Titanic Exclusive Screenplay

Titanic: A screenplay by James Cameron

KATE WINSLET... Rose DeWitt Bukater

LEONARDO DICAPRIO... Jack Dawson

KATHY BATES... The Unsinkable Molly Brown

BILLY ZANE... Caledon Hockley

BILL PAXTON... Brock Lovett

Written and Directed by: JAMES CAMERON

Titanic Screenplay part-1

1 BLACKNESS

Then two faint lights appear, close together... growing brighter. Theyresolve into two DEEP SUBMERSIBLES, free-falling toward us like expresselevators.

One is ahead of the other, and passes close enough to FILL FRAME, lookinglike a spacecraft blazing with lights, bristling with insectilemanipulators.

TILTING DOWN to follow it as it descends away into the limitless blacknessbelow. Soon they are fireflies, then stars. Then gone.

CUT TO:

2 EXT./ INT. MIR ONE / NORTH ATLANTIC DEEP

PUSHING IN on one of the falling submersibles, called MIR ONE, right up toits circular viewport to see the occupants.

INSIDE, it is a cramped seven foot sphere, crammed with equipment. ANATOLYMIKAILAVICH, the sub's pilot, sits hunched over his controls... singingsoftly in Russian.

Next to him on one side is BROCK LOVETT. He's in his late forties, deeplytanned, and likes to wear his Nomex suit unzipped to show the gold fromfamous shipwrecks covering his gray chest hair. He is a wiley, fast-talkingtreasure hunter, a salvage superstar who is part historian, part adventurerand part vacuum cleaner salesman. Right now, he is propped against the CO2scrubber, fast asleep and snoring.

On the other side, crammed into the remaining space is a bearded wide-bodynamed LEWIS BODINE, sho is also asleep. Lewis is an R.O.V. (REMOTELYOPERATED VEHICLE) pilot and is the resident Titanic expert. Anatoly glances at the bottom sonar and makes a ballast adjustment.

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3 EXT. THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA

A pale, dead-flat lunar landscape. It gets brighter, lit from above, as MIRONE enters FRAME and drops to the seafloor in a downblast from itsthrusters. It hits bottom after its two hour free-fall with a loud BONK.

CUT TO:

4 INT. MIR ONE

Lovett and Bodine jerk awake at the landing.

ANATOLY

(heavy Russian accent)

We are here.

EXT. / INT. MIR ONE AND TWO

5 MINUTES LATER: THE TWO SUBS skim over the seafloor to the sound ofsidescan sonar and the THRUM of big thrusters.

6 The featureless gray clay of the bottom unrols in the lights of the subs.

Bodine is watching the sidescan sonar display, where the outline of a hugepointed object is visible. Anatoly lies prone, driving the sub, his facepressed to the center port.

BODINE

Come left a little. She's right in front of us, eighteen meters. Fifteen.Thirteen... you should see it.

ANATOLY

Do you see it? I don't see it... there!

Out of the darkness, like a ghostly apparition, the bow of the shipappears. Its knife-edge prow is coming straight at us, seeming to plow thebottom sediment like ocean waves. It towers above the seafloor, standingjust as it landed 84 years ago.

THE TITANIC. Or what is left of her. Mir One goes up and over the bowrailing, intact except for an overgrowth of "rusticles" draping it likemutated Spanish moss.

TIGHT ON THE EYEPIECE MONITOR of a video camcorder. Brock Lovett's facefills the BLACK AND WHITE FRAME.

LOVETT

It still gets me every time.

The image pans to the front viewport, looking over Anatoly's shoulder, tothe bow railing visible in the lights beyond. Anatoly turns.

ANATOLY

Is just your guilt because of stealing from the dead.

CUT WIDER, to show that Brock is operating the camera himself, turning itin his hand so it points at his own face.

LOVETT

Thanks, Tolya. Work with me, here. Brock resumes his serious, pensive gaze out the front port, with the cameraaimed at himself at arm's length.

