by ehren kruger original film & bradley cramp 3-9-13 · int. hallway/living room - moments...

INVERTIGO

by Ehren Kruger Original Film & Bradley Cramp 3-9-13

FADE IN:

THE INFINITE UNIVERSE

Before us, a sheer COSMOS OF STARS, with two INTERSECTING GALAXIES prominent. Myriad jewels, suspended in silence.

AND THEN THE GALAXIES EXPLODE

in a DOMINO EFFECT of destruction. A DEAFENING BLAST, AN ENERGY SHOCKWAVE HURTLED OUTWARD as STARS, MOONS, PLANETS are ionized like some semblance of the Big Bang itself--

--and then silence once more. In place of twin galaxies, now an INKY BLACKNESS. ANGLE WIDENS, to give the blackness contours -- as bits of errant light-shrapnel drift toward it-revealing a BLACK HOLE has been created. Shattered stars and asteroids all drifting toward it--

--except for a single POINT OF LIGHT, coming toward us, somehow impossibly emerging from the blackness -- speeding, hurtling, faster, hotter -- some kind of COMET flying at us--

EXT. SPACE - COMET’S POV

And now we’re riding it! A jet-wash of friction, fury and light, hurtling past planets and stars--

--soaring toward an ASTEROID BELT, which we blast through the heart of, impossibly unscathed...then the RINGS OF A PLANET, flying right through...and toward a collision with an intersecting COMET’S PATH -- until at the last second, the fireball ahead of us seems to warp out of our way--

--to see a DARK MOON up ahead, headed right for its apex, and it seems we may just barely skate past...

EXT. THE MOON

A familiar lunar surface, as the same FIERY COMET BLASTS JUST OVERHEAD...and now ANGLE PANS 180 DEGREES...

...to see Earth is directly in the comet’s path.

CUT TO:

EXT. NEW MEXICO DESERT - NIGHT

A CANOPY OF STARS. Nothing but crickets. Quiet. Peaceful. A pair of well-worn HIKING BOOTS step into frame. A MAN’S FIGURE, jeans and jacket, an iconic silhouette. He carries a BLACK SATCHEL on his shoulder. Trudges up a small rise...

QUICK HITS: Satchel zipped open. BLACK METAL inside. Metal snapped together, deft and dextrous. Click, click, snap!

Except it’s not a rifle. But a CELESTRON CPC-1100 TELESCOPE. As ANGLE ROTATES around our mystery desert warrior...

...to reveal TOM RILEY (35), rugged, handsome, standing in his SUBURBAN SOUTHWESTERN BACKYARD. A cul-de-sac backed to mesas. All houses dark except his, as he takes in the sky...

TOMYou and me...

INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - KIDS BEDROOM - NIGHT

Two FIGURES lie asleep, as the portentous TIMPANI DRUMS from the “2001: A Space Odyssey” theme crescendo -- as Tom BANGS OPEN the door and hits the lights--

TOMTwo-thirty! Wake up, wake up! Tonight’s the night, let’s go, wake up!

Bommm...bommmm...bommmm...BOMM-BOMM! His iPhone’s playing. He drops to the first of twin beds, stripping off covers to reveal GRACE (5), fully dressed, springing awake like a shot--

GRACEI’m up! Where is it, where is it?

--while Tom pulls sheets off the second bed, uncovering older daughter EMILY (7), refusing to budge, moans and groans:

EMILYOhh no, let me sleep...

TOM“Let me sleep,” right, “let me sleep.” Whose famous words are those? Did Copernicus say “let me sleep?” Kepler, maybe? Galileo?

EMILYDaaad...I don’t know those people.

GRACEDo they go to our school?

INT. HALLWAY/LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Grace scampers ahead, clutching a DOLL with DRAWN-ON GLASSES, passing a CHALKBOARD: “Mommy’s Comet: 0 YEARS, 0 MONTHS, 1 DAY.” She ERASES the 1 as she zips by. Tom carries Emily:

2.

TOMSome things in life you do not want to miss. They come around once, maybe twice, and that’s it. So either you’re there to see ‘em, or you read about ‘em just like everybody else.

GRACEYou mean like Santa Claus?

TOMNo, Grace. Not like Santa Claus.

EMILYAnd he never will wake you up to see Santa Claus, wanna know why?

TOMEmily, now’s not the time.

EXT. BACKYARD OF HOUSE

Tom hustles the girls out with BLANKETS and FLASHLIGHTS. He’s made a sleeping bag “campsite” beside the telescope.

TOMShe’s up there, she’s in the neighborhood. She’s up there and she’s flying by...

GRACETS5-MRL-316. T for Tom, S for Sarah.

TOMTen million telescopes in the world. And we found it first.

Tom situates them, proud, excited...then looks skyward and his face falls. A DARK SHAPE spreading. A FRONT OF LOW CLOUDS is closing in, threatening to blanket the sky...

GRACEOh no...Daddy look...

EMILYUm, Dad? No offense, but can we go back to bed now?

Tom gauges the stars, the clouds, his watch. Pure defiance:

TOMGet in the car.

3.

EXT. MOUNTAIN ROADS - NIGHT

Tom’s Jeep Commander takes a HAIRPIN CURVE with a squeal, gunning the engine, climbing, climbing...as Emily hangs on and Grace clutches her doll, both strapped in booster seats.

Tom guns it around another corner, emerging above the tree-line...to see the DOME OF A MASSIVE OBSERVATORY. A sign reads “UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO - ASTRONOMY CENTER.”

INT. OBSERVATORY - MAIN TELESCOPE - NIGHT

BAM! Tom marches into the huge dome, kids in tow, where two GRAD STUDENTS doze at a MONITOR DESK. Startled awake:

GRAD STUDENT #1Professor Riley! Evening!

GRAD STUDENT #2Morning!

TOMDex, Mitch, tell me we’re recording!

GRAD STUDENT #1We’re on her! Locked in and tracking!

The students fumble for DIALS and SWITCHES, shutting off ESPN on one monitor and another with a Call of Duty videogame. The rest show DATA VECTORS and an empty STARFIELD...

GRAD STUDENT #2I mean, uh, we had her...

With a glare, Tom scoots his kids to the GIANT TELESCOPE itself. He sits them in the operator’s chair -- and FULLY OPENS UP the massive dome, ROTATING THE SCOPE as he does...

TOMEverybody else said she wouldn’t get as close as Mars. Only Mom and I predicted a visible fly-by...within twenty thousand miles of Earth...

..until a HIGH-RES IMAGE OF AN APPROACHING COMET appears majestic and bright on the video MONITORS.

TOMAnd there she is.

A vindicated smile as he sits his girls on his lap, letting them take turns looking through the high-powered lens...

TOMIncredible, right? The core of it’s no bigger than you are.

4.

(MORE)

Another couple minutes, she’ll pass through geosynchronous orbit -- on her way to the rest of the galaxy.

GRACEIt’s like fireworks! Sparky sparkly!

Holding his girls, Tom smiles, kisses their heads. His Grad Students trade a private, knowing look...

TOMOur fireworks. Me and Mom’s. So you tell me all the colors you see...

EXT. ORBIT ABOVE EARTH - SAME

A WEATHER SATELLITE rotates high above, making a slow, steady arc -- and then suddenly gets repelled the other way, as THE COMET HURTLES PAST...with an ARCING CONTRAIL of light. An arc that hurtles not past Earth...but toward it...

INT. OBSERVATORY

The grad students react to the reams of on-screen DATA:

GRAD STUDENT #1Uh...Dr. Riley, picking up a change in trajectory here...

TOMGuys, it’s had nothing but irregular vectors since we pinned it three years ago.

GRAD STUDENT #1But you said it’d “skirt” the outer atmosphere. Right now...it’s headed in.

EXT. UPPER ATMOSPHERE

Plummeting into the stratosphere, air resistance TORCHES the comet’s leading edge -- and KRA-BANG! It SPLITS APART, sending SIX LARGE ROCK-SIZE PIECES ricocheting away, with an OMINOUS BLUE GLOW at the very core of each...

INT. OBSERVATORY

Tom leaps out of the chair, racing to his team at MONITORS:

TOMWhat’s happening? Is it burning up?

GRAD STUDENT #1Yeah, but we’ve got fragmentation!

5.

TOM (CONT'D)

GRAD STUDENT #2Still-intact data points -- six of ‘em! Forty thousand feet and falling!

EXT. RAINFOREST - SOUTH AMERICA - NIGHT

The distant METEOR SHOWER streaks the sky, as one of the six METEORITES comes HURTLING down into dense jungle.

EXT. CANADIAN ROCKIES - BRITISH COLUMBIA - NIGHT

A second METEORITE FLARES a trail into one of the snow-covered peaks of a remote mountain range.

EXT. SEA OF JAPAN - DUSK

Windows SHATTER on a Japanese FREIGHTER as the third METEORITE FLASHES PAST, striking the roiling sea.

EXT. CHINESE RICE TERRACES - DUSK

RURAL VILLAGERS watch the fourth METEORITE shoot past in awe.

EXT. SAHARA DESERT - NORTH AFRICA - DAY

A fifth METEORITE FLARES as it disappears amongst the dunes.

EXT. SKIES ABOVE UNKNOWN CITY - PRE-DAWN

The sixth METEORITE TUMBLES toward civilization, an endless grid of LIGHTS and ROADS and SKYSCRAPERS and BUILDINGS.

EXT. CITY STREETS - PRE-DAWN

A few EARLY RISERS gaze up at the sudden LIGHT. Like a swift shooting star, glimpsed between buildings--

INT. HIGH-RISE APARTMENT - PRE-DAWN

--where WINE GLASSES rattle, as a BUSINESSMAN preps for work--

WOMAN’S VOICE (O.S.)Look! Shooting star!

--and turns to see his WIFE, in a bathrobe, on their balcony, pointing at the light-trail in the sky, getting closer--

--and FLASH! A FLARE OF WHITENESS illuminates a mere five hundred feet above. Then, with a faint RUMBLE, it’s gone. The man joins his wife on the balcony, gazing with wonder:

BUSINESSMANWow. Make a wish.

6.

He gives her a kiss and a smile. They head back in...as AERIAL ANGLE pulls back, off the balcony, to take in their apartment building, and the iconic skyline...

...of Central Park South, with endless skyscrapers beyond. The heart of New York City. The center of the modern world.

CUT TO:

EXT. AMAZON RAINFOREST - NIGHT

Torrential RAIN. A primitive VILLAGE is abuzz with activity: TRIBAL WOMEN clutch CHILDREN, pointing to the sky. A VILLAGE ELDER gestures with a TORCH, mimicking a comet’s flight.

A shivering NATIVE BOY huddles beneath a hut. He watches a group of SIX WARRIORS armed to the teeth. They spot the boy. A beckoning gesture: you’re coming too.

EXT. DEEPER RAINFOREST - MOMENTS LATER

RAIN still cascades as this Search Party hunts the jungle. Ahead of them: broken trees. A haze of low SMOKE and ASH. The edges of a small, still-smoldering CRATER.

The warriors stop, afraid to approach. So the fierce-looking leader prods the youngest -- the shivering boy -- forward. His bare feet step closer. Lone spear raised high. And through the mist...sees a GLOWING BLUE LIGHT.

NATIVE BOY[It is found! I can see it!]

He shouts, but the warriors can’t hear him. Rain obscures; they’re getting drenched. The boy’s about to yell again--when he notes the tip of his spear. A single RAINDROP hanging there...fully-formed...and yet it fails to fall.

The boy looks at his body. He’s no longer wet. All around him, the rain has seemingly stopped. And yet twenty feet away, the rest are SOAKED. The storm’s dumping TORRENTS.

Stunned, the boy now looks up. To see the RAIN falling right toward him, and then cascading away -- diverted. As if by an amorphous, pulsating invisible “umbrella.” Its diameter is that of the impact crater. And the boy stands dry within.

The awestruck tribesmen, one by one, fall to their knees...

INT. RESEARCH OFFICES - NEW MEXICO OBSERVATORY - DAWN

Now bustling with activity: ASTRONOMERS studying data maps, six meteor trajectories. A VIDEO REPLAY of the NYC SKYLINE, where the pre-dawn sky BRIGHTENS, then light vanishes:

7.

TV REPORTER (V.O.)--seen here over New York at 5:51, that streaking flare of light was a glimpse of a disintegrating comet...

On a TV, NASA Chief Administrator JAMES HAGGIN (50, African-American, ex-astronaut John Glenn type) gives an interview:

HAGGIN (ON TV)...once it enters atmosphere we call it a meteor, if it strikes Earth it’s a meteorite. This one was about truck-size prior to break up, that’s barely large enough for us to detect. What we’ll find at any impact sites will likely be just tiny fragments of rock...

Tom’s running on adrenaline, with his boss, Department Head DONALD AMBROSE (60), poring through data:

TOMListen to NASA downplaying this. They saw this thing in six different countries!

AMBROSEDoesn’t want couch potatoes on a crater hunt before he can get his search teams up.

TOMKnow how many scientists out there are gonna score real data on a piece of this thing? New York’s the closest hit. Mason, tell me you read our paper--

AMBROSEYes I did. In the International Astrologer’s Gazette. Accepted theory I’d say it was not.

TOMGot through the Geddels and Leonids unscathed. Passed through Saturn’s rings! What are the odds? How’s it do that? Without warping gravitational fields?

AMBROSESomething no recorded comet’s ever done.

TOMMason. We goddamn found it.

8.

Ambrose sighs. Last comment worries him.

AMBROSEOne condition.

TOMName it.

AMBROSEYou use your own frequent flier miles.

EXT. OBSERVATORY - DAWN

Tom hurries Emily and Grace out, sleepy-eyed and still in PJ’s, to see a car pulling up, driven by AUNT ADRIENNE (40):

GRACEAuntie A! Auntie A! Did you see it?

New-Agey Adrienne, Santa Fe turquoise, embraces the girls:

AUNT ADRIENNEI saw it, I did, I woke up, I was there. It might’ve been a plane but I don’t think so, I’m pretty sure--

TOMAdrienne, thanks. Couple days at most. Nobody thought it’d hit--

AUNT ADRIENNE(gentle smile)

It’s OK, Tom. Long as you need. She’d want you to go.

Tom crouches to hug his girls goodbye--

TOMAuntie A’s orders, Auntie A’s rules. No teasing, no fighting, sisters first--

GRACEJust bring us back a piece of Mommy’s space rock, OK?

EMILYJeez. Enough. It’s not Mom’s.

Tom and Adrienne trade a look. Emily climbs on into the car, not just sleepy, but somehow world-weary at age 7:

EMILYAnd he’s not gonna actually “find” it.

9.

But Tom stays patient, leans in after her:

TOMWell, even when you lose something, Em, a scientist still wants to know why.

(gentle smile)I love you. I’ll call you. Be back before you know it. And I’ll see what I can do...about a souvenir...

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - NEW YORK CITY - DAY

Little STATUES OF LIBERTY, EMPIRE STATE BUILDINGS and other trinkets adorn a SOUVENIR CART near Bethesda Fountain, where a YOUNG MOM buys a RED BALLOON for her four-year-old SON:

YOUNG MOMNow be careful with it, sweetie. Don’t let go or it’ll disappear into the sky.

...as they wander across Manhattan’s sprawling green oasis on a beautiful morning. Joggers and cyclists, idllyic, serene.

EXT. “THE LAKE” - MOMENTS LATER

The mother and son cross iconic Bow Bridge, playing a cute game of tag. The boy squeals as he dashes to evade--

--and opens his hand; the balloon lifts out of his reach. The child leaps for it -- misses it -- crestfallen...

YOUNG MOMOh, honey. What did mama tell you?

...and then a SUDDEN BREEZE blows it over the center of the lake...where it abruptly nose-dives to the water’s surface. The faintest of MISTS hovers here, at the lake’s center.

The balloon BOBS on the water, but the current pushes steadily outward, floating it back to the shoreline. The boy scampers down the bank and retrieves it, beaming:

BOYSee, mama? It’s OK! I got it back!

The boy runs off happily. The perplexed mom remains.

INT. BURNING BUILDING - DAY

WHOOSH! FLAMES lick at the walls of an APARTMENT BUILDING as TWO FIREFIGHTERS charge through, kicking in doors, looking for survivors. A THIRD FIREFIGHTER follows...

10.

...as a CELL PHONE rings loudly. The Third Firefighter stops mid-hall, pulls a phone, checks the screen...

...then pulls off her mask to reveal NATALIE BARRETTI (35), tough Italian-Irish pretty. As her colleagues race to carry a WOMAN’S BODY past, Natalie answers her phone:

NATALIEThis is Natalie. Yes, I’m his mother. He what? Today? He didn’t show up?

(covers phone, calls off)YO! KILL THE FIRE! I GOT AN EMERGENCY HERE!

Suddenly the “flames” around her ALL DIE OUT, revealing flickering GAS JETS on the baseboards. Natalie storms for the stairwell, passing her colleagues and ripping the “Woman’s Body” (a Mannequin) from their grip--

NATALIEFive minutes to clear ten rooms? She wouldn’t have made it.

EXT. FIRE TRAINING TOWER - DAY

A three-story “railroad apartment” building, mocked up for fireman training. An NYFD station gang mills about, as Natalie storms out at ground-level, still on the phone:

NATALIEBut he had his backpack, his homework, I even packed him a freaking lunch. Yes, I’m gonna track him down--

--as she stops short to see, across the yard, her son BRODY (16), rough-and-tumble handsome, carrying a backpack and a chip on his shoulder. Natalie’s relieved, then wary...

NATALIEThanks for the call.

...as she stows her phone and storms over...

NATALIEWhat is going on? You’re supposed to be back at school. What happened to Fresh Start, New Attitude, Accountability, Responsibility--

BRODYYou ever notice how every time you open your mouth “orders” fall out? And you wonder why Dad left...

11.

NATALIE(a narrow glare)

I told them things would be different. I promised your teachers, a judge--

BRODYMom. I can’t do it.

There’s a deep sense of frustration. It stops her...

BRODYI go back, I show up, all I’m gonna hear about is getting arrested. Kids’ll rag me and slag me all day. And I just... I’m not ready. Look, I’ll study, write my papers, whatever -- but just let me do it from home. Just a couple more days.

Natalie’s caught off guard by this vulnerable moment. She notes some Firemen nearby watching. And relents...

NATALIEAll right. I’ll tell school it’s ok. Stay home and study, I’ll be back at five. I’ll bring half-and-half pizza.

(shouts off)NEXT TEAM READY! FIRE UP!

BRODYThanks Captain Barretti.

A private dig. Natalie doesn’t love it. Musses his hair as ROARING FLAMES rise in the structure behind her...

NATALIEAnyone ever gives you a hard time for turning your life around, you tell ‘em they have to answer to me.

EXT. STREET BEYOND TRAINING STRUCTURE - MOMENTS LATER

As the EXERCISE resumes in b.g, Brody heads for a subway station, a spring in his step as he makes a PHONE CALL:

GIRL’S VOICE (OVER PHONE)Hello?

BRODYOperation Hostage, this is Operation Freedom. I am go for rendezvous. Request coordinates.

12.

GIRL’S VOICERequest you stop talking like the Mac-hacking dork patrol.

BRODYCover story is secure, enemy agents are at bay. What’s the situation at the border?

GIRL’S VOICEMy parents just left. 146 Central Park West. And if you’re lucky...you just might be...

Brody descends subway stairs, breaking into a smile...

EXT. SAHARA DESERT - DAY

Two BEDOUIN TRIBESMEN on camelback make their way over giant sand dunes stretching towards the horizon. Ahead of them, what appears to be a localized SANDSTORM rising from nowhere -- a PERFECTLY STRAIGHT COLUMN OF EARTH reaching into the sky.

FIRST BEDOUIN[The wind, Father. It is angry.]

The second Bedouin, an OLD MAN with leathery skin, raises his crooked hand into the perfectly still air.

SECOND BEDOUIN[My son. There is no wind.]

A backdrop of HEAT-LIGHTNING scores the horizon. The camels now refuse to move. They HOWL, dropping submissively, as we watch the ominous “sandstorm” climb higher and higher...

EXT. CANADIAN ROCKIES - DAWN

A frozen, rugged landscape of cathedral-shaped peaks. THREE CLIMBERS mount a plateau...and then remove goggles, in awe...

...to see what appears to be a “GEYSER” OF SNOW further up the side of the mountain: a LARGE, CIRCULAR ERUPTION OF WHITE spitting vertical. The climbers pause in their ascent--

LEAD CLIMBEROh my God...that’s all snow...

SECOND CLIMBERIt’s right under a shelf! Rope down--

--and before they can reverse course, the MOUNTAIN RUMBLES, as the HUGE SHELF OF SNOW above the “geyser” gives way, SLIDING DOWN-MOUNTAIN, triggering a massive AVALANCHE!

13.

The climbers don’t stand a chance, as the WALL OF SNOW THUNDERS...and they’re swept from the world.

INT. AIRPLANE - DAY

A heavy-set WALL STREET BUSINESSMAN and a heavy-set NAVAJO INDIAN flank last-minute flier Tom and his laptop. Wi-Fi on, he’s searching YouTube uploads of amateur COMET SIGHTINGS.

He clicks through “New York” sightings, various ANGLES, notes where footage was uploaded (Hoboken, Long Island, Queens) then draws TRAJECTORY LINES on a map of New York. They seem to intersect over Midtown...

...so he next accesses the website for the U.S. GEOLOGICAL SERVICE. Scrolls through a list of last night’s recorded small TREMORS. 1.2...1.5...1.3...1.7...

TOMGimme a match...gimme something...

He finds a “5:51 AM” notation for a 1.1 tremor, clicks the notation and sees an epicenter for lower CENTRAL PARK...

TOM(reacts, sotto)

So how come no one’s found it...?

