Danny Collins Page #4

---

Danny lowers the box, confused.

DANNY:

What? Frank, what the hell are

you talking about?

FRANK:

John Lennon wrote you a letter,

Pal! In 1971. He sent it to you

at the magazine, care of this

DeLoach guy. DeLoach smells money

-handwritten letter from John

Lennon and all - so he holds onto

it, never tells you. DeLoach

died, he’s not the point. The

point is he sold the letter to a

collector. Can you believe this

sh*t?

DANNY:

I’m not following this, Frank.

FRANK:

Open the box, just open it.

(CONTINUED)

18.

20 CONTINUED:
(4) 20

Danny does, slowly. Frank has had the letter framed and

matted, beautifully.

ON THE LETTER:

It’s small, handwritten. Very personalized.

FRANK (CONT’D)

A handwritten letter to you from

John Lennon, written in 1971. Can

you f***ing believe it? Read it!

Danny is still processing. He reads, out loud, slowly:

DANNY:

Dear Danny Collins. Yoko and I

read your interview. Being rich

and famous doesn’t change the way

you think. It doesn’t corrupt

your art. Only you can do that.

So what do you think about that,

Danny Collins? Stay true to your

music. Stay true to yourself.

The rest will follow. My phone

number is below. Call me, we can

discuss this. We can help. Love,

John.

FRANK:

Crazy, right!? I’ve been sitting

on this thing for months...

As Frank continues rambling excitedly, we PUSH in...

ON DANNY:

He’s just staring at the letter. Reading it, over and

over. His world has clearly just rotated on its axis.

A letter from your hero, meant to be delivered to you

when you were twenty-one. Warning you of all the things

you wound up doing and now regret. Forty years too late.

Can you imagine?

CUE SONG:
Imagine (TBD) written by John Lennon.

Everything SLOWS as Danny looks around the deck. The

imagery conflicts with the beautiful song: his fianc.,

belching and half-conscious. The hangers-on passed out

everywhere. His preposterously lavish mansion.

Sad, horrific, irony.

The song carries into...

19.

21 INT. DANNY’S BEDROOM - NIGHT 21

Danny lies there holding the letter, still staring at it.

It’s 5:
45 AM and he hasn’t slept. He’s slowly

unraveling. He gets up, whispers to Sophie:

DANNY:

I’ll be back late.

She waves a hung-over arm at him.

22 INT. DANNY’S MERCEDES - EARLY MORNING 22

Danny drives through Los Angeles. The Sunset Strip, home

to the Roxy, the Whisky. Have you ever driven down

Sunset when there’s not a soul in sight? It’s surreal.

The whole time the letter sits next to Danny, on the

passenger seat. Haunting him.

Danny pulls the car over. EXITS.

23 EXT. SUNSET STRIP - CONTINUOUS 23

Danny walks to the curb. Looks up. Just stares. We cut

WIDE, revealing what he’s staring at:

HIS GIANT BILLBOARD. Danny stands in front of it,

miniscule in comparison, taking in the ridiculous picture

of himself winking at/pointing at camera - the oversized

portrait a symbol of every bad decision he’s ever made.

And that does it...

Slowly... ever so slowly: a smile creeps over his face.

He cracks his neck, coming to terms with a decision, and:

He gets back in the car and races off. Full speed now.

24 EXT. MANSION GATE - MOMENTS LATER 24

The Mercedes turns toward the gate. But then... the car

keeps going.

A25 EXT. MANSION - MOMENTS LATER A25

Danny pops out from behind the “bridge.” He’s entered

his own property, unseen. He scampers across the bridge.

25 INT. MANSION FOYER - CONTINUOUS 25

Danny strides into the house.

(CONTINUED)

20.

25 CONTINUED:
25

DANNY:

I’m home!

We hear frantic FOOTSTEPS in the distance. Danny smiles,

marches toward the bedroom.

26 INT. DANNY’S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS 26

Sophie lies in bed, confused and a little frazzled.

Danny strides past her.

SOPHIE:

I thought you were coming home

late.

DANNY:

Change of plans.

Danny heads through the bathroom into the walk-in closet.

He takes out a SUITCASE, begins packing. Sophie ENTERS.

SOPHIE:

What are you doing?

DANNY:

Packing.

SOPHIE:

Where are we going?

