103
pages
English
Documents
2010
Le téléchargement nécessite un accès à la bibliothèque YouScribe Tout savoir sur nos offres
103
pages
English
Ebook
2010
Le téléchargement nécessite un accès à la bibliothèque YouScribe Tout savoir sur nos offres
Publié par
Publié le
01 janvier 2010
Nombre de lectures
41
Licence :
Langue
English
Publié par
Publié le
01 janvier 2010
Nombre de lectures
41
Licence :
Langue
English
Written by
Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver
Previous revisions by
Jamie Moss
January 8th, 2010
EYES. Expressive, alive. Human? No. They belong to a FEMALE CHIMPANZEE: BRIGHT EYES.
EXT. GROVE OF TREES -- DAY
She sits in a tree with ALPHA, her mate - large and muscular, a PROMINENT WHITE BIRTHMARK ACROSS HIS SHOULDER, LIKE A
Around them, under the TREE CANOPY, a COMMUNITY OF CHIMPANZEES naps, eats, plays.
EXT. WEST AFRICAN JUNGLE - DAY
A DOZEN POACHERS on horseback slog through the jungle. They're working towards the GROVE, visible in the distance. As they near it, the LEADER points, sending the MEN moving quietly, NETS and RIFLES ready.
EXT. CANOPY - DAY
Alpha sits up, sensing something. BIRDS take sudden flight. He stands on the branch and YELLS OUT A WARNING. FEAR ignites the community - but too late. POACHERS BURST INTO THE CLEARING, horses' hooves kicking up dirt. CHIMPS SCATTER. Bright Eyes wants to stay by Alpha's side, but he bares his teeth and sends her off. Then he drops, landing firmly on the clearing floor. All around him, POACHERS pursue terrified apes, nets swinging. MALE CHIMPANZEES jump up and down, SHOUTING AND SCREECHING - an aggressive show. A futile attempt to protect the tribe. Alpha zeroes in on a POACHER attempting to scoop up a YOUNG CHIMP. He streaks across the clearing, KNOCKS THE POACHER
Alpha POUNDS his CHEST, letting out a BATTLE CRY -- trying to rally a counter-attack. But the other chimps pay no heed. There's no organization to the defense. It's chaos. SHOTS RING OUT. The Chimps mauling the Poacher drop, one by one. Others take off.
Alpha spots Bright Eyes across the clearing, dragged off in a net. He RUSHES to save her, leaps in the air...
A SHOT RINGS OUT.
BRIGHT EYES WATCHES - HORRIFIED - AS ALPHA CRUMPLES IN THE
AIR AND FALLS TO THE GROUND. LIKE A STONE.
TWO FACES wearing SURGICAL MASKS lean in and peer down at us. FRANKLIN - broken horn-rimmed glasses - and CAROLINE - curly red hair under a sterile cap.
Nanotherapy, beta version: Tuesday, March 10, 2011. Female Test subject Number four. Franklin reaches for us, smiles...
Here we go, Bright eyes. A MIST fogs our view for a moment.
Not too much. She needs to be calm, but alert.
Go ahead - send her through. A LOUD HUM and we start moving, sliding into a tunnel a tubular CT SCAN - with a MIRROR on the top. Now WE SEE OUR FACE REFLECTED: A FEMALE APE IN A GAS MASK. Bright Eyes.
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - SAME
WILL RODMAN - late twenties, lab coat over a T-shirt and jeans - stands at the glass, watching the terrified chimpanzee slide into the machine. The focus in his eyes belies the casual dress.
Start the scan. A TECHIE sits at a computer screen beside Will.
3.
Scanning.
INT. WHITE ROOM -- DAY
Another tech, DONNIE - skinny, tattooed - controls the machine, sending the restrained animal into the scanner. Caroline moves to an IV STAND beside the scan. The bag's full of a PHOSPHORESCENT GREEN LIQUID.
Stuff looks like Kool-aid.
Go ahead, I'm sure you could use it.
(OPENING VALVE) Starting the therapy...
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - SAME
Will looks at a monitor showing the BRAIN SCAN OF THE CHIMP. The image starts to shake. Concerned, he looks to the other room - where he can see the CHIMP'S LEGS SHAKING IN THEIR
RESTRAINTS.
She's convulsing. Caroline sticks a stethoscope in the tube, listens to Bright Eyes' heart.
WILL
(INTO INTERCOM) Please keep the monkey still. He focuses back on the monitor.
She's not a monkey. Will looks from the monitor to Caroline. His look is intense, tough to read. She blushes slightly at the heat of his gaze.
She's an ape. Chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans, they're all apes.
4.