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - “THE LAKE” - DAY

The same area around Bow Bridge and Bethesda Fountain is teeming with PEOPLE. TOURISTS posing for pictures, horse-drawn CARRIAGES passing by. All seems normal...

...except for SMALL DETAILS, unnoticed by the passersby:

Some scattered fallen LEAVES...inexplicably “drifting” over the ground’s surface, moving away from the lake itself...

An OLD COUPLE feeds pigeons from a bag of popcorn. The tossed kernels appear to “float,” as if in slow-motion...as BIRDS suddenly take flight all around, leaving the Park.

Meanwhile, out near the lake’s center, the faint VAPOR MIST seems to thicken. And a current is now visible, pushing water outward in a concentric circle. Along the shoreline, water begins to OVERRUN its concrete banks. Like the water level is rising, and uniformly being pushed away...

EXT. CHERRY HILL - IN THE PARK

A HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGE rounds the turnabout atop Cherry Hill, offering a picturesque view of The Lake below--

14.

--as suddenly, the HORSE goes completely berserk, rearing up and toppling the carriage, sending the DRIVER flying and trapping two ASIAN TOURISTS inside... BYSTANDERS rush over--

BYSTANDERSCall 911! Somebody get help!

EXT. 74TH ST. & CENTRAL PARK WEST - SAME

A POLICE CAR blasts past, siren blaring...as we pick up Brody, headed up a sidewalk along the Park’s wall...

GIRL’S VOICE (OVER PHONE)OK, listen carefully: be at my building in exactly two minutes. Show ‘em your backpack, say you’re a messenger. Tell the doorman from Walking Dead you have a package for Mr. Craft. He’ll tell you Craft doesn’t live here anymore -- just argue till you hear an alarm. When he leaves the desk, jump behind it, go through the door marked “Authorized Access.” Code is four-three-two-one, I’m on the 22nd floor.

BRODYRiiight. Who’s with Special Ops now?

GIRL’S VOICETwo minutes, loverboy. Don’t blow it.

INT. SAN REMO BLDG. - LOBBY - MOMENTS LATER

Brody’s in mid-debate with a pale, decrepit DOORMAN:

DOORMAN AT DESKMr. Craft moved out last month, I assure you. May I see this package--

A BUZZING ALARM rings from the elevators. The doorman frowns, sees Elevator #1’s door open...to reveal an empty car. A WOMAN’S PURSE has been left inside.

DOORMAN AT DESKExcuse me, young man, one moment.

As he dodders off to retrieve the “forgotten purse,” Brody slips behind the desk. Punches 4-3-2-1 into the “Authorized Access Only” door. A stairwell. And he’s gone.

INT. 22ND FLOOR/AMANDA’S APARTMENT - MOMENTS LATER

Door opens on a beaming AMANDA HOLLANDER (16). A pretty, punk vibe about her at odds with the old world San Remo.

15.

AMANDAHey.

BRODYHey.

(gasps, winded)You’re a complicated girl.

She smiles. He smiles. And then suddenly they’re all over each other, embracing and kissing, stumbling back into the lavish modern apartment -- awkwardly tumbling onto the couch.

AMANDAHere’s to the juvenile court system--

BRODYYour parents -- they’re gone all day?

AMANDAMoney, money, gotta make their money.

They look deep into each other’s eyes. Lips so close.

BRODYSo...are you gonna show me?

AMANDAYou want me to show you?

BRODYYeah. I want to see.

Amanda now sits back. A gentle moment. Then she pulls her right leg close, lifts up her cuff...to reveal an ANKLE BRACELET. A juvenile court’s electronic monitor.

BRODYLegend.

AMANDAFour whole weeks. Notifies the cops if I leave the building. And I’m not allowed to have anyone over.

BRODYJust for breaking the jaw of the Homecoming Queen?

AMANDAShe’d done me dishonor. It was a samurai thing. ‘Cept the fix was in: her dad’s the D.A. Hey, it’s not like I stole my principal’s car.

16.

BRODYI always returned it by seventh period.

She regards him with a genuine smile...

AMANDAThanks for keeping me company, Brody.

BRODYHey, how do I know this wasn’t all just a complex ploy to get me over here?

AMANDAThat’s what I knew the second I met you. Most guys I’m two steps ahead of. But you...I’m only gonna be one.

She leans forward as if to kiss him...then keeps leaning, and pushes him backwards. As she grins and climbs on top...and we PRE-LAP the sound of more SIRENS...

EXT. CHERRY HILL - IN THE PARK - SAME

Back at the CARRIAGE ACCIDENT...as a LADDER TRUCK arrives to join the COPS and PARAMEDICS on scene. Emerging off the back is Natalie, still some soot powdering her face:

OLDER BEAT COPHmm, we was wondering when Ladder 9 was gonna get here. Thought maybe you were lost. Y’know. Women drivers.

NATALIESouth Bronx Structure. Job training: you should try it sometime.

YOUNGER BEAT COPUh-huh. Hey Natalie. Going a little light on the makeup today?

Natalie spits on her hand, wipes off the face-soot...

NATALIESomeday you’ll meet her, Ramirez. The girl who shows you what a second date feels like.

...then smears it on his cheek as she marches on by...to where PARAMEDICS help the Asian Tourists into an ambulance...

NATALIEGot it under control here? Anyone get the horse’s side of the story?

17.

PARAMEDICRiding near the Lake, it started freaking out. Must’ve seen a Kardashian or something.

Natalie notes the horse still backing away -- from the Lake Overlook. Her brow furrows. So she ventures toward it...

...then notices the movement of scattered LEAVES off the path by her feet. Rustling, gliding slightly. Curious, she gets down on her knees. Then presses to the ground--

PASSING FIREMANYeah, Captain. Drop and gimme twenty.

--so that her cheek is right to the asphalt. She stares intently at the nearest leaf. A few millimeters separate it from the ground. Technically...the leaf is floating.

She notes the horse still SNORTING and STAMPING, then looks toward the lake’s grassy banks...where LOTS OF LEAVES seem to be barely “hovering.” And in the Lake’s center, there’s now a VAPOR-LIKE WISPING MIST. To another Fireman:

NATALIEHey Denny. You believe animals have a sixth sense or anything?

DENNY THE FIREMANNah. But my wife tells me women do.

Natalie nods, still staring off at the mist...

NATALIESomething’s wrong with the Lake.

INT. KENNEDY AIRPORT TERMINAL - DAY

A jet’s WHOOSH o.s...as Tom’s arrived, with a beat-up overnight bag. He notes TRAVELERS gathered around terminal TV’s. Shots of a mountainside “snow-funnel-cloud”:

CNN REPORTER (FROM TV)...the avalanche was triggered by some kind of snow “geyser.” However, geologists tell CNN the mountain is not considered volcanically active--

Another TV: small North African city, a massive duststorm:

BBC REPORTER (FROM TV)--as this sandstorm over two miles wide now threatens the city of Arak, Algeria.

18.

(MORE)

Scientists are at a loss to explain why the weather-front seems not to be moving, but rather expanding--

Tom stops, concerned. On his map of the meteorite impact points...are British Columbia and North Africa both.

EXT. AIRPORT/INT. CAB - AFTERNOON

Tom hustles in. A PAKISTANI DRIVER has NEWS RADIO on:

TOMHi there, Central Park, please.

CABDRIVEROh my friend. An unwise choice. Very difficult to get near the Park.

He turns up the RADIO, all sirens and breathless reportage:

RADIO REPORTER (O.S.)...they’re keeping all cross-park traffic out, they don’t want crowds in there. For the moment NYPD is calling it some kind of “weather anomaly”... we’re getting conflicting reports...

CABDRIVERIf I may suggest...Brooklyn very hip now. Staten Island, also nice.

TOMHave they mentioned a meteor strike? They said anything about the meteor?

CABDRIVERDo not misunderstand me. They are mentioning terrible, terrible traffic--

Tom peels off three twenties, hands them over.

CABDRIVERMy friend, this is New York City. That will just get you out of the airport.

Tom peels off three more.

TOMJust take me to the park.

19.

BBC REPORTER (FROM TV) (CONT'D)

EXT. JUNGLES OF HONDURAS - DAY

A ramshackle BUS motors a forgotten road to a lush riverfront VILLAGE. Muddy dirt streets, thatched roofs. A vestige of Central America’s frontier days...

INT. HONDURAS CANTINA - DAY

A dark saloon, nearly empty. With a Lonely Planet guide in hand, three lost-looking COLLEGE BACKPACKERS (two girls, one boy) enter, approaching a scar-faced BARKEEP:

BACKPACKER GIRL #1Hola, buenos dias. We’re looking for the trail to La Mirada. Donde La Mirada? Hablas Ingles?

The barkeep just points to the back of the cantina.

BARTENDEREl Profesor.

In the shadows, a Latino MAN sits with a bottle of whiskey. Cowboy boots and jeans -- but an academic’s tweed jacket. PROFESSOR RODRIGO DEL TORO (45). Sullen, mysterious, a wild mane of hair, perusing a meticulous leather notebook.

BACKPACKER BOYHola -- You speak English?

RODRIGOLa Mirada. The view, the gaze. This is what the Spanish called it. Do you know the mestizos’ name? En Fin del Mundo. The end of the world. Is this truly the destination you seek?

His smoldering eyes meet theirs. The girls’ faces flush...

BACKPACKER GIRL #2We just...our book says...the hike’s pretty awesome...

RODRIGONo. What is “awesome” is the fact that you and I exist. That from the empty, eternal void thirteen-point-five billion years ago a chain reaction of exploding gases could result in this very conversation. You are American? You attend university?

BACKPACKER GIRL #1Uh...Florida State.

20.

RODRIGOAt one time in my life, I was un professor mundialmente. I taught students such as you, who endeavored to greatness, to make their mark. And then, I would ask them -- what then? When there’s no corner of the globe unmapped. No element undiscovered. Nor another habitable world that you could reach in a thousand lifetimes. You see, what we call human existence is but a random interstellar accident. We are prisoners on a barren rock orbiting a dying sun. And every desire, dream and achievement that our species has ever known...shall one day combust into carbon and flame. Leaving us the shadow of a memory of the barest blink in time. My ninas, es verdad: all your travels are for naught. You need not seek El Fin del Mundo. It is within you.

(points to his heart)It is here.

Rodrigo pours himself another whiskey, then passes the bottle their way. Leans back, kicks up boots on the table:

RODRIGOIf you wish, you are welcome in my home. To drink, to feast, to make love. For truly, there is nothing more--

--but the kids have already fled. Completely creeped out.

RODRIGOPerhaps football. At Florida State.

As the trekkers reach the door, they recoil...at a sudden RUMBLING WIND. There’s a WHUP-WHUP-WHUP of ROTOR WASH--

EXT. CANTINA - CONTINUOUS

Locals and backpackers cower alike...as Rodrigo wobbles out to see a BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER setting down in the middle of the dusty road. A half-dozen HONDURAN SOLDIERS spill out, guns drawn, flanking a U.S. CONSULAR OFFICIAL...

...as, seeing the guns, all the locals immediately point to Rodrigo. Whiskey bottle still in hand.

CONSULAR OFFICIALProfessor Rodrigo Del Toro?

21.

RODRIGOOnly a coward would phrase it as a question.

CONSULAR OFFICIALYou’re a hard man to find, Professor--

The soldiers roughly take him into custody -- wrenching him around, slapping CUFFS and slamming him to the dust:

CONSULAR OFFICIALToo bad for you, not as hard as you think.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - CROSS-PARK ENTRY - AFTERNOON

A traffic nightmare, roads blocked as Tom’s TAXI arrives. He jumps out to walk the rest of the way. Up ahead, MEDIA TRUCKS and a growing CROWD behind hastily-erected POLICE barricades. Two NEWS HELICOPTERS circle overhead...

EXT. THE LAKE

More barricades keep SCORES OF BYSTANDERS back from the Lake, creating a carnival-type atmosphere, where PARKGOERS are converging to witness the inexplicable phenomenon...

A trio of SKATEBOARDERS hop a cordon, leaping on boards to get momentum...and then with a jump -- levitate into the air. They soar ten feet high...and then gently arc back down--

--seemingly pushed back by some invisible force. The COPS dare not venture into this “zone of influence”, instead waiting to apprehend the teens once they’ve “landed”...

Tom‘s amazed. Fallen leaves drift past him, seeming to hover in the air, neither rising nor falling. While in The Lake’s center, the VAPOROUS MIST continues to expand...

TOMThe hell’s happened to gravity...

EXT. PARK GLADE - FIFTY FEET FROM LAKE

Away from the crowd, Tom rummages though his pockets, comes up with a handful of loose CHANGE. Taking long strides, Tom lays out a perfectly straight LINE OF COINS -- one for each step -- pointing back toward The Lake.

He drops to the ground to watch...as the “lake-nearest” coins start to RISE, drifting up like some magic trick. And now the “middle” of his line of coins follows...

22.

...until it’s a diagonal path, pointing skyward. Tom stands, to see the leading edge now hovers just over his head. A HOMELESS MAN darts over to grab at the levitating coins. Tom pays no attention...

TOMJesus...it’s spreading...

EXT. THE LAKE - MOMENTS LATER

Tom charges back to the barricade perimeter. POLICE are shouting, holding the line, as NEWS CHOPPERS hover...

TOMOfficer! Who’s in charge? Are there any scientists on site! Hello--?!

No one has time for him -- so he climbs over the barricade -- where he’s suddenly grabbed by a firefighter. It’s Natalie.

NATALIESir, you need to get your ass back--

TOMSorry! I can explain. I’m an astronomy professor with the University of New Mexico.

NATALIEYeah? That’s great. I work part-time Sundays selling vintage clothing. There is the barricade. There is you.

TOMThat meteor everyone saw this morning, part of it hit here, are you with me? That Lake.

NATALIE(confused but intrigued)

Where did you get that information?

TOMTrust me, others have it, they just haven’t told you yet. Who’s set up a headquarters? Has NASA shown up yet? Who’s in charge?

NATALIEYou’re saying the “meteor” did this?

TOMNot did: is doing. TS5-MRL-316, it’s named for me.

23.

(MORE)

I discerned its warping effect on passing celestial bodies -- a gravitational effect -- but would anyone publish? No, no one would publish--

NATALIEOh, I got you, professor -- okay--

(to nearest COPS)Hey O’Bannon? Ramirez? Another “expert” over here! This one says they’ve named asteroids after him!

TOMThat’s how it works--

...as the Beat Cops from earlier saunter over to take charge:

BEAT COP RAMIREZBuddy, let’s back it up. Captain Barretti’s got a lot of work to do.

TOMGuys, we are standing at Ground Zero for some interstellar astrophysical event! This is not some tourist attraction! You need to EVACUATE these people!

NATALIEWe are, sir. Starting with you.

She smiles tightly, then storms off to deal with other barricade-jumpers. The Beat Cops haul Tom back:

BEAT COP O’BANNONLet’s watch it how you talk to a lady. How ‘bout a little respect...

INT. AMANDA’S APARTMENT - SAN REMO BLDG. - SAME

Brody and Amanda lounge on the couch in their underwear, battling each other with a mixed martial arts VIDEOGAME. Brody surveys the decor: original modernist artworks...

BRODYSo level with me: which cost more? This apartment or one of these paintings?

AMANDAI know. Sometimes to piss my dad and Calista off, I touch them. But here’s a game: see if you can find it. The one picture in this whole damn place of me.

Suddenly VOICES BANTER outside the door. Locks TURNING...

24.

TOM (CONT'D)

AMANDAOh my God -- that’s them! They’re back!

BRODYYou said they work downtown! All day!

He grabs his shirt and pants and scrambles, scurrying for a place to hide. She shoves him for the bedrooms as she leaps back on the couch, struggling a shirt on over her bra--

--as TED HOLLANDER (49) and his much-younger second trophy wife CALISTA (33) storm in, all Wall Street attire:

TED HOLLANDERAmanda! Dear God! What’s it look like out there?

CALISTAIs the apartment all right?

AMANDAWha-- what are you guys doing here?

But they storm right past her -- to the windows, where they raise the drawn shades--

--to reveal Central Park beyond. Two choppers circling. Traffic choking the streets. Police cars. Media circus.

CALISTAYou haven’t been watching this? What have you been doing?

Their eyes narrow at her pantless attire. The videogame still playing. And two controllers on the couch.

AMANDAJust playing. I mean. With myself.

EXT. THE LAKE - SAME

ANGLE CLOSE ON the Lake’s surface, moving through the VAPOROUS MIST...to see a FAINT BLUE GLOW beneath, barely visible, and an ominous PULSATING SOUND...as we see DROPLETS OF WATER start to separate... seemingly “dancing” over the surface -- as if breaking free of gravitational bonds...

INT. OBSERVATORY - UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO - SAME

TV’s are tuned to GLOBAL NEWS REPORTS, including Central Park, as Mason Ambrose answers his RINGING cell phone:

AMBROSETom? Are you on the ground?

INTERCUT CENTRAL PARK WEST - NEAR PARK BORDER

25.

Where Tom walks away, through the oncoming crowd...

TOMUhh yeah, can’t say for how long. Impact site’s a lake in Central Park -- God, are you seeing this?!

AMBROSEThey’ve got gravitational disturbances at all six impact sites. I think you and Sarah may have been on to something.

TOMWith operating theory being TS-5 was somehow repelling objects out of its way. Mason...we are in its way.

Sudden STATIC as the connection gets garbled, broken...

TOMWho do you know in D.C.? They need to coordinate at a federal level! The effect isn’t static, it’s spreading--

--as he’s distracted by a SOUND coming from the Lake, barely audible above the circling news helicopters -- a low, PULSATING VIBRATION, steadily building...

TOMI can feel it...

CLOSE ON: a nearby PUDDLE OF WATER. Tom’s INVERTED REFLECTION -- vibrating ominously inside the roiling waves...

EXT. THE LAKE - POLICE BARRICADE - SAME

Natalie and EVERYONE ELSE around The Lake can feel it too as the sound INTENSIFIES to an almost deafening, threatening pitch...and then, out of nowhere...

It STOPS.

A tense, silent beat...

...and then a BARRAGE OF SOUND as -- in a single instant -- every piece of electronic equipment within a several thousand yard radius of The Lake is completely “ZAPPED” of its energy. Street lamps, car batteries, iPhones everywhere EXPLODE--

EXT. CENTRAL PARK WEST - SAME

--as Tom still hunts for reception for his CRACKLING cell phone, as it suddenly ZAPS DEAD right in his hand!

26.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - POLICE BARRICADE - SAME

Natalie’s by the CROWDED barricade as flashing POLICE and FIRE TRUCK LIGHTS, similarly “zapped”, EXPLODE around her... She tries her emergency radio but finds it dead--

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - VARIOUS - TOM’S POV

QUICK HITS AS TOM WITNESSES VARIOUS PHENOMENA AROUND HIM:

TRAFFIC around Tom suddenly slows to a complete stop -- the power collectively “sucked” from each vehicle...

ANIMALS inside the nearby Central Park ZOO go absolutely nuts -- wolves HOWLING, monkeys SCREECHING. VISITORS flee...

Tom looks back to the Lake -- a “BULGE” OF WATER amidst the MISTS now, like a bubble, -- with the eerie BLUE GLOW peeking through the MISTS from beneath...

The CROWDS around The Lake react -- as the park’s fun, magical quality has suddenly become tense and ominous. Several PARENTS with young CHILDREN head for home, clutching them tightly, to keep their little feet from levitating...

Tom watches all of this with growing alarm, sotto:

TOMGet to a phone...

EXT. CENTRAL PARK WEST & 72ND ST. - DAY

Jumping a road barricade, Tom hears the eerie CRACKLING OF TREE BRANCHES overhead. He turns to see them bending stiffly upwards, like a gently spreading wave. At Tom’s feet, SAND PARTICLES begin to “drift” over the ground’s surface...

Tom curiously removes the back cover of his dead cell phone -- revealing the CIRCUITRY inside: completely fried and melted.

And now Tom looks ahead...to the CITY BLOCK before him...

...where evidence of the phenomenon is now SPREADING:

--at a corner NEWSSTAND, a frustrated VENDOR tries to prevent his merchandise from levitating above the display counter... MAGAZINES flutter up like birds...

--a YOUNG WOMAN with a Chihuahua SCREAMS as her leash-tethered yapper RISES, its tiny legs paddling helplessly...

--as the traffic lights here too BLOW OUT. Neon signs in storefronts EXPLODE. Phones SPIT SPARKS in people’s hands...

27.

...and Tom looks from his own melted phone...toward the spires of Midtown -- a virtual “Grand Canyon” of ENERGY...

TOM(a terrible realization)

Oh my God...

INT. AMANDA’S APARTMENT - SAN REMO BLDG. - SAME

The LIGHTS suddenly flicker throughout -- and then BULBS BURST! The TV EXPLODES! The X-Box SHOWERS SPARKS! Amanda and her parents leap, freaked, screaming:

TED HOLLANDER Get the suitcases, pack your things!

AMANDABut Dad! I’m under house arrest!

(then, realizes)Wait, Calista -- not the bedroom!

INT. PARENTS’ BEDROOM

But Calista has already charged in to start packing and as she throws open the closet -- she finds Brody in his boxers. Calista screams. Brody screams.

AMANDAIt’s OK! It’s OK! He’s a friend!

Her father goes nuclear in the face:

TED HOLLANDER Two words, young lady: boarding school.

INT. RESTAURANT - CP WEST & 72ND ST. - DAY

Meanwhile, Tom charges in to a formal restaurant, where a MAITRE’D fails to notice his phone starting to float--

TOMPhone! Phone!

MAITRE’DEr...will you be dining with us, sir?

TOMTrust me. You’re gonna be closed.

He indicates a table of DINERS beyond, who now see SPAGHETTI rise out of a bowl like serpents. Elsewhere, NAPKINS are levitating off laps. Freshly-poured DRINKS spontaneously overflow their glasses at the bar...

