The Prestige Page #4

Synopsis: In the end of the Nineteenth Century, in London, Robert Angier, his beloved wife Julia McCullough and Alfred Borden are friends and assistants of a magician. When Julia accidentally dies during a performance, Robert blames Alfred for her death and they become enemies. Both become famous and rival magicians, sabotaging the performance of the other on the stage. When Alfred performs a successful trick, Robert becomes obsessed trying to disclose the secret of his competitor with tragic consequences.
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Director(s): Christopher Nolan
Production: Buena Vista Pictures
  Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 37 nominations.
 
IMDB:
8.5
Metacritic:
66
Rotten Tomatoes:
75%
PG-13
Year:
2006
130 min
$53,100,000
Website
7,927 Views


built by a magician.

This was built by a wizard.

A man who can actually do

what magicians pretend to do.

Tell me, Your Honor, what happens

with these things after the trial?

They've been sold to a Lord Caldlow.

An avid collector,

very interested in the case.

Yeah. Well, don't let him take this.

- Why ever not?

- It's too dangerous.

I'm sure beneath its bells and whistles

it's got a simple

and disappointing trick.

The most disappointing of all, sir.

It has no trick.

It's real.

This is the tank Angier drowned in?

Yes.

This is the...

...place where the performer's

hand reaches through

to the trick padlock.

A standard magical

apparatus for escapes?

Yeah, with one important difference.

This isn't a trick lock.

It's been switched for a real one.

What a way to kill someone.

They're magicians, Your Honor.

Showmen, men who live by dressing up

plain and sometimes brutal truths,

to amaze, to shock.

Even without an audience?

There was an audience.

You see, this water tank

was of particular significance

to these two men.

Particularly awful significance.

Which of you brave souls is

willing to bind this lovely young woman?

If you would tie her wrists,

bind her feet around the ankle.

- Are either of you gentlemen sailors?

- No.

I'm sure you can both tie a strong knot.

Robert!

No, no.

Julia. Julia!

I knew an old sailor once.

They told me he went overboard,

tangled in the sails.

They pulled him out,

but it took him five minutes to cough.

He said it was like...

...going home.

What do you want, Borden?

I'm sorry for your loss, Angier.

Which knot did you tie?

I keep asking myself that.

- And?

- And...

I'm sorry, I just don't know.

You don't know?

I'm sorry.

You don't know?

You don't know?!

- Alfred?

- Good news. We got our first booking.

I don't think we've had the pleasure.

- Mr. Fallon is my ingnieur.

- Where did you get all...?

- I had to borrow and... don't ask.

- He's a very enterprising soul

is... is Mr. Fallon. So...

- We can't afford to pay him.

- The money will come with the audience.

But what about until then?

What I earn, it's barely enough for us.

Don't worry about it. I'll share

half my food with him or something.

You're going to be

doing that with someone else.

No. You're...

Having a baby.

Oh, my God.

We should have told Fallon.

That is great.

Oh, come here.

Oh.

Alfred, what is this?

Oh, this is just the trick to work

Ackerman up at the end of my act.

Is it the masterpiece, the great trick?

No, no, no, the world is

not ready for that one yet.

This is just your run-of-the-mill,

daring, spectacular bullet catch.

- A bullet catch.

- Yeah, but it's safe.

I promise. Look.

Rate this script:4.3 / 3 votes

Jonathan Nolan

Jonathan "Jonah" Nolan (born 1976) is a British-American screenwriter, television producer, director and author. He is the creator of the crime drama series Person of Interest. He has co-written several screenplays with his elder brother, filmmaker Christopher Nolan, including The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and Interstellar, and his short story "Memento Mori" was the basis for Memento. more…

All Jonathan Nolan scripts | Jonathan Nolan Scripts

0 fans

Submitted on August 05, 2018

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

    "The Prestige" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 May 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_prestige_16191>.

    We need you!

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

    Watch the movie trailer

    The Prestige

    Browse Scripts.com

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

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