The Relic

a screenplay by Amy Holden Jones

based on the book by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

March 16, 1995

TITLE CARD... BELEM BRAZIL - JULY...

EXT. BELEM STREETS - NIGHT

A taxi careens down narrow roadways at breakneck speeds.

INT. TAXI - NIGHT

In the back seat is WHITTLESLEY. Early 40's, the wreck of a once handsome man. Unshaven.Sweat stained.Rail thin.Scratches on his arms, a fresh scar on one cheek.As the taxi roars downhill towards the harbor, Whittlesley leans over the front seat.(Italics indicate Portuguese to be subtitled)

Whittlesley pulls out A KNIFE, puts it to the driver's jugular vein.

Sweat pouring down his brow, the driver re-doubles his speed.

EXT. BELEM STREETS - NIGHT

The taxi swerves around a corner, nearly crashing into a fruit cart, flies out of sight.

EXT. HARBOR - BELEM - NIGHT

Light rain obscures the bulky outlines of tethered freighters.We hear faint laughter leavened with Portuguese phrases, distant Calypso music from waterfront bars.One of the smaller boats, the SANTA LUCIA, is loading as the TAXI fishtails to a halt.

Whittlesley gets out, sees the boat still at dock.His face floods with relief.

He tosses a handful of bills into the driver's lap, sprints up the pier as the driver shouts curses after him in Portuguese.Whittlesley shoves past the dock hands as the last load goes onto the Santa Lucia. The boat's engines churn to life.

The sailors hold Whittlesley back.

Several crew members murmur the word "loco".Hearing the commotion, a squat man wearing a billed hat and smoking a cigar approaches.CAPTAIN FRANCO.

Whittlesley runs a trembling hand through his hair, trying to keep control and appear reasonable.

Whittlesley's fists clench spasmodically.Franco looks to his men.

Franco barks an order and several sailors grab Whittlesley by the arms.They start to lead him back to shore.

The sailors laugh.But with an almost super-human strength born of desperation, Whittlesley throws them off.He pulls out his wallet.

Whittlesley throws the money down on the deck.The breeze scatters the bills across the bow and all the men, including Captain Franco, scramble for the money, chattering in Portuguese.While they are occupied, Whittlesley slips by unnoticed and disappears below deck.

INT. HOLD - SANTA LUCIA - NIGHT

Whittlesley ducks between cages of goats, boxes of farm equipment, his movements jerky with panic.As he continues searching, the camera moves past him, into the darkness of the hold.We hear Whittlesley mumbling between low, ragged breaths.At the back of the boat the camera finds...

A STACK OF CRATES... clearly labeled NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM.Move in on these as... The CRATES VIBRATE.The boat has started to move! Whittlesley stands bolt upright, realizing what's going on.

Too late.He turns to run back on deck but then stops, sniffs the air. A look of desperation fills his eyes.With one hand he pulls out THE KNIFE, and unexpectedly puts it to HIS OWN NECK.Better to kill himself than face what comes next.The knife touches...

A NECKLACE of TWO ARROWS, one gold, another silver.

Whittlesley stares wide-eyed into the blackness of the hold.The goats start BLEATING in blind panic.A shaft of moonlight comes through a porthole as the boat turns.The moonlight falls on

THE CRATES.Whittlesley's eyes lock onto them and he inches towards them, drawn inexorably closer... closer...

He begins mumbling a prayer.

MOVE IN ON HIS EYES... filled with dread as he falls to his knees, staring, always staring at THE CRATES...

EXT. DOCKS - NIGHT

The crew tends to business and the Santa Lucia points out of the harbor, disappears into the night.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. LOUISIANNA COAST - DAY... TITLE CARD... JUNE

Squad cars roar down the back roads, sirens flashing.In the center of the column is an unmarked car.

INT. UNMARKED CAR - DAY

At the wheel is a strikingly dignified and imposing black man wearing a simple, old-fashioned dark suit, narrow black tie, and white shirt. This is SPECIAL AGENT PENDERGAST, FBI.

A BACH SONATA for violin and harpsichord plays on the tape deck. Pendergast hums along as he drives.A SMALL TOWN COP rides shotgun. The cop is intimidated both by Pendergast and the morning's events.He sweats heavily as he brings Pendergast up to date.

Pendergast nods his approval, resumes humming along with a particularly intricate harpsichord riff.As always, the man is unflappable and totally calm as he drives.

EXT. LOUISIANA BEACH - DAY

The ocean is still, the air stifling and close.A hot sun beats down on the deck of the SANTA LUCIA.The boat lists at a crazy angle where it has been washed up on the shore.At first glance, it appears to be deserted.A barrel rolls back and forth as the boat is rocked by each successive wave.We hear sirens approaching and the phalanx of squad cars pulls up.Joining them now are TWO AMBULANCES.