28.

Tom grabs the phone from mid-air. DIAL TONE! Stabs “911”--

TOMCity’s gotta shut down the power--

--as the whole place BLACKS OUT with a SHOWER OF SPARKS! Lights POP! Appliances FLAME! The customers SCREAM--

--as throughout the restaurant, the “effect” grows noticeably stronger... everything edging slightly higher into the air.

Tom holds onto a support column, trying to anchor himself, feeling the sudden weight shift in his own body...

A disoriented WAITER stumbles, spilling a PITCHER OF WATER, sending a giant, undulating CLUSTER OF LIQUID arching... “floating” between tables...confused which way to go. The maitre’d grips his stand for dear life, wide-eyed...

TOMThis thing’s not “killing” the power...it’s absorbing it...

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - POLICE BARRICADE - DAY

FIREFIGHTERS and POLICEMEN struggle with the perimeter as the BARRICADES THEMSELVES start to levitate several feet in the air. A few PEOPLE nearest them start “drifting up,” becoming “suspended” there two and five feet up, frantically flailing--

--as others grab benches, trees, light posts, anything to tether themselves. Further out, at her fire truck, Natalie and her lieutenants grab hold--

DENNY THE FIREMANTruck’s dead! We got nothing!

She watches the crowd now fleeing...each step carrying them five feet, just like walking on the moon. Then fixes on the dozen terrified people “floating” with the barricades--

NATALIEPull the hoses! Run our hoses out there! Let’s get those people down!

(leaps to work)Just double-checking here, guys. Everybody know how to swim?

INT. AMANDA’S APARTMENT - SAME

Brody flees Ted and Calista, jumping into his clothes...

29.

TED HOLLANDERConsequences? Want to talk about those? A boyfriend? In my house?!

AMANDAHe’s not my boyfriend--

BRODYI’m not her boyfriend--

The teens trade a look:

AMANDALike, officially--

BRODYI mean, yet--

CALISTAWhere the hell did you meet this boy?

AMANDAKind of waiting for our cases at Juvenile Court House.

BRODY(backing toward door)

So I’ll just, I should probably -- I swear I didn’t touch any paintings--

--and now the low, PULSATING SOUND from outside becomes audible. Spine-chilling. As all turn toward the windows--

EXT. RESTAURANT - CENTRAL PARK WEST & 72ND ST. - SAME

Tom emerges, drawn by the foreboding SOUND, echoing through the streets...as he corrals a COP rushing past:

TOMYou’ve gotta get the city to turn off the power! IT’S ABSORBING THE POWER!

EXT. THE LAKE - SAME

The CHILLING NOISE continues to build, the “WATER BULGE” appearing like some crystalline mushroom top... obscured by the levitating WATER CLUSTERS surrounding it, no longer any separation line -- air and water now freely mixing together--

--as the SOUND CRESCENDOES -- A SONIC BOOM!

--sending a RIPPLING SHOCKWAVE SHOOTING OUTWARDS THROUGH THE “BULGE”, EMANATING FROM SOMEWHERE DEEP WITHIN THE LAKE--

--sweeping through the air in all directions--

--forcing TREE LIMBS further up, forcing WATER CLUSTERS high into the air, SOAKING the two NEWS HELICOPTERS hovering above The Lake... and sending them spinning out of control!

30.

One is able to recover, descends hard, behind treetops...

--but the SECOND HELICOPTER incredibly rolls UP-SIDE-DOWN, fully inverted, VEERING OFF as it’s seemingly repelled from the seething, energized Lake directly below...

INT/EXT. AMANDA’S APARTMENT - SAN REMO BLDG. - SAME

Where Brody, Amanda and parents now see the SECOND HELICOPTER as it veers up-side-down straight at their building!

AMANDALOOK OUT!

BRODYEverybody MOVE!

They all race away from the windows as--

--the second chopper SLAMS INTO THE FLOOR RIGHT BENEATH THEM -- AS THE TAIL ROTOR COMES CRASHING THROUGH their window!--

--and a huge FIREBALL engulfs the apartment below! The floor starts to cave in. Amanda’s slipping through the opening--

--until Brody grabs her arm just in time, pulls her back from the fiery rubble and still-spinning ROTORS--

--but as he hauls her up, he GASHES HIS ARM OPEN on now-exposed rebar. He cries out; blood sprays. But they manage to scramble out after her parents, through thick smoke...

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - NEAR BARRICADE - DAY

The fleeing CROWDS look back in stunned terror - struggling to walk with reduced gravity, to tug, pull, swim, float...

...AS ANGLE FINDS NATALIE, reeling in HOSE LINES with her team to help “floaters” out, a whole new level of crisis:

NATALIEEvacuate the Park! Everyone! NOW!

EXT. STREET - CENTRAL PARK WEST & 72ND STREET - SAME

DEBRIS gently drifts down to the street...as does an impossible “waterfall” of thick black SMOKE. Smoke and flames are descending, not rising...defying gravity too.

Horns HONK, traffic SNARLS. Tom stares skyward in amazement, standing mid-street with others...as a FLEEING CAR blasts through the smoke out of nowhere! Tom can’t get clear as the the car SLAMS on its brakes, SKIDDING and striking him--

--sending him FLYING TWENTY FEET THROUGH the air back toward the Park...as he braces for an asphalt collision...

31.

...that never comes. He sprawls to a stop less than a foot off the ground, as if caught by a cushion of air. Astonished, he reaches out for a nearby lamppost, gets back to vertical -- as two BYSTANDERS help pull him away...

HELPFUL BYSTANDERWhoa, buddy...are you all right?

Tom just takes in the growing chaos all around him...

TOMYeah. First trip to New York.

CUT TO:

EXT. THE PENTAGON - WASHINGTON, D.C. - DAY

The most forbidding piece of geometry in the world...

ARMY GENERAL (V.O.)National Guard’s en route to evacuate the immediate vicinity of Central Park. Two casualties in a news chopper crash. City airspace is shut down, power’s been cut to Upper East and West Sides...

INT. PENTAGON - BRIEFING ROOM

JOINT CHIEFS, INTEL OFFICERS, AIDES. Among them, NASA boss JAMES HAGGIN (seen on TV earlier). And the Secretary of Defense, GERALDINE WEXLER (50’s, iron political will)...

ARMY GENERAL ...and there’ll be a Mobile Command Center up and running at Columbus Circle by the time we arrive.

WEXLERHow about some experts? Tell me there are experts.

HAGGINWe’re putting a team together, Ellen Meyer at Harvard, Gene Chadwick with DARPA, but in terms of Extreme Gravitational Fields, well, prior to the M.I.T. Incident, Professor Del Toro would’ve been our best bet...

CIA DIRECTORDel Toro’s been retrieved. Had intel he was hiding in Honduras.

32.

WEXLERWe have an extradition treaty there now?

CIA DIRECTORI wouldn’t use such a legal term.

WEXLEROnce upon a time, Jim, I thought of you NASA guys as experts. Why the hell didn’t you know it was coming?

HAGGINMadame Secretary, a 20-meter comet -- that’s just barely detectable -- and the erratic path on this made it seem doubtful it was one discrete object--

WEXLERSo we keep tabs on 3,000 satellites orbiting Earth at 7,000 miles an hour, but we couldn’t see a flaming bullet the size of a U-Haul coming at us?

HAGGINA bullet traveling in a squiggly line, no. Look, the only academic paper on it was written by a husband-wife civilian team -- for an astrology magazine--

He pulls a journal from a folder: “TS5-MRL316: CAN DARK ENERGY ACCOUNT FOR A COMET’S UNEXPECTED PATH? by Thomas and Sarah Riley, Univ. of New Mexico.” Wexler snatches it.

WEXLERWell, I’m a Virgo from the Year of the Tiger and I believe in that shit when it suits me. This thing in English or science-talk?

HAGGINEr...science-talk, ma’am.

WEXLERThen you get me this Thomas and Sarah Riley. NSA, FBI, find ‘em. Now.

EXT. SAN REMO BUILDING - 74TH ST. SIDE - DAY

A CROWD is fleeing the San Remo’s service exits. Among them, Brody (his arm badly gashed), Amanda and her shaken parents. SMOKE cascades down the building. COPS on bullhorns:

33.

POLICEMANWe need everyone north of 125th Street or south of Columbus Circle! Please remain calm! This is a precautionary measure!

Ted Hollander grabs Amanda, points to a TOWN CAR and DRIVER:

TED HOLLANDERBridges and tunnels are gonna be jammed. Ramon can get us to Riverside Park Marina. We’ll take the company yacht to the Hamptons house.

AMANDAWhat about Brody? Dad, he’s hurt--

TED HOLLANDERUnfortunately, one teenage criminal is about all this family can take.

CALISTA HOLLANDER(off dead cell phone)

I can’t get in touch with Luisa! Who’s gonna pick us up in Montauk?

Amanda stares at her helpless parents. A decision made:

AMANDAWe have to get him to a hospital!

TED HOLLANDERWhy? He’s not your boyfriend! You said so yourself!

AMANDAHe is now.

She shakes free from dad’s grip, grabs Brody’s hand and storms into the mass of neighborhood evacuees...

TED HOLLANDERAmanda! This isn’t a game! We are your PARENTS!

CALISTA HOLLANDERHow is this being rebellious? You’re wearing a tracking bracelet!

EXT./INT. UPPER WEST SIDE DELI - DAY

CUSTOMERS are emptying out from a glass-walled diner as Tom races by, sees its LIGHTS flicker within. Still on. He spots a pair of PAY PHONES by the restrooms--

34.

--so he scampers in, picks up a receiver. Gets a DIAL TONE! But digs in his pockets to realize: no more change.

He looks back to the front counter. An unattended CASH REGISTER. Restaurant totally empty now. So he races over to the register, stabs at keys. Cash drawer won’t open. Getting desperate, he pounds fists -- then grabs a chair, SMASHING the register, again, again...

...and looks up to see a group of FOUR POLICEMEN STARING RIGHT AT HIM from the sidewalk outside. Tom freezes -- as they all charge inside--

TOMTwenty-five cents, that’s all I need! To call NASA, the Department of Energy, just to find someone who’ll--

Cops grab him, momentum slamming against the counter--

DELI COP #1Are you Thomas Riley?

TOM--listen.

Tom blinks, confounded. A third cop holds up a FEDERAL “Locate and Detain” ORDER with Tom’s DMV photo.

INT. OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT - SITUATION ROOM - DUSK

A massive “war room” of desks manned by OFFICERS of every NYC municipal agency. Now abuzz with FEDERAL activity. SCREENS broadcast remote shots of the REDUCED-G ZONE in the Park--

--as Tom’s escorted in by two FBI AGENTS. Amazed by the chaos all around him. It’s through-the-looking-glass time.

INT. OEM BRIEFING ROOM

An attached conference room is filled with NYPD, NYFD, FBI, NASA OFFICIALS, in broken discussions. Tom’s ushered to a vacant seat in the room’s corner, where, next to him--

--is an unkempt, wild-maned man in tweed coat and handcuffs. It’s the whiskey-drinking professor from Honduras. He catches Tom staring at his handcuffs:

RODRIGODo I owe you money? Did I conquest your woman?

TOMTom Riley. Astronomer.

35.

RODRIGOAh! Like Galileo, convicted of heresy. Or Giordano Bruno, burned at the stake. Even Oppenheimer was betrayed and destroyed by his own government. It is inevitable. It is our fate.

Beat.

TOMAm I in the right meeting?

RODRIGORodrigo Del Toro, particle physicist. Look, you tell the Pentagon this: I did not destabilize the universe in March of 2012. I merely created the conditions under which destabilization could theoretically occur.

TOMWait...Del Toro...from M.I.T.?

(now recalls)They said you’d gone missing...

RODRIGOI was not missing good enough.

Suddenly everyone in the room RISES TO ATTENTION -- so Tom does as well, but not Rodrigo...as the Pentagon group -- WEXLER, HAGGIN, CIA DIRECTOR, JOINT CHIEFS enter...

WEXLERGentlemen, ladies. Been meaning to come up to New York to catch a show. Not exactly what I had in mind. What’s the situation on the ground -- right now?

NYC MAYORMadame Secretary, we’re calling it a “zone” of Reduced Gravity, approximately a quarter-mile wide, centered at the Lake in Central Park--

HAGGIN--which we believe was struck by one of the meteorite fragments.

NYPD POLICE CHIEFAnything weighs less than two hundred pounds -- in sight of that Lake -- is technically “floating.”

36.

OEM COMMISSIONERNational Guard, Police and Fire are clearing residents within five blocks. And all electricity in the Park’s been knocked out by this thing--

NYFD FIRE CHIEFWe’ve got vehicles stuck in there; even battery power gets drained within minutes.

OEM COMMISSIONERConEd’s cut power to Midtown on the theory it’s somehow being absorbed. But it’s not a static situation, I’m afraid.

HARVARD PHYSICISTThe Zone seems to be expanding. Slowly, yes, but...measurable...

WEXLERAll right, thank you, everything you’ve told me I can see. Now I need someone, anyone, to tell me what I can’t see.

A silence, as helpless looks are exchanged. Until...

TOMWell, you can’t see Dark Energy.

All the officials turn, craning heads to identify the voice from the corner of the room --

WEXLERWho said that -- who’s that--

TOMTom Riley, I teach Astronomy at the University of New Mexico. My wife and I first identified the comet...

HAGGINOh, so you’re Riley.

WEXLERAnd the wife? We couldn’t find the wife?

SECDEF AIDE(at her shoulder, low)

She passed away a year ago. Accident.

Wexler winces, regrets asking. All-business, soldiers on...

37.

WEXLERMy apologies, Mr. Riley.

TOMThank you.

WEXLERYou had a theory on this comet?

TOMLook, everyone’s right, it was never supposed to reach us. Too many things were in its way. Star nebulas, asteroid fields...but TS5 would make it through every time, its course only slightly deflected--

HAGGINThe bullet in the squiggly line--

TOM--as if its own gravitational field was moving others out of its path. And there’s only one force in the universe believed to counteract gravity.

WEXLERThis “dark energy,” I take it.

HAGGINEinstein conceived of it in 1917, proven by Perlmutter-Schmidt-Reiss in 1998. Never been seen, but it’s been detected. Makes up 70% of the known universe--

WEXLERJim, I want to hear the man’s theory.

Haggin takes a backseat, annoyed, while Tom takes off his jacket, spreads it over the middle of the table--

TOMCould you guys -- uh, Generals -- just grab this, hold it up--?

Decorated officials look to Wexler. She nods. So they lift it like a tablecloth, while Tom empties his pockets--

TOMLet’s say this is the universe, OK? And now we add planets, stars, et cetera, to the system, each with a mass creating gravitational pull...

38.

He drops coins, pens, a wallet and his dead cell phone on the jacket, causing it to sag downward in the center...

TOMSo what keeps the universe from collapsing on itself? What counteracts all this massive force?

Now, from underneath, he presses upward on the jacket with his hand, restoring a plane of equilibrium...

TOMThat’s Dark Energy. It not only resists gravity, but overpowers it. Because what we’ve discovered is that the universe is in fact expanding, ever since the Big Bang, and eventually...

He keeps pressing upward, until the items atop the jacket slide away from the middle -- and fall off to the floor...

WEXLERWell, shit. Which one was Earth?

TOMSo what if perhaps, at the Big Bang itself, there were these “hot cores” of concentrated Dark Energy, and BOOM! Most diffused throughout the galaxy, but some remained trapped, fused inside matter, like a sun or a comet--

HAGGINNow hang on. Complete conjecture--

RODRIGODammit, Dr. James Haggin, Political Sycophant! What the hell do you think science is? You and your billion-dollar budget, go and prove me relativity. Go bend me space-time, come back yesterday.

SECDEF AIDEThat’s Del Toro -- the M.I.T. disaster--

WEXLERYes, I’m well aware. So you vouch for Mr. Riley’s theory?

RODRIGOI vouch for letting madmen speak.

39.

TOMA massive concentration of Dark Energy, somehow trapped inside this meteor, would be trying to overcome gravity wherever it goes.

WEXLERAnd your opinion, Professor Del Toro?

RODRIGOIf Dark Energy is responsible, we’re talking about a force strong enough to reshape galaxies. So my advice is to obtain me a well-aged bottle of single-malt scotch, and whatever the rest of you will be having.

He puts his feet up on a chair, watches the media BROADCASTS. Everyone trades ominous, uncertain looks.

TOMLook, when my wife talked about Dark Energy...she used to describe it like body and “soul.” We can’t touch, we can’t hold, we can’t measure souls. But we know when they’re there.

The Defense Secretary leans forward, a steely gaze:

WEXLERWell if your meteor has a “soul,” Mr. Riley...I want to see it.

EXT. COLUMBUS CIRCLE MOBILE COMMAND CENTER - NIGHT

A trio of ARMORED MILITARY HUMVEES roll up Seventh Avenue, arriving with the NASA logo emblazoned. Mounted on the back is a cannon-like GROUND-PENETRATING-RADAR SCANNER.

HAGGIN (V.O.)We’ll be sending in our NASA InterPlan Rovers, prototype transports for missions to reduced-gravity planets. They’re twice the weight of a tank...

POLICE and FIRE OFFICIALS keep wary crowds well back from the Park. MILITARY FENCING’s been erected. NATIONAL GUARDSMEN all around. A COMMAND CENTER of MOBILE OPS TRAILERS has been set up here at the Park’s southwest edge.

HAGGIN (V.O.)...and we’ll equip them with Ground-Penetrating-Radar units to triangulate an image of whatever’s in that Lake.

40.

(MORE)

Size, depth, physical makeup. Need to know exactly what we’re dealing with...

ELSEWHERE BEYOND THE BARRICADES

A pair of FIRE TRUCKS are parked, with Natalie and her Ladder 9 Crew watching the military take over the operation:

NATALIE(on Truck Radio)

Please, just keep calling the apartment until he picks up. He has to be there, I just want to know he’s OK...thanks, Eddie...thanks...

Simmering, she turns back to her squad:

NATALIESkips school -- then lies to me? What am I s’posed to do with my kid, Denny? He thinks about no one but himself!

FIRE LIEUTENANTI’m sure he’s fine, Nat. Prob’ly no idea this is even happening...

NATALIERight. Lost -- clueless. Sounds like him. That could be.

A CONVOY of SEDANS pulls through the Barricades. Feds and Scientists from the OEM Briefing spill out, including Tom. Natalie notes him, with an odd recognition...

NATALIEHey -- wait a minute -- hey YOU!

She leaves her crew, hurries over. Tom stops, turns:

NATALIEYou were in the Park -- I wouldn’t let you through... You were trying to help.

TOMJust with a theory.

NATALIEBut what if -- if I hadn’t kicked you out--

TOMIt didn’t matter. I couldn’t have done anything.

41.

HAGGIN (V.O.) (CONT'D)

NATALIEYou swear.

Tom smiles, offers a hand to show no hard feelings...

TOMI’m Tom. Tom Riley.

NATALIENatalie Barretti. If there’s anything my guys can do for your guys, you just say the word.

INT. MIDTOWN HOSPITAL - ER ENTRANCE - NIGHT

Assorted ER CHAOS as Brody and Amanda push their way in, with Brody’s badly gashed arm raggedy wrapped.

AMANDAHey, can someone help us here? My friend’s hurt really bad! CODE BLUE!

All the DOCTORS and NURSES immediately spin--

AMANDANo, sorry, not really Code Blue. But it’s bad, it’s still bad--

--as all the Doctors and Nurses glare, resume the work they were already doing. A milling CROWD of displaced infirm and elderly who’ve come here for shelter. A DESK NURSE is struggling to keep track of it all, departing her desk--

AMANDAC’mon. We’re gonna get you fixed up.

She swipes the Desk Nurse’s coat and clipboard, whisking him through INNER DOORS as they open for other entering patients--

AMANDAFirst we hit up Big Pharma here. We’ll be looking for Vicodin, OxyContin, morphine, anything like that.

BRODYMan. Upper West Side girls. You all are really trouble.

INT. HOSPITAL SUPPLY CLOSET - MINUTES LATER

Quiet, hidden away. Brody rests on blankets on the floor, as Amanda wraps his arm in gauze bandages. Pulls too tight--

42.

AMANDATrust me, all good. I used to do a lot of surgery on Barbie dolls. Sex changes, brain implants--

BRODYOW!!!

AMANDASorry. We should probably find a phone. Let your mom know you’re here.

BRODYWhy? She’s got millions of strangers to worry about. Rah-rah. Uniform. Hero.

AMANDAYeah, but...that is her job...

He shoots her a level look, like she just doesn’t get it:

BRODYMy mom had me at seventeen. Classic senior-summer accident. Told my dad she didn’t love him, wanted to raise her kid alone, so he took off, I met him once, he builds race cars in California now. She’s so tough? She doesn’t need anyone? Well neither do I.

AMANDAWhat about me?

A hopeful smile, but he misunderstands her...

BRODYYou don’t owe anyone anything. Ever. World’s just gonna screw you over anyway.

He settles in, eyes closing as the painkillers kick in...

BRODYThis is some really good shit, by the way. I definitely see med school...in your future...

He rests in her lap, to the sounds of HOSPITAL CHAOS outside. She sees a wallet peeking from his pocket, takes it out. Finds a PHOTO inside: of a much-younger Brody, fire helmet on, with Natalie in full uniform, loving arms around him...

43.

INT. MOBILE COMMAND CENTER - NIGHT - BEGIN “SCANNER SEQUENCE”

A WALL OF TV MONITORS stream live VIDEO FEEDS from the NASA Rovers. Watching are NASA TECHS and MILITARY OFFICIALS.

In back are the Scientists, from Harvard, DARPA, etc., with Tom and Rodrigo (still cuffed) as tagalongs...

