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The Mummy
PART 2
EXT. RIDGE - DAY
Up on a ridge, A GROUP OF RIDERS watch O'Connell stumble clear
of the
decrepit city. O'Connell feels their presence and looks up. Very
different
from the Tuaregs, they have BLUE TINTED SKIN and faces covered
in strange
PUZZLE-TATTOOS. The Mumia. Still watching Imhotep's grave after
all this
time.
The MUMIA LEADER is a huge, fierce Man in black robes, with dual
scimitars
across his waist. His face is both handsome and horrible, blue
and
tattooed. Meet ARDETH BAY. His dark eyes watch O'Connell stagger
off into
the open desert ........
EXT. CAIRO - DAY
Cairo, a city so old the stars have actually changed their positions
in the
sky since it's birth. A city teeming with every form of life.
A strange,
mysterious, wonderful city. WE SUPERIMPOSE it's name across the
SCREEN:
CAIRO
INT. CAIRO MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES - DAY
Deep in the bowels of the museum lie the STACKS. Rows upon rows
of towering
bookshelves. Filled with literature on the Antiquities. Standing
at the top
of a tall ladder between two of these rows and leaning against
one of the
bookshelves, is a rather uninteresting British GIRL: eye-glasses,
hair-in-a-bun, long boring dress, your typical prudish nightmare.
This is
EVELYN CARNARVON. We're going to fall in love with her.
Evelyn pulls a book out from a stack under her arm, blows the
dust off it,
then places it on a shelf with other books whose titles all begin
with the
letter "O". Then she grabs another book out from under
her arm and reads
the title.
EVELYN
Tuthmosis? .... Now how did you get up here?
Carefully, so as not to lose her balance, she looks over her
shoulder to
the bookshelf behind her, where all the titles begin with the
letter 'TO.
Then she looks down. It's a long way to the bottom. Evelyn gently
sets the
other books down on the top shelf, then turns and gingerly starts
to reach
across the aisle with the Tuthmosis book. It's a little too far,
so she
stretches, reaching, holding the top of the ladder with
her fingertips, she's almost got it, closer now closer.
And that's when the ladder pulls away from the shelf. Evelyn
YELPS, flings
the Tuthmosis book and grabs the top of the ladder, which stands
straight
up. Evelyn holds her breath, swaying precariously, a long BEAT,
and then
she loses her balance, the ladder swings around and Evelyn starts
stiltwalking down the aisle.
EVELYN
OHEIUGM! ! AHHHHHH!
The ladder crosses the aisle, does an about face and heads back
the way it
came. Evelyn clings to the top, struggling for balance. The ladder
teeters
out into the main aisle and picks up speed. Evelyn SCREAMS as
it does a
180, spins into another aisle and finally crashes to a stop at
the top of a
bookshelf. Evelyn holds her breath, then SIGHS HEAVILY.
And that's when the bookshelf falls away from her and CRASHES
into the next
bookshelf. Evelyn slides down the ladder and plops to the floor.
She looks
up just as the domino effect kicks-in: each bookshelf crashing
into the
next. And onward it goes. Bookshelf after bookshelf. Thousands
of volumes
flinging off shelves and scattering across the floor. It finally
ends as
the last shelf CRASHES into a wall. Evelyn's eyes are closed.
She opens one
eye. Looks left. Then right. Then opens the other eye and stares
at the
huge mess.
EVELYN
Oops.
The Egyptian CURATOR storms in.
CURATOR
Look at this! Sons of the Messiah! Give
me frogs, flies, locusts, Anything but this!
Compared to you, the other plagues were a joy!
Evelyn quickly gets up and starts gathering books.
EVELYN
I'm sorry, it was an accident.
CURATOR
When Ramesses destroyed Syria, it was an
accident. You are a catastrophe! Why do I
put up with you?
Evelyn turns to him, trying to contain herself.
EVELYN
You put up with me, because I can read and
write ancient Egyptian, decipher hieroglyphs
and hieratic, and I'm the only person within a
thousand miles who knows how to properly code
and catalogue this library.
CURATOR
Who needs smart women? I put up with you because
your mother and father were our finest patrons,
Allah rest their souls. Now straighten up this
mess!
The Curator storms out. Evelyn just stands there, steaming. And
then she
hears a NOISE and quickly turns around. A BEAT.
EVELYN
Hello?
Quiet. Eerie. And then she hears it again, like feet, slowly
shuffling
across the floor, coming from a nearby gallery.
EVELYN
Abdul? Mohammed? Bob?
Evelyn walks through the stacks and enters--
INT. THE RAMESSEUM
Filled with treasures and plunder from the Middle Kingdom. it's
very dark
and quiet in here, the only LIGHT is from FLICKERING TORCHES at
either end
of the spooky gallery.