PENDERGAST gets out along with the others.All of the cops immediately cover their faces, gagging violently at the smell.Pendergast sniffs once and frowns.Apart from this, he doesn't react.

Pendergast nods.The cops all fall back in revulsion.They watch from a safe distance as Pendergast approaches the ghost ship.His shiny laced wing-tips sink in the sand.He leans down, pulls them off one at a time.He balls both socks, puts them carefully into his shoes and proceeds barefoot towards the boat.

Using a piece of driftwood as a plank, Pendergast leans it against the Santa Lucia.With surprising agility, he leaps up the plank to the deck.At the top he touches a rail.It's covered in a DARK STICKY LIQUID.

BLOOD.Flies buzz loudly.A LARGE MACHETE lies abandoned in the stern. Chairs are overturned.A DEAD GOAT, eviscerated, lies in the bow.A lifeboat hangs half off the stern.Pendergast moves aft.The COPS watch from the sand below, unwilling to get any closer.Pendergast hears A DOOR slamming open and closed.He follows the noise and sees...

THE DOOR TO THE HOLD.He approaches, pushes it open and looks down the stairwell.Below deck are

BODIES... stacks of them.They've been TORN TO SHREDS.

THE CAMERA MOVES down to one particular man who is nearest the top of the stairs.It's CAPTAIN FRANCO.His face is frozen in a howl of terror.Flies congregate in the eye sockets.With his foot, Pendergast nudges the body over.The skull has been torn open.

THERE IS NO BACK TO FRANCO'S HEAD.

FADE TO BLACK:

Silence then we begin hearing sounds of the city... horns, traffic, construction work.

SUPER TITLE... NEW YORK CITY, FOUR MONTHS LATER as we...

FADE IN:

ON A NECKLACE of TWO ARROWS, one of gold, the other silver.The twin to the one seen on Whittlesley.Widen to...

EXT. ROOFTOP GARDEN - MARGO'S NEW YORK APARTMENT - MORNING

And the woman wearing the necklace... MARGO GREEN.She sips her morning coffee as she makes notes on several large FOSSILIZED TEETH.Her hair is neatly combed.No make-up.She doesn't need it.She has a natural, unselfconscious beauty and a mind like a steel trap.

At Margo's elbow is a small T.V.A CNN world news report plays. Margo's New York Times is open to the crossword puzzle, which she's been doing rapidly, in ink.Clearly this is a woman who likes order, with a mind that can handle more than one thing at a time.

An alarm on her watch beeps and she fills in the last two lines of the crossword puzzle, makes one final note on the fossil specimens, and shuts off the T.V.She reaches for her back pack and looks out at CENTRAL PARK with remarkably clear eyes.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - MORNING

HELICOPTER SHOT... Swooping over the fall foliage of the Park, a riot of color and botanical life... The camera picks out MARGO'S BICYCLE making its way along the winding roads, dodging taxi cabs.Margo wears jeans, a work shirt, a fine blue gabardine jacket with a rhinestone DOUBLE HELIX PIN.On her back is a LEATHER BACK PACK which holds her lap top computer.She emerges from the park, catches the green light and rolls up to...

EXT. MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY - DAY

As Margo arrives, the camera moves up and over the building, comes to rest on the imposing turrets, intersecting roof lines, and Gothic arches of the MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.This is not an ordinary building; it's a 19th century monument to science and mankind.The structure fills an entire city block.

Happy visitors pour into the museum as Margo takes the imposing wide stone steps two at a time.We hear SCREAMS of pleasure and release, the normal raucous noises of a large group of THIRD GRADE CHILDREN. Margo is amused to find herself surrounded by kids.Their teacher, MRS. BEASLEY, a stern woman in glasses with a thick New York accent, calls after them as they all head inside.

Ignoring Mrs. Beasley, TWO BOYS charge past Margo.HENRY and LARRY. Henry has a buzz cut; Larry has rasta dread knots.Both are 8 years old, wear high top sneakers and shorts so big they graze their ankles.

Reluctantly, Henry and Larry slow to a rapid race-walk as they reach the huge doorway flanked by two Northwest Coast Indian totem poles. Above the doorway WORKMEN are hanging a LARGE BANNER.It reads: "SUPERSTITION EXHIBIT... OPENING OCT. 29"

INT. MUSEUM ROTUNDA/STAIRWELL - DAY

The school children burst into a three story space dominated by a life-sized statue of a HERD OF ELEPHANTS.The kids chatter with excitement, look up in awe.Margo nods to a GUARD who smiles as she pins on a plastic I.D.

Henry watches Margo pass through the turnstiles without paying.He swaggers over.

Mrs. Beasley heads into the museum and Larry and Henry merge with the rest of the kids.Margo turns towards the stairwell, passing...

IAN CUTHBERT... Museum Director... a pudgy man in wire rim glasses who dresses and thinks like a banker.Hired for his amazing ability to raise money, Cuthbert is one of a new generation of Museum Directors whose focus must always be on the bottom line.

