Metropolis
FADE IN:
EXT. MANHATTAN - MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
Freezing wind shutters through the shadows. Relentless
darkness. No sign of life, save for --
The SOUND of determined footsteps.
INT. HIGH RISE APARTMENT BUILDING - LOBBY - CONTINUOUS
The doorman at his post flipping through a magazine, rap
music pounding from his radio.
Glass suddenly shatters as a gloved hand punches through
the window, reaching in, unlocking the front door.
Two men in dark suits blur inside. The doorman rushes to
stop them, only --
DEX, the taller of the two men, slams the barrel of his
gun into the doorman's throat.
DEX:
Life can be an illusion.
(low and deadly)
Sometimes we see what isn't there,
and sometimes we don't see what is
there.
The doorman, wide eyed with terror, nods his consent.
Dex removes the gun.
Doorman plants himself in the chair, eyes glued to his
magazine, making it clear he doesn't 'see' the men as they
stroll into --
INT. ELEVATOR - CONTINUOUS
Old fashioned steel box struggling its way up the shaft.
Fluorescent yellow light stabbing through the grating.
Dex slaps a small plastic strip on an apartment door as
both men turn away, shielding their eyes.
A blinding flash of light as the door is blown apart.
INT. APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS
The men rush inside and straight into --
INT. BEDROOM
Candles flicker on the dresser. A syringe on the bedside
table, next to a sleeping figure curled up under the
sheets.
Both men starting to pull guns, but --
DEX:
This one's personal.
Dex's partner shrugs, holsters his weapon and steps back
through the doorway, watching as --
Dex spins and fires.
Not the traditional booming gunfire, but rather the
strange sound of electronic hissing as laser-fire rips the
person to shreds.
Dex finally stops firing and moves to the bed to verify
the kill, only on close inspection he sees it's not a
person.
He's just blown the hell out of a MANNEQUIN.
Dex smiles, blows out the candle and heads out of the
room.
CUT TO:
INT. CHURCH - DUSK
A lone PRIEST lights the sacrament candles, the sound of
his breathing reverberating through the empty church.
He suddenly stops, snaps his head around --
A man in a wheelchair stares at him from the doorway.
The man is CHRISTOPH. Dark robes shroud his shriveled,
decaying body but his eyes still burn with life.
CHRISTOPH:
(raspy voice which
labors to be heard)
May I trouble you with a confession?
Even in the flickering half-light of the candles, the
Priest can see that Christoph is dying.
PRIEST:
Never a trouble.
The large statue of Jesus over the alter staring down as
the Priest leads Christoph into --
INT. CONFESSIONAL BOOTH
Christoph's voice is weak, knowing each word could be the
last.
CHRISTOPH:
Forgive me Father, for I have
coveted.
PRIEST:
What have you coveted?
CHRISTOPH:
(anguished whisper)
Life.
A small smile of compassion escapes across the Priest's
lips.
PRIEST:
God gave us all the need for life.
And when the end begins to near, we
all crave more time. No sin.
CHRISTOPH:
(hesitantly)
But there's what I would do for more
time.
PRIEST:
What would you do --
The laser burns through the confessional wall and straight
through the priest's chest.
Face frozen in a listening pose as the body crumples to
death.
Christoph slowly lowers his weapon with a look of genuine
contrition.
EXT. MANHATTAN - HELL'S KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS
It's the near future and the neighborhood is covered with
graffiti scrawled in machine code and billboards
projecting holographs advertising malt liquor and
pleasure-dipped cigarettes.
A slick-black JET COPTER drops silently from the sky.
INT. WAREHOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Pieces of advanced computer technology lie scattered about
the large work table. A small kitchen and bedroom in the
back.
Speakers pour in one of Handel's aching melodies.
The music suddenly pierced by the shriek of a giant Bird
of Prey diving across the room.
EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS
A tight knot of bodyguards disgorge from the copter.
Tense eyes sweeping the street, they finally give the all-
clear signal.
HALDEN, a charismatic bull of a man, emerges from the
copter. He moves with the confidence of someone who knows
he can't be touched.
INT. WAREHOUSE - CONTINUOUS
The sound of Handel's concert mixes with the sound of
TANNER sits in the middle of the room. He is early
forties, athletic build, and a face that holds too many
memories.
His insomniac-stained eyes studying the Holographic Chess
Board as the knight mounted on the Bird of Prey slaughters
a pawn.
DISEMBODIED VOICE (O.S.)
Visitors.
Tanner snaps his attention to --
Halden and his men head toward the warehouse.
INT. WAREHOUSE
Tanner's eyes harden at the sight of Halden. A long beat,
then he finally shakes his head in resigned disgust.
TANNER:
Permit entry.
The sound of dead bolts automatically sliding open.
MOMENTS LATER:
The bodyguards stand motionless in the corner, doing their
best to look like furniture.
Halden moves through the holographic chess board, his eyes
on Tanner.
HALDEN:
A legend fell tonight.
His stare now ripping into Tanner.
HALDEN:
The unrunnable maze. Impossible to
get through.
(thick smile)
Well, some kid just danced it like
it was some six bit video game.
Tanner doesn't blink. His voice matter-of-fact.
TANNER:
He had keys.
HALDEN:
Of course the legend would like to
think that. But no one has keys.
(fierce)
Your maze was run.
Halden and his men escort Tanner to the waiting copter.
CUT TO:
INT. VACANT CITY STREET - THAT NIGHT
Christoph stands naked in the middle of the vacant street,
staring down at himself in reverent awe.
It is as if he's been reborn. His body no longer
decrepit, but rather pulsing with an almost inhuman
vitality.
He heads down the street, the walk becoming a run, then a
sprint, his head back, mouth open, tasting the wind.
CUT TO:
EXT. MANHATTAN SKY-LINE - CONTINUOUS
A jet-copter screams across the night sky, while inside --
INT. JET-COPTER - CONTINUOUS
Tanner studies the holographic image of the maze projected
in front of him:
A constantly shifting sea of lines swirling furiously in
random directions.
A small BLUE SQUARE rockets into the maze. Sound of
laughter as the square dodges, feints, spinning it's way
down into --
The center of the maze. A pattern so intricate it seems
to be a solid wall of light with no way through --
Only the square suddenly shoots up, twisting, somehow
finding the smallest of fissures and blurring through.
The square is gone. Only the laughter remains.
HALDEN:
He had fun ripping your maze, that's
good.
(tight smile)
Now that it's obsolete for security
purposes, maybe we can turn it into
an amusement ride.
Tanner silently snaps off the hologram as the jet-copter
banks sharply for a landing onto --
CUT TO:
EXT. VSI CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS - ROOF
A towering black monolith which seems to burst straight up
through the heavens.
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"Metropolis" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Oct. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/metropolis_637>.
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