The NOISE again! From the far side of the room. Feet, slowly
shuffling,
plodding across the floor. Evelyn grabs a torch. Looks around,-at
a statue
of Anubis, another of Horus, they stare down at Evelyn, who is
starting to
get scared now. She walks down the aisle. Past a closed sarcophagus.
Past
cases of ancient artifacts. Past another sarcophagus, --only this
one is
OPEN! Evelyn freezes, swallows hard, nervously looks around to
see who
could have opened it. Then she slowly leans forward with the torch,
and
peers inside.
--A hideous rotted MUMMY sits up and SCREECHES at her! Evelyn
SCREAMS, drops the torch and backs away, scared out of her wits.
And then,
coming from inside the sarcophagus, she hears a Man LAUGHING.
Her eyes
narrow as a foppish cad crawls out from behind the Mummy, laughing
his ass
off, half drunk.
EVELYN
You... ! YOU... !
JONATHAN
Drunkard? Fool? Rat-bastard? Please call
me something original.
Meet JONATHAN CARNARVON. As he crawls out of the sarcophagus,
Evelyn pulls
a cigarette out of the mummy's mouth.
EVELYN
Have you no respect for the dead?
JONATHAN
Right now, I only wish to join them.
He grins drunkenly. Evelyn punches him hard in the chest.
EVELYN
Well I wish you'd do it sooner rather than
later, before you ruin my
career the way you've ruined yours.
JONATHAN
My dear, sweet, baby sister, I'll have you
know, that at this moment my career is on a high note.
He BELCHES, then falls back and sits on the edge of a tomb.
EVELYN
High note? Ha! For five years you've been
scrounging around Egypt, and what have you
to show for it? Nothing.
Jonathan excitedly starts scrounging around in his jacket.
JONATHAN
oh yes I do! I have something right here!
EVELYN
Oh no, not another worthless trinket,
Jonathan, if I bring one more
piece of junk to the Curator to try
and sell for you.
Jonathan pulls out a small, ancient BOX; the collapsed KEY to
Imhotep's
sarcophagus and coffin. Evelyn is instantly curious, she grabs
the box out
of his hand.
EVELYN
Where did you get this?
Jonathan knows her weaknesses, gives her a mischievous smile.
JONATHAN
On a dig, down in Thebes
Evelyn rolls the box around in her hands, mumbling to herself
as she
translates the hieratics and hieroglyphs covering it. Jonathan
licks his
lips in anticipation.
JONATHAN
My whole life I've never found
anything, Evy Tell me I've
found something.
Evelyn's fingers play with the various little slats on the box,
shifting
them this way and that way, it's like a puzzle box. Then suddenly,
it
UNFOLDS ITSELF, almost-mechanically, turning itself into the KEY.
Sitting
inside the open key/box is a folded piece of GOLDEN PAPYRUS. An
ANCIENT
MAP.
EVELYN
Jonathan?
JONATHAN
Yes?
EVELYN
I think you found something.
INT. CURATOR'S OFFICE - DAY
The Curator sits at his desk, staring through a jeweler's eyepiece
at the key/box. Evelyn hovers behind him, excited.
EVELYN
See the cartouche there, it's the official
royal seal of Seti the First, I'm sure of it
CURATOR
Perhaps
Jonathan leans in from across the desk.
JONATHAN
Two questions. Who the hell is Seti the First?
And was he rich?
EVELYN
He was the last Pharaoh of the Old Kingdom,
said to be the wealthiest Pharaoh of them all.
JONATHAN
Alright, good, that's good. I like this fellow,
like him very much.
The Curator picks up the MAP. It's actually the exact same map
that we
established in the opening scenes of the movie.
EVELYN
I've already dated it, this map
is almost four thousand years old.
And the hieratics over here....
(Inhales deeply)
It's Hamunaptra.
The Curator freezes, suddenly very nervous, then he recovers
CURATOR
My dear girl, don't be ridiculous,
we are scholars, not treasure
hunters. Hamunaptra is a myth.
JONATHAN
Are we talking about the Hamunaptra?
EVELYN
Yes. The City of The Dead. Where the early
Pharaohs were said to have
hidden the wealth of Egypt.
JONATHAN
Right, right, in a big underground treasure
chamber. Everybody knows the story. The entire
necropolis was rigged to sink into the sand. On
Pharaoh's command, a flick of the switch! And the
whole place could disappear beneath the dunes.
EVELYN
All we know is that the city mysteriously
vanished around 2,134 B.C.
The Curator holds the map closer to the burning CANDLE-LAMP.
CURATOR
As the Americans would say: it's all fairy
tales and hokum.
The map 'accidentally,' CATCHES ON FIRE. The Curator throws it
to the
floor. Jonathan drops to his knees and quickly puts it out. Lifts
it up.
The left third of the map is now missing.
JONATHM
You burned it! You burned off the part with the lost city!