DANNY:

Oh, I’m going away.

(then)

Where is he?

SOPHIE:

Who?

DANNY:

Whoever you were just in bed with,

where is he hiding?

(then)

You know what, I’ll just ship

everything.

He grabs A SMALL BAG, exits the closet. Begins looking

around the bathroom, grabbing toiletries.

SOPHIE:

Danny-

DANNY:

Honey, I didn’t pull in, so the

guy outside couldn’t call you and

stall me.

(MORE) (CONTINUED)

21.

26 CONTINUED:
26

DANNY (CONT'D)

I’m not mad, I promise, I just

don’t want to open a closet and

have a strange man jump out and

scare the sh*t out of me. He’s

not in the closet, is he?

SOPHIE:

(relenting)

No.

DANNY:

Good.

Danny RE-ENTERS the BEDROOM, calls out:

DANNY (CONT’D)

You can come out! I promise I’m

not mad!

SOPHIE:

Jesus.

(loudly)

Just come out. It’s okay.

A YOUNG HANDSOME MAN in TIGHTY-WHITIES comes out from

under the bed. Danny smiles, continues throwing crap in

his small bag.

DANNY:

(to the guy)

You must be busywork.

YOUNG MAN:

Judd.

DANNY:

I’ll call you busywork. She’s

always doing busywork. Now I

understand.

SOPHIE:

(apologetic)

Danny.

DANNY:

Sweetie, I could not be less mad.

I had fun, did you have fun?

SOPHIE:

Yeah.

DANNY:

Good. I’m glad. You stay. Keep

the house for a while. You and

Busywork here.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

22.

26 CONTINUED:
(2) 26

DANNY (CONT'D)

Be young, have fun, I need my

address book, there’s an address I

need in my address book. Ah, here

it is.

Danny leans in toward Sophie, kisses her cheek.

DANNY (CONT’D)

I would have made you sign a

prenup anyway. You’re not missing

out on any big money if that makes

you feel better.

SOPHIE:

I guess it does a little.

DANNY:

I’m glad.

Danny holds his hand out toward Judd. They shake.

DANNY (CONT’D)

Busywork, take care of her.

JUDD:

My parents had their first dance

to one of your songs, Sir.

DANNY:

Well that’s f***ed up in all kinds

of ways now, isn’t it?

(then)

Okay, adios Kids.

He grabs his BAG and EXITS.

27 EXT. MANSION - MINUTES LATER 27

Danny EXITS the house, a skip in his step. He heads

across his bridge as he talks on his CELL PHONE.

DANNY:

(into phone)

Hey, have the plane ready. To New

Jersey.

(then)

Yes, New Jersey.

(then)

Car, too. You know what I like.

But how ‘bout a red one?

(then)

Yes, red. I’m changing sh*t up.

Danny gets in his car and takes off. We can hear his

LAUGHTER all the way down the street.

(CONTINUED)

23.

27 CONTINUED:
27

CUE SONG:
Hold On (TBD) written by John Lennon.

28 EXT. NJ PRIVATE AIRPORT (I.E., TETERBORO) - LATER

Danny steps off the PRIVATE JET and heads down a set ofstairs as a...

28

RED MERCEDES (identical car, different color) pulls upnext to the bottom of the stairs.

29 EXT. WOODCLIFF LAKE HILTON - TWENTY MINUTES LATER 29

The Mercedes pulls up in front of this ordinary Hilton.

The rest of the lot is littered with Toyotas and Fords.

ON A VALET KID (22)

Standing there, bored. He sees the Mercedes approach.

VALET KID:

(re:
car)

Holy sh*t.

The car pulls to a stop. Danny steps out of the car.

VALET KID (CONT’D)

(re:
Danny Collins)

Holy sh*t!

The kid runs forward.

VALET KID (CONT’D)

Welcome to the Hilton, DannyCollins... Mr. Collins...

(trying again)

Welcome to the Hilton, Sir.

DANNY:

It’s good to be at the Hilton,

young man. And call me Danny.

What should I call you?

VALET KID:

Nicky Ernst.

DANNY:

Nicky Ernst, it’s an absolutepleasure. You have a wonderful

face. Here, have a hundred

dollars.

He hands Nicky a HUNDRED. Nicky masks his excitement.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes