Hellboy Page #3

YOUNG SOLDIER:

Jesus! would'ya look at the size of

that whammer!

Whitman moves closer. On the wall behind him, a shadow shows

the RED THING climbing into Broom's arms.

Broom tenderly covers it with a blanket. The stubby fingers

snatch the candy. Broom smiles.

BROOM:

It's a boy. Just a baby boy.

EXT. CHAPEL RUINS - NIGHT

The soldiers cluster around, curious to see it. Matlin

prepares his camera and directs them into a group shot. Broom

smiles like a proud new father and embraces the creature,

patting him gently. CLICK!!!

OLD MATLIN'S VOICE

Best photo of my career --

CUT TO:

INT. DARKROOM - BACK TO INTERVIEW 1

OLD MATLIN:

and no one has ever seen it. They

keep saying he's not real, but I

want to set the record straight before

I go.

Matlin finally pulls an old 8x10 from a battered portfolio.

He smiles, full of memories.

OLD MATLIN:

Here. The real picture, not the

retouched one in LIFE magazine.

(hands over the

photograph)

This is him. The very same night we

found him. The night Broom gave him

that name.

(beat)

Can I say it on TV? He called him --

EXT. INSIDE THE CHURCH - BACK TO '44 - NIGHT

BROOM:

(smiles at the creature)

HELLBOY.

Inside the blanket, Hellboy blinks his bright golden eyes

and chews candy, his devilish red tail twitching happily.

CUT TO:

HELLBOY - MAIN TITLE

Montage:
Tabloid covers and news clippings screaming HELLBOY

SIGHTING IN RENO!! GOVERNMENT DENIAL!!! etc.

TV Newscasters read lurid copy. SPRINGER excerpts (fist fight

included) feature the show's theme: I WAS HELLBOY'S BRIDE!!

Some blurry, grainy footage depicts Hellboy crossing an alley.

Much like Bigfoot in the woods.

TOM MANNING (V.O.)

Look at that. That's a costume. These

people amaze me.

INT. STUDIO T.V. HOST SHOW - INTERVIEW #2 - DAY

MANNING is a balding, official-looking guy in a suit.

MANNING:

With their conveniently blurry footage

of their beloved "Hellboy." And they

claim that he works for the FBI-?

SUPER ON TV:

TOM MANNING, F.B.I.

HEAD OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS.

Manning on a TV SHOW a la Regis Philbin.

TV HOST:

As the head of your division, you --

You have seen dozens of pictures

like this!!!

MANNING:

Exactly -- so, why is it that they're

all out of focus? C'mon!! God knows,

people manage to get good pictures

at a wedding!!

He shows a blurry picture.

MANNING:

That's the alleged best man -- ?

The audience applauds.

EXT. HIGH MOUNTAINS, EASTERN EUROPE - DAY

In the thick of a snowstorm, THREE FIGURES climb the icy

steps of a massive rock formation.

Super:
BIRGAU PASS, MOLDAVIA, PRESENT DAY.

EXT. HIGH MOUNTAINS (SET), EASTERN EUROPE - DAY

The THREE FIGURES move through a narrow passage until they

reach a DEAD END.

FIGURE 1 stops at a symbol carved in the rocky ground and

consults Grigory's LEATHER-BOUND BOOK. The symbol matches an

illustration in the book.

Before them, a thick wall of ice. Using a heavy steel hammer,

FIGURE 1 breaks through.

PEASANT GUIDE:

I will guide you no further.

Figure 2 produces two small GOLD INGOTS. Hands one to the

guide. Keeps the other one.

The Guide examines his pay greedily: engraved in it: a

SWASTIKA.

INT. ICE CAVE - SMALL CORRIDOR - DAY

The ice curtain collapses, revealing a rough-walled corridor.

FIGURE 1 spots a glowing firefly. They follow it into --

INT. ICE CAVE - MAIN NAVE - DAY

A cathedral-like vault that could easily hold a stadium.

From an opening somewhere above, eerie blue light streams

down on a magnificent labyrinth.

