All the Money in the World

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FADE IN:

A GREAT MAZE:

looms below us:
a labyrinth of tangled alleyways. We DESCEND

toward it and into the dark heart of an ancient city.

INT. CAMPO DEI FIORE, ROME -- NIGHT

The streets of Rome are locked in a 3AM traffic jam. MUSIC

spills from cafes and discotheques. We DESCEND further...

TITLE UP:
1973

...into sidewalks overflowing with prostitutes, B-movie stars,

mafiosi, down-on-their-luck royalty and paparazzi dartingbetween cars on Vespa scooters. And now, from out of thecrowd, something even stranger emerges:

A BOY:

in his mid-teens, at once streetwise and innocent. A skinnykid in worn jeans with iron-on patches on the knees. The

streetwalkers in their platform shoes call out to him:

PROSTITUTES:

Ciao, Paolo!

The kid smiles bashfully as they fall in around him.

PROSTITUTES (CONT'D)

Che magro, che vergogna! So skinny.

Paolo, bambino, why don't you let usmake you breakfast? We'd look after

you real nice.

PAUL:

(smiles, blushing)

I bet you would.

A car pulls up to the curb: it's time for the girls to goback to work. Maria-Donna pulls Paul close, serious now:

MARIA-DONNA

Hurry home, Paolo, eh? The street

is no place for a boy like you.

Don't make your poor mamma worry.

PAUL:

I can take care of myself. Ciao,

Maria-Donna.

Paul walks on, leaving the girls to haggle with their johns.

He pulls out a folded-over issue of Fantastic Comics andwalks away into the darkened, narrow Via dei Bauillari.

2.

A PAIR OF HEADLIGHTS

flicker to life behind him. Paul walks on, oblivious,

immersed in his comic book.

The car creeps forward. The headlights like owl's-eyes. A

white Fiat 600. It drives up behind him. Hovering.

A man climbs out. He wears a red ski mask.

SKI MASK:

Paul?

PAUL:

Yeah -- ?

Paul turns and sees them. A moment -- and then he runs.

In an instant, they are upon him. The boy flails, kicking

and writhing to buck them off. He's got a lot of fight in

him for such a skinny kid; it's as if he knew this was coming.

They open the trunk and shove Paul inside. He doesn't fit.

Someone sits down on the trunk.

The latch clicks: it's closed. The men pull off their masks.

Their eyes are black and wild with adrenaline. They climbinto the car.

SKI MASK:

Avanti! Go!

CUT TO:

A PHONE RECEIVER

clatters into its cradle. We TILT UP to reveal a flustered

young SECRETARY in red lipstick and a tight sweater. She

rises from her desk, overwhelmed, and she begins to run.

EXT. SUTTON PLACE (SURREY, ENGLAND) -- DAY

A sprawling 400-year-old mansioned estate surrounded by

gardens and statuary.

The secretary runs across the grounds in her high heels.

She runs past a row of ancient busts of Roman emperors.

She runs past a full-grown male LION pacing in a gilded cage.

She runs past a swimming pool ringed by lounging STARLETS.

She trips and stumbles as she breaks a heel. She reaches

down, pulls her shoes off, and runs in her nylons -

3.

INT. SUTTON PLACE -- DAY

-- up the stairs of the mansion, past walls cluttered with avast art collection. She runs down the hallway -

INT. ATELIER -- DAY

-- and opens the door to a huge room, empty but for a LouisXIV desk, a phone and an old-time paper-tape stock ticker.

A man in a bespoke suit stands at the window, gazing outupon his estate. The paper tape from the stock ticker snakesacross the room and through his fingertips. He whispersprice quotes to himself, like a monk saying the rosary.

SECRETARY:

I'm sorry, Mr Getty. I should have

knocked but -- it's --

J. PAUL GETTY turns and c*cks an eyebrow. His gaze is quickand focused; he has the impatience of a man whose mind isalways sixty seconds ahead of whomever he's listening to.

GETTY:

To the point, Nancy, the market's

open.

SECRETARY:

They've -- He's been kidnapped!

Paul, Little Paul, your grandson, inRome my God he's just a child -

The ticker-tape in Getty's hands stops moving.

SECRETARY (CONT'D)

They need to speak with you, it'svery urgent. The Italian police,

the boy's mother, they're on thephone right now.

A tremor of emotion in Getty's eyes. Then it's gone.

GETTY:

I'm not available.

The Secretary stares at him.

SECRETARY:

Excuse me, Mr. Getty?

GETTY:

The door, Nancy.

She closes the door as the tape in the Getty's fingertipsstarts to move again. We hear young Paul in VOICE-OVER:

4.

PAUL (V.O.)

To be a Getty is an extraordinarything.

EXT. AUTOSTRADA -- NIGHT

The little Fiat 600 (with Paul in the trunk) drives througha toll gate and onto the great Italian highway.

PAUL (V.O.)

I know that because my grandpa told

me so.

INT. TUNNEL -- FLASHBACK -- DAY

J Paul Getty and the young Paul walk down a dark tunnel.

GETTY:

You're a Getty, Paul. A Getty isspecial. A Getty has a destiny. A

Getty is nobody's fool.

The boy gazes up at his grandfather reverently.

PAUL (V.O.)

You see, my grandpa wasn't just therichest man in the world. He was

the richest man in the history of

the world.

EXT. SAUDI DESERT -- DAY

SAND DUNES undulate endlessly unto the horizon. We SOAR

OVER THEM until we find a singular figure standing amidstthe shifting sands: J Paul Getty.

PAUL (V.O.)

My grandpa was the one who broughtthe oil out of the Saudi desert.

Everybody knew it was there, theyjust thought it couldn't be done.

We CRANE over the dunes to REVEAL a great city of refineriesand pumping oil derricks belching flame, a mirage seeminglysummoned forth by Getty's will alone.

PAUL (V.O.) (CONT'D)

But Grandpa found a way. He made a

deal with the Bedouin tribes. But

there was so much oil there was no

ship big enough to carry it all.

EXT. SHIPYARD -- DAY

Getty supervises construction of a SUPERTANKER, a behemoththe size of a skyscraper lying on its side.

5.

PAUL (V.O.)

So my grandfather invented one. He

called it the supertanker.

EXT. AMERICAN LANDSCAPE -- DAY

As we soar over the American intercontinental highway, SERVICESTATIONS materialize out of nowhere, dotting the landscape,

all bearing the Getty name.

PAUL (V.O.)

Then he built a chain of service

stations across America with his

name on them. Grandpa controlledevery drop of oil, from beneath theearth to the customer's gas tank.

(a beat)

And he was famous.

CUT TO:

PLAYBOY MAGAZINE

In a series of B&W still images accompanying the pages ofTHE PLAYBOY INTERVIEW --click click click -- Getty holdsforth on his great wealth.

PLAYBOY:

Mr. Getty, rumor has it that you arethe first man in history with afortune in excess of one billion

dollars. How much money do you have?

GETTY:

I have no idea. If you can countyour money, you're not a billionaire.

EXT. AUTOSTRADA -- NIGHT

The little Fiat 600 winds along the serpentine Italianhighway, its headlights blazing.

PAUL (V.O.)

I'm telling you this so you canunderstand the things you're about to

see. And maybe you can forgive us.

We PULL BACK as the Fiat winds along the autostrada, awayfrom the glowing city, until it vanishes into the dark.

PAUL (V.O.) (CONT'D)

It's like we're from another planetwhere the force of gravity is sostrong it bends the light. It bends

people too. We look like you, butwe're not like you.

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