top, ready to kick the shit out of our angel.
As we probably suspected, Vivian Wu is one hell of a
martial artist. Fortunately, so is Natalie.
In their first series of blows, Vivian seems to have the
upper hand, but Natalie rallies hard. Vivian surprises
her with a floor-sweeping kick, knocking her down.
Vivian grabs the phone off the floor.
VIVIAN WU (CONT'D)
Is this the famous Charlie?
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 87.
CONTINUED:
PETE
(confused)
No, it's Pete.
Vivian looks at the phone. Who the fuck cares? She
throws the phone out the open window.
Getting up, Natalie stares her down, incredulity building
to rage.
NATALIE
You bitch! I like that guy.
Mocking, Vivian wipes away a tear.
Natalie lets forth a typhoon of fury, a full-out Mortal
Kombat. Vivian is thrown back against the bookcase,
where she knocks over a candlestick.
That's the trigger for the bookcases to begin sinking
into the floor. Circling around the room, each set of
shelves drops to a different level, forming steps that
lead to the upstairs room.
As Natalie and Vivian continue to fight, Bosley sticks
his head down from above, watching the brawl. Natalie is
kicking ass.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
(to Vivian)
Do you have any idea how difficult it
is to find a quality man in Los Angeles?
She slams Vivian into the wall. Grabs her again, hands
around her head.
VIVIAN WU
To be honest?
Vivian suddenly leans forward and KISSES her, right on
the lips.
VIVIAN WU (CONT'D)
I don't care.
Natalie is surprised for a moment, which gives Vivian the
chance to swing at her. She misses.
NATALIE
I can handle villainy. I can even
handle super-villainy.
(Vivian swings and
misses again)
But what you did is just wrong.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 88.
CONTINUED:
She head-butts Vivian, knocking her out cold. She throws
the limp body on the floor.
A beat, then Natalie looks up to see Bosley.
NATALIE (CONT'D)
(suddenly chipper)
Hi, Bos!
He waves.
EXT. VERANDAH - DAY
From below, we hear SECURITY WHISTLES. The compound has been
breached. Dylan looks at the six armed guards surrounding her.
DYLAN
Here we go.
And now she does exactly what she told the Thin Man she'd do:
She pitches forward, ducking her head so the chair's back
crashes into the railing, tearing it off. She stands.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Okay, that part worked.
The Guards FIRE -- but Dylan has already launched herself
from the railing into that backflip, which lands her on
the head of --
Fat Boy, flattening him bad, and smashing the rest of the
chair into kindling. She grabs the wooden seat and whips
it up, catching bullets from Guard #3 before flinging it
like a Frisbee at Guard #2, nailing him right on the chin.
Quickly she stands again, between Guards #3 and 4.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Now, guys, I warned you. This is
where you shoot each other.
The two men scoff, disbelieving. Then Dylan does a head
fake, both Guards panic, and fire, but Dylan drops, leaving
each man a clear shot at the other. Both gape. Both fall.
Just Guards #5 and 6 left. Dylan's chair arms are still
taped to her forearms.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Okay, here's where we improvise.
In a whirl, she overhead-chops Guard #5. Drives her
right arm into his shoulder while swinging her left arm
into the back of the Guard #6's head.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 89.
CONTINUED:
A few more blows, then both men fall.
Now Dylan drops into a second chair, half-exhausted,
half-amused with herself. Has one brief beat to take it
all in, then --
Bosley steps onto the veranda, sees Dylan sitting in the
chair.
FROM HIS POINT OF VIEW: It looks like Dylan -- whose
arms are still strapped to the arms of the first chair --
is taped to the chair she now sits in.
BOSLEY
Oh my God, let me help you.
Bosley hurries over, "freeing her." Amused, Dylan lets
him. Natalie steps out from inside, pausing to KICK one
guard who was starting to revive.
CUT TO:
EXT. KNOX COMPOUND - DAY
Knox, carrying the briefcase bomb, gets into his waiting
helicopter, followed closely by the Thin Man.
KNOX
Let's GO!
The helicopter quick ascends, just as...
DYLAN (O.S.)
Damn!
THE THREE ANGELS
run into the courtyard.
NATALIE
Don't worry, we'll get him.
DYLAN
You don't understand. He's got a
pound of C-5 in that briefcase.
ALEX
The question is, where's he headed?
BOSLEY (O.S.)
Miami.
