RONIN Page #9

LARRY:

(under his breath)

Eat sh*t and die slowly...

SWEDE:

After we stop the target car I get out

and use the heavy artillery to kill the

driver and his bodyguard.

LARRY:

I blast the lead car into oblivion...

VINCENT:

(picking up)

While Sam and I take out the back two

cars...

DEIRDRE:

Leaving...

SWEDE:

(picking it up)

...Leaving me to step in, drop the target

in the back seat, and get the package...

DEIRDRE:

(with a quick look at Sam)

While...

SAM:

(returning her look)

...While I back him up, making sure to

get the package if something goes wrong

and somebody takes Swede down.

Nobody else seems to notice this look between them, but we

should -- if only to note that there's something about the

way Deirdre queries Sam about his role, and something about

the way Sam answers her without overly reacting -- they're

not flirting, but there's a kind of acknowledgment of the

history they now have between them. But -- nobody else

notices, and Swede's line follows Sam's without breaking the

flow of the dialogue.

SWEDE:

Nobody's taking me anywhere...

DEIRDRE:

And then...

LARRY:

Then Swede and I split with the package

and meet you back at the rendezvous.

DEIRDRE:

And then...

VINCENT:

And then Sam, you and I clean up

whatever's left to be cleaned.

DEIRDRE:

Very good. Now all we have to do is live

long enough to get paid.

EXT. A POSH HOTEL - LATER - NIGHT

A ROW OF ROOMS, each one with a light behind a shade. Even

as we watch the light in each room goes off: one two three

four five six lights -- one for each member of the team. The

night before the big event nobody breaks curfew.

ACROSS THE STREET -

A BAR -

Through the bar window we see the Watcher's silhouette. A

match flares as the Watcher lights a cigarette, REVEALING his

face for the first time: weathered, sharp, treacherous. THE

MATCH goes out, and the Watcher's face FADES TO BLACK, and so

do we.

FADE IN ON:

EXT. THE HILLS OF NICE - MORNING

A PRIVATE ESTATE IN THE HILLS -

A CARAVAN OF BLACK ARMOR PLATED CARS, all idling, ready to

pull out, filled with muscular men in suits with bluges under

their jackets, all of them waiting for - THE TARGET. Except

we've seem him before and he wasn't called the Target: he was

the Killer from the first scene of the film: the gunman in

the cathedral who made off with - THE BRIEFCASE. Which the

briefcase is still handcuffed to his side. Now the Target

gets into his car, a BLACK MERCEDES, and as soon as he's in

the caravan pulls out and - The Target takes out his cell

phone, punches in a number and starts to talk, and as he does

we - PULL BACK, INTO THE AIR, leaving the Caravan behind as

we MOVE TOWARDS THE WATER and -

THE PROMENADE DES ANGLAIS, the long roadway that runs the

length of the town adjacent to the beach. It's a special

place, a huge road for cars, along with a promenade for

tourists. Here we come upon -

AN OUTDOOR CAFE -

Where we find Deirdre, a laptop in front of her, wearing a

HEADSET. And, lest we think she looks out of place, we get

a look at -

THE REST OF THE CAFE -

Where many of the other PATRONS are typing away on laptops,

or chattering like crazy on their cell phone. She types a

sentence on her keyboard, and as she types she says it out

loud.

DEIRDRE:

Alright, Gregor, I'm...

CUT TO:

INT. A CRAMPED COMPTUER CONTROL ROOM - SAME TIME

GREGOR:

(finishing her sentence)

Ready when you are...

Gregor is sitting behind a console, looking at Deirdre's

message, which we can read on his laptop. Gregor also has a

much bigger COMPUTER with him as well, and on this screen we

see - A COMPUTER GRAPHIC MAP OF NICE. This is a map of

incredible detail, a high-tech graphic rendering of Nice.

Now - THE MAP starts to shift, randomly moving about the city

as it searches for the proper signal. The computer isolates

an entire district of the city, enlarges a part of the

district, and then locates and enlarges a single street. Now

- On screen a FLASHING CURSOR appears on the map, the TARGET.

The Cursor starts to move down one of the streets of Nice and

as we follow the Curson it TURNS INTO - THE TARGET CAR,

driving home the point that Gregor is now locked onto the

Target. THE JAPANESE DRUMS we heard in the opening sequence

start to play again -- softly, ominously, and we're on -

EXT. A SIDE STREET

Where VINCENT'S FIAT is parked at a curb, Sam and Vincent

sitting inside.

INT. THE FIAT

Vincent sits behind the wheel, while Sam sits next to him,

loading a small arsenal of weapons.

The DRUMS grow, a little louder now, a little more urgent.

EXT. ANOTHER STREET

A VOLVO idles, waiting for something, Larry behind the wheel

of this car, and sitting next to him Swede. The DRUMS

continue to play, and their volume is still low, but they're

jarring, setting our nerves on edge.

INT. THE VOLVO

LARRY:

Where is this broad?

SWEDE:

You should learn a little patience.

LARRY:

Is that right?

SWEDE:

It's consider a virtue in some corners

of the world.

LARRY:

Not in mine.

THE CAR PHONE rings, and Swede pushes a button. Deirdre's

Voice is heard on the speaker phone.

DEIRDRE (V.O.)

Hello gentlemen, are we ready?

EXT. THE CAFE

Deirdre looks at her laptop and relays Gregor's instructions.

She speaks over her headset as if she's conducting ordinary

business -- as if she's giving someone traffic directs

over the phone. The JAPANESE DRUMS continue, quiet and yet

intense.

DEIRDRE:

You want to take a left, then, so that

you're going west.

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