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PART 1
Sounds of a train rolling to a halt, a shrill whistle.
EXT. CAMP - DAY
UP ON the door of a weathered cattle car as a German soldier steps
into frame wearing that familiar gray of the all-too familiar era.
He throws the door to reveal a mass of huddled and frightened
people inside.
The words are not necessary. The language is not ours and the
images say enough.
Men, women and children are herded off the train like cattle toward
a large open yard. There they huddle until the Germans begin to
shout and shove through the mob.
EXT. FENCE CORRIDOR - DAY
We are looking up at rows and rows of fences topped with
barbed wire all designed to create a separator for the thousands
of Jew who pour through each day.
Then we see the eyes themselves that look up at them.A LITTLE
BOY. A boy who will not die this day. A boy who will live to see
the end of the war and the world of the future.
He stares at the metal wire with an unusual fascination.
The boy looks up at HIS WORRIED PARENTS - a sturdy-
looking couple who try to smile and comfort him.
The corridor comes to a junction where it splits in several different
directions.
Soldiers here push the mob using rifles as pikes, screaming and
terrorizing the lot of them. Suddenly it is clear what they are
doing. They are dividing the mob into smaller groups.
Soon, the groups themselves become evident.
Men from women. Children from adults.
The family tries to stay together, clinging to one another dearly,
until finally, they are put upon by a number of gray uniforms and
pulled apart. The boy is dragged screaming his feet no longer touching
the ground. Two soldiers carry him as they follow the back of a
large column of children being led through a gate of barbed wire
so dense, it resembles wool.
The gate closes and the boy looks back to see his parents along
with many others - being restrained by a number of soldiers. The
screaming is deafening.
And the boy's can be heard above it all. The soldiers seem to
be having a hard time carrying such a frail child. The farther they
get from the fence, the heavier he seems to get, until they are
literally pulling him as though he were anchored to something.
His outstretched fingers claw at the thin air and he screams until
the blood in his face is blue.
The soldiers are literally pulled back a step and they begin to
slip in the mud. They look at one another and then over their shoulders
as they hear a sound.
A groaning, creaking sound. And then the unmistakable twang of
wire stretched to snapping.
ANGLE ON:
The fence. The gate that separates the parents. It bows toward
them like iron filings to a magnet, and several of the strands of
barbed wire have given way.
The boy continues to scream as all the other faces simply freeze
and wonder.
One of the soldiers pulls a wooden baton from his belt and brains
the boy violently.
He slumps and the soldiers carrying him spring forward as through
a rope that was holding them back has been cut. They nearly fall,
looking at one another with some concern, some confusion....
Then they follow the line of children that has gotten ahead of
them.
ANGLE ON:
The boy's parents watch him as he -- as they, are taken away.
The rest of their story is as you would expect.
EXT. SKY - DAY
Bright, bright blue framing a blinding white sun.
PAN DOWN AGAIN TO REVEAL:
The cracked, drought-stricken soil of nowhere.
TITLES:
KENYA - 1978
A group of children at play. Tribal children who, without the
help of the titles, could be from any age.
They run through a tiny village of tents, playing. Every child
holds a long reed-like stick and they chase each other playing their
version of tag.
As each child is tapped, they chase the others. Each trying to
avoid being "it", though never going far enough away to
miss the fun.
One girl in particular. A PRETTY GIRL OF 12, with unusual white
hair, is tagged and immediately shunned.
She chases kids this way and that, but to no avail. She is not
strong enough, nor agile enough, to win.
She tumbles and lands on her stick, snapping it. She stands and,
when the children see that her stick is broken, they begin to giggle.
The giggles become laughter and the laughter becomes a taunt,
and before we even realize, the inherent cruelty of children let
loose becomes evident.
They have now formed a circle, at first avoiding her touch with
distance, but now growing tighter with menace. In the unspoken manner
of children at prey, the group begins to chant in their native tongue
- a song we have not heard but sung in a way none-too inviting.
They begin to poke at her with the reeds, driving her back.
The girl now moves to the center of the circle, no longer wishing
to tag anyone.
ONE DEVIOUS CHILD seems to get an idea. He takes his stick and
smacks it across her shoulder. She turns to face the child and another
swings his stick across her back with a solid THWACK. Before long,
mob rule gives way and all the kids are swinging at her and laughing.
It grows to the brink of frenzy, the laughing and the shouting
not too unlike the noise of the previous scene.
So much so, we may miss the first flake of snow. The children
certainly do. It is snowing for a good ten seconds before the last
of them stops.
By then, the snow is thick as flies and wafting down to melt instantly
on the hot African soil that has never seen snow before.