The three angels turn to see Bosley, huffing and puffing
his way into the courtyard.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 90.
CONTINUED:
BOSLEY (CONT'D)
The man Knox is trying to kill has two
general admission tickets to the Duke-
Maryland game at Miami Arena. He's going
to blow up the arena and kill his target.
DYLAN
Not that I don't believe you, but how
exactly do you know all this?
BOSLEY
Because Angels, I was the one who
purchased those tickets.
NATALIE
But Bosley, you HATE sports, why
would you...
(suddenly getting it)
You didn't buy them for yourself.
ALEX
You bought them for...
Bosley lowers his head. Suddenly all the angels understand.
ANGELS
CHARLIE!
They race out the courtyard, in hot pursuit.
CUT TO:
INT. MIAMI - DAY
Racing across the water, we find thong-clad BEACH BABES
moving to a Latin beat. Art Deco buildings flank sun-kissed
streets. The people are sexy, the daiquiris strong, and every
night's a fiesta -- Welcome to MIAMI.
Running down the street, towards Miami Arena, the three
angels pass THREE OTHER WOMEN rollerblading by: JILL
MONROE, SABRINA DUNCAN and KELLY GARRETT.
Nothing is said, but a cool moment just happened.
CUT TO:
INT. LONG, LONG, HALLWAY -- LATER
The three Angels are running down a very long hallway.
Their voices are the only sound that echoes off these
walls, although there is a faint humming that grows louder
as they approach two, metal fire doors.
DYLAN
What do you think he looks like?
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 91.
CONTINUED:
ALEX
Sixty, tall, well-built.
NATALIE
I always saw him as younger.
DYLAN
Definitely. With black hair.
NATALIE
No, silver hair. And tan.
ALEX
He's not George Hamilton.
NATALIE
He's outside a lot.
DYLAN
We'll know him when we see him,
that's for sure.
ALEX
IF we see him.
NATALIE
How hard can it be to spot Charlie?
They slam into the doors, and we...
CUT TO:
INT. MIAMI ARENA - NIGHT
We reverse angle to reveal the inside of Miami Arena. The first
thing that hits us is the WALL OF SOUND, the noise made
by twenty thousand people in a basketball induced frenzy.
The next thing that hits us is the sheer magnitude of the
job facing the Angels. Hard to spot? The crowd is one,
enormous, teeming mass of brightly colored humanity.
DYLAN
Aw, shit.
The game is in progress, Duke vs. North Carolina, and it's a
barn burner. A one point game with six minutes to go. BALL
PLAYER pulls up and swishes a three pointer, Duke by two.
The crowd goes apeshit.
BY THE MEZZANINE
The Angels huddle, yelling over the deafening noise of the
crowd...
DYLAN (CONT'D)
We have to split up!
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 92.
CONTINUED:
ALEX
I'll take the luxury boxes.
DYLAN
I'll take the mezzanine.
NATALIE
I got the floor.
They split up. Dylan leads the charge down the loge section,
blowing past the SECURITY WOMAN, who yells after her.
INT. ARENA FLOOR - NIGHT
BEHIND THE RIM, COLLEGE PLAYER #2 pulls down a brick, slams
home the rebound. The crowd ROARS.
INT. LUXURY BOXES --
JASON GIBBONS, famous movie star and North Carolina alumnus,
pumps his fists in the air. His luxury box is loaded with
fellow Tar Heels and nameless studio executives. He
repeatedly high fives a Hollywood type in sunglasses and Armani.
JASON
Yes, yes!
When suddenly, the door to the luxury box is flung open.
ALEX
(yelling)
Charlie!? Charles Townsend!
Jason whips around and locks eyes with Alex.
JASON
Alex?
ALEX
Jason?
(beat)
Shit.
Realizing she has no time to explain, and that Charlie isn't
in here, she turns and leaves.
JASON
ALEX! Hey...
While everyone watches, confused, Jason pushes his way
through the box and follows Alex into the hall.
CUT TO:
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 93.
INT. ARENA -- MEZZANINE
Dylan races past rows of seats, pissing off plenty of fans
in the process.
DYLAN
(looking everywhere)
Charlie! Charlie!
FLASHES FIRE
in the stands.
STATISTICIANS
scribble at their monitors. Natalie runs behind them,
scanning the crowd. WHIP PANS, from ONE MAN to ANOTHER to
ANOTHER. Stopping on a likely candidate...