LOVETT

It still gets me every time... to see the sad ruin of the great shipsitting here, where she landed at 2:30 in the morning, April 15, 1912,after her long fall from the world above.

Anatoly rolls his eyes and mutters in Russian. Bodine chuckles and watchesthe sonar.

BODINE

You are so full of shit, boss.

7 Mir Two drives aft down the starboard side, past the huge anchor whileMir One passes over the seemingly endless forecastle deck, with its massiveanchor chains still laid out in two neat rows, its bronze windlass capsgleaming. The 22 foot long subs are like white bugs next to the enormouswreck.

LOVETT (V.O.)

Dive nine. Here we are again on the deck of Titanic... two and a half milesdown. The pressure is three tons per square inch, enough to crush us like afreight train going over an ant if our hull fails. These windows are nineinches thick and if they go, it's sayonara in two microseconds. 8 Mir Two lands on the boat deck, next to the ruins of the Officer'sQuarters. Mir One lands on the roof of the deck hous nearby.

LOVETT

Right. Let's go to work.

Bodine slips on a pair of 3-D electronic goggles, and grabs the joystickcontrols of the ROV.

9 OUTSIDE THE SUB, the ROV, a small orange and black robot called SNOOPDOG, lifts from its cradle and flies forward.

BODINE (V.O.)

Walkin' the dog.

SNOOP DOG drives itself away from the sub, paying out its umbilical behindit like a robot yo-yo. Its twin stereo-video cameras swivel like insecteyes. The ROV descends through an open shaft that once was the beautifulFirst Class Grand Staircase.

Snoop Dog goes down several decks, then moves laterally into the FirstClass Reception Room. SNOOP'S VIDEO POV, moving through the cavernous interior. The remains ofthe ornate handcarved woodwork which gave the ship its elegance movethrough the floodlights, the lines blurred by slow dissolution anddescending rusticle formations. Stalactites of rust hang down so that attimes it looks like a natural grotto, then the scene shifts and the linesof a ghostly undersea mansion can be seen again.

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

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

11 A chandelier, still hanging from the ceiling by its wire... glinting asSnoop moves around it.

12 Its lights play across the floor, revealing a champagne bottle, thensome WHITE STAR LINE china... a woman's high-top "granny shoe". Thensomething eerie: what looks like a child's skull resolves into theporcelain head of a doll.

Snoop enters a corridor which is much better preserved. Here and there adoor still hangs on its rusted hinges. An ornate piece of molding, a wallsconce... hint at the grandeur of the past.

13 THE ROV turns and goes through a black doorway, entering room B-52, thesitting room of a "promenade suite", one of the most luxurious stateroomson Titanic.

BODINE

I'm in the sitting room. Heading for bedroom B-54.

LOVETT

Stay off the floor. Don't stir it up like you did yesterday.

BODINE

I'm tryin' boss.

Glinting in the lights are the brass fixtures of the near-perfectlypreserved fireplace. An albino Galathea crab crawls over it. Nearby are theremains of a divan and a writing desk. The Dog crosses the ruins of theonce elegant room toward another DOOR. It squeezes through the doorframe,scraping rust and wood chunks loose on both sides. It moves out of a cloudof rust and keeps on going.

BODINE

I'm crossing the bedroom.

The remains of a pillared canopy bed. Broken chairs, a dresser. Through thecollapsed wall of the bathroom, the porcelain commode and bathtub tookalmost new, gleaming in the dark.

LOVETT

Okay, I want to see what's under that wardrobe door.

SEVERAL ANGLES as the ROV deploys its MANIPULATOR ARMS and starts movingdebris aside. A lamp is lifted, its ceramic colors as bright as they werein 1912.

LOVETT

Easy, Lewis. Take it slow.