ANGLE ON:
Adults come out of their huts and in from the fields and the whole
of the village is soon gathered around the little girl, staring
up from the clear blue sky and the snow that falls from nowhere.
From nothing.
One by one, all eyes fall on the little girl and the looks of
curiosity become looks of fear. Of superstition.
Punctuated by a solid thump.
And then another.
AN OLD MAN looks down at his feet and sees a tiny, misshapen ball
of ice, no bigger than his eye. He looks at it, bites it, then pops
it in his mouth - breath turning to steam.
Another such chunk of ice pops him on the head. THE
CROWD LAUGHS.
They look up again and see that mixed with the snow are tiny pellets
of hail, seeming to increase in number as the snow mysteriously
wanes.
And the pellets are getting larger. Until they land as hunks.
The white haired girl drops to the ground and covers her head
as hailstones the size of baseballs plow into the Earth.
Before long, tents are collapsing and panic ensues.
And all along the white haired girl sits huddled in the dust,
crying.
As hailstones fall in a circle around her, never coming closer
than then a few feet or so.
INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - NIGHT
ONE MORE SKY. This one a backdrop. Cheap paint and
tissue paper hung with hooks on a wall just behind the basket on
a full court.
As we pull back, we see the skyline of New York, crudely made
out with its silhouette buildings of dark gray and black - windows
of yellow.
Among the famous landmarks represented is the Statue of Liberty,
complete with a real light bulb burning in the torch.
We are at a prom. The theme is RHAPSODY IN BLUE and the
decor has made tragic efforts to show it. The tablecloths are blue,
the napkins are blue - far too many of the tuxes are powder blue,
and the blue eye shadow is as heavy as expected.
Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" gives painful indication
of the era, but here it is, nonetheless:
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA - 1986
MOVE ACROSS THE FLOOR and through the swaying, clutching, sweating
dancers to the bathroom.
Through the door to the usual -
INT. BOYS BATHROOM - NIGHT
Several boys are here, bow ties undone - unclipped in most cases.
Smoking, drinking from whatever inventive container was used to
smuggle in booze. Breath freshener and Visine are the chaser.
Some of the guys are rolling joints while others make the sad
effort to wave smoke away. Who are they kidding? It's a fog in here.
MOVE DOWN THE ROW OF TOILET STALLS to one in particular. Here
we find A FRECKLED KID standing in front of mirror, clearly holding
himself up from the effect of God knows
what.
He talks to his friend in the he stall behind him.
FRECKLED KID
Man, what's the matter with you?
His friend is on the toilet with his head in his hands. He seems
to be in some pain. He is SCOTT SUMMERS - AGE 17.
FRECKLED KID (cont¨ªd)
Dude. Lighten up. She's just a girl. You just gotta-
SCOTT
No, my eyes... my eyes are killing me.
The Freckled kid offers a small plastic bottle.
FRECKLED KID
You want some Visine, man?
SCOTT
My... eyes...
The freckled kid looks and sees that Scott's eyes are watering
so badly that tears are literally streaming through his fingers.
He goes back to the mirror to look at his own.
SCOTT
... they're burning...
The freckled kid turns back to him.
FRECKLED KID
Dude, how much did you smoke?
SCOTT
I didn't smoke anything.
Scott looks up, taking his hands away, revealing for an instant
that his eyes are merely bright red embers in his head. Featureless
but for the color.
Freckles takes a step back.
INT. GYM - OUTSIDE BOYS ROOM - NIGHT
A blinding flash of light shows through the frosted glass in the
double door and cuts through the crack into the dark of the gym.
All who see it are stunned. Frozen. A lingering moment of confusion,
then:
BOOM, the doors to the Boys Room burst open and the occupants
scatter into the gym.
INT. GYM - STALL - NIGHT
Freckles is still there, legs locked.
FRECKLES' P.O.V.
He looks at Scott who is now crying meekly in the stall, covering
his eyes again -- afraid to open them.
The door of the stall across from him swings closed TO
REVEAL:
A HOLE, PUNCHED THROUGH THE STALL DOOR framing Scott's face perfectly.
Pull back to reveal that the hole continues through the wall,
into the girl's bathroom next door.
In the corner several girls huddle together, they are afraid.
INT. SENATE HEARING ROOM - DAY
Packed with reporters and photographers. There's a dais -
a raised panel of senators - and a second, lower panel. This is
where the "experts" are testifying.
Panning across the faces of several G.O.P. creeps as they watch
something with varying degrees of interest.
TITLES:
WASHINGTON D.C. - THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE
A woman's voice holds over the proceedings. It is the voice of
JEAN GREY - whom we will soon meet.
As she is speaking, we come to a large screen television at one
end of the room.
JEAN (O.S.)