NATALIE
Charlie?
LIKELY CANDIDATE
Who?
THE SCOREBOARD CLOCK
counts down. :60. :59. :58.
INT. LUXURY BOXES - NIGHT
Alex bursts in. It's a crowd of fifteen cocktail-drinking
BUSINESS MEN.
ALEX
Charles Townsend? Anybody, Charles
Townsend?
She ducks back into the hallway.
INT. HALLWAY -- CONTINUOUS
Alex walks out into the hallway, frustrated. Then,
miraculously, she spots him...
KNOX.
He walks out of one of the luxury boxes, holding a large,
metal briefcase. He heads for the elevator.
ALEX
immediately goes to intercept him, but...
THIN MAN (O.S.)
Don't move.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 94.
CONTINUED:
It's the Thin Man, standing behind her, with a gun in
her back.
THIN MAN (CONT'D)
You move, you say anything, I
perforate you. Got it?
Knox glances back at the Thin Man, nods to him. Then he
gets in the elevator.
The Thin Man starts edging Alex towards some emergency exit
doors, gun still in her back. Alex is trying to think of an
escape, quickly. She knows that the second he gets her out
of this public space, he's gonna shoot her. The door gets
closer and closer...
JASON (O.S.)
Alex?! Jesus, what is going on?
The Thin Man and Alex turn around to face Jason, who is
sweaty and exasperated from chasing her.
ALEX
Jason, hi, I...
The Thin Man digs the gun deeper into her back.
ALEX (CONT'D)
Can I talk to you later?
JASON
No you can talk to me NOW. I want
to know what the hell is going on.
First, you disappear with no
explanation, not even a goodbye.
ALEX
I'm sorry, I...
JASON
Now, I see you here, but you're
with some other guy.
THIN MAN
Hey, movie star, do yourself a
favor and get lost.
Jason double takes. He's not used to someone talking to
him like that.
JASON
Lemme guess. You must be Charlie?
ALEX
Jason, please...
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 95.
CONTINUED:
JASON
No, no I'm sick of this shit. I'm
sick of this asshole telling you
what you can and can't do.
And then, with no warning, he hauls off and punches the
Thin Man.
Now, Jason's just an actor, not an ass-kicking super
detective, so his punch isn't all that great. In fact, it
leaves Jason shaking his hand in pain.
The Thin Man, a trickle of blood running from his lip, smiles.
THIN MAN
That was stupid.
First, he pops Jason right in the jaw. Jason stumbles
backward, dazed. Then he reaches for his gun, in the
process, loosening his grip on Alex...
ALEX
Jason, get down!
Alex spins out of the Thin Man's grasp and does a full
roundhouse kick, knocking the gun out of the Thin Man's
hands. The Thin Man immediately responds, throwing two
quick punches, which Alex expertly blocks and then follows
with a hitch-kick to the chin.
Jason, dazed and confused, thinks he must be hallucinating.
JASON
What the hell is going on?
What's going on is a world class ass-kicking, courtesy of his
girlfriend. While the action star watches in amazement, Alex
unloads an arsenal of bad ass kung fu moves that would make
Jet Li green with envy.
The Thin Man doesn't stand a chance. A flying side kick
sends him stumbling backwards into the stairwell. We
follow the fight...
INT. STAIRWELL -- CONTINUOUS
... to the first landing. The Thin Man, battered and bruised,
reaches down to his ankle holster to get his spare gun, but
Alex is too fast for him. She stamps on his hand, then
drops a knee to his throat.
ALEX
Right now, just by leaning forward, I
could crush your windpipe. You'd die
a slow and painful death. You don't
want that, do you?
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 96.
CONTINUED:
The Thin Man shakes his head "no."
ALEX (CONT'D)
Where is the bomb, when's it going off?
She presses harder.
INT. HALLWAY
Jason slams out into the stairwell, looking for Alex. He
finds her on her walkie talkie, the Thin Man handcuffed
to the staircase.
ALEX
Hi, Jason. Gimme one second?
Jason nods, sure.
We go to another triptych, all three Angels on their cell
phones in different parts of arena.
ALEX (CONT'D)
Angels! Knox planted the bomb in the
basement, and it's timed to go off
when the game clock hits zero!
NATALIE (O.S.)
Roger that, Alex, I'll stop the clock!
DYLAN (O.S.)
I'll look for the bomb!