Lewis grips a wardrobe door, lying at an angle in a corner, and pulls itwith Snoop's gripper. It moves reluctantly in a cloud of silt. Under it isa dark object. The silt clears and Snoop's cameras show them what was underthe door...

BODINE

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

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

LOVETT

Oh baby baby baby.

(grabs the mike)

It's payday, boys.

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

CUT TO:

14 EXT. STERN OF DECK OF KEDYSH – DAY

THE SAFE, dripping wet in the afternoon sun, is lowered onto the deck of aship by a winch cable.

We are on the Russian research vessel AKADEMIK MISTISLAV KELDYSH. A crowdhas gathered, including most of the crew of KELDYSH, the sub crews, and ahand-wringing money guy named BOBBY BUELL who represents the limitedpartners. There is also a documentary video crew, hired by Lovett to coverhis moment of glory.

Everyone crowds around the safe. In the background Mir Two is being loweredinto its cradle on deck by a massive hydraulic arm. Mir One is alreadyrecovered with Lewis Bodine following Brock Lovett as he bounds over to thesafe like a kid on Christman morning.

BODINE

Who's the best? Say it.

LOVETT

You are, Lewis.

(to the video crew)

You rolling?

CAMERAMAN

Rolling.

Brock nods to his technicians, and they set about drilling the safe'shinges. During this operation, Brock amps the suspense, working the lens tofill the time.

LOVETT

Well, here it is, the moment of truth. Here's where we find out if thetime, the sweat, the money spent to charter this ship and these subs, tocome out here to the middle of the North Atlantic... were worth it. If whatwe think is in that same... is in that safe... it will be.

Lovett grins wolfishly in anticipation of his greatest find yet. The dooris pried loose. It clangs onto the deck. Lovett moves closer, peering intothe safe's wet interior. A long moment then... his face says it all.

LOVETT

Shit.

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:

15 INT. LAB DECK, PRESERVATION ROOM – DAY

Technicians are carefully removing some papers from the safe and placingthem in a tray of water to separate them safely. Nearby, other artifactsfrom the stateroom are being washed and preserved.

Buell is on the satellite phone with the INVESTORS. Lovett is yelling atthe video crew.

LOVETT

You send out what I tell you when I tell you. I'm signing your paychecks,not 60 minutes. Now get set up for the uplink. Buell covers the phone and turns to Lovett.

BUELL

The partners 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, it wasn't in the safe... no, look, don't worry aboutit, there're still plenty of places it could be... in the floor debris inthe suite, in the mother's room, in the purser's safe on C deck...

(seeing something)

Hang on a second.

A tech coaxes some letters in the water tray to one side with a tong...revealing a pencil (conte crayon) drawing of a woman.

Brock looks closely at the drawing, which is in excellent shape, though itsedges have partially disintegrated. The woman is beautiful, and beautifullyrendered. In her late teens or early twenties, she is nude, though posedwith a kind of casual modesty. She is on an Empire divan, in a pool oflight that seems to radiate outward from her eyes. Scrawled in the lowerright corner is the date: April 14 1912. And the initials JD.

The girl is not entirely nude. At her throat is a diamond necklace with onelarge stone hanging in the center.

Lovett grabs a reference photo from the clutter on the lab table. It is aperiod black-and-white photo of a diamond necklace on a black velvetjeller's display stand. He holds it next to the drawing. It is clearly thesame piece... a complex setting with a massive central stone which isalmost heart-shaped.

LOVETT

I'll be God damned.

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16 INSERT

A CNN NEWS STORY: a live satellite feed from the deck of the Keldysh,intercut with the CNN studio.

ANNOUNCER

Treasure hunter Brock Lovett is best known for finding Spanish gold insunken galleons in the Caribbean. Now he is using deep submergencetechnology to work two and a half miles down at another famous wreck... theTitanic. He is with us live via satellite from a Russian research ship inthe middle of the Atlantic... hello Brock?

