Titanic (Scriptment) Page #2

We would never trust technology again with such childlike faith. And, more importantly in the coming age of nuclear weapons, we would always have a reminder that the unthinkable could happen. And did.

Notwithstanding all precautions, safety systems, best intentions and the love of God... 1500 people died screaming in water 3 degrees below freezing in the middle of the night in the North Atlantic.

Mir One passes the lone bronze telemoter, the only remains of the wheelhouse. From here CAPTAIN SMITH surveyed his empire. And on this metal column hung the ship's wheel, which QUARTERMASTER HICHENS spun hard over to try and miss the iceberg ahead.

Mir One lands on the boat deck, next to the ruins of the Officer's Quarters. Mir Two, on the sand seventy feet below it, releases a small R.O.V. called SNOOP DOG.

BODINE:

Walkin' the dog.

SNOOP DOG drives itself away from the sub, paying out its umbilical behind it like a robot yo-yo. Its twin video cameras swivel like insect eyes. Inside the sub, Bodine drives with joysticks, watching what Snoop Dog is seeing on a pair of 3-D electronic goggles.

Snoop Dog has a ladybug-orange shell, and a black metal frame full of motors and electronics. Up front, folded like praying mantis arms, are two very high-tech robot manipulator arms, completing the bug-like image.

Bodine drives Snoop Dog along the hull to the twin gangway doors halfway up the hull. Here passengers strolled into the First Class Reception. Now Snoop Dog carefully enters through the gaping doors.

ANGLE FROM INSIDE, pulling back with "The Dog" as it moves inside the hull.

SNOOP'S POV, moving through the cavernous interior. The ornate hand-carved woodwork which gave the ship its elegance has been mostly eaten away by wood-boring organisms, leaving skeletal beams and pillars. The ROV ascends through an open shaft that once was the beautiful forward Grand Staircase. A few pillars and carved balusters, as well as the wrought iron center rail, still define the lower landing of this once elegant piece of architecture.

MONTAGE STYLE, as Snoop passes ghostly images of Titanic's opulence:

A grand piano in amazingly good shape, crashed on its side against a wall. The keys gleam black and white in the lights.

A chandelier, still hanging from the ceiling by electric wire... glinting as Snoop moves around it.

Lights playing across the floor, a field of debris including a champagne bottle, some WHITE STAR LINE china, the remains of a Victrola, a woman's high-top "granny shoe".

Snoop enters the starboard corridor, which is much better preserved. The wood has not been as badly ravaged... here and there a door still hangs on its rusted hinges... an ornate piece of molding, a wall sconce... hint at the grandeur of the past.

BODINE:

I'm just passing that skinny spot at B-61.

The Dog squeezes past a collapsed wall, scraping rust and wood chunks loose on both sides. It moves out of a cloud of rust and keeps on going.

LOVETT:

Okay, when you get into B-53, I want you to try and move that wardrobe door we saw yesterday, see what's under it.

THE ROV enters B-53, one of three rooms comprising a "promenade suite", the most luxurious staterooms on Titanic. There were four of these, two on A deck above, and two on B.

But Brock Lovett is only interested in this one room. Skeletal brass bed frames are still visible, hurled atop each other against the forward wall as the ship plunged. There are chairs, a dresser, and other recognizable furniture lying about. The porcelain commode and bathtub look almost new, gleaming in the dark.

SEVERAL ANGLES as the ROV deploys its manipulator and starts moving debris aside. A lamp is lifted, its ceramic colors as bright as they were in 1912. A book is moved, disintegrating into a flurry of limp confetti.

LOVETT:

Nice, Lewis. Good thing that wasn't the Ship's Log. Take it easy.

Lewis grips a wardrobe door, lying at an angle in a corner, and pulls it with Snoop's gripper. It moves reluctantly in a cloud of silt. Under it is a dark object. The silt clears and Snoop's camera's show them what was under the door...

BODINE:

Ooohh daddy-oh, are you seein' what I'm seein'?

CLOSE ON LOVETT, watching his monitors. By his expression it is like he is seeing the Holy Grail.

LOVETT:

Boys, I believe it's payday.

ON THE SCREEN, in the glare of the lights, is the object of their quest: a small STEEL COMBINATION SAFE.

NIKOLAI:

You will never get that out of there. Is too heavy. Cable will break. You will never get it back on board of ship.

SNOOP'S gripper locks solidly on the safe's handle.

CUT TO THE SAFE, dripping wet in the afternoon sun, being lowered onto the deck of the ship on a winch cable.

A word on the ship: it is the Russian research vessel AKADEMIK MISTISLAV KELDYSH, which has been chartered by Brock Lovett for his salvage operation.

Everyone crowds around the safe. In the background Mir One is being lowered into its cradle on deck by a massive Hydraulic arm. Mir Two is already recovered, just behind it. Brock Lovett comes out of the hatch before Mir One is even settled in its cradle. He drops to the deck and bounds over to the safe like a kid on Christmas morning. Bodine grins broadly as his boss arrives.

BODINE:

Who's the best? Say it.

LOVETT:

You are, Lewis.

VARIOUS ANGLES as the safe's hinges are drilled. A huge crowd has gathered, including most of the crew of KELDYSH, the sub crews, and a hand-wringing money guy named BOBBY BUELL who represents the limited partners. There is also a documentary video crew, hired by Lovett to do "warts and all" coverage of his recovery operations, which he will carefully edit later. Lovett grins wolfishly in anticipation of his greatest find yet, mugging for the camera.

When the lock and hinges are drilled, the door is pried loose.

The tension builds. Lovett makes a short speech, then signals to the technicians.

The door is removed.

Lovett moves closer, peering into the safe's wet interior. A long moment, then... his face says it all.

LOVETT:

Sh*t.

BODINE:

You know, boss, this happened to Geraldo and his career never recovered.

LOVETT:

(to the video cameraman)

Get that outta my face.

CUT TO LATER. Buell is on the satellite phone with the investors. Lovett is yelling at the video crew, saying they send out what he tells him, when he tells them. Buell covers the phone and turns to Lovett.

BUELL:

They want to know how it's going?

LOVETT:

How it's going? It's going like a first date in prison, whattaya think!!

Lovett grabs the phone from Buell and goes instantly smooth.

LOVETT:

Hi, Dave? Barry? Look, we've had a little false alarm here... no, it wasn't there... just some papers... well there are still lots of possiblities for where it could be... ha, ha, yeah right, it's a big ship...

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