CURATOR
It's for the best, I'm sure. Many men have
wasted their lives in the foolish pursuit of
Hamunaptra, no one has ever found it, most have
never returned.
JONATHAN (devastated)
You killed my map.
CURATOR
I'm sure it was a fake, anyway, I'm
surprised at you, Miss
Carnarvon, to be so fooled.
The Curator reaches for the key/box. Evelyn quickly snatches
it off the
desk and gives him a very angry, suspicious look.
EXT. CAIRO PRISON - GALLOWS COURTYARD - DAY
Cairo prison. One of the worst hell holes on earth. Every low-life
form of
scumbag can be found here. The WARDEN, a first rate scumbag himself,
escorts Evelyn and Jonathan across the gallows courtyard. Evelyn
whispers
to Jonathan.
EVELYN
You told me you found it on a dig down in Thebes!
JONATHAN
I was mistaken.
EVELYN
lied to me!
JONATHM
I lie to everybody, what makes you so special?
EVELYN
I'm your sister.
JONATHAN
That just makes you more gullible.
EVELYN
You stole it from a drunk at the local Casbah?!
JONATHAN
Picked his pocket, actually
EXT. VISITORIS PEN - DAY
The Warden ushers Evelyn and Jonathan into the holding pen.
EVELYN
and what is he in prison for?
WARDEN
I did not know, so when I heard you were coming,
I asked him that myself.
EVELYN
And what did he say?
WARDEN
He said,....he was just looking for a good time.
The interior cell door BURSTS OPEN. O'Connell is in chains, dragged
by FOUR
GUARDS, they shove him up to the cell bars. From the looks of
it, he's been
here awhile; his face is half hidden by long hair, a scraggly
beard and
many new bruises. Evelyn looks at him, disgusted by his appearance.
EVELYN
But he's just a filthy criminal?
JONATHAN (cringing)
Way to go, Evy.
O'Connell gives Evelyn the once over, then looks at Jonathan.
O'CONNELL
So who's the broad?
EVELYN
Broad?!
JONATHAN
She's my sister, actually.
O'CONNELL
Yeah? Well, ....I'm sure she's
not a total loss.
Evelyn is stunned and furious. The Warden heads out the door.
WARDEN
I'll be back in a moment.
O'CONNELL (sarcastic)
I tremble with anticipation.
A Guard CLUBS O'Connell across the head, O'Connell's face bounces
off the
metal bars. He shows no pain, but just looks back and gives the
Guard a
nasty look. Evelyn steps closer.
EVELYN
We uh,...found .... your puzzle box,
and we've come to ask you about it.
O'CONNELL
No.
EVELYN
No?
O'CONNELL
No. ...You came to ask me about
Hamunaptra.
Evelyn and Jonathan quickly look around, hoping the guards didn't
hear him.
They step closer. Evelyn plays coy.
EVELYN
How do you know the box pertains
to Hamunaptra?
O'CONNELL
Because that's where I found it.
I was there.
Evelyn is dumbstruck. But Jonathan looks suspicious
JONATHAN
How do we know that's not a
load of pig swallow?
O'Connell looks closer at Jonathan, a glint of recognition.
O'CONNELL
Hey,....don't I know you?
JONATHAN
Um, well, you see....
O'Connell's FIST comes flying through the bars, hits Jonathan
square in the
jaw, DECKS HIM. He hits the floor. Out cold. A Guard CLUBS O'Connell.
His
head bounces off the bars again. He shows no pain, but gives the
Guard
another nasty look. Evelyn looks down at her brother, then back
at
O'Connell.
EVELYN
You were actually at Hamunaptra?
O'CONNELL
I just decked your brother
EVELYN
Yes, well, (shrugs) I know my brother.
O'Connell almost smiles. There's a bit of spark to this girl.
O'CONNELL
Yeah, I was there.
EVELYN
You swear?
O'CONNELL
Every damn day
EVELYN
No, I mean--
O'CONNELL
--I know what you mean. I was
there, alright. Seti's place.
The City Of The Dead.
EVELYN
What did you find? What did you see?
O'CONNELL
I found sand. I saw death.
The warden enters. Evelyn quickly leans closer to O'Connell.
EVELYN
Could you tell me how to get
there? The exact location?
O'CONNELL
Want to know?
Evelyn leans in even closer
EVELYN
Yes.
O'CONNELL
Really want to know?
She leans her face right up to the bars, nervous and excited
EVELYN
Yes.
O'Connell steps forward and KISSES her full on the lips.
O'CONNELL
Then get me the hell outta here
Evelyn is stunned. A Guard CLUBS him, his face bounces off the
bars again,
but before he can react the Guards GRAB him, YANK him away from
the bars
and DRAG him out of the room.
EVELYN
Where are they taking him?
WARDEN
To be hanged.
Evelyn is shocked. The warden shows-off his green teeth
WARDEN
Apparently, he had a very good time,
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