3:10 to Yuma

1.

A dark room in a small ranch house.

A desert wind blows in gusts.

WILLIAM EVANS (14), lies awake. Not a boy and not a man,

there’s a restlessness in his eyes. He lights a match,

watching it blow out in his fingers.

His brother, MARK (7), lies beside him, his breathing

labored, asthmatic. A medicine bottle and spoon sit on the

table beside a folded tearsheet for the ‘Colt Peacemaker’.

William stares at the engraving of a gunslinger, brandishing

the fancy weapon, a smile of confidence on his face.

Suddenly William turns, alert. There is a faint sound.

...a gate creak... a latch clink.

CUT TO:

2 IN ANOTHER DARK ROOM-- CONTINUOUS-

ALICE EVANS, 32, beautiful but care-worn, opens her eyes.

Groggy, she reaches reflexively for-

DAN EVANS, 36, her husband. But he isn’t against the pillow

where her hand expects him. He is upright on the edge of the

bed, tense, sweaty, eyes on a window as he LOADS HIS PISTOL.

ALICE:

Dan...

He signals silence. Alice holds her breath, listening to the

air... nothing... The clock on the dresser reads 3:45...

ALICE (CONT'D)

...maybe it’s the wind...

Dan shakes his head. He glances to WILLIAM, who arrives in

the bedroom door, in his longjohns, holding AN OLD RIFLE.

The snort of a horse outside. Men whisper. Hooves.

DAN BOLTS FROM THE BED, crossing to the window on one leg,

using the beamed roof for support. He pushes back the drape

with his pistol.

3

A HORSEMAN ENCIRCLES THE BARN OF THIS HOMESTEAD, UNHOOKING A

CORRAL, LETTING LOOSE A HERD OF CATTLE.

Then Dan notices-

ANOTHER HORSEMAN at the corner of the barn, LIGHTING A FIRE.

(CONTINUED)

3:
10 TO YUMA -TAN -1.23.07 2.

CONTINUED:

DAN:

No!-

4 EXT. EVANS RANCH-- CONTINUOUS

Wearing longjohns and boots, DAN BUSTS OUT THE DOOR, moving

toward the man fanning fire at the barn-

DAN:

No-- Please-- stop!-

A RIFLE BUTT SMASHES DAN’S HEAD. He tumbles off the porch to

the dirt, losing his gun, one boot coming off, revealing-

A MISSING LEFT FOOT.

William runs past Alice and Mark on the porch and his father

on the ground as-

THE BARN EXPLODES IN FLAMES. Dan jerks back on his rigged

boot, gets upright and lunges toward the barn.

THE FIRST HORSEMAN, bears down on him.

HORSEMAN (TUCKER)

-- You have a week, Evans. Then we

burn the house.

THE HORSEMEN RIDE AWAY AS WILLIAM ENTERS THE FLAMING BARN.

DAN:

William!

5 INT./EXT. BARN-- CONTINUOUS--

FLAMES LICK THE RAFTERS. SMOKE.

FOUR HORSES tied in stalls, crazy with fear.

William frees two of them, Dan untangles the others and leads

them out, grabbing equipment, tossing saddles out the door...

Then Dan notices WILLIAM HAS TURNED BACK INSIDE.

William struggles to drag A HUGE SACK OF FEED and some tools-We

see above him, the burning roof sags, flaming pieces of

wood raining-- it’s about to collapse-

DAN LEAPS AND GRABS HIS BOY and drags him toward the door,

fists swinging.

(CONTINUED)

3:
10 TO YUMA -TAN -1.23.07 3.

CONTINUED:

WILLIAM:

--Let go! It’s the last we got!

They fall to the ground as THE BARN COLLAPSES in a fiery

mass, sparks showering down. Alice and Mark run toward them.

DAN:

...You alright?

Will turns from his father to see- THE TWO HORSEMEN riding

away. Dawn light beginning to touch the sky.

WILLIAM LUNGES FOR THE REMINGTON on the ground---

but Dan is faster and puts his hand on the weapon.

DAN (CONT'D)

I’ll take care of this.

WILLIAM:

No you won’t. ...You don’t take

care of nothing.

