Foxcatcher Page #3

MAN (OVER PHONE)

May I please speak with Mr. Mark

Schultz?

MARK (ON PHONE)

It’s Mark.

MAN (OVER PHONE)

I’m sorry to call you at night, but

Mr. du Pont was anxious that I get

in touch with you.

MARK (ON PHONE)

Okay...

MAN (ON PHONE)

He asked that you please consider

taking a day off from your training

to come out to Foxcatcher Farms so

you men can meet face to face.

MARK (ON PHONE)

Who do you work for again?

13.

MAN (ON PHONE)

John E. du Pont of the du Pont

family of Newtown Square,

Pennsylvania.

(beat)

You may also know of him in

connection with his support of the

Villanova wrestling program.

MARK (ON PHONE)

(he doesn’t)

What does he want to talk about?

MAN (ON PHONE)

Mr. du Pont requested that I

contact you to set up a meeting.

He’d like to bring you out to

Pennsylvania.

MARK (ON PHONE)

Uh-huh.

MAN (ON PHONE)

If I may I’d like to make travel

arrangements for you, Mr. Schultz.

Mark’s holding the ice cube tray, alone in his dingy kitchen.

MAN (ON PHONE) (CONT’D)

Mr. Schultz?

CUT TO:

INT. PHL AIRPORT/ARRIVAL GATE - DAY

BRANDON (20s, post-prep school, jacket/tie) waits for Mark.

BRANDON:

Mr. Schultz, I’m Brandon. Welcome

to Philadelphia.

CUT TO:

INT. HELICOPTER (AIRBORNE) - DAY

Mark watches out the clear Plexi as the Pennsylvania

countryside spreads out below him. He and Brandon and the

pilot (LARRY - 50s, aviator glasses, Air Cavalry patch on his

jacket) all wear RADIO MIC HEADSETS.

14.

BRANDON (ON RADIO MIC)

Mr. du Pont would have flown you

himself, but he was asked at the

last minute for tactical assistance

by the Newtown Square Police

Department.

Mark has no idea what that means, but nods his head.

BRANDON (ON RADIO MIC) (CONT’D)

He should be back at the estate by

the time we get there.

Larry BANKS the plane steeply on Mark’s side so Mark has an

unobstructed view of the ground.

LARRY (ON RADIO MIC)

Valley Forge below you.

They speed over the historic site - wide fields, the memorial

arch, wood fences, the old stone house.

BRANDON (ON RADIO MIC)

The du Pont family’s supplied

American armed forces with

gunpowder since the beginning.

(as Larry heads south)

Foxcatcher in three minutes.

CUT TO:

I/E. HELICOPTER (AIRBORNE)/FOXCATCHER ESTATE - MINUTES LATER

A MARE and FOAL run away as the helicopter descends toward

the Big House - a huge Georgian brick home in the middle of

800 acres of fields and woods and outbuildings.

CUT TO:

INT. HALLWAY/BIG HOUSE - DAY

Brandon leads Mark down a carpeted hallway.

CUT TO:

INT. LIBRARY/BIG HOUSE - DAY

They enter. It’s at once grandly elegant and musty.

15.

BRANDON:

Feel free to look around the

library. Mr. du Pont will be up

shortly.

Shuts the door behind him. Mark’s never been in a room like

this - oil paintings of du Pont ancestors; foxhounds, horses,

hunts. Leather-bound books share space with framed OLD STAMPS

and antique (and not so antique) PISTOLS. Framed PHOTOS of

the same man (JOHN DU PONT - 50, thin, beak-nosed, blond-grey

hair) with Presidents Ford, Nixon, Reagan... Henry Kissinger.

Mark’s standing, gazing at the photos, when the door opens,

revealing JOHN DU PONT, a police-issue HOLSTER dangling from

one hand. He stops and breathlessly regards Mark.

DU PONT:

You’re actually here.

MARK:

Oh. Yes, sir.

DU PONT:

In my study.

MARK:

(no idea what to say)

They said it was the library.

DU PONT:

It is.

Du Pont puts the holster onto a chair. Holds out his hand.

DU PONT (CONT’D)

John du Pont.

MARK:

Mark Sch -

DU PONT:

-I know who you are - I’ve watched

your Olympic victory enough times

to know exactly who you are, every

inch of you. Please, put your bag

down, make yourself comfortable,

sit, make yourself at home (

You quickly realize that du Pont can be voluble and

charming, but the more time you spend with him, the more you

see what an effort this is for him - how essentially

uncomfortable he is in his own skin.... Also, he just might

have snorted a tiny bit of coke before he came in.)

16.

Mark sits. Du Pont settles in, sits facing him - focused

entirely on Mark. He speaks intimately, sincerely

DU PONT (CONT’D)

I watched the video of your Olympic

run again last night. After you

broke the arm of the Turk - after

they disqualified you, handed you a

loss - after they put an extra

official on you to watch your holds

-all of which were legal - after

all that you rack up seven straight

wins to take the medal. For your

country. Thrilling. Thrilling.

Inspiring. Take the gold medal.

Mark can’t recall when he’s received this kind of attention.

MARK:

Thank you, sir. I’m proud of that

day.

DU PONT:

You should be. I’m proud of that

day. I’m proud of you on that day.

Your parents must be enormously

proud.

MARK:

(after a moment)

To be perfectly honest, we don’t

often talk.

Du Pont nods, hoping Mark might say more. When he doesn’t

DU PONT:

I want to tell you how much I

appreciate your coming here. I know

it cuts into your training. I

imagine that’s every day for you?

MARK:

Yes sir, it is.

DU PONT:

Strength training in the morning?

Upper body regimen - muscle tone -

building up the muscle tone -

across the upper body. In the

morning?

17.

MARK:

Oh. Well. I take the mornings on my

own - as you said, strength

training, endurance - then I meet

up with my brother - you know Dave

Schultz - ?

DU PONT:

Of course, of course, yes, I know

him. I mean, not personally, but

yes, of course, I do know him.

MARK:

-I meet up with him at the U-W

gym, we work out whatever free time

we can grab between team practice.

DU PONT:

University of Wisconsin.

MARK:

Yes sir.

DU PONT:

Where you both coach.

Mark NODS vaguely.

DU PONT (CONT’D)

And they provide you with

everything you need?

Beat.

MARK:

Pretty much.

A moment as du Pont watches Mark.

DU PONT:

I’d like to see you win this

upcoming tournament

MARK:

- Thank you

DU PONT:

- I’d like to help you win this

upcoming tournament. It’s a big

one, yes?

MARK:

It’s the world championship.

18.

Du Pont nods.

DU PONT:

Why do you do it, Mark?

Mark just looks at him, unsure what he’s being asked.

DU PONT (CONT’D)

Why?

MARK:

(simply no other reason)

I want to be the best in the world.

DU PONT:

I want you to be the best in the

world. I want this country to be

the best in the world.

(then)

May I speak frankly?

Mark nods... of course.

DU PONT (CONT’D)

I’m concerned. I’m concerned by

what I see in these Unites States.

Athletes labor to bring honor to

America, and America fails to honor

that labor. Fails to honor it and

fails to support it.

Mark’s staring at du Pont intently.

DU PONT (CONT’D)

When did you win your first match?

MARK:

I started kind of late - high

school sophomore.

Du Pont waits, listening...

MARK (CONT’D)

I was... well, truthfully, I was...

kind of lost. And I got into it

‘cause my brother was wrestling. He

convinced me to give it a try. I

never told him this, but I was

scared of losing in front of him.

So of course my first match I get

put up against a kid two years

older. Dave was helping coach from

my corner... and at the end, when

the ref raised my hand...

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