RODRIGOA cigar. One simple cigar. The bastards at least could’ve given me that.

EXT. COLUMBUS CIRCLE - NIGHT

Two ASTRONAUT-SUITED NASA SCIENTISTS climb aboard the Rovers, clip harnesses locked. At the wheels are Rover Drivers.

NASA ROVER DRIVERRemember, the Rovers are your lifeline in Reduced-G conditions! Do not unhook from the vehicles!

A last scientist arrives: it’s Haggin, all suited up too.

HAGGINYou just get us in position. Gonna be just like going home...

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - AROUND THE LAKE - NIGHT

The three INTERPLAN ROVERS cut through a DENSE MIST -- a roiling FOG OF EVAPORATING WATER that’s separated from the Lake, thickening like an OMINOUS HORROR-MOVIE FOG...

The Lake’s SHORELINE has crept beyond the embankment -- GLOBULES of water congeal and split. Difficult to see much of anything. But somewhere within...a DIM BLUE GLOW...

INT. MOBILE COMMAND CENTER/INT. OEM

Wexler monitors from the Situation Room back at the OEM with her Aides, Generals and NYC Officials. Via VIDEO-LINK:

WEXLERGod, the lake itself is coming apart...

HAGGIN (OVER RADIO)Dense mist here, very low visibility. Oxygen normal, radiation levels fine. We’re cabled to generators beyond the Zone, should hold power once we switch on. Mobile Command, all systems ready?

44.

NASA DEPUTYYou’re in position and go for scan.

HAGGIN (OVER RADIO)Let’s see what’s hiding down here.

EXT. COLUMBUS CIRCLE

NASA TECHS manning mobile generators beyond the barricades switch them “ON.” Indicators hover at full power.

EXT. DENSE MIST-SHROUDED LAKE

The GPR SCANNERS HUM to life atop the three InterPlan Rovers. Haggin and two fellow Scientists have CLAMBERED OUT from the trucks, CABLED to them as they man the Scanners. NASA Drivers remain inside the Rovers themselves...

INT. MOBILE COMMAND CENTER

All eyes stare at an IMAGING SCREEN -- waiting anxiously for the initial data to appear...

HAGGIN (OVER RADIO)We should have something any moment...

But in back, Tom notices Rodrigo’s focused elsewhere...

TOMProfessor, aren’t you gonna watch?

RODRIGOI’d be watching the wrong meteorite.

He’s looking at other, tiny MONITORS, broadcasting INTERNATIONAL NEWS reports of the other impact sites...

RODRIGOIt made impact as six fragments. No one’s gotten close to those either?

TOMThey hit in more remote areas. But look, same reduced-G effects--

RODRIGOYet those Zones are also expanding. The Rockies, the Sahara. So what is feeding them? There’s no electricity there.

Tom falls silent. Realizing he’s right...

45.

EXT. THE LAKE - LOST IN DENSE MIST

The GPR SCANNERS HUM WITH A THROBBING WHUP-WHUP-WHUP...as unnoticed at first, the FLOATING DEBRIS around the Rovers begins to RISE HIGHER into the air. NASA Techs cinch cables tighter...as the Rovers themselves seem to shift...

NASA TECH (INTO RADIO)Whoa...got some movement...reduced-G’s getting stronger!


WEXLER (VIA VIDEO)Say the word, we’re shutting down!

HAGGIN (OVER RADIO)NO! Not before we get an image!

The IMAGES WARP and swerve, RADIO COMMS getting garbled, as another otherworldly PULSATING NOISE starts to build...


...and it’s coming from the shrouded Lake with its blue glow, a strange, spine-chilling PULSATING sound. The Rovers continue to lighten, as wheels now LOSE CONTACT with the ground, like the leaves and coins did long before them...


NASA DRIVER (OVER RADIO)Rovers to Command! We’re RISING here!

As the GPR DATA SCREEN has its first DATA scrolling in...

NASA COMMAND TECHWE HAVE AN IMAGE COMING IN!

A shaky glimpse of a small JAGGED SPIKED ORB, the size of a tire, with a PULSING INFRARED HEAT SIGNATURE...

...as Tom and Rodrigo race from the back of the trailer, forcing their way in front of the OEM camera feed--

TOMSecretary Wexler, it’s not electricity! We were wrong! I was wrong!

RODRIGOThat’s not the only energy feeding it! Electric current explains none of the others!

46.

TOMWhich means it’s all energy! Any energy!

RODRIGOSolar, geothermal, the rotation of the planet! Radiation, subatomics--

TOMLike your SCAN!

WEXLER (VIA VIDEO LINK)But there’s energy...in everything...

RODRIGOIn which case it can’t be stopped!

TOMBut it CAN be made stronger! And that’s what we’re doing RIGHT NOW!

HAGGIN (OVER RADIO)Someone get those two off this channel! The scan is WORKING! We’re about to see what’s DOWN THERE!


An agonizing SONIC COLLISION as the sound waves from the SCAN INTERSECT with those emanating from the Lake, as Haggin marvels at the SPIKY-ORB IMAGE on his Scanner-Screen...

HAGGINLook...it’s incredible...

...as his nose BEGINS TO BLEED inside his HELMET VISOR. Same with other TECHS, DROPLETS now floating, as they clutch helmets, gnashing teeth, the sound unbearable--

NASA DRIVERROVERS ASCENDING! ABORT! ABORT!

--as the DASH of his Rover goes dark, HEADLIGHTS pop dead, SCANNER-LIGHTS SHATTER! Plunged into darkness!


A SNOWSTORM of STATIC spreads the MONITOR wall -- all FEEDS lost -- and then POP! POP! POP! ALL ELECTRICITY blows out!


The distant GENERATORS EXPLODE in a blast of SPARKS! Nearby, Natalie’s thrown to the ground! She scrambles up, as Feds flee the Command Center, including Tom and Rodrigo--

47.

--all turning to see, above the Park -- the MISTS rising like a SMOKE-WISP FINGER, turning in a helix, reaching higher--


Now pitch dark as Haggin and NASA Techs are FLOATING too, clutching the Scanners, still tethered to them--

HAGGINWE’RE GOING UP! GRAB THE GENERATOR CABLES! RE-HOOK TO THE CABLES!

Fumbling, two unclip, but lose hold...RISING INTO THE MISTS!


As the GENERATOR CABLES pull taut, there’s the sound of distant SCREAMS. Tom spins--

--as BYSTANDERS point high over the Park, where two NASA Techs can be seen RISING fifty, a hundred, two hundred feet!

TOMThat’s not reduced-G...that’s zero...


The Rovers are pulling higher, straining the GENERATOR CABLES, their last link back to the ground--

HAGGINROVERS TO COMMAND! WE HAVE FULL ZERO-G! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE!

--but as the PULSING sound grows DEAFENING, another TIPPING POINT is reached...and a SONIC SHOCKWAVE ripples outward! It SNAPS cables at the Scanners -- cutting Haggin’s Rover loose!


The SHOCKWAVE RADIATES outward, KNOCKING everyone down. They see the MIST-FUNNEL taking on definition, SWIRLING upward -- and with it, the three Interplan Rovers rising like balloons -- with Haggin and five NASA colleagues still aboard!

INT. OEM SITUATION ROOM

Wexler and Aides stare at STATIC-FILLED VIDEO FEEDS:

WEXLERCommander Haggin! JIM, COME IN!

48.

EXT. NIGHT SKY OVER CENTRAL PARK

Haggin’s still in his NASA Suit, clutching his rising Rover, now 500 feet above the city...eyes wide with horror, all we hear is his RAPID BREATHING...faster, faster, faster...

...as he looks from the twinkling lights of the vanishing city...to the approaching twinkling stars...


More TERROR, CHAOS and PANIC as the lightest OBJECTS start lifting off around everyone here: TRASH and PAPERS, hats off heads -- reduced-G signs the Zone is spreading.

FBI OFFICIALGet back to the OEM! We’re abandoning Mobile Command!

Bystanders behind barricades start FLEEING down Seventh Avenue. Natalie’s Fire Crew tries to clear the Circle--

NATALIEWhat about all these PEOPLE?!

(no help from Feds)BRIDGES! TUNNELS! DOWNTOWN! JUST GO!

In b.g., over the Park, all the POLICE CARS and FIRE TRUCKS left in the Park are RISING LIKE BALLOONS amidst the ever-climbing TENDRILS of LAKE MIST! Now a ZERO-G ZONE.

The Feds leap into their cars. Tom and Scientists scramble into a sedan, while CIA Agents shove Rodrigo into another...

RODRIGOYour wife was right, Professor Riley:A soul. A very dark soul...

INT. OEM SITUATION ROOM - NIGHT

Full crisis mode as MEDIA COVERAGE shows CROWDS fleeing Manhattan from every possible route...

CNN REPORTER (V.O.)--there are vehicles, I repeat, vehicles rising into the sky over Central Park! A mandatory evacuation has now been ordered for all of Manhattan. Do not try to ride this one out, people. Turn off your televisions and GO!

...as Wexler storms by with her JOINT CHIEFS...

49.

WEXLERHow soon can we have it in the air?

AIR FORCE GENERALWithin thirty minutes. Ready for deployment on the President’s order.

NYC MAYORWait, deployment, what deployment?

WEXLERThe GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Burst. Largest conventional weapon in our arsenal. 22,000 pounds, laser-guided, blast yield of eleven tons. Nothing survives it. Nothing.

NYC MAYORJesus, that’d destroy Central Park!

WEXLERHalfway there already, aren’t we? With all due respect to science, we’re not studying this thing anymore.

She spins on the OEM DIRECTOR and POLICE CHIEF:

WEXLERYou’ve got exactly four hours to get every living soul out of Manhattan. At first light, we drop that bomb.

INT. HOSPITAL SUPPLY CLOSET - NIGHT

Brody and Amanda lie asleep in each other’s arms, as a CITYWIDE AIR RAID KLAXON sounds outside, waking them...

HOSPITAL SECURITY (OVER SPKR)Attention all staff and patients: a state of emergency has been declared for New York City. A mandatory evacuation of Manhattan is now underway...

INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - NIGHT

Brody and Amanda emerge to CHAOS. Doctors and nurses helping PATIENTS evacuate. Empty stretchers left in the halls...as the WHITE SHEETS on the stretchers start to RISE INTO THE AIR...like disembodied ghosts...

BRODYOK, odds on catching a cab?

...as POP-POP-POP! All LIGHTS BURST out! World gone dark.

50.

EXT. ABOVE MANHATTAN - NIGHT

AERIAL SHOT of Central Park from above, as more CARS, TRUCKS, horse-less CARRIAGES DRIFT PAST US into the sky, in a gentle, helix vortex...steadily radiating wider...

...as the still-illuminated GEOMETRIC GRID of Manhattan well south of Central Park starts to BLINK OUT, block-by-block, within seconds. Steadily, concentrically, the “Zone” is ABSORBING all the energy it can find...

EXT. MIDTOWN STREET - NIGHT

In their sedan, Tom and other scientists STUCK IN TRAFFIC.

TOMIs anyone in touch with the Pentagon? Does anyone know what’s going on?!

All around them, CITY LIGHTS blink out. All headlights. Tail lights. Their own engine dies...

FBI DRIVERJust get back to the OEM. Go! GO!

EXT. EAST 59TH STREET - NIGHT

Natalie is running with her Fire Crew, working a BULLHORN:

NATALIEThis is a Mandatory Evacuation! You need to leave the city now! Get to Queens, Brooklyn, Jersey, use the tunnels if you can! If you can’t get out, remain indoors! STAY INDOORS!

LIGHTS GO DARK around her. Up ahead, she can see the Queensboro Bridge, and apartments across the river...

NATALIEBrody...please be home...

INT. SUBWAY STATION - NIGHT

People are PACKING into trains. It’s utter chaos. Trash and newspapers FLOATING all around. Brody and Amanda race...

NATIONAL GUARDSMANALL TRAINS ARE LEAVING MANHATTAN!

INT. SUBWAY CAR - NIGHT

...and manage to JAM themselves into a train. A look of vast relief as it REVS to full speed...flying through the tunnel--

51.

--as POP-POP-POP! Lights SHORT OUT. Train BRAKES, wheels SPARK, passengers SCREAM. In pitch darkness, a full stop.

AMANDAThis train’s not going anywhere...

INT. LOWER MANHATTAN STREETS - NIGHT

Tom is running as fast as he can, through a CRUSH of PEOPLE, trying to get past, out of breath...and then giving up, stuck in the crowd...as ANGLE RISES to see he’s just one of thousands trying to get as far as they can from Midtown...

INT. OEM SITUATION ROOM - HOURS LATER - NIGHT

BAM! Tom stumbles in, drenched with sweat, the first of the Scientists to make it back. Sees Wexler and Joint Chiefs--

TOMThey’re saying military strike -- what is this? What “strike”?

WEXLERThanks for your efforts, Mr. Riley. Your “theories” are no longer required--

TOMEnergy’s its fuel! Energy’s feeding it!

WEXLERAnd when you overload a circuit, it breaks. Bomb a forest fire, it snuffs it out. It’s time for obliteration--

TOMWho is advising you? Where are your SCIENTISTS?

WEXLERThe last words I heard from you, as I recall, were “I was wrong.”

TOMWe can’t be wrong about this.

Wexler stares at him, grim. Then walks the other way...

INT. MCGUIRE AFB HANGAR - PRE-DAWN - BEGIN MONTAGE

A massive C-130 awaits...as a 30-foot green and black ROCKET-SHAPED “GBU-43” BOMB is loaded by Air Force ENGINEERS...

52.

EXT. GLOBAL IMPACT SITES - VARIOUS

QUICK HITS: the “Reduced Gravity Zones” are spreading in all locations: the SNOW TORNADO now sweeps a whole range, the Saharan SAND FUNNEL now consumes an Algerian village...

CNN REPORTER (V.O.)Less than 24 hours after impact, the six meteorite fragments are wreaking havoc and panic. All locations report widening “Zones” of gravitational disturbance...with the most extreme conditions here in New York City...

EXT. MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE - PRE-DAWN

The C-130 guns its ENGINES and zooms into the sky:

BBC REPORTER (V.O.)Within the hour, the BBC has learned, the United States Air Force intends to launch the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in its arsenal...

EXT. QUEENS-MIDTOWN TUNNEL - PRE-DAWN

EVACUEES headed into the tunnel on foot, with POLICE and FIRE urging them onward...among them Natalie...who sees another FIRE CAPTAIN in a Pumper Truck on his truck’s phone...

NATALIEHey, you guys still have power? You gotta let me borrow that phone!

INT. NATALIE’S APARTMENT - SAME

In Queens, across the river. ANGLE on a RINGING PHONE by the window, family photos...a machine picking up...

NATALIE’S VOICE (ON MACHINE)Hi, you’ve reached Natalie and Brody. Don’t worry, we’ll get this someday.

BACK TO EXT. QUEENS-MIDTOWN TUNNEL

Where Natalie hears a BEEP and then an unfamiliar voice...

AMANDA (RECORDING)Hi, Miss Barretti, or Captain, I guess. My name’s Amanda, I’m a friend of Brody’s and I just wanted you to know I’m with him at Hudson General Hospital. He’s OK, he’s gonna be fine--

53.

NATALIEHudson--? No...no--!

AMANDA (RECORDING)Don’t be mad at him -- please -- for anything. He saved my life...

...then the CONNECTION fritzes out. More power lost. Natalie’s gone ashen...as a nearby COP comes running...

TUNNEL COPOrders outta OEM! First responders are to get out too! You stay on the island, you’re on your own!

That’s all several OFFICERS need to hear. They give up on futile crowd control, head for the tunnel themselves...

Natalie stumbles from the truck, pit in her stomach, looking back to the darkness of a now-deserted Midtown...

EXT. MANHATTAN SKYLINE - FROM OEM ROOFTOP - PRE-DAWN

As first light nears, the ZERO-G FUNNEL over Central Park now takes on definition. Like a steady mist of gently upward-drifting leaves, dirt, detritus...and as its outer edge creeps into the Upper East and West Sides and Midtown... the occasional VEHICLES rising into the clouds and beyond...

...as ANGLE PULLS BACK to reveal the OEM rooftop across the East River. Wexler, with Joint Chiefs, on the phone:

WEXLERYes, Mr. President. We are “go.”

EXT. SKIES ABOVE NEW JERSEY - DAWN - END MONTAGE

The C-130 bears down on a silhouetted New York City, dawn breaking behind it...as it lines up with Central Park...

EXT. OUTSIDE THE CITY - VARIOUS LOCATIONS

Life at a standstill. PEOPLE gathered at windows, on rooftops, stopped on highways, anywhere they have a view...

Huge crowds of EVACUEES stand on the Jersey side of the Hudson, rapt with anticipation as they gaze across...

INT. OEM BRIEFING ROOM

While mesmerized Officials watch TV’s beyond the glass wall, Tom’s alone at the conference table. His published “TS5-MRL316” paper sits open before him. Sotto:

54.

TOMPlease...please be wrong...

EXT. MIDTOWN STREET

Natalie’s racing west, the only person on the eerily-empty street, desperate to reach the hospital, passing PAPERS now drifting around her...as she hears the C-130’s DRONE...

INT. SUBWAY TUNNEL

Flickering CIGARETTE LIGHTERS lead the way, as Brody and Amanda walk a tunnel with other stranded RIDERS...as the drone of the C-130 reaches them too...

EXT. ABOVE CENTRAL PARK

The C-130 LINES UP APPROACH, as ROCKETS IGNITE on its missile-like BOMB, which BLASTS for the base of the Zero-G Vortex, where amidst the LOW MISTS, that BLUE GLOW still PULSES--

--as the missile’s ENGINES SPUTTER, struggling to power through the Zero-G “Zone,” almost there, almost--

--and DIVEBOMBS in for a MASSIVE DETONATION! FLASH OF LIGHT! ERUPTION OF EARTH! A concussion that rocks the city!

EXT. UPPER EAST SIDE STREET

Natalie’s thrown backwards to the ground--

INT. SUBWAY TUNNEL

Brody, Amanda and other Riders are knocked to the tracks--

EXT. CENTRAL PARK AND WESTSIDE - VARIOUS

--as the COLOSSAL SHOWER of ROCK, TREES and DIRT hurled outward by the blast joins with FLOATING ZERO-G DEBRIS--

--and it all comes cascading downward -- everything falling back to Earth. The Zone’s gravity has returned to normal!

EXT. OUTSIDE THE CITY - VARIOUS

Anxiety and hope on faces...cautious celebration as New Yorkers observe the vortex-funnel disappear from the sky!

EXT. OEM ROOFTOP

Wexler and her Pentagon team lower binoculars -- with congratulatory murmurs, collective sighs of relief...

55.

WEXLERShock and awe. Works every time.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK - GROUND ZERO

ANGLE MOVES INTO a gaping, bombed-out CRATER where the Lake used to be, WISPING with dark smoke...as that familiar PULSATING SOUND warbles faintly...louder, louder--

--and the faint PINPRICK OF GLOWING BLUE within the smoke SUDDENLY ERUPTS in a BLINDING SHOCK WAVE OF LIGHT AND FURY!

EXT. MANHATTAN - VARIOUS

--as it RADIATES OUTWARD, sweeping across the city in a VORTEX-FUNNEL a thousand times stronger than before! Everything in Midtown Manhattan not indoors or bolted down FREE-FALLS UPWARDS INTO THE SKY! No longer gently floating like balloons, but SHOOTING SKYWARD LIKE ROCKETS!

The widening “Zone” is now of FULL REVERSE GRAVITY, which makes everything that’s preceded it look like child’s play...

TIMES SQUARE: abandoned TAXIS and BUSES get swept skyward...

NY PUBLIC LIBRARY: all shelves crash to the ceiling, spilling a mountain range of BOOKS...

SUBWAY TUNNEL: Brody, Amanda and fellow refugees all get LIFTED off the tracks, SLAMMED to ceiling!

EXT. MIDTOWN STREET/INT. MACY’S

Natalie picks herself up off the street, to see the REVERSE GRAVITY WAVE hurtling toward her. She races for the nearest building -- a Macy’s department store--

--and SMASHES open a window, clambering in as the WAVE ENVELOPS HER BLOCK, and she’s THROWN TO THE CEILING with all manner of mannequins and merchandise!

EXT. ABOVE MANHATTAN

The REVERSE-G WAVE expands in a perfect circle, with the park crater now its epicenter -- consuming the Upper East and West Sides, now reaching the island’s river shores--

EXT. OEM ROOFTOP

Tom SLAMS out the doors, joining the Pentagon team for the terrifying view...of the Reverse-G Zone HITS THE EAST RIVER -- sending a never-ending WALL OF WATER CASCADING UPWARD INTO THE SKY...sweeping up all kinds of BOATS with it...

56.

But just as everyone braces to flee, the leading edge of the wave begins to SLOW DOWN, halting its advance MID-RIVER and holding its position, for the moment, there.

TOMIt’s slowing down! It’s stabilizing!

The Zone’s edge has stopped partway across the East River’s bridges, obscuring them from view with a giant “WATERFALL CURTAIN,” fed continuously by the river, Long Island Sound and beyond, partly obscuring Midtown Manhattan from view...

Wexler’s Aide returns to her, wary, with a phone...

SECDEF AIDEThe President, ma’am.

WEXLER(staring, ashen)

Have him hold.

INT. MACY’S - MOMENTS LATER

Strange silence. Surreal and still...

...as Natalie STIRS back to consciousness, climbing out from beneath spilled mannequins...to see she’s standing on the ceiling. She staggers to windows, as if in a dream...

...to see the street is now above her...and the skyscrapers of Manhattan yawn out below her to the sky...with all manner of magazine racks, manhole covers, trash cans PLUMMETING DOWNWARD toward the heavens...

NATALIEHello?!

(utter silence)CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?!