LOVETT

Yes, hi, Tracy. You know, Titanic is not just A shipwrick, Titanic is THEshipwreck. It's the Mount Everest of shipwrecks.

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17 INT. HOUSE / CERAMICS STUDIO

PULL BACK from the screen, showing the CNN report playing on a TV set inthe living room of a small rustic house. It is full of ceramics, figurines,folk art, the walls crammed with drawings and paintings... things collectedover a lifetime.

PANNING to show a glassed-in studio attached to the house. Outside it is aquiet morning in Ojai, California. In the studio, amid incredible clutter,an ANCIENT WOMAN is throwing a pot on a potter's wheel. The liquid red claycovers her hands... hands that are gnarled and age-spotted, but stillsurprisingly strong and supple. A woman in her early forties assists her.

LOVETT (V.O.)

I've planned this expedition for three years, and we're out here recoveringsome amazing things... things that will have enormous historical andeducational value.

CNN REPORTER (V.O.)

But it's no secret that education is not your main purpose. You're atreasure hunter. So what is the treasure you're hunting?

LOVETT (V.O.)

I'd rather show you than tell you, and we think we're very close to doingjust that. The old woman's name is ROSE CALVERT. Her face is a wrinkled mass, her bodyshapeless and shrunken under a one-piece African-print dress.

But her eyes are just as bright and alive as those of a young girl. Rose gets up and walks into the living room, wiping pottery clay from herhands with a rag. A Pomeranian dog gets up and comes in with her.

The younger soman, LIZZY CALVERT, rushes to help her.

ROSE

Turn that up please, dear.

REPORTER (V.O.)

Your expedition is at the center of a storm of controversy over salvagerights and even ethics. Many are calling you a grave robber.

TIGHT ON THE SCREEN.

LOVETT

Nobody called the recovery of the artifacts from King Tut's tomb graverobbing. I have museum-trained experts here, making sure this stuff ispreserved and catalogued properly. Look at this drawing, which was foundtoday...

The video camera pans off Brock to the drawing, in a tray of water. Theimage of the woman with the necklace FILLS FRAME.

LOVETT

...a piece of paper that's been underwater for 84 years... and my team areable to preserve it intanct. Should this have remained unseen at the bottomof the ocean for eternity, when we can see it and enjoy it now...?

ROSE is galvanized by this image. Her mouth hangs open in amazement.

ROSE

I'll be God damned.

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18 EXT. KELDYSH DECK – NIGHT

CUT TO KELDYSH. The Mir subs are being launched. Mir Two is already in thewater, and Lovett is getting ready to climb into Mir One when Bobby Buellruns up to him.

BUELL

There's a satellite call for you.

LOVETT

Bobby, we're launching. See these submersibles here, going in the water?Take a message.

BUELL

No, trust me, you want to take this call.

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19 INT. LAB DECK / KELDYSH – NIGHT

Beull hands Lovett the phone, pushing down the blinking line. The call isfrom Rose and we see both ends of the conversation. She is in her kitchenwith a mystified Lizzy.

LOVETT

This is Brock Lovett. What can I do for you, Mrs... ?

BUELL

Rose Calvert.

LOVETT

... Mrs. Calvert?

ROSE

I was just wondering if you had found the "Heart of the Ocean" yet, Mr.Lovett.

Brock almost drops the phone. Bobby sees his shocked expression...

BUELL

I told you you wanted to take this call.

LOVETT

(to Rose)

Alright. You have my attention, Rose. Can you tell me who the woman in thepicture is?

ROSE

Oh yes. The woman in the picture is me.

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20 EXT. OCEAN – DAY

SMASH CUT TO AN ENORMOUS SEA STALLION HELICOPTER thundering across theocean. PAN 180 degrees as it roars past. There is no land at eitherhorizon. The Keldysh is visible in the distance.

CLOSE ON A WINDOW of the monster helicopter. Rose's face is visible,looking out calmly.

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To be continued…