In every organism on Earth there exists a mutator gene - the X-factor,
as it has come to be known. It is the basic building block of evolution
- the reason we have evolved from homo habilus...
FOOTAGE REFLECTS THE VARIOUS STAGES OF HUMAN EVOLUTION.
Accompanying it is a GRAPH with a DIAGONAL LINE
indicating the ascent of the "human being" as we know
it.
Accompanying the graph are evolving images of the "evolution
of man."
JEAN (O.S.) (cont¨ªd)
... to homo erectus, to homo sapiens Neanderthals, and, finally,
to homo sapiens.
The animated demo on the screen zooms in on the lowest order of
human depicted - homo habilus - a primitive, ape-like humanoid covered
in hair. As he is singled out, the terrain of his time appears,
along with the harsh signs of his winter.
JEAN (O.S.) (cont¨ªd)
Taking it's cues from the climate, terrain, various sources of
nourishment, the mutator gene tells the body when it needs to
change to adapt to a new environment. The process is subtle, normally
taking thousands of years.
As the graphic changes and depicts WARMER CLIMATE, the
HAIR STARTS TO DISAPPEAR ON THE MAN'S BODY - gradually evolving
into the human we now know as ourselves.
Now the terrain is modern, the weather pleasant. The image pulls
back and places this man back in line at the front of evolution.
JEAN (O.S.) (cont¨ªd)
Only in the last few thousand years did mankind begin to make
clothes for himself, build shelters, use heat and grow food in
large quantities. With this man-made environment remaining
relatively stable, the X-factor became dormant.
QUICK SHOTS: early huts, early clothing; then early homes, later
homes, air conditioning, cars, modern high- rises, etc.
PULL BACK WIDER
JEAN (O.S.) (cont¨ªd)
Until now.
On the room, the reactions, and on JEAN herself.
A strong, attractive woman in her early 30's. A simple placard
before her:
JEAN GREY. GENETICALLY ENHANCED RIGHTS ASSOCIATION.
The screen shows the words "PRESENT DAY," where the
"evolution line" has resumed its rise.
JEAN (cont¨ªd)
For reasons still not known to us, we are seeing what some are
calling the beginnings of another stage of evolution -
A MICROPHONED VOICE interrupts. Bearing down is the
flamboyant SENATOR SCOTT "FRANK" KELLY, a conservative
from Florida, and the hearing's Chairman.
Just behind him sits his aide HENRY GUYRICH - mid 30's,
typical government cog.
KELLY
You're avoiding the question I posed to you at the beginning of
the hearing, Ms. Grey. Three words: Are mutants dangerous?
JEAN
I am avoiding a question that is decidedly loaded, Senator. The
wrong person behind the wheel of a car can be dangerous.
Another SENATOR (LUCINDA ROWEE) speaks into her
microphone:
SENATOR ROWEE
Well, we do license people to drive.
JEAN
But not to live.
Kelly raises a hand, continuing his tirade.
KELLY
Ms. Grey -- you work at a school for mutants in Westchester, New
York. Can you tell the members of this committee what exactly you
are teaching these mutants?
JEAN
Math. History. Science. English. Athletics --
KELLY
You wouldn't happen to be teaching them how to use their powers
to --
JEAN
Control, Senator... we teach them control.
Kelly raises a blown-up photograph: a grainy, superoomed, somewhat
obscured image of a CAR ON A FREEWAY which appears to have "melted."
Now he's really playing to the crowd.
KELLY
This was taken by a state police officer in Secaucus, New Jersey.
A man in a minor altercation literally melted the car in front of
him. don't know where you come from, Ms. Grey, but where I come
from, you don't go melting people's cars when they cut you off.
You do it the old fashioned way -- you give 'em the finger. (laughs
from the crowd) But what you presume to tell this committee -
JEAN
I presume nothing, I am here to tell you that in time, the mutator
gene will activate in every living human being on this planet. Perhaps
even your children, Senator.
KELLY
I can assure you, there is no such creature in my genes.
The room LAUGHS. Kelly mistaken thinks it is for him, until the
double meaning occurs to him. He is momentarily embarrassed, but
he quickly recovers.
KELLY (cont¨ªd)
Ms. Grey, we are not here to weed out mutants. The egistration Act
is designed merely to assess their potential threat - if any - to
national security.
The crowd reacts loudly in support of the Senator. Some cheer,
some roar, some yell obscenities at Jean.
Jean stands and walks out, pushing her way through reporters now
moving in for her response. All the while, Kelly is delivering his
last words.
KELLY (cont¨ªd)
Mutants are very real. They are among us. We must know who they
are. And above all, we must know what they can do.
AS THE SHOUTS OF THE MOB RISE AND GIVE WAY TO:
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