Just an echo. Her world’s gone literally upside-down...

INT. OEM OFFICES - DAWN

ANGLE TRACKS the STUNNED FACES of federal and city officials, staring helplessly at the news images on TV’s. Frozen, speechless, no phones ringing anywhere...

...as two CIA AGENTS come through the door, finally hauling Rodrigo back to the offices. They leave him mid-room, distracted by the incredible TV imagery themselves...

Rodrigo turns to see Tom arrive back from the rooftop. Meets his eyes, with a weary shrug of shoulders:

57.

RODRIGOTo truly know the universe...is to know how insignificant we are.

Walking past him, Tom stops. Turns back, hard:

TOMWho are you talking about? Who’s insignificant? All the people still trapped in that city? All the people trying to do something here?

(angry)Just ‘cause your life’s a big black hole, don’t try and take the rest of us down with you.

Tom walks on...but Rodrigo seems to awaken...

RODRIGOBut Professor Riley...I may have to.

Something in his voice makes Tom stop -- and turn back.

RODRIGOImmunity. I will require immunity.

Wexler and Joint Chiefs are returning...and now he turns toward them, raising his voice...

RODRIGOI WILL REQUIRE FULL IMMUNITY from federal prosecution! As well as the restoration of my M.I.T. professorship as well as the dissolution of all charges against me as well as a fee of T-B-D million dollars as well as THE KEY TO THESE GODDAMN HANDCUFFS!

WEXLERWhat are you talking about? In exchange for what?

Rodrigo glares to Tom, with grim reluctance:

RODRIGOThe one chance humanity has.

EXT. CONNECTICUT HIGHWAY - MORNING

An FBI MOTORCADE speeds at 80MPH, led by POLICE clearing the way. An unmarked black Suburban is at the center...

58.

RODRIGO (V.O.)A remnant from the birth of the universe, a building block of all creation -- and we seek to do battle with a bomb? Here I thought I suffered from hubris. Even a child knows the only way to fight particle physics...is with same.

EXT. BRIDGEPORT TOOL & DIE COMPANY - MORNING

A rusting warehouse in an industrial district, where the motorcade skids to a halt. Emerging from cars are Wexler, Joint Chiefs, senior Scientists, Tom...and Rodrigo...

RODRIGO (V.O.)While it’s been impossible for me to continue my work -- in this country -- a few loyal students have managed to keep some of the I.P. safe...

He holds out his wrists. Wexler nods. An AGENT uncuffs him. Rodrigo stows them in a coat pocket, nods to the building.

INT. RODRIGO’S WAREHOUSE

A loading dock door slides open...to reveal a SECRET LAB long dormant. A large, abandoned space, save for a GIANT COOLING TANK and an ARMORED SHIPPING CONTAINER. The other half of the warehouse has bullseye target rings painted on the floor.

RODRIGONow it’s not quite the labs at MIT...

WEXLERNo, because you destroyed those. You kept an unlicensed private facility?

RODRIGOHmmph. Like you don’t have a vacation home.

He flips on BANKS OF LIGHTS, then a switch that activates a CRANE ARM...which dips into the CRYOGENIC COOLING TANK to extract a SMALL COFFIN SHAPED CASE...

WEXLERDear God. He built more than one.

INT. WAREHOUSE - MOMENTS LATER

QUICK HITS: Coffin-Case is opened, two CLUSTERS OF STEEL RODS removed, unfurled like twin SMALL SATELLITE DISHES, mounted on tripods to face each other...

59.

RODRIGO (V.O.)Behold my mistress, muse, white whale and calcaneus of Achilles: the M.I.T. Micro-Collider. Capable of proton acceleration to a giga-electron-volt level of ten to the nineteenth power...

FULL SCENE: Rodrigo regards his assembled device, two COMPLEX METAL COILS in twin cannon shapes.

HARVARD PHYSICISTWait, how is this possible? The Large Hadron Collider in Geneva only operates at tera-electron volts! And that thing’s seven miles in diameter!

RODRIGOPlease. Let’s not let this devolve into a discussion of whose particle accelerator is larger. Mine contains over 10,000 superconducting dipole magnets, cooled by one ton of liquid helium, to maintain a charge which, when released, approximates the force of a hundred lightning bolts. This, in turn, collides protons with such power that the escape velocity from the target region exceeds the speed of light--

TOM(understands now)

--which creates a black hole.

RODRIGOSi, amigo. Now we’re talkin’.

INT. WAREHOUSE - LEAD-LINED CONTAINER

A reinforced shipping container with a narrow strip of Kevlar glass. Tom, Wexler and co. shuffle in. Rodrigo passes out protective goggles, rummages a huge box of CARNIVAL PRIZES:

RODRIGOTechnically, it’s a micro black hole -- of split-second duration. The effect, in prior testing, has been as you know, slightly -- unpredictable...

WEXLERHalf a campus destroyed, scores of scientists injured and two billion dollars in property damage?

60.

RODRIGO(a weary sigh)

We have made refinements.

Rodrigo selects a giant TEDDY BEAR stitched with “I LOVE N.Y.” and hustles back out to the “target rings--”

RODRIGOEverything contains energy, as you yourself so aptly noted....

He places the Teddy Bear in the center of the bullseye, suspended by a tiny thread, directly in the middle of the two Collider “cannons.”

RODRIGOBut if Dark Energy is indeed an invisible gravitational force, somehow fused and compacted within our meteor’s physical mass, then that same force could be used...against itself.

He re-enters the container, SLAMS shut the door, lifts a walkie-talkie-sized ACTIVATOR. Thumb over a button:

RODRIGOImmunity agreement? Double-checking.

Wexler’s aide shows him a piece of paper. Satisfied:

RODRIGOFull disclosure: this may blind you.

Thumb presses. Activator BEEPS. The twin Micro-Collider CANNONS hum into action with a rapidly rising PITCH, culminating in a SHOCKWAVE-releasing SONIC BOOM--

--as the “I LOVE N.Y.” bear BREAKS APART on a molecular level, swirling into an imploding helix, consumed within itself as if sucked into a pinprick void of nothingness--

--the whole far wall of the warehouse COLLAPSES, crumpling to pieces...which causes the ROOF to give way and COLLAPSE, which COLLAPSES the other three walls--

--until the whole warehouse FALLS APART like a house of cards around the lead-lined container and cooling tank!

WEXLERJesus Christ! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?

RODRIGOThat...was progress.

61.

The group stumbles out, led by Rodrigo, racing for his Collider to check for damage...

WEXLERWhat? You’re psychotic! This is your proposition for saving New York City?!

HARVARD PHYSICISTMadame Secretary. The bear’s gone...

As marvelling scientists clear fallen bits of ceiling away, there’s just a sprinkling of ASH at the bullseye.

RODRIGONo, the bear is not “gone.” The energy that was the bear was redirected inward, until it consumed the very physical mass that happened to contain it.

Wexler blinks. Processes. Registers. To her Aide:

WEXLERGet me General Sims at Yucca Mountain.

The rest look confused. To Joint Chiefs:

WEXLERWe’ve been trying to replicate his research at DARPA for months -- as a means to dispose of nuclear waste. We’ve built failed prototypes ten times this size--

RODRIGOBut this is MY work -- for which you branded me a CRIMINAL! D-O-D stole it?!

WEXLERWe’re dropping the charges. Let’s call it even.

RODRIGOOh! Yes! Let’s! RIGHT AFTER I REDUCE YOU TO QUARKS AND NEUTRINOS!

He snaps, spinning the Collider to now face Wexler -- who weaves and bobs behind her Aides--

TOMWhoa! Stop! Professor -- FOCUS!

He gets between them, grabbing the Collider from Rodrigo:

62.

TOMAre you saying if you got this close enough, it’d have the same effect on the meteorite?

RODRIGOIn theory, yes. If we got it close enough.

TOMWhat--?

RODRIGOI’d need a research partner on the project. Someone versed in the meteor side of it. Lest I get the Collider close and make some analytical mistake.

(nods to Federal Scientists)Members of AARP need not apply.

TOMBut -- me--?

RODRIGOYou understand the target. And you’re without allegiances to los federales.

TOMBut I’m an astronomer!

RODRIGOYes you are. And you’re the reason we’re talking about Dark Energy at all.

Tom stands, overwhelmed by the proposition. Looks to Wexler, the military group. No one’s shooting the request down...

RODRIGOYou say our lives aren’t insignificant? You should really test that theory. Perhaps now would be the time.

Incredulous, Tom takes this in. Finds resolve. And nods.

TOMSo that’s the plan? We mount a mission? To take this Collider there?

(to Wexler)All of Manhattan’s upside-down. You think we could even get to the Park?

63.

WEXLERNo. No I don’t.

(locks her gaze)Not alone.

EXT. APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS - DAY

AERIAL SHOT SWOOPS THROUGH A DEEP RIVER GORGE at a dizzying height. Toward a sheer vertical weathered rock CLIFF FACE--

--where a team of six camo-clad CLIMBERS (all mid-20’s) scales on ropes and belays: DEMBO (African-American, Oklahoma drawl), FRANK (one-time surfer), DARABONT (ripped biceps), HANCOCK (sharpshooter) and MIA (Asian female, comms)...

WEXLER (V.O.)We’ll be equipping this “Collider Mission” with the best of the very best: A Special Forces Operational Detachment out of Fifth Group, Fort Campbell, Kentucky -- led by Major Roy Grogan. They’re expert climbers and mountaineers, be able to scale a skyscraper if they have to. They’re the team that’ll guide you in...

The first of them reaches the summit: ROY GROGAN (39), a grizzled natural-born leader...stunned to see an ARMY HELICOPTER soaring in to hover from the opposite side...

ARMY PILOTMAJOR GROGAN! IMMEDIATE ORDERS FOR DEPLOYMENT, SIR!

MAJOR GROGAN Insurgents? Terrorists? Talk to me.

ARMY PILOTMeteorite.

INT. AVIATION HANGAR - KENNEDY AIRPORT - BEGIN MONTAGE

A new military Central Command has been set up, with GIANT SCREENS showing the six global “Inversion Zones.” FEDS and SOLDIERS race to and fro...as Grogan’s team arrives.

WEXLER (V.O.)All six “inversion zones” are expanding as we speak -- at a rate which will continue to accelerate as more of Earth’s energy is consumed. Other nations have tried to send in their militaries -- no one’s gotten within a mile. And right now time is the enemy.

64.

(MORE)

By tomorrow, the New York Zone will have spread beyond the city. Within a week, it’ll swallow the entire Northeast. And then...

A screen shows the entire country covered by the “Zone,” as well as huge swaths of Asia and Europe by the other five. Tom is watching. Grogan and his team stare too...

MAJOR GROGANI’m starting to miss Afghanistan.

INT. NYC SUBWAY TUNNEL - SAME

A WHITE GLOWSTICK lights up an “<--To West Side” sign, as ANGLE FINDS a weary Natalie trudging the darkness...to find her path blocked by RUBBLE...a tunnel COLLAPSED...

GROGAN (V.O.)OK, listen up: we are dealing with a city that was built to withstand forces from one direction. And problem is, right now it’s the other one. We’ve got reports of tunnels collapsed, flooding underneath the East and Hudson...

...clearly for Natalie, the blocked tunnel is another of many. Tired, defeated, she sinks to her knees...

INT. CENT-COM BRIEFING AREA

Grogan now briefs his Mission Team with a projected MAP OF NYC. Tom, Rodrigo, Wexler, Joint Chiefs are all there...

GROGAN..so we’ll be taking the most protected route we’ve got: via the double-decker Queensboro Bridge. Approximately halfway across, we’ll encounter the leading edge of the Reverse-G “Zone.” Up will be down. Down will be up. We’ll make adjustments and carry on. In the city, we’ll stay underground if we can. It’s fifteen blocks to the south side of the Park. Then we use rope-lines to traverse the trees...

INT. CENT-COM PREP AREA

The lab’s cooling tank is removed from a MILITARY TRUCK. The Collider gets extracted in its coffin-like CARRYING CASE.

65.

WEXLER (V.O.) (CONT'D)

RODRIGOAfter three hours outside the cryo-tank, the dipole magnets will lose their charge. The Collider will be completely ineffective unless we reach the Park by then. Even so, I can’t be certain how long its battery power will last.

WEXLEROkay, you’ve got three hours max. The good news? It won’t be rush hour.

INT. HOUSE - ANGLE ON TELEVISION - DAY - END MONTAGE

NEWS COVERAGE of the REVERSE-G ZONE enveloping Manhattan. Aunt Adrienne is watching, with Tom’s kids in her lap. Grace clutches her little DOLL WITH DRAWN-ON GLASSES...

...as the phone rings and Adrienne snatches it up:

AUNT ADRIENNEHello? Oh girls -- it’s your dad! It’s your dad! Tom, thank God!

INTERCUT INT. CENT-COM HANGAR

Tom’s in an ill-fitting HELMET and FLAK JACKET, on sat-phone. Two HUMVEES in b.g., as the SPECIAL FORCES TEAM loads in...

TOMAdrienne, let me talk to the girls.

She puts them on SPEAKER PHONE. The girls crowd around:

AUNT ADRIENNEThey’re here -- Tom, we’re watching -- it’s all over TV.

GRACEThey say everything’s ‘cause of Mommy’s comet! Is it true? Daddy, is it true?

EMILYDad, where are you?

TOMI’m here. I’m safe. But I’m having trouble getting out of New York.

AUNT ADRIENNEWhat?! Tom, leave! Go!

EMILYAre you coming BACK?!

66.

TOMEm, Grace -- I need you to listen. Everyone here is trying to help. If we can help, that’s what we have to do. As soon as it’s over, I’ll be back.

MAJOR GROGAN (O.S.)RILEY! LOCK AND LOAD! LET’S GO!

TOMBut it might be a little while before I can talk to you again.

(tries to lighten tone)Grace, sweetie, you still want a piece of the space rock?

EMILYNo. She just wants you.

TOMI love you, Em. Grace, I love you. Don’t you worry. Daddy’s coming home.

INT. CENT-COM AVIATION HANGAR - DAY

Tom hustles to the Lead Humvee, takes a last glance back...to see Wexler and Scientists all watching. Wexler gives him a nod for courage. He nods back. Then he climbs aboard...

EXT. KENNEDY AIRPORT - DAY

The HUMVEE CONVOY departs under military escort...as ANGLE RISES to take in the REVERSE-G ZONE far beyond...

INT. LEAD HUMVEE

Inside, no conversation. Downcast eyes, soldiers alone with their thoughts -- and the magnitude of the task. Except for Rodrigo, who has earbud HEADPHONES on. He’s bobbing his head up and down, privately grooving to something on an IPod.

Slowly, the soldiers notice. All trading strange looks. Tom turns and stares too. So Rodrigo shrugs:

RODRIGOGotta get psyched.

--and unplugs the headphone jack, letting SWIRLING, PORTENTOUS GUITARS fill the Humvee, and then...Bowie:

DAVID BOWIE (V.O.)Ground Control to Major Tom...10...9...8...Commencing countdown, engines on...

67.

(MORE)

7...6...5...Check ignition and may God’s love be with you...

Grogan glares, but says nothing. So as swirling guitars BUILD, his Soldiers soon find themselves bobbing heads too.

EXT. DESERTED STREETS OF QUEENS - DAY

AERIAL ANGLE traverses the abandoned borough, with the TWO HUMVEES on lonely approach, while music CRESCENDOES...

DAVID BOWIE (V.O.)This is Ground Control to Major Tom!You’ve really made the grade...And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear...Now it’s time to leave the capsule if you dare...

INT. LEAD HUMVEE

All the soldiers are nodding and swaying now, as Rodrigo begins to sing along, giving Tom a hard nudge:

DAVID BOWIE (V.O.)This is Major Tom to Ground Control...I’m stepping through the door...And I’m floating in a most peculiar way...And the stars look very different today--

And just as Dembo and Mia join in, and even Grogan cracks a smile -- FFFZZZTT! -- the MUSIC cuts out. The lights FLICKER in the Humvee, DASHBOARD LIGHTS go dead--

--and just like that, the moment’s gone.

GROGANGet ready to move.

EXT. QUEENSBORO BRIDGE - LOWER LEVEL (QUEENS SIDE) - DAY

The two MISSION HUMVEES approach the bridge, driving onto the protected lower level. Up ahead, now halfway across, the massive REVERSE-G “WATER WALL” batters the bridge’s underside before cascading skyward...creeping steadily closer...

IN LEAD HUMVEE: BAM! A lone, FLOATING TIRE strikes the windshield. FLOATING CARS and DEBRIS visible in haze ahead. And the now the Humvee’s ENGINE dies...

MIALost all power! Comms are down!

68.

DAVID BOWIE (V.O.) (CONT'D)

GROGANLet’s ship this cargo out! Reverse-G’s up ahead...and closing!

ON BRIDGE: doors open and Grogan’s team “floats” from the vehicles, gripping holds. Tom and Rodrigo follow...with Rodrigo struggling to keep his too-big helmet on...

RODRIGOYes, a trillion-dollar budget. And somehow they were out of my size.

EXT. BRIDGE - NEARING “WATER-WALL” - MOMENTS LATER

The team traverses a newly-rigged ROPE LINE that links them -- including Tom and Rodrigo. Four soldiers “float” the Collider in its case like space-age pallbearers.

They DRIFT past a menagerie of FLOATING OBJECTS as they go, almost enjoying this otherworldly experience. Lost CARS are nudged aside with the push of a finger...

As they approach the REVERSE-G “WATERFALL,” loud CRASHING NOISES STRIKE against the underside of the bridge deck...

CPT. FRANKBRACE YOURSELVES! HERE IT COMES!

CRACKS form in the pavement up ahead -- jets of WATER spraying up to the roof...as a floating CAR suddenly SLAMS TO THE ROOF -- another VAN, a TAXI -- each like a thrown switch--

--as the leading edge of the REVERSE-G WALL OVERTAKES THEM LIKE A TSUNAMI with the WATERFALL enveloping on either side--

--and as the lead soldier (Frank) crosses into the Zone -- WHOOSH! He SLAMS UPWARD against steel girders -- but as he lands, a HUGE SECTION OF CRACKED ROAD from below falls up--

TOMLOOK OUT!

--crushing Frank under a CHUNK OF ASPHALT, killing him! The ROPE-LINE linking him to the others PULLS TAUT, yanking their floating figures forward into the REVERSE-G ZONE--

EXT. BRIDGE - LOWER LEVEL (INVERTED WORLD)

--SLAMMING ALL TO THE CEILING...as ANGLE PIVOTS with them...

...to the “INVERTED WORLD” perspective the rest of the movie will maintain: our team is seen standing upright. It’s the world that’s reversed. Earth is overhead, open sky is below.

69.

The team staggers, disoriented, frozen by the incredible sight of MANHATTAN’S SKYLINE spread before them upside-down.

Two soldiers struggle in vain to lift the CHUNK OF ASPHALT, but more smaller BITS OF ROAD are raining down around them--

MAJOR GROGANLeave him, he’s gone! GET TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BRIDGE!

They dart through a THICKET OF OVERTURNED CARS, with more ASPHALT CHUNKS falling...which bust several holes in the underdeck, just ahead of Darabont, Hancock and Tom!

The two soldiers’ momentum carries them forward -- and sends them FALLING FREE INTO THE SKY. Tom dives back as another hole opens up before him. Manages to stop himself in time!

He gasps, stunned to be alive...as he stands with the others, now past all the cars, to see their path now cut off--

BY THE IMMENSE STATEN ISLAND FERRY IN THEIR WAY

Inverted and “caught” in the bridge, its MASSIVE HULL having pancaked a section of both decks, LODGING IT there halfway across. It ROCKS a little, bow-to-stern, METAL GROANING...

Three soldiers now lost. The five left are ashen.

TOMNo way to get past...

MAJOR GROGANThen we have to go through.

EXT. BRIDGE/INT. INVERTED FERRY

A dark, half-crushed seating level strewn with debris. They enter through a HOLE IN THE HULL, with Tom, Rodrigo, Mia and Dembo hefting the Collider case. Ship gently GROANS...

MAJOR GROGANForward! Daylight! MOVE!

They fight their way “up” the dank, slippery slope...as the Ferry abruptly SHIFTS! Mia drops her end of the device! Dembo slips too -- and Tom can’t hang on alone--

--as they all lose hold and the case goes SLIDING BACK--

TOMNO!!!

70.

Pure instinct, he SLIDES BACK after it...catches up and SNARES a corner, just above a set of UPSIDE-DOWN STAIRS! Tom gasps relief, but the ship keeps TILTING, angle steepening--

--as loud DRUMBEATS of SNAPPING METAL intensify. It’s shifting toward a near-90 degree angle! Tom tries to tug the case back up, but there’s no way he can make it--

MAJOR GROGANJUST HANG ONTO IT, I’M COMING!

He clips a RETRACTABLE ROPE-LINE to a steel beam and RAPPELS to Tom’s level, then re-clips it to a HOOK on the case.

TOMJust to be clear, this was really the best route?

Suddenly SKKKRRRIBOOOOM! The WHOLE SECTION OF BOAT around them SHEARS AWAY -- slicing a terrible cut the length of Grogan’s arm -- as the entire LOWER END of it SNAPS OFF--

--voyaging half the Staten Island Ferry INTO THE HEAVENS--

--and exposing Tom, Grogan and the Collider to OPEN SKY below, clutching opposite sides of the device’s case -- now the lone thing among them safely hooked to the rope-line!

EXT. SKY BENEATH BRIDGE/INT. SPLIT-FERRY

Rodrigo, Dembo and Mia gape at the two dangling “riders”:

MAJOR GROGANWE’VE GOT IT, WE’RE OKAY! HAUL US UP!

Dembo hits the MOTORIZED PULLEY. The rope-line begins to retract -- but then grinds, slows and JAMS!