Alex turns back to Jason. He's clearly having a difficult
time processing everything he's just seen.
ALEX
I lied to you Jason. I'm not a
secretary.
JASON
Yeah, I can see that.
ALEX
(referring to the
Thin Man)
And that wasn't Charlie.
JASON
Right.
ALEX
I'm actually here to stop a madman
from killing everyone in this
building. Would it be okay if we
talked later?
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 97.
CONTINUED:
JASON
Go save the world, honey.
(beat)
I'll be waiting for you.
Alex smiles. Runs off.
INT. ARENA
Natalie stares up at the clock... :30. :29.
The WHISTLE BLOWS.
REFEREE
Time out!
Whew, that was close. But it'll start up any second. She
has to keep it stopped. But how? She glances to the
sidelines and gets an idea.
ON THE COURT --
MUSIC starts from overhead, the respective teams' cheerleaders
coming out for one last routine.
As they kick into gear, Natalie comes out with them, dressed
as a Duke cheerleader. She follows along with the dancers, a
bit timid at first, then more confident as she gets into it.
INT. ARENA BASEMENT -- BENEATH THE COURT
Dylan races through the basement, looking for the briefcase.
Then she spots it, hooked into some wires that snake up
into ceiling above.
Dylan approaches it cautiously. She slowly opens the top...
DYLAN
(to herself)
Alright, Dylan, all we have to do is
figure out which wire to cut.
REVEAL THE BOMB --
there are about fifty different wires, in every color in
the Crayola box.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Oh, shit.
INT. COURTSIDE
Alex, still searching for Charlie, notices something strange.
ALEX
You're kidding me.
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 98.
NATALIE
is fully transformed on the court, from wallflower to full-
out cheerleader. It's not that she's as good as the other
cheerleaders. She's better.
ON THE COURT
The SONG ends. The Cheerleaders vacate the court, but Natalie
keeps dancing her heart out. She has 18,000 fans watching
her, and she's totally in the moment. But there's another
agenda as well...
COURTSIDE RADIO ANNOUNCER
The time out is over, but one
cheerleader doesn't seem to notice.
Officials can't start the clock again
while she's on the court.
CUT TO:
INT. MIAMI ARENA -- CONTINUOUS
Dylan has picked two wires.
DYLAN
Chartreuse and magenta. This has
gotta be it.
She prepares to snip them with her wire cutters, when...
KNOX (O.S.)
I wouldn't do that, if I were you.
She spins to see Knox, standing behind her.
KNOX (CONT'D)
See, if you snip ANY of those wires,
the bomb WILL blow up.
DYLAN
It's gonna blow anyway, once the
clock gets to zero.
KNOX
Who told you that, my idiotic
henchman? Do you think I tell him
ANYTHING that's confidential?
He holds up a small TRIGGERING DEVICE. It's the same one
we saw Pascal try to sell in the opening scene.
KNOX (CONT'D)
THIS is what triggers that bomb. So
if you'll kindly step away, I'll
refrain from killing both of us.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 99.
CONTINUED:
Realizing she has no choice, Dylan stands up and backs away.
KNOX (CONT'D)
In different circumstances, Dylan, I
think you and I could have worked out.
We have a lot in common.
DYLAN
Yeah, I fall for assholes, and you
ARE one.
Knox laughs.
KNOX
Good one.
(beat, as he backs up)
Well, I must be going. If you like
your body parts attached to your
torso, I suggest you do the same.
Knox turns to go, but the other Angels are blocking his way.
ALEX
Give it up, Knox. You're surrounded.
NATALIE
Give us the detonator.
KNOX
NO!
Stumbling backwards, Knox holds it up high.
KNOX (CONT'D)
I'll blow this building sky high, I swear!
CHARLIE (O.S.)
Don't do it, Eric. It's me you want,
not all these innocent people.
Everyone turns, as one, to a figure emerging from the shadows.
KNOX
Charlie?
That's right, it's Charlie. Finally, after all these years,
we get a look at him, and boy is it... disappointing.
He's not what we expected. Short, portly, dressed in a
"We're #1" t-shirt; the Angels are absolutely floored by
Charlie's appearance.
ANGELS
Charlie?
Charlie ignores their stares and addresses Knox directly.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 100.
CONTINUED:
CHARLIE
Your father was a double agent, Eric.
Yes, I revealed him, but he was killed
by his own people before we could
throw him in jail.
(beat)
He was my friend.