Good to know. Just keep it from moving. She's stung, wonders, why does he have to be such a jerk sometimes. He's oblivious to this, instead intent on getting the scan right. The green liquid moves through the chimp's neck...
Here we go. Will stares at the scan, his eyes willing the test to succeed.. .the green liquid LIGHTS UP THE CHIMP'S BRAIN.
Will fights a CONTRACTION OF EXTREME EMOTION that passes across his face. He quickly hides it - offers up a smile for the others.
We're on our way.
(BEAT) Good work.
INT. WHITE ROOM - DAY
What is this? Caroline holds up a picture of a tree for Bright Eyes, who sits at a table in front of a LEXIGRAM, a lit-up board with colorful symbols. Bright Eyes presses a button.
Tree.
SUPER: "ONE MONTH LATER." Caroline holds up a picture of an acorn.
And this? The chimp presses another button.
Acorn.
5.
Where does the acorn come from? Bright Eyes considers... then presses a button.
Acorn.
Yes, but where does the acorn come from?
Acorn.
CAROLINE
Bright Eyes interrupts, now pressing three buttons.
Acorn. Tree. Acorn. The chimp looks at Caroline, who's stunned, trying to process the ADVANCED THINKING JUST MANIFESTED. Then she presses another button.
Surprise. The unnatural voice - paired with Bright Eyes' eerily human- like gaze - is somehow CREEPY... The IMAGE FREEZES and we...
PULL BACK TO REVEAL: WILL'S OFFICE Diplomas on the wall, books everywhere. Bright Eyes looks out at Will from a computer screen. He's got two CT SCANS sitting on the desk in front of him.
We started the therapy four weeks ago. This was yesterday. Will's studying the scans. They look good. Real good.
There's been clear cell growth. Both on the frontal lobe and the neocortex. She's purposely standing close in order to point this out. He notices but doesn't respond - there's history between them and he's regretting that - gets in the way.
6.
I see that. But I don't understand the primate behavioral norms. She knows an acorn's a seed. Wouldn't any monkey know that?
No - it's conceptual. Acorn gives us a tree, which gives us an acorn.
Abstract thought...
In a chimpanzee. Unheard of. Will turns the possibilities over in his mind. Caroline moves away from him. He barely notices her now.
You're calling her a monkey just to piss me off, aren't you?
Start the other's on the 112.
(BEAT) And double this one's dose.
EXT. GEN-SYS LABORATORIES - DUSK
Will climbs into his truck. Alone, he allows his excitement to show. Abstract thought! He pulls away from the BIO LAB, which is tucked in a corner of an old military base.
EXT. GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE - DUSK (AERIAL)
Will drives over the majestic Golden Gate Bridge.
EXT. WILL'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Will pulls up in front of his house. Set in a hillside neighborhood, it's neat, nondescript. The home of a bachelor who hasn't given it much thought. As Will pulls into the driveway, WE HEAR C SHARP PLAYED OVER
AND OVER ON A PIANO.
7.
INT. WILL'S HOUSE - NIGHT
WALTER RODMAN, 60, sits at the piano dressed in a robe, stabbing at the key with his finger. Will enters, his posture almost visually changing with the emotional weight of this man, his father.
Hey Dad. Walter looks up, whispers...
John... is that you?
It's me. Will.
As thou dost, Anthony. (staring at the keys) .he hears no music. No music...
(heavy Russian accent)
He's been doing that all day. A Home Aide enters, grabs her coat. This is IRENA.
He found an old book of his. She pulls a worn paperback of Julius Caesar from Walter's pocket. He snatches it from her, puts it back.
(shrugging on coat)
I had no idea you liked Shakespeare so much, Mr. Walter.
My mother was the one. She liked Shakespeare...
IRENA
(KISSES HIM) Good night, Walter, hone-ee. She heads out. Will gently takes his father's arm.
Come on, Dad.
8.
INT. WALTER'S ROOM - NIGHT
Will helps his father change into pajamas.
Remember I told you we were using Basic Fibroblast Growth Factors on the apes? Well the therapy seems to be working. We've seen definite signs of adult brain neurogenesis. Walter holds up his arms for Will to slide on the pajama top.
Board of Directors is coming in a couple weeks to talk about Phase 2 - that's clinical trials. Walter gives no hint he's even listening, much less understanding what Will's saying.
Human trials, Dad. Soon.
I rather tell that what is to be feared than what I fear: for always... I am Caesar... There's no way to reach him tonight. Still Will tries..
I'm going to make you better - I swear it. His father looks at him. A moment of recognition?
John... ?
WILL
(DISAPPOINTED) No, Dad, it's me. Will. Will helps the old man under the bedcovers.
