TITLE: Passengers AUTHOR: Jon Spaits
DRAFT DATE: COVERAGE DATE: 2.25.121
ICM STORY DEPARTMENT COVERAGE TITLE: Passengers AUTHOR(s): Jon Spaits WRITER A CLIENT?: STUDIO: n/a PRODUCER: n/a SUBMITTED BY: PURPOSE: ELEMENTS ATTACHED: n/a AGENT REQUESTING: LOCALE: SETTING: The spaceship Excelsior PERIOD: Future FORM: screenplay; 125 pp. BUDGET: DRAFT DATE: COVERAGE DATE: 2.25.12 PREPARED BY: Stephanie Dugan
************************************************************************ GENRE PRIMARY: Sci-fi SECONDARY: Romance CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS: Jim Preston- 38- a rate two mechanic who is the first person to wake up 90 years to early on the Excelsior. He falls in love with a woman, Aurora, who is in her hibernation pod, and decides to wake her. Aurora Dunn - a journalist for The New Yorker. She is Jim Prestons love interest and is woken by him, joining him in isolation. Arthur- a bartender, Jim Prestons go-to guy and hes an android who appears human only from the waist up. Gus Mancuso- looks 55- a deck chief who has been working in colonizing planets for at least 600 years. He randomly wakes to early. Hes sick and ends up dying, leaving behind his key card that gets Jim and Aurora into restricted places. LOGLINE: Set in the future, where hibernating in spaceships obstructs aging when migrating to uninhabited planets, a rate two mechanic experiences the first technical difficulty of suspended animation and wakes up too early--90 years too early, alone.
TITLE: Passengers AUTHOR: Jon Spaits
DRAFT DATE: COVERAGE DATE: 2.25.122
SYNOPSIS: The Excelsior is a fail safe ship where everything is in order on account of the high ended technological advancements made in the future, until JIM PRESTON wakes 90 years too early while in route to Homestead II- a new planet. Jim wakes up alone surrounded by interactive robots, holographs and an android bartender, ARTHUR that shy him from human contact. For three months he attempts to fix his hibernation pod and fails. All the while, he befriends Arthur who advises him Its not dying that matters, its living (pg 16.) which encourages him to take advantage of the impressive leisures offered by the ship-- fine dining, an innovative arcade, boutique shopping, a basketball court, the spoiling of choosing any extravagant cabin to live in, a spa, among other things. This soothes Jims depression and loneliness for a short time. Hes still very much alone, his only companion being Arthur who can only do so much, like making 2,738 alcoholic drinks; Jim up to that point of trying to live with his confinement had tried every single one of them. While exploring he becomes transfixed by an alluring journalist for the New Yorker. Too bad AURORA is fast asleep in her hibernation pod. Jim seeks out her writings and forms an illusionary relationship with her- he feels he knows her and can predict what shell say. He confides in Arthur and finally decides to prematurely wake her. Aurora wakes and takes to Jim rather quickly- she joins in the things that he did alone. She is curious as to why they were both woken and thinks they can turn the ship around. Jim already knows everything is firewalled and impossible. We find out that Aurora has a round trip ticket, she intended to go back home after reporting on colonization to new planets. Shes anti-government, hes pro-establishment. Shes first class, hes second class. She writes often, saying shes writing a book, say shes reporting. Jim rigs a cargo robot into a vehicle and takes Aurora on a date. This is where their relationship turns sexual. They even take the liberty to move into one cabin. This continues for a year, until Auroras birthday. They celebrate with Arhur. Jim steps away from the bar and ponders over the engagement ring he made for her while Arthur, being an android void of human compassion, spills that Jim woke her a year ago. Shes enraged and they do not speak for months. She paints, he drinks. Auroras room malfunctions and Jim obligingly fixes it. Then GUS enters the picture. His pod also being defected. He knows the ins and outs of the ship and finds why their pods woke them too early- he knows Jim woke Aurora and finds that the other pods wires burned out. He begins the diagnostic tests which is going to take a few days to complete.
TITLE: Passengers AUTHOR: Jon Spaits
DRAFT DATE: COVERAGE DATE: 2.25.123
Gus is physically sick and cant hide it from Jim and Aurora any longer. He goes to the medical scanner which gives him three days to live. He thrusts himself into space during his last minutes, leaving his key card for restricted areas behind to his new friends. The diagnostic reveals many errors- 47 of them starting the day Jim was woken up. They find that in the restricted central computer facility a small meteor hit, which has caused some irreversible damages to the ship. They try to fix the ship by replacing computer mainframes. In the race to stop the ultimate meltdown of the ship completely shutting down- gravity goes out. They finally figure out how to reboot the ship, putting gravity back into motion but in turn plunging hibernation pods into space. Trying to save pods, with sleeping people still inside, they fail and lose everyone. Except each other. Aurora forgives Jim, seeing as she would have been blasted of into space if he didnt fall in love at the sight of her. The live out their life on the Excelsior. A ship, empty of humans, arrives after 90 years onto Homestead II. The colony finds Arthur still at his bar. A memorial to all the previous passengers and a book In the Blink of an Eye: Our Lives Between the Stars written by a former passenger named Aurora, detailing the journey of her and her lover, Jim. COMMENTS: Even though two characters are prevalent throughout the script, a compelling story engages the reader quickly. Jim is thrown into isolation and we are forced to watch with him- curious about what will happen to him. Will he figure it out before 90 years? Although Jims dialogue doesnt provide much insight into the human condition of needing others, Aurora is the voice of the human soul in Passengers. Im not sure I want to write about this life. I dont even know how to think about it. I live in a palace. But its also a prison. (pg. 70) Throughout the script her character reaches deeper levels of the experience of utter loneliness and imprisonment on this ship. Arthur is the likeable android found in the script- you question whether he feels emotion or not or if he can think independently of his inner technology. If he wasnt in the script, Jim would have no contact with something human-like upon Auroras arrival. The script is concise and is easy to read. The world of the Excelsior is conveyed easily on paper and with a modest budget it can translate on to the screen well.
TITLE: Passengers AUTHOR: Jon Spaits
DRAFT DATE: COVERAGE DATE: 2.25.124
Another point of interest is the talent. Since the film primarily follows Jim, the audience will want to see talent they have not shared the movie going experience with for awhile or ever before. A former talent reborn in a new environment for the talent himself and the audience will be most advisable. For not being one into the sci-fi genre, this story was compelling enough with how new the world seemed which may pull a diverse audience. The character arch that seemed unbelievable was how Aurora was not suspicious of how unsurprised Jim was when she awoke. Shes a reporter, shouldnt she be equipped with more skepticism? The story goes into Jims favor which is something the audience will want, so it may be a passable hole. The ending was good. If it goes into production, the audience will be left with something that is shy of disappointment. Although their implied death leaves a bitter taste, youll be happy with knowing that their love story goes on living through the book penned by Aurora. Its as if sci-fi met The Notebook and had a field day.
TITLE: Passengers AUTHOR: Jon Spaits
DRAFT DATE: COVERAGE DATE: 2.25.125
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