Tears stand in William’s eyes.

Dan takes the gun and starts walking back toward the house.

He passes Alice and Mark, avoiding their eyes.

DAN:

The herd is over the ridge by now.

Get cleaned up.

INT./EXT. FOLLOWING DAN -- EVANS RANCH -- DAYBREAK

Dan yanks open a drawer and grabs a shirt. His arms and chest

streaked in SOOT... Out the bedroom window the sun is

creeping over the rocky horizon.

His eyes fall upon a beautiful ANTIQUE BROOCH in a drawer.

He examines it. It is gold. And he pockets it and turns,

finding himself looking at William, watching him.

William turns away, and crosses to his bedroom.

Dan moves to a basin at the back of the house.

ALICE:

You lied to me, Dan.

Dan turns to face Alice.

ALICE (CONT’D)

You told me we made payments to

Hollander.

(CONTINUED)

3:
10 TO YUMA -TAN -1.23.07 4.

CONTINUED:

DAN:

We did. Some.

(off look, heading inside)

How do you think we bought feed,

Alice? Three months water. Medicine

for Mark. I had a choice between

our family and paying it down.

ALICE:

We’re supposed to make decisions

together.

DAN:

Would you have made it different?

ALICE:

Dan.

DAN:

We can’t make it rain together. Or

turn dust into grass. And we can’t

hold back winter. It’s too bad the

doctors at Essex saved so much of

my leg. I read the pension act

pays by the pound now.

Dan leans against the wall, pulling on his boots.

Tears come to Alice’s eyes.

DAN:

Stop looking at me like that.

Mark appears in the hall. Dan crosses back to his bedroom,

pulling on a clean shirt.

MARK:

(as Dan passes)

...You gonna tell the Marshal what

those men did?

WILLIAM:

(from his bedroom)

Marshal ain’t doing sh*t.

ALICE:

William.

DAN:

First thing I’m gonna do, Mark, is

take you boys and round up the

herd. ...Then I’m going to town.

(CONTINUED)

3:
10 TO YUMA -TAN -1.23.07 5.

CONTINUED:
(2)

CLOSE ON-- WILLIAM in his room, gettting dressed, listening

with jaundice as his father reassures Mark. He pockets a deck

of cards and his dime novel.

MARK:

What you gonna do in town?

DAN:

I’m gonna tell Hollander to make

this right. I’m gonna tell him he

needs to pay for a new barn.

MARK:

Maybe we should just shoot him,

like Will says.

Alice meets eyes with Dan who grabs HIS SPENCER RIFLE and

brushes past William on his way to the door.

DAN:

....Let’s go. We got cattle to get.

CLOSE ON:
BEN WADE (38)

--atop a magnificent BLACK MARE, staring at something. Ben

has a ruggedly handsome face, but what strikes you first is

his focus. He’s very still, eyes on fire, low to the horse.

The horse inches forward. Hooves hardly make a sound.

REVERSE TO REVEAL-- A RED-TAILED HAWK, perched only fifteen

feet away on the limb of a dead tree.

WE ARE:
EXT. BOULDER CLUSTER, DESERT VALLEY-- CONTINUOUS

ANGLE ON-- WADE makes a low ‘s’ sound and his horse halts.

Wade sketches the bird on A SMALL LEDGER PAD with a PENCIL,

capturing its form with quick gestures. Suddenly: A noise.

The hawk FLIES OFF. Wade watches it shrink into the sky.

A darkness fills his eyes.

PULL BACK TO REVEAL: CHARLIE PRINCE (31), a pale eyed outlaw,

coming up behind Wade. A PAIR OF SCHOFIELDS on his legs.

...he stops his horse respectfully, a few yards back.

CHARLIE PRINCE (CONT'D)

Coach is headed for Bisbee, Boss.

Girded with iron. Pinks on top.

Double shotguns and a Gatlin-

(CONTINUED)

3:
10 TO YUMA -TAN -1.23.07

6.

CONTINUED:

Charlie trails off as Wade rides to the tree, tears his

SKETCH and pins it to a BRANCH where the hawk had been

perched. His eyes flick to-

Rate this script:3.7 / 3 votes