John's gone. He moves to the door, pausing to take in the diplomas on the walls - Walter's name on all of them. (Physics, Astronomy.)
Will looks at his father lying there on his back, staring up at the ceiling. The once brilliant man now slipping away.
INT. WILL'S STUDY - LATE NIGHT
It's late. Signs of a half-eaten frozen dinner on the desk beside numerous papers, charts, and Will's computer. He looks exhausted, gulps from a cup of coffee as he works.
INT. PRIMATE LAB - DAY
Franklin moves from cage to cage, greeting the apes.
Good morning, Felix. Bam Bam. Monty. Hey - what's the matter, don't like my cooking?
SUPER: TWO WEEKS LATER He pauses in front of Bright Eyes, huddled at the back of her cage.
You okay back there?
Something wrong with Bright Eyes?
I'll check on her when we're done. Franklin unlocks a cage and leads a CHIMP - LUCKY - into the next room, where Caroline waits beside the CT scanner. Lucky's head is shaved, exposing a long, curving scar on his cranium. From Bright Eyes' vantage point she can see through the open door as Lucky's strapped down.
EXT. GEN-SYS GROUNDS - SAME
Will - dressed in an ill-fitting suit off the rack, hair brushed in an attempt at neatness - meets STEVEN JACOBS as he steps from a beautiful BLACK JAGUAR.
You could at least try to look excited.
0
Will's too nervous to look excited. He eyes the FOUR SUITS disembarking from nearby TOWN CARS.
I'm not good with this stuff. Jacobs puts a hand on Will's back, leads him inside.
You'll do fine. Just speak English. Keep the science simple.
INT. LAB - SAME
From the back of her cage, Bright Eyes watches through the open door as the ape on the table convulses.
Okay. Back it out...
Your turn. Bright Eyes RUSHES FORWARD, HER HANDS GRIPPING THE BARS SO
DONNIE CAN'T OPEN THE CAGE.
C'mon - Let go - She understands what he wants but she won't do it. THAT'S
WHEN HE NOTICES: HER HANDS ARE BLOODY.
Hey! Something's wrong with number four! Franklin looks over - he's still dealing with Lucky on the table...
Be right over - Donnie looks closely at Bright Eyes. There's something different in her face today. Rage? Force of will?
What's the matter with you?
INT. BOARDROOM - SAME
Will stands at the head of a table. A BIG PLASMA SCREEN behind him shows a BLOW UP OF A BRAIN SCAN. As Will speaks, he gestures at it with a LASER POINTER.
11.
WILL
0
(AWKWARD) Alzheimer's affects the entire neocortex, the hippocampus, and large subcortical regions of the brain...
INT. LAB - SAME
Donnie and Bright Eyes are at a standoff. Once more he tries to open the cage, once more she yanks it shut. Again he tries... and is taken by surprise when SHE GRABS HIS
HAND AND PULLS IT THROUGH THE BARS.
Hey!!! Now Donnie's smashed up against the bars. Hard. The other apes begin to SCREECH. Donnie hasn't panicked quite yet, but he's about to.
Someone get her off of me!
Hang on - Franklin struggles to hold onto Lucky as Caroline hurries over. He eyes the chimps in their cages - GOING CRAZY.
INT. BOARDROOM - DAY
Will continues his presentation. Stevens looks around at the board members - they're lost.
In the past, it's been impossible to target specific areas, both because of the Blood Brain Barrier - Jacobs stands, interrupting Will.
What Dr. Rodman has done is to invent a virus that can, for the first time, cross the membrane that protects the brain and deliver a genetic, therapeutic, payload.
0
12.
(trying to sell)
This 'payload' would directly affect the areas of memory, higher function - and, of course, the motherlode: intelligence. The board members stare, trying to comprehend.
Meaning?
Meaning. (deep breath here) If Phase 2 goes as planned, we're looking at a cure for Alzheimer's. With an elbow prompting from Jacobs, Will takes a SAMPLE VIAL from his jacket pocket and awkwardly holds it up for dramatic effect.
INT. LAB - DAY
She's breaking my hand!
Let go, Bright Eyes! You're hurting him! She tries to help pull Donnie away.
Let go! In the next room Franklin's having troubles of his own.
LUCKY - RILED UP FROM THE COMMOTION IN BRIGHT EYES' CAGE AND
THE SCREAMING FROM THE OTHER CHIMPS - BREAKS AWAY.
HE CRASHES OUT OF THE LAB, DRAGGING HIS LEASH.
Lucky no! Stop!
(TO CAROLINE) Hit the alarm! Caroline lunges to an ALARM BUTTON and pounds it.
DONNIE'S SCREAMS BECOME OTHERWORLDLY AS WE GO TO...