Rent Page #2

Synopsis: This rock opera tells the story of one year in the life of a group of bohemians struggling in modern day East Village New York. The story centers around Mark and Roger, two roommates. While a former tragedy has made Roger numb to life, Mark tries to capture it through his attempts to make a film. In the year that follows, the group deals with love, loss, AIDS, and modern day life in one truly powerful story.
Director(s): Chris Columbus
Production: Sony Pictures
  1 win & 21 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.0
Metacritic:
53
Rotten Tomatoes:
46%
PG-13
Year:
2005
135 min
$29,077,547
Website
8,600 Views


ROGER:

How do you write a song

When the chords sound wrong

Though they once sounded right and rare

When the notes are sour

Where is the power

You once had to ignite the air

MARK:

And we're hungry and frozen

ROGER:

Some life that we've chosen

TOGETHER:

How we gonna pay

How we gonna pay

How we gonna pay

Last year's rent

MARK:

We light candles

ROGER:

How do you start a fire

When there's nothing to burn

And it feels like something's stuck in your flue

MARK:

How can you generate heat

When you can't feel your feet

BOTH:

And they're turning blue!

MARK:

You light up a mean blaze

(ROGER grabs one of his own posters)

ROGER:

With posters-

(MARK grabs old manuscripts)

MARK:

And screenplays

ROGER & MARK

How we gonna pay

How we gonna pay

How we gonna pay

Last year's rent

(Lights go down on the loft and go up on JOANNE JEFFERSON, who's

at the pay phone)

JOANNE:

(On phone)

Don't screen, Maureen

It's me -- Joanne

Your substitute production manager

Hey hey hey! (Did you eat?)

Don't change the subject Maureen

But darling -- you haven't eaten all day

You won't throw up

You won't throw up

The digital delay ---

Didn't blow up (exactly)

There may have been one teeny tiny spark

You're not calling Mark

COLLINS:

How do you stay on your feet

When on every street

It's 'trick or treat'

(And tonight it's 'trick')

'Welcome back to town'

Oh, I should lie down

Everything's brown

And uh -- oh

I feel sick

MARK:

(At the window)

Where is he?

COLLINS:

Getting dizzy

(He collapses.)

MARK & ROGER

How we gonna pay

How we gonna pay

How we gonna pay

Last year's rent

(MARK and ROGER stoke the fire. Crosscut to BENNY's Range Rover)

BENNY:

(On cellular phone)

Alison baby -- you sound sad

I don't believe those two after everything I've done

Ever since our wedding I'm dirt -- They'll see

I can help them all out in the long run

(Three locales:
JOANNE at the pay phone, MARK and ROGER in their

loft, and COLLINS on the ground. The following is sung simultaneously)

BENNY:

Forces are gathering

Forces are gathering

Can't turn away

Forces are gathering

COLLINS:

Ughhhhh--

Ughhhhh--

Ughhhhh-- I can't think

Ughhhhh--

Ughhhhh--

Ughhhhh-- I need a drink

MARK (reading from a script page)

"The music ignites the night with passionate fire"

JOANNE:

Maureen -- I'm not a theatre person

ROGER:

"The narration crackles and pops with incendiary wit"

JOANNE:

Could never be a theatre person

MARK:

Zoom in as they burn the past to the ground

JOANNE (realizing she's been cut off)

Hello?

MARK & ROGER

And feel the heat of the future's glow

Rate this script:3.6 / 7 votes

Stephen Chbosky

Stephen Chbosky (born January 25, 1970) is an American novelist, screenwriter, and film director best known for writing the New York Times bestselling coming-of-age novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999), as well as for screenwriting and directing the film version of the same book, starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller. He also wrote the screenplay for the 2005 film Rent, and was co-creator, executive producer, and writer of the CBS television series Jericho, which began airing in 2006. more…

All Stephen Chbosky scripts | Stephen Chbosky Scripts

1 fan

Submitted by aviv on November 30, 2016

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Rent" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/rent_738>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    Rent

    Browse Scripts.com

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.