KNOX
It's still your fault, you arrogant
prick! You still killed my father!
CHARLIE
Maybe. Maybe I did. But why should
YOU kill all these people? If you
hate me so much, just shoot ME.
Just shoot me, Eric.
Charlie spreads his arms, leaving Knox a plenty wide target.
It's a horribly tense moment. The Angels are frozen, watching
Knox decide Charlie's fate.
Knox is sweating, debating his choices. Can he really do
this? Charlie's not the glamorous, smug asshole he imagined.
He starts lowering his gun.
KNOX
Okay. You're right.
(quickly)
I'll just kill you.
BLAM!
It all happens in the blink of an eye. Knox fires, hitting
Charlie in the chest. Natalie leaps out and tackles Knox.
Alex dives and grabs the detonator, before it has a chance
to go off.
Dylan runs to Charlie's side.
DYLAN
Charlie, no. NO!
She hold shim in her arms as the other Angels gather round
their fallen leader. He gasps for air.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
He's trying to say something.
Then Dylan notices something weird. He's not gasping for
air, there's something stuck in his mouth.
With a great, hacking cough, he spits it out. It's a voice
chip, like the one Dylan used in the opening scene.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 101.
CONTINUED:
VOICE
Ucch, that tasted terrible!
The voice isn't Charlie's. Dylan reaches down and rips
off Charlie's mask, revealing...
NATALIE
Bosley! Are you okay?
BOSLEY
Think so.
He pulls back the padding from the suit, revealing a small
wound where the bullet grazed his side.
BOSLEY (CONT'D)
Hurts, but it looks like it'll heel.
Dylan laughs, Alex ruffles his hair.
DYLAN
Hey, wait a second. If Bosley's
here... then where's Charlie?
The Angels all look at each other. No one knows.
EXT. CENTER PASSAGE - DAY
In gorgeous SLOW MOTION, the three angels walk side-by-side
with a calm assurance, fireballs exploding behind them.
They won.
As MUSIC rises, the ANGELS TRIPTYCH descends, then peels
away to reveal...
EXT. GORGEOUS BEACH - DAY
The angels kick back on the white sands, tropical drinks in-
hand. Bosley is there as well, with a grass hat and zinc
on his sniffer.
Charlie is on the cellular speakerphone.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
Great work, angels. You'll be happy
to know you received another
presidential commendation.
The Angels, and Bosley, clink glasses.
CHARLIE'S VOICE (CONT'D)
Enjoy your vacation, angels.
THE ANGELS
Thank you Charlie.
(CONTINUED)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 102.
CONTINUED:
They toast the speakerphone.
CHARLIE'S VOICE
Alex, Natalie -- I know you've been
putting in some long hours on this case,
so I thought you might enjoy a chance to
catch up with some old friends.
NATALIE AND ALEX TURN TO SEE
PETER AND JASON
walking across the beach towards them. Each is carrying a
drink of his own. They wave. Damn those men look good.
Alex and Natalie share a smile.
DYLAN
Any chance you'll be joining us,
Charlie?
CUT TO:
A SUNNY DECK
We're in Charlie's point-of-view. We can see part of his
reflection in the window -- not enough to see his face,
but we get some sense of the man.
He turns away, begins walking. Steps down onto the sand.
CHARLIE
(to cell phone)
I'd love to, Angels. But I have some
precious treasures to watch over.
With that, he hangs up. We stay in his P.O.V., walking
across the beach. And it's not just any beach.
TO THE LEFT, WE NOTICE
PETE AND JASON
approaching. We're on the same beach.
Looking right, we see the backs of the Angels and Bosley.
They have no idea that Charlie is walking right behind them.
A beat, then Dylan looks back.
She looks directly as us -- at Charlie -- tracking as we
move past. Does she somehow recognize it's Charlie?
From her reaction, it's not clear.
A beat, then we...
CHARLIE'S ANGELS - 8/18/99 103.
REVERSE ANGLE/NOT P.O.V.
Dylan looks back forward again. Did she just see Charlie?
Her smile tells us she thinks she did.
She raises a toast.
DYLAN
To Charlie.
THE ANGELS AND BOSLEY
To Charlie.
They knock glasses.
Right at the moment we should probably fade out, Bosley
spills his icy drink in his lap. His eyes go wide.
The Angels just have to laugh.
We FREEZE FRAME, then...
CUT TO BLACK.
THE END