SGT. DEMBOIt’s jammed! There’s too much weight!

He and Mia grab the line, struggling. Fatigued metal SNAPS--

MAJOR GROGANDammit...we’re too heavy...

TOMPull us up! Just help us! PULL!

The jammed pulley keeps GRINDING. They’re going nowhere.

SGT. DEMBOShip’s not gonna hold! WHOLE THING’S GIVING WAY!

71.

RODRIGOWE NEED THAT COLLIDER!

A freighted moment...as fatigued metal keeps SNAPPING and TWISTING, and the bridge deck starts to bend skwyard...

MAJOR GROGANRiley...it’s too much weight...

TOMJust hang on--!

MAJOR GROGANDAMMIT, LOOK AT ME!

Tom does -- seeing blood gushing from Grogan’s shaking forearm, then locking eyes, as time seems to stop--

MAJOR GROGANComplete the mission.

And he simply lets go, shutting eyes and falling free--

TOMNO!!!

--but Grogan plummets into cloud-cover, gone. The pulley instantly UNJAMS, hauling Tom and the Collider back up to the bridge! Rodrigo, Dembo and Mia (the last two soldiers left) grab them both. Tom’s still in shock as--

KRAVVVOOOM! A DEAFENING SHIFT OF METAL -- DEBRIS TUMBLES as the WHOLE BRIDGE QUAKES. Everyone braces -- a tense beat:

RODRIGOIf I may make a suggestion?

EXT. BRIDGE UNDERDECK (RIVERBED ABOVE THEM) - MANHATTAN SIDE

They BURST from the half-ferry as it FALLS APART underfoot--

RODRIGOABANDON SHIP!

Tom and Dembo haul the Collider, racing for a STONE BRIDGE TOWER at Manhattan’s edge. A METAL DOOR: “CON-ED ACCESS” --

TOMGO, GO! GET TO THE DOOR!

Behind them, the bridge's mid-river SUPPORT TOWERS begin launching into the sky, erupting in EXPLOSIONS OF MUD, dragging ribbons of BRIDGE DECK into the bottomless abyss--

72.

AS THE WHOLE BRIDGE IS WRENCHED DOWN INTO THE SKY! Another CONCUSSION WAVE knocks them all down, as they desperately scramble the final yards to the Tower Door. The underdeck keeps COLLAPSING -- coming right toward them--

TOM IT’S LOCKED! No -- C’MON!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Here comes the collapse.

RODRIGOI’m really going to miss this bridge.

And as EVERYTHING BUCKLES and SHRAPNEL STARTS SPRAYING -- the door’s suddenly thrown open from within--

--to reveal a desperate Natalie, NYFD uniform gone, down to her grime-streaked white tank top and cargo pants! Shocked recognition for Nat & Tom -- then eyes just keep widening--

NATALIEGET IN!!!

--as she shoves them past her with SHRAPNEL FLYING, as the last of the BRIDGE DECK DROPS AWAY under their feet!

INT. CON-EDISON ACCESS SHAFT - BRIDGE TOWER

Natalie SLAMS DOOR SHUT as they’re thrown to the floor by the CACOPHONY outside. Tom braces Natalie’s fall into him -- while Rodrigo dives to cushion the Collider case.

NATALIE(her head spinning)

You -- from--

TOM(breathless, gasping)

--the Park--

DEMBOHail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee--

MIAMake it stop, make it STOP--!

DEAFENING Armageddon out there. Finally, the RUMBLES fade.

Mia and Dembo trade ashen looks -- all that’s left of their unit. Gasps, shocked silence, water PLINKS, until...

RODRIGO(softly, hugging Collider)

Start spreading the news...I’m leaving today...I want to be a part of it...

Tom and co. stare. No one’s smiling. Rodrigo nods:

RODRIGOToo soon.

73.

INT. CENT-COM HANGAR - KENNEDY AIRPORT - DAY

Panic and chaos. On MONITORS, water-shrouded images of the Queensboro dismantling. Wexler and co. are incredulous:

MISSION TECHSDoes ANYONE have radio contact? A visual, ANY visual? Where ARE they?!

The SecDef stares, already knowing the answer...

WEXLERHow long to replicate the Collider?

ARMY GENERALImpossible to say. Weeks at best. And by then...

(trails off)That mission was our chance.

Wexler nods, turns like a convict to the gallows...

MISSION TECHSFLARE! THERE’S A FLARE! GREEN FLARE!

SECDEF AIDERiver’s edge! Manhattan side!

They leap at the sight of a GREEN ROCKET TRAIL streaking skyward on screen, up, up, up, never to return. Wexler breathes relief as Techs HURRAH with newfound hope...

WEXLERMy God. They’re in.

INT. CON-ED ACCESS SHAFT - BRIDGE TOWER - SAME

The last two soldiers, Dembo and Mia flank the open door, watching their fired flare streak down, down, down...

...as ANGLE FINDS Natalie beside Tom, both staring at the void beyond the doorway, both still dazed...

NATALIEI saw you crossing...there’s a lookout above. Been there maybe two hours.

TOMWhy didn’t you try to get out?

NATALIEMy son and I -- we live right across the river. Most days you can see it from here.

74.

(MORE)

He got caught on the westside -- at a hospital -- too many tunnels blocked to get there. So I came here -- to watch. For anyone crossing. That bridge was our way home.

TOMThen you’ll just have to find another.

Natalie regards him. Appreciates the touch of hope. Now re-focuses, notes his tactical gear:

NATALIE“Astronomer,” you said. Never told me you were Special Forces.

TOMYeah. It’s just today.

INT. DEEPER NARROW TUNNEL - DAY

A large group of scared SURVIVORS shuffles through the darkness. Men, women, children -- more than fifty -- sooty-faced, wet and scared...

BRODY (O.S.)Keep moving! You can make it! We’re headed east again now, I promise you... can’t be much further...can’t be far...

...led by Brody and Amanda, battered, bedraggled, with makeshift LANTERNS. Amanda’s assisting an ELDERLY COUPLE.

AMANDADon’t give up, we’ll rest again soon, you’re gonna get out of here...

They reach a T-JUNCTION with a ladder up. Brody consults a hand-scrawled map he’s made. Makes another notation:

BRODYEast-west dead end. River’s gotta be close. Queensboro’s got two levels. There’ll be a lower protected deck. Get there and we’re gonna make it...

(shines LANTERN ahead)OK, give these ones a check...

Amanda takes a broken PIPE she’s carrying and BANGS it against the steel ladder. Bang! Bang! An echoing SIGNAL.

AMANDAANY MORE SURVIVORS DOWN HERE?! WE’VE GOT A GROUP HEADED FOR THE BRIDGE?!

75.

NATALIE (CONT'D)

INT. CON-ED ACCESS SHAFT - BRIDGE TOWER

Back with Tom, Natalie, Rodrigo, Dembo, Mia, now recovered:

NATALIEI don’t understand -- where’s the rest of the military?

MIAWe’re a tactical mission unit. There’ll be evac teams sent when conditions stabilize.

NATALIEStabilize? What’s gonna stabilize ‘em?

TOM(points to Collider)

This. Hopefully. Possibly.

RODRIGOI bear no liability if it doesn’t. I have that in writing. I do.

NATALIEAnd that’s like some state-of-the-art top-secret superweapon?

RODRIGOYou’re familiar with quantum mechanics? Hawking Radiation? String theory? Planck’s Mass?

(gets a blank look)Oh, all right. You’re familiar with Light Saber plus Obi-Wan Kenobi equals No More Obi-Wan Kenobi?

DEMBOHow easily through the city have you been able to travel underground?

NATALIEIt’s a rat’s nest down here. That bomb you guys dropped caved the subways near the Park. And there’s others now filling with groundwater, even the deepest ConEd routes--

Suddenly, the faint PING-PING-PING of metal striking metal. An echo from somewhere deeper in the network. Everyone goes silent. Realizing:

TOMSurvivors.

76.

INT. UNDERGROUND CON-ED JUNCTION ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

A larger, still-cramped space with power monitoring, routing and switching equipment. A small “break room” to the side. Brody and Amanda lead their fifty survivors in, pilfering the break room for water bottles, food, blankets--

BRODYThank God, look, supplies. Send ‘em around, everyone share. Looks like those ladders access the bridge tower--

NATALIE (O.S.)HELLO DOWN THERE! HELLO!

--as Brody straightens sharply. Recognizes the voice. Can’t believe it. As more SHADOWS descend a ladder, in the flicker of approaching EMERGENCY GLOWSTICKS--

--to bring Natalie into the room, leading Tom, Rodrigo and lastly Dembo and Mia, descending with the Collider--

BRODYOh my God...

The survivor refugees part, now allowing Natalie to see--

NATALIEBrody?!

Her knees buckle in disbelief, but then she races for him, embracing him with all her might...

BRODYThe bridge, we were headed for--

NATALIE--the bridge, Brody, there is no bridge...

ASSORTED SURVIVORSWhat...what?! No bridge...?!

NATALIEIt broke apart, all of it, gone. What happened? How bad are you hurt? If we get out of this, I’m gonna kill you--

AMANDAThis is your Mom?

BRODYYeah, uh...this is Amanda.

NATALIEAmanda-Why-My-Son-Is-In-the-City?

77.

AMANDA(shrinks a step back)

Um...I’ll just be over here.

NATALIEBut I tried...you made it from the hospital? How did you get here?

ELDERLY SURVIVORWe all followed him.

Natalie regards Brody with something approaching amazement. Brody shows his scrawled mess of a map:

BRODYSubway was caved at the Eighth Avenue line, but I remembered the site checks you took me on -- maintenance shafts, ConEd connectors -- all the tunnels that run deeper. We found a route to Columbus Circle, tried to head east--

--as Tom steps in to take his homemade map out of his hands:

TOMYou got here from the Park? You found a safe route from the Park?

Brody and Amanda nod. Tom looks to Collider team:

TOMThen this kid can lead us back.

BRODY/AMANDAWhere--? Back--?

NATALIEWhat? No -- No--

TOMListen, we have less than two hours to get this Collider to ground zero. Or little by little, New York City is going to start peeling off the face of the planet. Then the whole country, next the rest of the world. We don’t have time to be making wrong turns...

NATALIENo! He is here. He got out.

DEMBOMa’am, if we don’t stop this thing it’s not gonna matter where anybody is.

78.

NATALIEHe made a map! So take his map! You’re not trying to reach that Park with my son!

BRODYMom...it’s not up to you.

Startled, she turns. Looks so much older now. Holds up map:

BRODYYou think they can read this? I barely can. We took doors, we took turns, I’d have to see ‘em to be sure...

AMANDAWe’d have to see them.

(off his surprise)Think I’m trusting my entire future to a short-term memory hopped up on diazepam?

BRODYUh, maybe a subject for another time...

Amanda nods to Tom and his team: the teens are on board. But Natalie’s still not having it:

NATALIEThis is my job. It’s my job. Lemme look at what’s down here...

She snatches the map, descends the room’s ladder, alone. Dembo steps to grab her, but Tom stops him. Holds up a hand: let me. Rodrigo sighs, takes a seat on the Collider case:

RODRIGOUpside-down citizens, we’ve come to save your metropolis. You may now place your bets.

INT. DEEPER CON-ED TUNNEL - CONTINUOUS

Natalie’s pacing back and forth, studying Brody’s map...as Tom descends the ladder behind her:

NATALIEHe was never meant to be here. I’m trading places, I’m taking his place--

TOMYeah, that’s not how the universe works.

79.

NATALIEOh right, I forgot. You’re the authority on that.

She barely registers his presence, struggling with the map. So Tom relents, flecking rust off the ladder...

TOMCouple years ago...my wife Sarah and I were studying this comet, and we’re trying to get a paper done, plus grading tests and teaching classes and two little kids and everything else. And it’s Friday and my three-year-old Grace leaves her favorite doll at day care. Five dollar doll, OK? Walmart doll...

Confused, Natalie slows, finally starting to listen--

TOMAnd all day I told my wife I’d get it, soon as I was done working I’d go and get it. This doll, right, my daughter had to have it -- she wasn’t gonna be able to sleep. But I kept working on this paper, our great cosmic paper, it seemed so important. And I forgot to get the doll. So then it’s nine o’clock and Sarah gets home and my girl won’t go to bed and Sarah just looks at me. And says, “Tom, sometimes it’s the little things.” Turns right around, gets back in her Honda to go get the doll. And she made it to the daycare. But she never made it home.

Natalie looks at him. Now she understands...

TOMSee that night, that was “meant” to be me. My wife was meant to be here. But sometimes there is no “trading places.”

There’s a deep RUMBLE from somewhere underground. A threat of the future that awaits...

TOMI’m sorry, Natalie. Me and my girls need your son.

80.

EXT. DESERTED STREETS OF BROOKLYN - DAY

With the REVERSE WATERFALL of the East River in deep b.g., CARS float freely in the evacuated boroughs...now gently rising higher -- and ZIP! ZIP! -- SKYROCKETING into the heavens as the leading edge of the Zone expands...

INT. CENT-COM - KENNEDY AIRPORT

Wexler MONITORS the status with Techs and Generals, with the MISSION CLOCK behind her dropping to “01:59:00.”

ARMY GENERALZone’s moved into the other boroughs. Team’s got less than two hours...

WEXLERWhere are they?

INT. SUBWAY TUNNELS - DAY (INVERTED WORLD)

Brody and Amanda now lead the way, with Natalie close behind, with a look back to Tom, who’s helping heft the Collider with Rodrigo, Dembo and Mia. Tom casts her a grateful look--

BRODY‘Kay, we’ve cut through the Second Avenue line, then did the dip back through Con-Ed access, so this should have us back on the N-Q-R...

All around them, distant NOISES reverberate -- painful GROANS of the city’s vast infrastructure straining to hold up... CRACKS are everywhere. WATER DRIPS from unknown sources.

Rodrigo takes in their grim surroundings, leans toward Mia:

RODRIGOStaff Sergeant. Should we find ourselves facing The End, I would more than understand if you sought to take solace in my arms.

MIAYou touch me, I put a bullet in you.

RODRIGOI’ll take that as a maybe.

Up ahead, Brody and Amanda reach a Y-JUNCTION in the tunnel. Down one, the silvery reflection of an upside-down SUBWAY TRAIN on the tunnel ceiling:

81.

BRODYIt’s that way! I remember the train!

AMANDAIt’s maybe two more blocks from here. We cut through to the 1-2-3, and that was clear almost to the Circle--

Suddenly, the CRACKLE OF FRACTURING ROCK stops them still.

DEMBOQuiet! Listen! What is that?

The others hear it too: a DISTANT, BUILDING ROAR...as a GROWING BREEZE blows past...

NATALIECan’t be a train, that’s for sure--

MIAGetting louder! It’s headed THIS WAY!

A MASSIVE WALL OF GROUNDWATER ROUNDS THE CORNER, FLOOR-TO-CEILING, RUSHING AT THEM THROUGH THE TUNNEL! The ceiling BUCKLES and CRACKS all around them--

TOMINTO THE TRAIN!!!

INT./EXT. SUBWAY CAR - CONTINUOUS

They sprint towards the last car. Brody and Amanda pry open the door, spill inside -- followed by Dembo and Rodrigo with the Collider. Tom, Natalie and Mia rush towards the train--

BRODYFASTER! HURRY!

--the distant WALL OF WATER closing in like a tsunami -- just moments away! More TREMORS and falling RUBBLE--

--as Natalie and Tom dive into the open door next to Brody -- just as Mia is hit by falling debris, just short of the train! She goes down hard. Tom spins back--

--as Mia is overtaken by the waters, SWALLOWED WHOLE!

DEMBONO!!!

As the DELUGE ZEROES IN ON THE TRAIN -- Tom and Natalie FORCE SHUT the door. A moment later, Mia SLAMS against it, GLOWSTICK illuminating the murky water and her terrified face, eyes wide, holding breath, pawing at the door--

82.

BRODY/AMANDAOpen the door, open the door!

--until Dembo SLAMS against it, keeping their hands away.

DEMBOYou open that door, we all drown.

He turns his back to the window, unable to watch, as Mia keeps POUNDING on the glass, keeps fighting -- and then the churning waters SWEEP her GLOW-STICK LIT face away...

Everyone waits with bated horror, as WATER SPILLS through the cracks between door openings. Are the rest of them next? But then, as the tunnel outside fills...

INT./EXT. SUBWAY CAR

The sheer power LIFTS THE CAR OFF THE TUNNEL CEILING AND PUSHES IT AHEAD, building speed...

TOMHang on! We’re MOVING!

Bounced roughly, they trade doomed looks...

RODRIGOThis better be the local.

THEY’RE ON A FLUME RIDE through the tunnel. Train careens, a huge propelled bullet, surrounded by CHURNING DARK WATER.

INT. FLOODED STATION

KAVOOM! They shoot out from the tunnel and into a STATION -- surreally lit by shafts of daylight from below as water escapes through a large hole...

INT. SUBWAY CAR

The train FLUME-RIDES into the much wider station space -- finally settling to a gentle whirlpool rest as water drains from the station...

NATALIEWe’re slowing! We’re stopping!

TOMStopping where?...

83.

INT. FLOODED STATION - MOMENTS LATER

Climbing out of the subway car, they cautiously approach the edge of a GAPING HOLE...from where daylight pours in -- the collapsed floor sloping down towards what appears to be a large building overhang, just below. As they venture down...

...to find themselves now standing atop an inverted THEATER MARQUEE overlooking the heart of TIMES SQUARE!

RODRIGOA little off course now, I’d say...

EXT. TIMES SQUARE - THEATER MARQUEE

In stunned silence, they take in the incredible view of THE INVERTED CITY amongst upside-down billboards and marquees -- skyscrapers reaching down into the bottomless abyss... subway trains dangling into the sky amongst crumbling streets...

Natalie looks to Dembo, still grappling with his decision:

NATALIEI’m sorry...you lost her...

DEMBO(nods, distant)

We all knew what we signed up for.

Then seems to focus, looking from the surreal vista to her:

DEMBOYou do know what you signed up for.

TOMI don’t think we’re gonna be going back underground again anytime soon.

AMANDAI keep waiting for the whole US Army to show. But they’re really not coming, are they. It’s you guys. You’re it.

RODRIGOYes, but look where we are now! 49th Street! We’re farther away than when we set out from the bridge!

TOMWe still have the Collider. We still have a chance.

RODRIGOBut we’ve gone completely off course!

84.

TOMYeah, well, my life’s gone off-course. I’ve got two kids at home and I’m keeping them waiting. I’ll go building to building if I have to. Anybody see a way to cross the block? Anything that’d work as a bridge?

DEMBOMan, no bridges. I’m done with bridges.

BRODYWhat about a bridge...we could take with us?

Everyone turns Brody’s way. He CRUMPLES up his map, tosses it into the Times Square abyss. Focused on Natalie:

BRODYWe’re at 49th Street, Mom. Forty-Ninth Street...

And now she stares his understanding. A glimmer of hope...

NATALIEYes we are.

INT. FIRE STATION - DAY

A FIRE ESCAPE window gets SMASHED open, as Natalie and Brody drop in...and land on the ceiling. A LADDER TRUCK lies beside them, crashed, wheels up. Tom, Rodrigo, Amanda and Dembo follow in with the Collider case:

NATALIEYou want to know the greatest human invention ever?

RODRIGOThe splitting of the atom? Alternating current? Female Viagra? Am I getting close?

NATALIENo: the ladder. Trust me. That’s the reason humans are alive today...

She kneels beside the truck’s 200-FOOT EXTENSION LADDER, studying the bolts locking it to its base...

NATALIEAll-in-one shelter, safety, escape. And right-side-up, upside-down, doesn’t matter. It’s still hands, feet, repeat.

85.

(MORE)

Now a New York City street on average is gonna be 76 feet wide--

TOMJust tell me that ladder’s longer.

NATALIEOn a good day? By a lot.

INT. FIRE STATION - MOMENTS LATER - BEGIN “CROSSING MONTAGE”

IN THE TRUCK AREA: Brody and Amanda help Natalie UNBOLT the extension ladder. She takes a moment, great significance for her, to be working alongside her son...

TOM (V.O.)Ten blocks from here to the south edge of the Park. All we do is take it one block at a time...

IN THE REC AREA: Tom, Rodrigo and Dembo plot a NEW MAP ROUTE straight up Sixth Avenue to 57th St. and Central Park South.

TOM (V.O.)We get to the Park, we’re back on track. Sgt. Dembo’s still got his climbing gear that’ll take us tree to tree...

AT THE STATION DOOR: The red garage door OPENS UP to reveal the six of them. Extension ladder poised to face the OFFICE BUILDING across the street...

TOMWho’s up for a little walk in the city?

And Dembo points his FLARE GUN down into the sky...

INT. CENT-COM - KENNEDY AIRPORT - DAY

With the Zone expanding, the advanced “Reduced-G” wave is now reaching JFK...with PENS and PAPERCLIPS now rising off desks, as OFFICIALS race to pack up, back in evacuation mode:

NSA DIRECTORWE ARE MOVING THIS FACILITY, PEOPLE! WE’RE ABANDONING KENNEDY! RE-ESTABLISH AT THE PENTAGON!

Wexler and the last remaining officials grit teeth as the countdown clock reads “00:47.”

86.

NATALIE (CONT'D)

SECDEF AIDEMa’am, we have to evacuate. The Zone’s advance wave of Reduced-G has reached us. The helicopter’s waiting...

MISSION TECH #1FLARE! Another green flare!

MISSION TECH #2Got a visual! Sixth Avenue and 50th! Looks like six...firefighters?

On screen, SATELLITE IMAGES flicker, showing the group traversing another ladder crossing. Everyone reacts--

ARMY GENERALThey’re still alive! And they’ve got the Collider!

WEXLER Hold the evacuation. If they have forty-seven minutes...so do I.