A few more fireflies speckle the air, winking on and off.

INT. ICE CAVE - LABYRINTH - DAY

The THREE FIGURES move past cyclopean statues guarding the

inhuman architecture. The humans are dwarfed by the monumental

scale of the walkways and ramparts.

INT. ICE CAVE - CENTRAL LABYRINTH AREA - DAY

At the center of the labyrinth the stone floor is covered in

grooves radiating from a shallow stone basin.

FIGURE 3 uncovers his face: he's a PEASANT GUIDE.

PEASANT GUIDE:

(in Romanian)

We shouldn't be here --

FIGURE 1 exchanges a meaningful look with FIGURE 2. FIGURE 1

throws two solid gold pieces at the feet of the Sherpa. On

them, an embossed SWASTIKA. After a greedy moment of thought,

the Peasant kneels to pick up the gold.

TCHKK!!! A long, shiny blade pierces the Peasant's chest

from behind. He blinks twice and slumps forward.

FIGURE 2 steps out from behind him, a long, bloody blade in

his hand.

The figures uncover their faces. ILSA has not aged and

KROENEN, still wears the same tight gas mask. He cleans his

blade in the snow and takes back the gold.

Ilsa watches the Sherpa's blood as it runs in a steaming

rivulet, tracing a glyph in the grooves and filling the basin.

A FIGURE RISES FROM THE BLOOD. A naked human shape, haloed

by fireflies.

ILSA:

Your eyes. What did they do to your

eyes?

CUT TO:

INT. DOCTOR'S OFFICE - DAY

Mechanized rollers transport X-Ray films over a backlit

screen. A group of 4 DOCTORS studies the pictures and

exchanges somber looks. Rain spatters the windows.

Doctor 1 glances at the others.

DOCTOR 1

Have you told him yet?

Doctor 2 looks through a glass partition at an aged but

dignified BROOM, 72, who slowly buttons his shirt. Hanging

from his wrist, his rosary.

INT. DOCTORS OFFICE - EXAMINATION ROOM - DAY

DOCTOR 2

Malignant sarcoma. In the lungs...

the spine, liver...

BROOM:

Approximately... how long??

DOCTOR 2

Maybe -- six weeks.

Broom impassively takes in the information.

DOCTOR 2

I can arrange for hospitalization,

pain management. Make the time more

bearable --

Broom pensively shuffles his tarot cards.

BROOM:

(shakes his head)

I'd rather... stay home, you know.

I'll be making arrangements --

(beat)

For my son.

DOCTOR 2

You can always get a second opinion.

Broom looks down: first card off the deck: DEATH.

BROOM:

That won't be necessary.

EXT. N.Y. - MANHATTAN STREET - DAY

Leaves stir on the pavement. All the stores are decorated

for Halloween. Two kids dressed as SKELETONS run in front of

Broom, carrying a JACK-O-LANTERN.

Leaning on a cane, Broom exits the building and walks toward

a waiting black Mercedes. The DRIVER (Agent Lime) opens the

door.

Broom pauses to buy a dozen BABY RUTH candy bars from a street

vendor.

In an ELECTRONICS STORE, a wall of TV's. The image of a RED,

BLURRY SHAPE (HELLBOY) fills the screens.

BROOM:

(seeing this)

Son...

TV HOST:

Mister Manning, what about the "Bureau

for Paranormal Research and Defense?"

The FBI has been known to conceal --

TOM MANNING:

That word -- conceal --

TV HOST:

from the American public --

TOM MANNING:

Phil -- Phil -- hold your little

green horses. Let me tell you and

the American public one thing --

this "Bureau for -- what was it?

TV HOST:

Paranormal Research and --

TOM MANNING:

-- Defense, right, well -- I'm here

to clear up this once and for all.

(he looks at the camera)

There-is-no-such-thing.

Broom smiles.

OMIT:

EXT. B.P.R.D. BUILDING COMPLEX - DAY

On a wooded, new jersey hill, a low-slung, high-tech complex

rests at the edge of a bluff, its foundation fused with the

rock below.

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