Cuthbert waves merrily.A workman uses a LADDER in the stairwell. Cuthbert is about to walk under the ladder, stops and carefully walks around it instead.Margo smiles, goes on upstairs.

INT. MUSEUM BASEMENT - DAY

Cuthbert enters from the lower stairwell.He is now in one of the hundreds of areas of the museum that are closed to the the general public.He follows a labyrinthine route down a dim passageway lined with rumbling steam pipes.There are storage areas on both sides labeled ORNITHOLOGY, HERPITOLOGY, CENTRAL ASIA EXPEDITIONS, AKELEY EXPEDITIONS, WHALE BONE FOSSILS and so on.Finally Cuthbert comes to a door marked

"WHITTLESLEY EXPEDITIONS 1978-95".Cuthbert pauses and gets out a key, but to his surprise the door pushes open.The lock and doorknob mechanism are both broken off!Cuthbert frowns.

He goes inside.

INT. WHITTLESLEY COLLECTION BASEMENT - DAY

Cuthbert flips on a light to see a tall, narrow space.Stacks of metal shelves reach up into the gloom.Everywhere we see spears, shields, masks, various artifacts.Ancient tribal costumes lie shrouded in plastic like corpses against the walls.And in the middle of the gloom, sitting ominously in the light of a sole hanging bulb are...

THE WHITTLESLEY CRATES.The same ones last seen in the hold of the ill-fated Santa Lucia.They are scattered about in disarray.One in particular has been broken open, its contents spread on the floor. Cuthbert mutters in surprise and dismay, kneels by the crate.

Cuthbert feels gently through the packing material, lets out a sigh of relief as he pulls out a figurine.It is a small, beautifully carved statue of A MONSTER crouched on all fours.

The room falls totally silent as Cuthbert studies THE RELIC.It's a truly frightening piece... massive, razor sharp claws, large round nostrils, enormous teeth and red rimmed eyes.Suddenly Cuthbert sees a DROP OF BLOOD on his hand!He's been CUT!

Cuthbert rises, shakes his finger in pain.Blood drips on the floor. He pulls out his pocket handkerchief and wraps the wound.The handkerchief rapidly soaks through.Suddenly a HAND CLAMPS on Cuthbert's shoulder!He's not alone!He lets out a YELP, almost dropping the Relic and spins to see...

A MUSEUM GUARD standing behind him.His nameplate reads... BEAUREGARD. He's a gentle young fellow with white blond hair and a rolling southern accent.

Cuthbert holds up the RELIC of THE MONSTER.Beauregard stares.

Beauregard sees Cuthbert's cut finger.

Beauregard studies the door as Cuthbert heads out with the figurine.

Cuthbert glances at the evil face of Mbwun, pales.As he exits, HOLD ON BEAUREGARD, left alone with the crates.

INT. PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY LAB - DAY

Huge centrifuges, hissing autoclaves, electrophoresis apparati, glowing monitors, elaborate blown-glass distillation columns and titration set-ups.One of the most advanced technical facilities of its kind.And mixed in with all the modern machinery are

SKELETONS OF ALL KINDS.Complete homo sapien specimens are scattered around the room.Standing midst all this is GREGORY KAWAKITA, early twenties.Kawakita makes sharp, jerky overhead movements with his left hand, waving something about.He's practicing casting.We hear the zing of a line and the whirring of the fly reel as MARGO ENTERS.A fly whips out, passing right under her nose.

The fly zooms across the room and lights on the shoulder of the third skeleton from the end, labeled "Aleut, provenance unknown." Margo rolls her eyes and Kawakita smiles with pride.

Kawakita reels in his line as Margo drops her backpack on her large desk.An enormous MICROSCOPE stands by the equally imposing computer topped by a tiger skull.A screen saver of an animated pterodactyl plays.Margo unpacks boxes of fossil teeth, hits some keys revealing columns of seemingly indecipherable chemical equations on the computer screen.

Margo straightens, stunned.

Margo is already out the door.

INT. CORRIDORS/STAIRWELL - MUSEUM - DAY

Margo charges through double doors leading into the southwest tower. She half runs down an elegant, Edwardian fifth-floor corridor, her footsteps lost in the thick carpet.At the very end is a heavy oak door bearing a plate entwined with bronze leaves that reads simply "Dr. Frock".

INT. FROCK'S OFFICE - DAY

Margo bursts into the unique office, which is in startling contrast to the modernity of her own.Two large bow windows look out over the park.Upholstered Victorian chairs in a leaf motif sit on needlepoint carpets featuring large red roses.Plant specimens and drawings of flora and fauna line the walls.Cardboard boxes cover the floor. Seated in a wheelchair is a white-haired man in a tweed jacket and a loud floral tie.Glasses slip down his nose.

This is DR. FROCK, and he's in the middle of packing.He looks up, smiles apologetically.