EXT. SIXTH AVENUE TO 57TH STREET - DAY - RESUME MONTAGE

Block by block, building by building, the rag-tag group of six traverses the precarious ghost town of New York. ANGLE SWOOPS through the city toward them, from normal perspective--

--then INVERTS A 180 to see the world as they do. Crumbling streets overhead, open sky below. Scampering the ladder on all fours, hauling the Collider case by firehose tether.

IN AN OFFICE BUILDING: they hustle across a BULLPEN OF CUBICLES tossed like toys, ankle-deep in papers...

TOMDown to three more blocks! Let’s go!

AT ANOTHER BLOCK-CROSSING: trapped NYC SURVIVORS peek from windows -- all amazed by the sight of their brave journey...

INT. CENT-COM HANGAR - JFK

MISSION TECH #1Ma’am they’re at 57th Street! They’re right behind the Essex House!

WEXLERI don’t believe it. They’re at the Park...

87.

INT. ESSEX HOUSE HOTEL SUITE - DAY

The team bursts into a third-floor room, strewn with overturned furniture and empty bottles of champagne, all trading exhausted smiles, approaching the WINDOWS--

BRODY/AMANDAWe made it! WE MADE IT!!!

TOMOh my God...

TO REVEAL THAT CENTRAL PARK AS WE KNOW IT IS GONE

In its place, an endless vista of exposed Manhattan bedrock, a few random trees still hanging on by their root systems. All grasses and soil have been RIPPED AWAY. Just the surface of a dying, barren planet...hanging on by a thread.

NATALIEWhere’s your route? All the trees? I thought you said you get there by crossing the trees?

Brody and Amanda gape, stunned. Dembo dazedly lets his pack of gear drop. Tom can’t believe it either...

NATALIEHOW DO YOU GET TO THE SITE IF THERE AREN’T ANY TREES?!

Rodrigo collapses in an armchair, grabs the nearest CHAMPAGNE BOTTLE at his feet...

RODRIGOA ransacked hotel room. A temptress enraged. It’s rather how I envisioned I’d meet my end.

(POPS the cork)To fate. Touche. Eff you.

But Tom won’t admit defeat, grabs Dembo’s BINOCULARS for a closer look at the crater beyond...

IN HIS POV: The center’s obscured, but there’s a BLUISH GLOW, and what appears to be rocks and DEBRIS on the crater’s far sloping wall. Perplexed, he hands the binocs to Rodrigo:

TOMTake a look. The crater’s slope. Something’s going on in there...

Rodrigo stands, gazes through, immediately intrigued:

88.

RODRIGOThere are objects...in the crater... but how...unless...there’s some core, right at the center, where normal-G remains...

TOMLike the eye of a hurricane...

RODRIGOA stabilizing fulcrum -- maintaining structural integrity for the meteorite itself...

TOMThen that’s what we’ve gotta reach.

(fast, to Dembo)Whaddya figure to the crater’s edge -- maybe three, four hundred feet? How much rope are you still carrying?

DEMBOFive hundred-foot coils. Plus a couple two-hundreds.

TOMSo it’s possible. Mathematically.

DEMBOPossible.

NATALIEWhat are you talking about?!

TOMCrossing just like we planned.

Everyone stares like he’s lost his mind. He studies Dembo:

TOMHe’s a rock-climber, right? You’re a rock-climber. You can do this--

BRODYThat’s not a rock face! That’s a ceiling!

DEMBOThe rock -- it’s good bedrock. Fire ‘em right, the pitons should hold. Link up a traverse line so the rest of you can cross--

AMANDAWhoa, whoa, who is the rest of us?

89.

NATALIE(to her and Brody both)

Not you -- it’s not you--

RODRIGOLook, time’s not on our side. I’ll have to have help setting up the Collider -- at least two techs per magnetic array -- four of us in all...

He looks to Tom and Dembo, who nod. Then surveys Natalie, beside Brody and Amanda. Natalie swallows hard.

BRODYMom -- no, they don’t need you--

NATALIEI’m trained for this, Brody. I’m trained to try and save lives--

BRODYTake a look out that window! You weren’t trained for this!

NATALIEI’m a fireman, and the daughter of a fireman, which means it’s in our blood -- our blood -- to do what we have to do. And you know this. You know this. Because you just did it down there...

His protest falls silent. He has no argument. Nat smiles:

NATALIEBesides, since when do you need me...

She tries to throw it away, but his eyes show only fear...

BRODYMom...

RODRIGO (O.S.)We’re down to twenty-one minutes!

She wraps him in a tight hug, then breaks, puts her hand over his heart, THUMPS it firmly:

NATALIEYou’re strong. Be strong. Listen to it. Voice of authority.

(nods, to Amanda)Go easy on the meds, hon. But don’t let him worry. I’ll just be over at the park.

90.

She moves back to the window, helping Dembo and Tom pull ropes from the bag. Tom looks to Natalie, grateful. Amanda takes Brody’s hand...it’s going to be all right.

Meanwhile, somewhere deep “above” them, NYC RUMBLES...

INT. ESSEX HOUSE - HOTEL SUITE - MOMENTS LATER

QUICK HITS: HARNESSES fastened, ROPES tied, CARABINERS clipped to Collider case...as Tom, Rodrigo, Natalie gear up.

DEMBO (O.S.)I’ll take point and set up our first anchors. We’ll have the Professor and Natalie flank the Collider. Then Tom, you bring up end of the line...

Dembo readies a crossbow-style ANCHOR GUN...stands at the window, takes aim at the “ground” three stories above and--

EXT. PARK WASTELAND/INT. ESSEX HOUSE - CONTINUOUS

BANG! An iron PITON-SPIKE shoots out like a rocket, DRIVING into the bedrock overhang. Rock splinters, but the piton holds firm...with ANCHOR LINE #1 attached back to Dembo.

Dembo tugs on the line, secures a second TRAVERSE LINE to his harness. He checks its fixed end: securely TIED and double-carabinered around an exposed SUPPORT COLUMN.

DEMBOWe lose any anchors out there, the good news is we’ll still have this. However, the farther out we get...the harder the fall back to this hotel.

RODRIGOI forbid anyone to say the word “fall.”

Dembo reloads his anchor gun, clips its SPIKE to a second loop of rope (ANCHOR LINE #2). Now steps to window’s edge:

DEMBOY’all know why I left Oklahoma in the first place?

(ruefully)No mountains.

With a mighty LEAP, he SWINGS HIMSELF OUT OVER THE VOID, arcing on Anchor Line #1 as far as it’ll take him--

--and then aims up at the ground another thirty feet ahead and FIRES! THWIP! Another PITON-SPIKE holds firm! It’s like he’s swung out on one “vine” to attach a second “vine.”

91.

TOMThat’s two. Five anchors and he’s at the crater.

Dembo CLIPS this second Anchor Line to his longer Traverse Line, which still links him with the Essex House. (The Anchor Lines hang vertical, like bridge supports. The Traverse Line is their horizontal “bridge.”)

Then he lets go of Anchor Line #1, SWINGING OUT on #2, aiming his Anchor Gun -- THWIP! To set ANCHOR LINE #3.

DEMBOHalfway! Now you start coming out!

Natalie clips her harness to the Traverse Line, and with a last look to Brody, wraps arms and legs to pull herself across. A small tether pulls the Collider behind her. Another tether links to Rodrigo, who swallows hard:

RODRIGODamn it all. I should’ve asked for double my price.

Tom’s in the window, CLIPS onto the line. Last man out...

EXT. WASTELAND ROPELINE - ABOVE THE VOID

From a distance, the surreal sight looks calm, even peaceful. Natalie, Rodrigo (with the Collider) and Tom tug themselves along like sloths, hand-over-hand, carabiners sliding.

They reach the first Anchor Line hanging vertical, UNCLIP and RECLIP on the other side, and keep traversing...ducking a few bits of CHIPPED ROCK that flutter past on the wind...

Meanwhile, 100 feet ahead, Dembo FIRES OFF ANCHOR LINE #4:

DEMBOOne more and we’re at the crater!

INT. ESSEX HOUSE - HOTEL SUITE - SAME

Brody and Amanda look on with bated breath...as there’s a SONOROUS SHUDDER from somewhere deep underground...

AMANDAWhoa...what was that...?

EXT. WASTELAND ROPELINE

Natalie, Rodrigo and Tom are halfway now...as Dembo begins his last swing, aiming his final anchor line PITON-SPIKE at the crater’s very edge...

92.

--but his momentum is suddenly stopped mid-swing as he enters the ZERO-G ZONE around the crater...leaving him now floating amongst a shroud of rocks...

He parts the “curtain” to reveal the inside of the crater -- where the mystical BLUE LIGHT shines within. Indeed, just beyond this “floating” perimeter, the rocks and other debris inside the crater appear to be resting on the ground.

Amazed, Dembo unclips a CARABINER from his belt and tosses it across the threshold...where it suddenly SHOOTS UP!

DEMBOHey squad! Got a gravity “pocket” alright! That crater’s normal-G!

INT. ESSEX HOUSE - HOTEL SUITE

Another RUMBLE -- building LURCHES. Brody and Amanda hit the ground as a CRACK splits open the ceiling-floor below them!

AMANDABrody--? What’s happening--?!


Tom, Rodrigo, Natalie and Dembo look back to the hotel -- seeing the whole building LURCH A FEW FEET LOWER. Natalie goes ashen. Crumbling ROCK peppers them from above...as across Central Park West...entire BUILDINGS start to rip free from foundations, dropping into the sky!

RODRIGO(utterly awestruck)

This is why you should never buy real estate.

INT./EXT. ESSEX HOUSE - HOTEL SUITE

CRRRAKKKK! RUTTTAGUNG! GUTTTAABOOM! Brody and Amanda pale, watching CRACKS spread every which way, plaster POWDERING.

NATALIEOh no...no...BRODY!

TOMKIDS! GET OUT OF THAT BUILDING!

Brody tugs Amanda back towards the hallway they came in -- as the building SHUDDERS and BUCKLES. Both teens fall...as Brody sees the team’s main anchor line near the window TIGHTENING WITH STRESS. As he realizes:

93.

BRODYNo -- wait -- their line! If the building goes, they go!

Suddenly, the entire room CRACKS and SHIFTS, a RIFT OPENING UP separating the two. Powdering plaster rains down--

BRODYJUST GET OUT! HURRY! GET OUT!

AMANDANOT WITHOUT YOU!

As Amanda leaps across the RIFT re-joining Brody just as their chance for escape from the room gets cut off for good!

EXT. WASTELAND/ESSEX HOUSE - ABOVE THE VOID

The entire Essex House LURCHES twenty feet into the sky. The team of four trapped on the Traverse Line watch it PULL TAUT...the realization dawning -- just as they’re all violently YANKED BACKWARDS across the rope line--

--and Dembo’s pulled from the Zero-G border at the crater, causing his head to SLAM against a ceiling slab of bedrock!

The team jerks to a momentary halt, swaying wildly on the lurching lines, with ROCK CRUMBLING from above. Everyone aghast to see Brody and Amanda still inside the doomed hotel.


Brody and Amanda dive to the main piton anchor, unclipping carabiners, fighting to unravel the knots Dembo tied...


Rodrigo and Natalie hang onto the Collider for dear life...

NATALIEBRODY! GET OUT OF THERE!!


Brody and Amanda vainly fight the knots as EVERYTHING CRUMBLES AROUND THEM, and two fallen CHAMPAGNE BOTTLES roll past beside. As Brody grabs one and smashes it -- putting a SERRATED EDGE to the rope--

EXT. WASTELAND ROPELINE/ESSEX HOUSE

The team watches in terror as the building’s ENTIRE FOUNDATION GIVES WAY, PULLED FROM THE EARTH like a tree by its roots -- stretching lines taut, torquing all anchors--

94.

TOMNO!!

NATALIEBRODY!!

AND SUDDENLY THE TRAVERSE-LINE INCREDIBLY SLACKENS

--as the Third Floor Window “LIFTS OFF,” dropping from view -- just as Brody and Amanda leap out together, clutching the rope’s severed end!

Tom and Natalie watch, amazed, as they arc free -- DIPPING INTO THE VOID WITHOUT A HARNESS! -- as everyone witnesses the entire SKYSCRAPER drop away like the Sword of Damocles.


The building’s unforeseen eruption has dislodged the bedrock above -- POP! ANCHOR #1 DROPS OUT, sending Tom’s section of the Traverse Line dropping vertical--

--which drops helpless Brody and Amanda now directly below him! Amanda slips, but grasps arms around Brody’s shoulders!

TOMHold on! I’M COMING!

He UNCINCHES his harness and SLIDES down the rope, arresting his drop. He reaches a hand -- Brody’s about to grasp it--

--when ANCHOR #2 COMES LOOSE FROM ABOVE! Which sends Tom and Brody/Amanda plummeting further, arcing again through the sky, to now end up directly below Rodrigo and Natalie--

NATALIEHOLD ON!

--who must now CINCH their own harnesses tight to avoid sliding down and off the rope. The Collider slams hard into Rodrigo, but he hangs on. All except Dembo HANG VERTICALLY NOW...as for the moment, Anchors #3 and #4 hold...

A surreal, acrobatic nightmare as the rope lines stop swaying. The weight of five people tug on Anchor #3...

...as Tom edges low enough to grab Brody’s hand, clipping a CARABINER from his harness to his and Amanda’s belts--

TOMHEY SERGEANT! YOU GOTTA GET US TO THAT CRATER!

But up ahead, under Anchor #4, Dembo just hangs there, bloodied body twisting in the wind...

95.

NATALIEOh God. He’s gone.

TOMNo! Then how do WE get there?!

Rodrigo narrows eyes. At RESTING ROCKS on the far slope...

RODRIGOWith physics.

He points up at the point where the (horizontal) Traverse Line connects to their (vertical) Anchor Line...

RODRIGOIf one of us can use that line to pendulum this one...and swing the rest of us under the crater...if it’s truly normal gravity inside--

TOMMomentum’ll take us up and in!

RODRIGOExcept one of us will still be stuck on the outside...

Natalie takes in the impossible situation...her son hanging over the void. With grim resolve, to Tom and Rodrigo:

NATALIEI always hated Science class. Just get in there and stop this thing.

Without another word, she attaches a second rope to the Collider case and CLIMBS up. Brody and Amanda look on:

AMANDAOh my God...what is she doing?

BRODY(scared, but awed)

Everything she can.

Underneath the endless ceiling of rock, Natalie RECLIPS to the horizontal line near Dembo’s body and -- using all her strength -- pulls on the rope she’d attached to the case... which starts the team’s vertical line swinging...

NATALIELast anchors...won’t hold long...!

She’s fighting hard -- swaying them more -- a little more...

96.

TOMAlmost there...

RODRIGOOne more...swing...

BRODY(fighting tears)

COME ON, MOM! IS THAT THE BEST YOU’VE GOT?!

And with a mighty CRY, Natalie gives the line one last pull, which gets the vertical one really swinging now -- just as Anchor #3 POPS FREE FROM THE CRUMBLING BEDROCK!

DROPPING Rodrigo, Tom and Brody/Amanda further down as they swing forward, narrowly missing an AVALANCHE OF ROCK -- crossing them thru the Zero-G threshold and into the crater!

AND AS TOM, BRODY, AMANDA AND RODRIGO PASS THE THRESHOLD

ANGLE ROTATES AROUND THEM A FULL 180, bringing everything back to normal perspective, like a crazy game of crack-the-whip, as their end of the rope-line keeps going -- and they fall past the crater’s edge AND IN!

INT. PARK CRATER - CONTINUOUS (NORMAL GRAVITY)

BAM! Tom, Brody, Amanda, Rodrigo and the Collider case SLAM HARD against the inner rock slope at rope-line’s end!

EXT. WASTELAND ROPELINE (INVERTED WORLD)

THUNK! Last ANCHOR pops free, sending Natalie (and Dembo’s body) PLUMMETING skyward, pulling on the rest of the rope--

INT. PARK CRATER (NORMAL GRAVITY)

--as the END OF THE ROPE goes taut, slipping from carabiners, pulled toward the rim like a snake--

--past Brody, Amanda, Rodrigo...and Tom, who SCRAMBLES for it! He grips the rope’s end, tugged toward crater’s edge--

EXT. WASTELAND ROPELINE (INVERTED WORLD)

--as Natalie falls into the sky on the rope, closing her eyes, accepting her fate -- when suddenly--

THUNK! Abrupt halt. Opens eyes, looks up...to see Tom’s braced at the rim, HEELS DUG IN HARD, rope end gripped -- as Rodrigo, Brody and Amanda all hang onto him from behind!

Astonished, Natalie cuts the rope linking her to Dembo’s weight, allowing the lost soldier’s body to plummet away...

97.

INT. PARK CRATER - MOMENTS LATER (NORMAL GRAVITY)

Tom, Brody, Amanda and Rodrigo help pull Natalie down into the crater. Tom breaks her fall, she wraps arms around him--

NATALIEThank you...

Meets his eyes, then breaks, grabs her son, CLUTCHES TIGHT. Meanwhile Tom, Rodrigo, Amanda turn to face the inner crater...and stare in true awe...

RODRIGOWelcome...to Creation.

In its glowing center, like some surreal hellfire Stonehenge--

IS THE AWE-INSPIRING “DARK ENERGY” METEORITE ITSELF

Hovering several feet off the ground, the spiky rock is encased by a PULSATING ORB OF ENERGY -- like a WHITE-HOT DWARF STAR, ten feet in diameter. BLUE ENERGY WAVES ripple its surface, seemingly alive. Profound, divine beauty...

RODRIGODark energy...incarnate...

TOMThe engine of the universe...

The two scientists behold it like a living deity, as weary Natalie steps between, claps them both on their shoulders:

NATALIEYeah that’s great, guys. Congratulations. Now let’s get rid of the damn thing.

EXT. CENTER OF PARK CRATER - MOMENTS LATER - QUICK HITS

The Collider is removed from its protective CARRYING CASE. Condensation SMOKES off as wisping steam--

TOM (V.O.)Let’s go! Once he activates it, we don’t know how long its charge’ll last!

--as its compressed shape is expanded to form the dual “satellite dishes” of CONCENTRIC STEEL TUBES.

Tom, Rodrigo and Natalie work together as they drag each component into position, a mere TWENTY FEET from the OTHERWORLDLY ORB of ENERGY.

98.

Brody and Amanda assist too, as more buildings lining Central Park DETACH, including the San Remo Apartments...

AMANDAUm, Brody...I may need to stay at your place for awhile...

EXT. MANHATTAN - PANORAMA SHOT - SAME

From afar, a SURREAL SIGHT, as various SKYSCRAPERS and ICONIC NYC MONUMENTS begin to BREAK FREE around the city...rising skyward like rockets...starting to launch...

INT. CENT-COM HANGAR - SAME

Utter CHAOS, full evacuation...where LIGHTWEIGHT OBJECTS float, but Wexler and a few Techs remain, incredulous:

MISSION TECH #1Jesus! That’s the Plaza Hotel! At ten thousand feet and climbing!

MISSION TECHSAnd another one! Midtown -- two more! We are losing the Chrysler Building!

WEXLERLook! The crater! The crater!

ON MONITORS, a SHAKY SATELLITE VIEW shows glimpses: three figures moving the Collider beside a FLARING HEAT GLOW...

WEXLERNineteen minutes left on their charge. There won’t be a second chance.

EXT. CENTER OF PARK CRATER - SAME

The Collider is in position on opposite sides of the ORB, like some billion-dollar high-tech “offering” to the gods.

Rodrigo, Tom and Natalie back away...to join Brody and Amanda near crater’s edge. Rodrigo has the boxy little ACTIVATOR:

RODRIGOOnce I activate, the Collider will instantly consume that meteorite. Of course, the dark energy within it will simultaneously try to consume the power of the Collider.

(with worry)A simple game of Subatomic Chicken.

99.

His hands are trembling. The brash nihilist suddenly seems like a reluctant, frightened man.

RODRIGOAnd if it fails...if I fail...

TOMYou mean if we fail.

As Tom places his hand atop Rodrigo’s, upon the Activator...

NATALIEHey, guys? I didn’t make this trip for the philosophical moments. Are we destroying shit here or what?

Rodrigo seems to snap out of it, gets a nod from Brody and Amanda too. Then emboldened, he nods:

RODRIGOWithout question. That is what I do.

He and Tom depress the trigger. The Activator GLOWS TO LIFE -- with a CHARGE READOUT filling TEN L.E.D. BARS.

Simultaneously, the COLLIDER STARTS TO HUM. A piercing whine, rising in tone, with the whup-whup-whup of subatomics getting accelerated. Faster and faster, HIGHER AND HIGHER--

RODRIGOIT’S ACCELERATING! ALMOST THERE!

TOMPower’s building! STILL BUILDING!

RODRIGOJUST -- A LITTLE -- MORE--!

Then SONIC BOOM! Subatomics COLLIDE! The Collider FIRES its invisible MICRO-BLACK HOLE--

AND THE GLOWING ORB INSTANTLY GOES DARK, DISAPPEARS!

Leaving only the spiky little meteorite SUSPENDED IN MID-AIR. As it suddenly CEASES TO HOVER -- SLAMS DOWN fifteen feet to earth, landing on the ground with a THUD!

At the same instant -- ALL THE ROCKS AND DEBRIS AROUND THE “EYE’S” HOVER-FIELD SLAM DOWN to the ground as well!

RODRIGOWE! HAVE! GRAVITY!!!

100.

EXT. AROUND MANHATTAN - VARIOUS

NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY: Mountains of books resting on the ceiling SLAM DOWN to the floor!

UNDERGROUND PARKING GARAGE: All the smashed-roof cars DROP -- landing back on their tires!

MACY’S: All the store’s wares fall FROM CEILING TO FLOOR!

