Tomorrow Never Dies
Screenplay
by
Bruce Feirstein
(for educational purposes only)
FADE IN ON:
EXT. DESOLATE MOUNTAIN RANGE - HIGH ANGLE - DAWN
Super: THE KHYBER PASS, AFGHANISTAN
Were looking down at what used to be called "The End of the Known
World." A landscape that is both beautiful, and forbidding.
In the center of this vista, there is a deep ravine.
Pushing in on the ravine, there appears t
ANGLE DOWN ON IT as Zod lifts the lid of the console and removes, from among all
transparent crystals, the one red crystal.
PAN UP as he lifts it high. It glows even in the dim light of the empty chamber - until Zod,
with a satisfied and sinister smile, snaps it in half. He tosses it to the ground and looks with a
self-congratulatory air at Ursa and Non.
EFECTS: The luminous Spinning Rings (c.f
ANGLE - THE TREETOPS - CONTINUING ACTION
The plane BARELY CLEARS the trees sending Green Monkeys
scattering in all directions. Their angry cries echo;
"KRA KRA KRA!!!"
END MAIN TITLES
CUT TO:
A GREEN MONKEY - ROASTING ON A STICK
THE VIEW SHIFTS TO REVEAL:
??
EXT. EBOLA RIVER - FERRY CROSSING - MORNING
A handful of ZAIREAN POLICE guard the primitive landing.
REFUGEE VILLAGERS camp along the banks
ANGLE
??
Sagging clotheslines cluttered with drying laundry run across
a narrow backyard, all the way to a rickety old shed. The
clotheslines are supported by one solitary pole. Linen and
garments billow in the rising evening breeze.
??
Cold, foreboding music accompanies the camera as it moves
toward a pair of flapping khaki pants and an olive green
workshirt hanging side by side on the line.
??
contact was made,
the two hundred and sixty thousand
occupants aboard the craft were as
surprised as we were about their
arrival. That they awakened from
frozen hibernation to find their
malfunctioning autopilot had landed
them here by mistake.
The CNN reporter, Duncan Crais, appears again.
CRAIS
These "Newcomers," we soon learned,
were a genetically-engineered race,
adapted for hard labor in alm
contact Lord Sidious.
DOFINE
Are you brain dead? Im not going in
there with two Jedi! Send the droid.
Dofine turns to TC-14, who lets out a squeaky sigh.
INT. FEDERATION BATTLESHIP - CONFERENCE ROOM
OBI-WAN
Is it their nature to make us wait
this long?
The door to the conference room slides open, and TC-14 enters
with a tray of drinks and food.
QUI-GON
No. I sense an unusual amount of
fear fo
angler guys
walk by.
CAMERON
That Im used to.
MICHAEL
Yeah, but these guys have never seen a
horse. They just jack off to Clint
Eastwood.
They pass an espresso cart with a group of teens huddled
around it.
MICHAEL
(continuing)
To the right, we have the Coffee Kids.
Very edgy. Dont make any sudden
movements around them.
EXT. SCHOOL COURTYARD - DAY
Michael continues the tour
MICHAEL
And these
ANGLE ON
Entrance. Cheeba is putting the portable floor down on the
sidewalk. Manray sits on the curb, taking the sneakers off
and putting on his tap shoes; bottle caps are on the soles
of the shoes instead of real taps.
CHEEBA
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I know everybody is in a hurry to
work, ready to begin another day in
this rat race. But dont sleep us.
Im Cheeba and I introduce to yo
contact with...
A POT RACK
suspended above the island... pots dangling from their hooks
come clanging down on top of him...
The dust settles... Jimmy realizes hes been beating the
stuffing out of an ironing board. He sheepishly exits the
kitchen...
EXT. HOUSE - MINUTES LATER
Pamela stands at the foot of the driveway, trying to see in
to the darkened house...
PAMELA
Come on, damn it...
Jimmy emerg
angles. "
Ah, corny. Too corny
for a man of my taste.
Let me... try and make it more profound.
"Chapter one. He adored New York City. "
"To him, it was a metaphor
for the decay of contemporary culture. "
"The same lack of integrity to cause so
many people to take the easy way out...
... was rapidly turning the town
of his dreams..."
No, its gonna be too preachy. I mean,
face it, I wanna sell