Ares

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OVER BLACK:

“Let us build a tower that reaches to the heavens. So that we

may make a name for ourselves.”

- Genesis 11:
4

The following is based on a true story. To protect thesurvivors, names have been changed.

CUT TO:

A CELL PHONE SCREEN. Badly cracked. On it, a video plays:

EVAN LANGE is shown in close-up against a white background.

He’s 46. The kind of hollow face you see in a mental hospital.

He looks at an OFF-CAMERA INTERVIEWER with unnervingintensity.

INTERVIEWER (O.S.)

Please state your name.

EVAN:

Evan Lange.

INTERVIEWER (O.S.)

Are you currently of sound mind andbody?

EVAN:

Yes.

INTERVIEWER (O.S.)

Can you please explain the problemsyou’ve been suffering from?

Evan pauses. It pains him to admit it.

EVAN:

Whenever I try to stop drinking, Ihave delusions. Hallucinations.

Doctors told me it’s delirium

tremens.

INTERVIEWER (O.S.)

Have these delusions ever made you adanger to others?

EVAN:

Yes.

2.

INTERVIEWER (O.S.)

Do you agree that if people hear youmaking strange claims, they shouldcall the police?

EVAN:

(with difficulty)

Yes. For their safety. And mine.

CUT TO:

The vast black reaches of space. A fireball blazes towards us.

A SOYUZ CAPSULE ENGULFED IN FLAMES.

EVAN (O.S.)

(trying to remain calm)

Eight fifty-five. Everything will befine in an hour.

INT. ARES 1 CAPSULE

Everything is blurred. Frantic. The capsule shakes violentlyas EVAN struggles to reprogram its LANDING COORDINATES.

He’s red. Panting. Overheating in his pressure suit.

He’s talking to another ASTRONAUT, whom we only see from

behind his fishbowl helmet. Evan’s barely audible over the

DEAFENING ROAR. Emergency alarms BLARE.

EVAN:

Don’t worry -- by 10am, the whole

world will know.

He looks at the other astronaut -- as if for confirmation.

REVEAL:
The other astronaut is DEAD. He’s strapped in next toa SECOND DEAD ASTRONAUT.

Their eyes and mouths are black and sunken into nothingness.

Both have been rotting for months.

A burst of static from a SPEAKER in the wall and a VOICE with

a RUSSIAN ACCENT. Concerned.

VOICE VIA SPEAKER

ARES 1, we’ve activated emergency

LLCD communication.

Evan STARTLES. As if he hasn’t heard a voice in months.

3.

VOICE VIA SPEAKER

(anxious)

We’ve lost sight of you. Last we saw,

your trajectory was zero-two-seven.

You must reset to four-oh-one

immediately -

Evan, in direct violation of the command, types completely

different coordinates into the navigation system: “9-9-7...”

VOICE VIA SPEAKER

If you don’t correct your trajectory,

the capsule will overheat. It’ll

explode. Tell us where you are and wecan help -

The voice turns to STATIC. Smoke pours from the speaker as thesystem’s insides melt. A shower of sparks rains down on Evan.

He buckles himself in NEXT TO THE TWO DEAD ASTRONAUTS.

The image cuts in and out as he goes in and out ofconsciousness.

He eyes the temperature gauges. EXTERIOR: 3706 F°. INTERIOR197 F°. Both numbers RACE UP. He can’t survive much longer...

Evan unzips his pocket. Pulls out an origami crane. He unfolds

it. The “paper” is a PHOTO: his wife CHLOE (33) and son DANNY

(8) beam out at him. The photo warps from the intense heat.

Evan takes the gloved hand of the DEAD ASTRONAUT next to him.

Eyes fill with guilt.

EVAN:

We’re not gonna make it. I’m sorry...

He looks back at the WARPING PHOTO of his wife and son.

EVAN:

I’m sorry... I’m sorry...

As the capsule jolts sideways, his head SLAMS so hard againstthe wall that his FISHBOWL HELMET CRACKS.

The world goes silent. Then -

Cryptic images. Cutting in and out. The SUNRISE flaring as

WHOOSH! The capsule’s parachute opens. ARES 1 lands softly

IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF AN AFRICAN CITY

Shocked locals run to the capsule.

4.

They stare as the hatch opens. Through smoke, EVAN crawls out.

It’s slo-mo. Silent. Triumphant. Momentous.

Their black hands touch the white suit with awe, as if he were

a god crashing-landing from the great beyond.

INTERCUT NEWS FOOTAGE of the landing: EVAN is carried throughthe streets on the shoulders of strangers. A hero’s welcome.

CHLOE pushes through the crowd with her son DANNY. We

recognize them from the warping photo in the capsule.

Chloe, crying with joy, takes Evan’s face in her hands. Dannyhugs his chest.

NEWS FOOTAGE:
The American flag flies over the US Embassy as

Evan and his family pass through its imposing gates...

CUT TO:

WHOOSH! THE ARES 1 PARACHUTE OPENS OVER RED DESERT

Floating over stark sand...

Until it crashes against a cliff face.

Plummets to the ground.

Finally the HATCH OPENS. Smoke pours out. EVAN crawls forward.

Evan’s POV:
The world appears bleached. He’s blinded by the

daylight. He can barely see his own hands. As he screams inshock, the world goes

TOTALLY WHITE.

CUT TO:

Evan’s eyes SNAP OPEN. Crumbs of starlight above. The world

around him all blues and violets. Aghast, he realizes he’s

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE F***ING DESERT - NIGHT

No sign of humanity. The capsule lies behind him. The name“ARES 1” barely legible on its blistered exterior.

He clearly didn’t land where he expected.

EVAN:

F***. F***... F***!

As he talks, he feels like dice are rolling around in hismouth. He reaches in and pulls out A DISLODGED MOLAR.

5.

Grimacing, he zips his molar into his pocket.

His eyes lock on a distant star. He mutters to himself as hepieces things together.

EVAN:

M81. That's a mag 7. M81 is a mag 7.

That means... That means I'm at least

200 miles from the nearest city.

It sinks in. He’s hopelessly far from civilization.

LAUGHTER from inside ARES 1.

ADRENALINE jolts through Evan. He stares at the capsule.

Shocked.

Silence. Then RUSTLING. Someone’s INSIDE THE CAPSULE.

Evan, panicking, looks around -- sees nothing but the rocky

hillside and parched honeycomb of the mud flat below.

He tries to stand, but is too weak. He picks up a rock to useas a weapon. CRAWLS toward the capsule. He’s about to enter -When

AN ANIMAL with gaping jaws -- TEETH COVERED IN BLOOD --

steps into the doorway.

Evan GASPS. It’s a HYENA. Behind it, he can see the inside of

the capsule. A CHEWED, DECAYING LEG pokes out of a tornpressure suit. The hyena has been eating the dead astronauts.

Evan, yelling ferociously, HURLS his rock. Hitting the hyena.

It SNARLS. Baring its teeth. It’s about to attack, when -Evan

completely loses it. Throwing every rock in reach at it.

The hyena dodges the rocks and retreats. Then continues

circling Evan. For the hyena, it’s a waiting game.

Keeping an eye on his predator, Evan crawls

INSIDE THE CAPSULE

He tenderly tucks the chewed astronaut leg back in itspressure suit. Tries to collect himself -

EVAN:

OK... OK. It’ll take them 24 hours to

create an algorithm. Estimate wherewe landed.

He punches buttons on the navigation system. Nothing turns on.

6.

EVAN:

Given wind and pressure, thatestimate could be off by... a 200mile radius? Pi times 200 squared...

they’ll have to search over 125,600square miles. They’ll never find me.

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