King Kong Page #5

DENHAM'S face CLOUDS WITH ANGER.

DENHAM:

I don't take orders from women in trousers. Herb! Get a close-up of the

big monkey.

HERB carries the TRIPOD and CAMERA towards the STATUE.

DOUGLAS suddenly rushes forward, pushing HERB away ... In a split

second - KURT punches DOUGLAS to the ground, knocking him out!

A GUN C*CKS ... ANN has snatched a RIFLE from the CAR. She aims it at

KURT ... he backs away.

ANN:

(softly)

Have you got a hearing problem? Get out.

DENHAM'S GROUP climb into their vehicles.

DENHAM:

You just made a big mistake, lady. This is a public place - I know my

rights! Charles Lindburg's lawyer's a personal friend of mine. I'm

gonna put you people in litigation hell for the next five years!

CUT TO:

INT. VENTURE - DUSK

CLOSE ON A drawing of the MAP from the base of the Kong statue ... It

appears to show the position of a SMALT. ISLAND, south west of the

Sumatran mainland.

KURT is sketching it from memory ... he refers to his TRANSLATION BOOK.

DENHAM and the ship's skipper CAPTAIN ENGLEHORN look on.

KURT:

(Slowly)

"Pulau Tengkorak" - The Island of the Skull ...

DENHAM:

(excited)

What else? Were there directions?

KIURT:

(pause)

Yeah.

KURT looks at them BLANKLY.

DENHAM:

(frustrated)

Well?

KURT:

(slowly)

There were detailed navigational co-ordinates in an ancient Sanskrit

alphabet. I didn't have time to translate it all.

ENGLEHORN:

(tense)

Look, I've sailed these waters for twenty-seven years ... there's no

island like that around here.

DENHAM:

(more excited)

What a climax to the film - The first white men to set foot on ...

(pauses)

"Skull Island"

(very excited)

Twentieth Century man comes face to face with a ... a ... naked stone

age tribe!

ENGLEHORN:

(agitated)

I tell you it doesn't exist!

DENHAM:

We need those co-ordinates -someone's gotta get back there and jot the

rest of it down

A cough O.S ... DENHAM'S'S turns and his gaze settles on PEEK standing

in the doorway ...

EXT. SUMATRAN DIG - DUSK

CLOSE ON ANN - skillfully producing an accurate PENCIL RUBBING of the

HIEROGLYPHICS and MAP on a sheet of TRACING PAPER.

LORD DARROW and DOUGLAS are studying the STATUE OF KONG in the soft

twilight ... They talk QUIETLY - out of ANN'S earshot.

LORD DARROW:

The Beast God cult flourished up until the fifth century. It originated

on a remote island and quickly spread to the mainland, where the

worshipers were systematically hunted down and killed by the Hindu. No

likeness of Kong was allowed to survive. All trace of this culture was

eliminated as if it had never existed ...

DOUGLAS:

(animated)

Are you suggesting a pocket still survives on this island?

LORD DARROW:

Maybe ... but, from what we know of the culture, I wouldn't set foot on

the "Island of the Skull" with anything less than full military back-

up.

ANN comes running over, EXCITEDLY waving the finished COPY OF THE MAP.

ANN:

Father It's somewhere south-west of here - we need to inform the museum

... · organize an expedition -

LORD DARROW:

(interrupts)

All in due course, Ann. Our first responsibility is to get these

artifacts safely back to London.

DARROW checks the time with an ornately engraved SILVER FOB-WATCH.

BINOCULAR POV ANN with MAP, LORD DARROW and DOUGLAS.

ANN:

(waving MAP)

But, it's here! An undiscovered island!

CLOSE ON RANDELL PEEK, casing the site from a safe distance...

JACK (O.S.)

Hey!

JACK is scrambling up the hill towards the GROUP.

ANN:

Oh God, it's that bloody yank!

LORD DARROW:

Now now, Ann! Try be to polite.

JACK:

(angry)

Alright old man! You'd better have a good explanation because you've

just lost me ten grand's worth of business!

LORD DARROW:

(confused)

I beg your pardon?

JACK:

I've gotta contract to clear a hundred thousand acres of rainforest by

Christmas and my entire work force has just walked out. They're spooked

by some weird sh*t you guys are pulling out of the ground!

LORD DARROW:

(casual)

Oh no! That can't be right ... we've had no problems with our people

...

CUT TO:

POV TENT FLAP pulled back to reveal ... LARGE EMPTY TENT, clearly

VACATED IN A HURRY.

WIDE SHOT LORD DARROW looks around ... Apart from the HANDFUL of

ENGLISH, camp is deserted. ANN looks flustered. JACK stands with his

hands on his hips.

ANTHONY - another ARCHAEOLOGIST, runs over to LORD DARROW.

ANTHONY:

(whispers)

They said the wrath of Kong has returned ... "Those in his shadow will

be plagued by death".

LORD DARROW:

(urgent whisper)

Call the shipping company, Tony. It's time we started freighting the

artifacts home.

JACK:

Your Lordship! Aren't you forgetting something? I'd appreciate a little

talk about compensation.

LORD DARROW:

What?

ANN:

He's grubbing for money, father.

JACK:

(to ANN)

I just wanna deal with the boss, ok?

ANN:

(angry)

No, it's not ok! We're not about to be robbed blind by some two-bit

hustler on the make!

JACK:

You - calling me a thief? Well, that's great, coming from a glorified

grave robber! You break into the tomb of some dead Egyptian - the poor

guy's happily enjoying the afterlife when suddenly his sh*t gets stolen

by a bunch of light fingered limeys!

ANN:

Tell me, Mr Driscoll - is it a requirement of the forestry business

that you have to be as thick as the trees you cut down?

LORD DARROW:

Ann!

LORD DARROW steps forward - JACK backs away in MOCK HORROR.

JACK:

(theatrical)

Holy God! The mummy walks!

ANN:

(yelling)

How dare you? My father is the British Museum's most respected

archeologist!

JACK:

(yelling)

Do they have him on display at the weekends?

CLOSE ON ANN'S MAP, on a table with OTHER SKETCHES. PEEK calmly grabs

it and heads away. EVERYONE is distracted by the ARGUMENT that

continues ...

ANN:

(yelling)

God, you're so obnoxious! Our work happens to be of great

anthropological value!

JACK:

(yelling)

Value? ... Value?

JACK grabs an ancient EARTHENWARE POT off a table of ARTIFACTS ...

JACK (CONT'D)

You couldn't get ten cents for this thing! It's cracked!

He tosses the POT over his shoulder, SMASHING it!

BEHIND JACK ...

ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!!! MILITARY VEHICLES roar into the camp ... 100

SUMATRAN SOLDIERS spill out of several TRUCKS - they stream through the

site, YELLING and PULING PEOPLE FROM TENTS.

SOLDIERS:

(yelling)

Out of your tents! Out of your tents!

JACK looks around, totally confused.

LORD DARROW:

What is the meaning of this???

The Sumatran COLONEL IN CHARGE steps up.

COLONEL:

We are closing you down! No more permit! You go home!

TENTS are being TORN DOWN ... ARTIFACTS swept into SACKS. BOOKS and

PAPERS are thrown into a pile and DOUSED WITH PETROL.

LORD DARROW:

You can' t destroy these things ... They're part of history.

COLONEL:

Some things better left alone.

WHROOOSH' The FIRE roars into life.

A SUDDEN YELL - RANDELL PEEK is thrown to the ground by TWO SOLDIERS.

He is clutching ANN'S MAP!

SOLDIER:

He was caught trying to escape!

The COLONEL unrolls the MAP ...

ANN:

(very tense)

That's mine.

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