EXT. CENTER OF PARK CRATER

Tom, Natalie, Brody and Amanda all marvel, with smiles forming... but Rodrigo just stares at the curiously still-existent METEORITE ON THE GROUND--

--as the Collider itself starts to SHAKE WILDLY. Struggling to hold power...as Rodrigo looks to the Activator. Its POWER BARS blink down one-by-one. Now nine left...eight...

RODRIGONo...no! FIGHT, DAMN YOU! FIGHT!

NATALIEWhat?! What’s happening!?

TOMWhy isn’t it DESTROYING it?!

RODRIGOIt’s draining the Collider’s power!The dark energy...she is just...too strong...

A wisping BLUISH GLOW re-appears within and around the space-rock. Like a breath of life.

NATALIEARE YOU SAYING IT’S NOT GONNA WORK?!

The Activator bars BLINK DOWN -- to seven...six...

--as KABLAMM!!!

A MASSIVE SHARD OF BUILDING SLAMS BACK TO EARTH!

--hitting in the crater right beside them! Everyone’s thrown to the ground...looking skyward--

TO SEE A GREAT “CLOUD” OF DEBRIS -- stretching for miles -- every imaginable object -- CARS, BUSES, BOATS, BUILDINGS--

--all falling from above, still caught within the Earth’s upper atmosphere, not yet ejected into space!

101.

A TAXI hits the crater’s RIM! BAM! A CITY BUS hits -- way too close -- BAM! And now Amanda SCREAMS--

--at the sight of the inverted, bomb-damaged CENTRAL PARK CAROUSEL headed straight for them! Rodrigo pays no heed, still fixated on the Collider...as the enormous STRUCTURE bears down -- no way they could ever evade it--

TOMIT’LL CRUSH THE COLLIDER! SHUT IT DOWN! TURN IT OFF!

Tom dives forward, grabs the Activator and kills power -- BLINKS DARK at FOUR BARS, disabling the Collider--

--and IMMEDIATELY the METEORITE RISES TO HOVER -- THE ENERGY ORB FULLY RE-FORMING TO OBSCURE IT WITH ITS BLUISH GLOW--

AND THE ENTIRE FALLING DEBRIS “CLOUD” SLOWS TO A STOP!

--like some celestial magic trick, the DAMAGED CAROUSEL decelerates to a stasis point mere FEET ABOVE THEIR HEADS--

--before its MOMENTUM TOTALLY REVERSES and it’s REPELLED by the dark energy again -- sent FLYING BACK INTO THE SKY...

AS FULL-STRENGTH REVERSE GRAVITY RETURNS

and all resumes as before -- the rim’s “eye” of FLOATING, SWIRLING DEBRIS lifts off and hovers. (However, the BUS and TAXI that landed within the “eye” remain on the ground.)

The meteorite’s ENERGY ORB SWIRLS with its RIPPLES OF LIGHT AND MYSTERY. Even STRONGER, even LARGER than before...

INT. CENT-COM HANGAR - SAME

Total silence. They’ve seen it all...

WEXLER(complete despair)

It can’t be stopped.

EXT. MANHATTAN - UPPER BAY - DAY

The reinvigorated REVERSE-G WATERFALL CURTAIN sweeps further, VACUUMING up billions of gallons of water per second -- overtaking Liberty Island and the STATUE OF LIBERTY...

EXT. PARK CRATER/INT. WRECKED BUS - SAME

Natalie, Brody, Amanda, fearful of more falling sky, clamber for the only cover they have: the upside-down BUS that hit.

102.

Outside, the ENERGY ORB GLOWS HOT once more. Rodrigo and Tom stare, stunned, despondent...

RODRIGOWhat dreamers we are, to think we can tame the universe...

BRODYBut it was working! You reversed it!

TOMNo, he held it in check...for all of sixty seconds...

All wait for good news. There is none. Amanda despairs:

AMANDAHow could this happen? Wasn’t anybody watching? Why didn’t anyone WARN us?!

Natalie glances to Tom. He says nothing, walks past her, grabs his Special Forces GEAR PACK, steps into the bus...

Rodrigo takes a dazed, solemn seat atop the empty Collider case, pulls a CIGAR from his jacket:

RODRIGOThe end of all human existence. What a gift to be alive to see it...

INT. WRECKED BUS - CONTINUOUS

Beaten and weary, Tom trudges to the front of the upturned bus...to be alone. He opens the gear pack -- ropes, flares, pulls a Special Forces RADIO-PHONE. Switches it on, gets STATIC...battery light blinking...so he punches numbers...

INTERCUT INT. NEW MEXICO HOUSE - DAY

The little DOLL with the DRAWN-ON GLASSES sits by a window. Outside, Aunt Adrienne and other NEIGHBORS can be seen loading possessions into their cars...

...as the PHONE rings, keeps ringing...and then little Grace SNATCHES it up...recoiling to hear STATIC...

GRACEMy aunt’s house -- hello?

Tom presses the RADIO-PHONE hard, struggling to hear:

TOMGrace!? Grace, can you hear me?! Is Emily there?

103.

Grace signals to Emily, glued to TV NEWS, rushing over, grabbing the handset and hitting speaker-phone:

GRACEYes! Dad! We’re here!

EMILYCan they stop it, Dad?! Can they?

Tom tightens...so hard to say it...

TOMWe tried...everyone tried...

GRACEDaddy, when will be you be home?

Tom’s struggling...can’t answer...so Emily speaks up:

EMILYDad? If they can’t stop it...it’s OK.

(beat)Because it means we’ll be together. All of us. Mom too.

Starting to understand, Grace looks troubled. Reaches for her DOLL, squeezes tight. Emily pulls her close.

TOMWe will be, girls. We will...

In the doorway, Adrienne overhears the conversations. She turns away, overcome. Grace keeps her doll clutched...

GRACEDaddy...? Why is this happening? What did we do?

TOMWe didn’t do anything, sweetie. We just got in its way.

GRACEThen I wish it just kept going.

EMILYI wish it just kept going too...

He fights tears...some new thought forming...just as the connection crackles with INTERFERENCE, a RISING WHINE--

TOMEmily! Grace!

104.

ZZAPH! The radio SPARKS DEAD in Tom’s hands. Tom stares at the FIERY GLOWING ORB, as his new thought takes shape...

TOM“We just got in its way...”

INT. WRECKED BUS - CONTINUOUS

Tom grabs another radio, spins back down the aisle to the others, shouting to Rodrigo outside:

TOMProfessor! PROFESSOR! If we’d never ended up in its path, where would the dark energy be right now?

RODRIGOStill traveling the universe, expanding it, eternally--

TOMThen that’s all we need to do! Move out of its way!

NATALIEWhat, move the whole planet?!

TOMWe’ve been trying to destroy it...

RODRIGO(catching on)

When all it wants is to be free...

Tom grabs the final RADIO-PHONE, to Mission Frequency:

TOMThis is Tom Riley in the park, can Cent-Com hear us, anyone, come in!

INTERCUT INT. CENT-COM HANGAR - SAME

Only Wexler and two Mission Techs remain, as everything under fifty pounds now DRIFTS in ZERO-G:

WEXLERTom! You’re breaking up, but yes--!

TOMI think there’s still a way to stop it, but you’ve gotta do exactly what I say! We’re low on battery power here!

105.

WEXLERYes! Yes! Whatever you need!

TOMI need a plane.

EXT. CENTRAL PARK CRATER - MOMENTS LATER

Tom, still on RADIO-PHONE, directs Natalie and Amanda as they frantically collect their remaining ropes and carabiners:

TOM (INTO RADIO)...timing’s gotta be exact! The Collider’s charge is almost gone--!

--as ZZAP! It sparks dead in his hands. He hurls it aside:

TOMRun enough rope to reach the crater’s rim! Two lines! Twin lines!

BRODY (O.S.)For height -- what about this!?

Tom spins to see Brody, lifting up a Y-shaped section of BROKEN PIPE laying amongst debris. Tom nods, thumbs-up.

Nearby, Rodrigo scrambles to remove the protective lining from the Collider’s now-empty CASE to make room...

RODRIGOThe titanium alloy design should be virtually indestructible. Albeit an imprecise word, that: virtually--

TOMWe just need it to hold for long enough.

EXT. AIRCRAFT CARRIER - DAY (NORMAL GRAVITY)

Three AIRMEN race to their waiting FA-18’s. They wear astronaut-like HALO SUITS for high-altitude operations. The lead pilot LOCKS into his cockpit as canopy shuts...

AFB CONTROLLER (V.O.)Empire One, Two, Three, circle the Zone and await falling debris. That’ll be your signal...

The trio of FA-18’s BLAST airborne...

106.

EXT. CENTER OF CRATER - DAY

Using a bent “No Parking” sign, Tom and Rodrigo gingerly push the Collider CASE so that it’s directly beneath the meteorite hovering inside its energized ORB above the ground.

The case’s LID remains open, awaiting its cargo -- as ROPES wound tightly around the case itself are pulled taut -- two lines leading directly up and high through the air to the--

CRATER’S RIM

--where Maggie, Brody and Amanda have wedged the Y-shaped section of pipe into the ground so that it now stands 20 feet into the air -- a makeshift “catcher device” with a THICK SNARE CABLE taut across the top of the “Y”...

EXT. SKIES OVER NEW JERSEY

The three FA-18’s SCREAM toward Manhattan, and the outward-spreading REVERSE-G WALL that now is pushing into Newark--

FA-18 PILOT (V.O)This is Empire One, we see the Zone, awaiting signal...

EXT. KENNEDY AIRPORT - AERIAL VIEW

Here, REVERSE-G ZONE is closing, a relentless, spreading wave -- as entire TERMINALS OF PARKED AIRCRAFT are tossed like toy planes into the sky...closing on the Cent-Com HANGAR...

INT. CENT-COM HANGAR

MONITORS FRITZ STATIC and go dark. LIGHTS GO DEAD. All floats in full Zero-G. Reverse-G about to hit here...

WEXLER(in darkness, shuts eyes)

God be with us all.

INT. CRATER

Tom, Natalie, Brody, Amanda -- everyone’s eyes glued to the Collider pointed directly at the ORB -- as Rodrigo hits the Activator switch and it blinks on! Four bars!

And the Collider WHIRS TO LIFE! Rising, deafening HUM and--

KA-POW! SONIC BOOM! Orb’s GLOW snuffs out. Crater rim DROPS FLOATING DEBRIS. And the darkened METEORITE falls--

--but this time lands inside the OPEN CASE!

107.

TOMYes! C’mon! HURRY!

He, Rodrigo, Natalie rush toward it with additional rope--

EXT. SKIES ABOVE MANHATTAN

As detritus now falls back down around the city...

FA-18 PILOT (OVER RADIO)Confirm visual on falling debris! We have normal-G!

AFB CONTROLLERSend for target!

The three FA-18’s ARC INTO THE ZONE, blasting through a now-reversing “waterfall” south of New York Harbor...and ZOOMING PAST the still-standing Statue of Liberty...

EXT. PARK CRATER - DAY

CLOSE ON the meteorite inside the open case. Lid SLAMMED shut! Locks SNAPPED! More ropes WRAPPED and TIED. At the Y-pipe “Catcher,” Brody and Amanda light ROAD FLARES...

TOMSixty seconds to keep it in check again. That’s all we need...

--as Rodrigo reaches into his back pocket, removes the HANDCUFFS that had held him earlier...

RODRIGOHere’s to misguided American justice.

And SNAPS them to lid and base for a last touch of security.

EXT. SKIES ABOVE MANHATTAN/INT. FA-18’S

The FA-18’s ZOOM from the south as the WASHINGTON SQUARE ARCH slams back down! The lead pilot ducks under just in time...

FA-18 PILOT (OVER RADIO)Into the city...closing on target...

A TORRENT of returning DEBRIS rains down: BIKES, CARS, NEWSSTANDS -- as the Rockefeller Center ATLAS STATUE COLLIDES with Plane Two! The Lead Pilot glances back--

FA-18 PILOTEmpire Two is down! Repeat, Empire--

108.

--then looks back ahead to see a FALLING BUILDING BISECT his path with no hope of avoiding it -- KABOOM! Two down.

EXT. PARK CRATER

As more debris CRASHES down into the park. Taking refuge close to the bus, everyone watches the Collider struggle--

RODRIGOTWO BARS LEFT! WE’RE ALMOST--

Suddenly KABLAM! A MINI-COOPER SLAMS BACK TO EARTH INSIDE THE CRATER -- COMPLETELY CRUSHING their Y-shaped “CATCHER” ASSEMBLY! Brody and Amanda are knocked to the ground by the EXPLOSION OF GLASS AND METAL--

RODRIGO...finished.

In the distance, the ROAR of the approaching JET PLANE...

NATALIEOh my God -- there is no more target!

Brody pulls the SNARE CABLE back out, but the Y-shaped pipe that gave it height is mangled. All are ashen. Not Tom.

TOMThen we give ‘em another one.

He spots the crashed PIECE OF BUILDING near the Collider, with one side of its sloping roof embedded in the ground, the other angled thirty feet into the air. He grabs the Snare Cable, two ROAD FLARES -- and runs like hell!

NATALIEWhere are you GOING?!

TOMTo catch a plane!

EXT. MANHATTAN - AERIAL THROUGH DOWNTOWN

--while the third and final jet SHOOTS up Sixth Ave...as a torrent of URBAN DEBRIS rains...

FINAL FA-18 PILOTThis is Empire Three! I have visual on the Park...but I don’t see it!

EXT. PARK CRATER - AT BUILDING SHARD

With steely determination, Tom scales to the top, turning south with the snare cable and sparking ROAD FLARES in hand--

109.

--as a GREAT SHADOW falls upon him -- getting ever wider, as Rodrigo, Natalie, Brody and Amanda all look SKYWARD--

TO SEE THE CHRYSLER BUILDING PLUMMETING TOWARD THE PARK!

Amanda SCREAMS! The Collider CASE is shaking violently!

RODRIGOONE BAR LEFT!

EXT. MANHATTAN - AERIAL THROUGH MIDTOWN

PILOT’S POV: Zooming through Times Square and a CLOUD OF DUST and SMOKE...as a park view finally opens up...

...to see the Crater, with the Crashed Building Shard within, where Tom stands atop, flanked by the flares, upraised hands holding the Snare Cable above his head for a target!

FINAL FA-18 PILOT (RADIO)Visual contact! Target in range! Releasing tailhook in three...two...

EXT. PARK CRATER

As a HAILSTORM OF DEBRIS crashes all around, the FA-18 ROARS IN, sending everyone diving for cover...except Tom, who holds his ground with the jet coming directly at him!

TOMRight here...RIGHT HERE...COME ON!!!

It SWOOPS JUST UNDER the FALLING CHRYSLER BUILDING -- which IMPACTS ON ITS SIDE -- just beyond the crater -- KA-WHAM! --

--as the jet noses up, releasing a TAILHOOK at the last second -- which missiles right at Tom’s head -- and with a--

ROOOOOOOARRRRRRRR! Jet BLASTS by! Tailhook SNARES the Cable right out of Tom’s hands! The force of impact sends him FLYING backwards clear off the building--

He hits hard in the crater, tumbling -- as Natalie, Rodrigo, Brody and Amanda all look to the heavens -- to see the jet BANK SHARPLY UP, dead solid straight up... ferrying the Collider CASE on its snared rope-line!--

--as the case CREAKS and BENDS, but holds, ferrying the meteorite and the dark energy within skywards--

INT. FA-18 COCKPIT

--as the Pilot GIVES THE THRUSTERS everything they’ve got--

110.

FINAL FA-18 PILOT TARGET ACQUIRED! TAKING HER UP!

EXT. PARK CRATER

As Tom lies battered, watching it streaking toward heaven--

TOMPlease...get there...

EXT. UPPER ATMOSPHERE/INT. FA-18

As the blue becomes black, jet POWER flickers. The BLUE GLOW is again emerging from seams in the Case -- Reverse-G power now helping propel the plane away -- cockpit breaking apart--

FINAL FA-18 PILOTNinety miles vertical -- ejecting!

--and EJECTS in his Halo suit, while the jet skies on!

EXT. OUTER SPACE

As it PROPELS itself out, the DARK ENERGY bursts the case apart into a million metal shards -- spilling out the glowing METEORITE -- with one last massive SONIC BOOM--

--as it shoots through a vast, heavenly “graveyard” of everything that’s been ejected into space: ICONIC N.Y. BUILDINGS, THE DESTROYED BRIDGE, THE FERRY, THOUSANDS OF VEHICLES etc., all now floating peacefully in orbit--

--and now a heat friction TRAIL builds, as our meteorite and dark energy within becomes a COMET once more, HURTLING AWAY FROM EARTH...free again to roam the Universe...

EXT. PARK CRATER

Rodrigo, Brody and Amanda EXULT, embracing! In b.g., the Halo pilot’s chute opens as he floats down over New Jersey--

--while Tom and Natalie stare up in disbelief as the COMET blazes a trail across the sky -- brighter than the sun...

NATALIEI don’t know a thing about how the universe works. But I do know this...

(turns, gently)You were meant to be here.

EXT. NEW MEXICO HOME

Grace, Emily and Aunt Adrienne see the distant LIGHT-TRAIL too, all smiles. Grace clutches her precious doll tight...

111.

EXT. CENT-COM HANGAR - SAME

Wexler and Techs watch the departing COMET, eyes tearing...

EXT. QUEENSBORO BRIDGE TOWER - MANHATTAN SIDE

The SURVIVORS Brody and Amanda led to the river wander out from hiding...gazing in wonder at the light in the sky...

EXT. WASTELAND OF CENTRAL PARK - DAY - LATER

Tom, Natalie, Rodrigo, Brody and Amanda scramble over the crater’s rim, to see approaching MILITARY HELICOPTERS...

...against the backdrop of a ravaged but resolute city...where amidst all the many Midtown towers now vanished, the Empire State Building still stands tall...

The world again as it should be. Down is down. Up is up.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. OTHER IMPACT ZONES - DAY - SERIES OF SHOTS

Seen from a vast distance, more F-18’s FERRY THE OTHER FIVE METEORITES into the sky via similarly-designed “cases”...

TOM (V.O.)When I look up at the stars, I see endless wonder and beauty...

...from the Amazon rainforest...the Saharan desert...the Sea of Japan...the snowy Rockies...the terraces of China...

TOM (V.O.)I see past and future, dreams and memories, and infinite questions...

EXT. SPACE

...as we see the curvature of the Earth and the kaleidoscope of stars...as the five fighter jets leave Earth’s atmosphere--

TOM (V.O.)And as far as answers go, I’ve only ever found one...

...and the jets and their “cases” begin splitting apart, leaving the five last METEORITES free to trailblaze on...

TOM (V.O.)The universe isn’t meant for us to control...but for us to find our place in it...

112.

EXT. STAGE - OUTDOOR CEREMONY - DAY

CLOSE on Tom, all wounds gone, in a suit, at a podium:

TOM...and until we do, we continue the journey.

He smiles, lifts a small NOTEBOOK filled with Post-Its:

TOMFrom the Post-It Notes of Professor Sarah Riley -- insomnia collection. Couple years back, circa 4 A.M. Thought she should have the last word.

He leaves the podium to APPLAUSE, as we REVEAL a small outdoor ceremony, seats filled by NYC CITY OFFICIALS, politicians, feds, soldiers. Balloons and bunting. Hopeful, not somber. A MEDIA PRESENCE in back, covering the event...

...as Tom makes his way off-stage, to side seats, where Grace and Emily run up and embrace him, with Aunt Adrienne near.

NYC OFFICIAL (O.S.)Thank you, Tom. Again, thank you. Next speaker will be the mayor...

A sense of renewal in the air. Nearby, all dressed up for the occasion, is Natalie, with Brody and Amanda hand-in-hand:

NATALIESo -- how does it feel to be the most famous astronomer in the world?

TOMBeats lecturing my Monday morning freshmen. Although I think the most famous physicist in the world is taking it all in stride...

Nearby Rodrigo holds court with a group of lovely, female INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISTS transcribing his every word:

RODRIGO...you see, Einstein’s mistake was not accounting for the particle I’ve termed “the Del Toro.” Because, I have to be honest: the Big Bang, it does not so much interest me. What I want to know is, how good was the foreplay?

113.

BACK WITH TOM: where Grace tugs at his jacket, getting him to crouch so she can whisper in his ear. Listening, he glances to some SILVER STAR-SHAPED BALLOONS tied by the stage.

TOMHmm. So my girls are wondering if it’s OK to take a couple balloons?

BRODYHey kids. This is New York City. You don’t ask, you just take ‘em.

He and Amanda hop over a railing, past a frowning COP, to swipe a cluster of three balloons. Natalie narrows eyes:

NATALIEStill working on these two.

TOM(a gentle smile)

Yeah. These things take time.

He’s watching Natalie. She catches another meaning in his words, smiles. As his girls rush to grab the balloons--

--and as they each get one, the third balloon SLIPS FREE, rises out of reach, a Silver Star lifting into the sky...

BRODY/AMANDAOh -- it’s OK, it’s OK--

NATALIE(kneels sweetly)

Yeah, girls. It’s all OK...

So the girls just watch it rise, as Tom marvels, sotto:

TOMNow that’s what I like to see.

AND ANGLE RISES with the SILVER STAR BALLOON, above our hero quintet and all assembled by the stage...past the banner reading “Liberty Island Restoration and Reopening”...

...following the SILVER STAR up the familiar green tower, to see the CROWN and TORCH of LADY LIBERTY...

...letting the SILVER STAR rise out of frame, as ANGLE TURNS toward the towers of vast Manhattan...to see its skyline now dotted with the rebuilding work of A HUNDRED CRANES.

A city unbowed, unbroken. Still reaching for the stars.

FADE OUT.

114.

by ehren kruger original film & bradley cramp 3-9-13 · int. hallway/living room - moments...

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