Cast Away

FADE IN:

EXT. MARFA, TEXAS - 1993 - WIDE - DAY

The Texas plains, horizon to horizon, nothing but the browns

and ochres of earth and the blue and violet of the sky. The

sheer scope of it sinks in: the blank slate of nature, the

absence of man. On the screen superimpose:

MARFA, TEXAS, 1993.

CREDITS BEGIN.

A plume of dust comes into frame. The dust is from a TRUCK,

orange and white and violet, with "FedEx" blazoned across the

side.

The truck turns into a collection of ramshackle World War II

era Quonset huts and outbuildings. Around the outbuildings

are large sculptures of wood and metal.

EXT. QUONSET HUT - DAY

The door is opened by a WOMAN in her late twenties. Hair

pulled back, casual, an artist. She hands the DRIVER a FedEx

BOX which is decorated with a drawing of two ANGEL WINGS.

The Driver has a hand-held computer; a portable printer

dangles from his belt.

The Driver scans the package with his hand-held computer,

prints out a label and sticks it on the Box, ready to go.

But something on the box catches her eye. She wants it back.

He glances at his watch. She draws RINGS around the Wings,

uniting them. She gives the box to the Driver, then hands

him a cup of coffee. They've done this before.

He takes a sip of the coffee, then runs for the truck. He

jumps in and heads back onto the plains.

EXT. FEDEX OFFICE - MIDLAND/ODESSA - NIGHT - HOURS LATER

The Driver jams the distinctive Angel Wing Box on top of a

dolly and loads it into a CONTAINER with clear plastic sides.

A female Loader slaps a large bar code label on the

container, scans it, then pulls the container across a belt

of rollers onto a larger truck. The doors of the truck

close. The latch slams down.

A forklift hoists the container to the cargo doors of a 737.

EXT. MEMPHIS AIRPORT SUPERHUB - NIGHT

The 737 lands.

EXT. SUPERHUB - NIGHT - MINUTES LATER

One of a seemingly endless line of FedEx planes, our 737

taxis to a gate at the FedEx SUPERHUB. The Hub is a vast

living organism -- loud, complex, overwhelming, as much a

symbol of modern life as was the factory in Modern Times.

Five thousand people work in a frenzy of interconnected

activity inside three vast hangers brightly lit. Hundreds of

forklifts and cargo-pullers dart about, their headlights

crisscrossing like a laser show.

Loaders quickly roll the container onto a FORKLIFT.

INT. MEMPHIS SUPERHUB - NIGHT

The forklift speeds inside one of the hangers to a LOADING

BELT, where our Box is spilled into a Mississippi River of

packages, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of them, all shapes and

sizes, from shoe boxes to engine blocks. Large mechanical

arms divert the immense flow of Workers at dozens of

stations. The packages surge and move.

The Workers place the packages label-side-up on new belts,

where they're scanned by laser readers. Picking up speed our

Box is shunted across the acres of interlocking belts.

The Box ends up in a much larger CONTAINER labeled CDG.

EXT. MEMPHIS SUPERHUB - NIGHT

A forklift lifts the Container to a door on a giant MD-11.

INT. GLOBAL OPERATIONS CENTER - NIGHT

A jumbled room jammed with computers and dominated by a HUGE

WALL GRAPHIC that charts hundreds of airplanes. An Operator

moves a yellow strip labeled Jumbo 12 across the board.

EXT. CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORT - DAY

SERIES OF SHOTS:

The giant place touches down in Paris. The Angel Wing Box

moves quickly on another belt and disappears into another

CONTAINER, which is loaded onto still another AIRPLANE.

EXT. ST. PETERSBURG AIRPORT, RUSSIA - NIGHT

The plane lands. The container is unloaded down a belt. We

see our Angel Box. Directly in front of it is a DENTED BOX.

INT. ST. PETERSBURG FEDEX OFFICE, RUSSIA

SERIES OF SHOTS:

Night. The manic activity has come to a dead stop. Our two

Boxes sit on a table in a corner not far from a small

Christmas tree.

Daylight now. YURI, a Supervisor, saunters over, picks up

the Angel Box, sees an attractive co-worker, puts it down.

Night again. A cat walks by the table where our two Boxes

have come to rest.

EXT. ST. PETERSBURG FEDEX OFFICE - DAY

A FedEx truck pulls out of the warehouse. The walls of the

warehouse are covered with graffiti. The streets are slushy,

the buildings blanketed in snow.

EXT. ST. PETERSBURG - DAY

The Driver sits in the truck drinking tea. He takes a last

sip, sighs, gets out with the Angel Box. Walks slowly toward

an APARTMENT HOUSE.

EXT. ST. PETERSBURG APARTMENT HOUSE - MOMENTS LATER

A beautiful young RUSSIAN WOMAN opens the door. A young

AMERICAN MAN comes up behind her, signs the form and takes

the Angel Box. We see Christmas decorations inside. The

woman puts her arms around him as the door closes.

RUSSIAN WOMAN (O.S.)

(accented English)

It's pretty. Who is it from?

AMERICAN MAN (O.S.)

My wife.

We stay with the Driver as he ambles back toward the truck.

EXT. ST. PETERSBURG OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER

The Driver has just delivered the Dented Box to ALEKSEI,

Russian Businessman, who closes the door of a Czarist-era

building. Aleksei checks his watch, picks up the phone.

EXT. FEDEX OFFICES - MANILA - DAY

CHUCK NOLAND, early thirties, walks along a line of brightly

colored jitneys, each bearing the FedEx logo. With him is a

Filipino FedEx SUPERVISOR wearing a guayabera. Chuck

glistens with a thin layer of sweat.

CHUCK:

My guess is we're talking fuel filters

here, Fernando. The gas is dirty, these

jitneys get in the mountains, their

engines cut out.

FERNANDO:

That could lose us half an hour.

CHUCK:

Easy. Each way.

His beeper goes off.

INT. FEDEX OFFICES - MANILA - DAY - MOMENTS LATER

Chuck is on the phone.

CHUCK:

So it finally turned up...

Chuck hesitates for a moment, then looks at his watch.

CHUCK:

I'll catch the sweep tonight.

INT. FEDEX PLANE - NIGHT

Strapped into the jump seat behind the pilots, Chuck sleeps

with a mask over his eyes. On his lap are some travel

brochures. We see sailboats, we see the Florida keys.

EXT. ST. PETERSBURG FEDEX OFFICES - DAY

Christmas in Russia. Snow everywhere. Brightly colored

lights. Chucks gets out of a Volga with Aleksei. He has a

bag over his shoulder, the dented package under one arm.

INT. FEDEX OFFICES - DAY

The staff has assembled near the loading dock. Yuri the

station manager stands in front, occasionally catching the

eye of the attractive woman. Chuck displays the FedEx box.

CHUCK:

It took this test package thirty-two

hours to get from Seattle to St.

Petersburg, a distance of nine thousand

miles. And then it took forty-one hours

to get from our warehouse in St.

Petersburg to here, a distance of,

what --

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