Screenplay By Charles Randolph and Adam McKay Based Upon the Book by Michael Lewis
The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow- witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him.
Leo Tolstoy, 1897
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 2.
A bunch of FAT BOND TRADERS eat deli sandwiches and smoke cigarettes on the Solomon Brothers Bond Trading floor. It’s not exactly Michael Douglas in Wall Street.
The voice that walks us through this is smart, too the point and slick. We’ll meet him later.
MUSIC: Some great 70’s ballad like KISS YOU ALL OVER by EXILE
We see an even schlubbier version of the other Bond Traders emerge. His suit is rumpled, he has a mustard stain on his shirt from a soft pretzel he’s eating and he is easily seventy pounds over weight. This is LEWIS RENIERI. And though his world is obscure, he is the shit.
Our NARRATOR the MODERN TRADER passes through the scene for a second, dressed in modern clothes...
Lewis greets his Bond Department with obscenities barked through his patchy beard and glasses.
Lewis and HIS TEAM are doing a presentation to a bunch of STATE PENSION FUND MANAGERS with an old fashioned OVER HEAD PROJECTOR.
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They all HOWL except the fund manager who looks shocked but then finally laughs to fit in.
We see A HOUSE on the over head projector.
We see an illustration of many homes. The next illustration shows them all “bundled” together with a bow.
BOND TRADER #2 Lewie is a fucking genius.
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BOND TRADER #2 Come on live a little!
MUSIC: Something like BOOGIE OOGIE OOGIE by A TASTE OF HONEY
The Bond Traders are partying at a strip club throwing dollars everywhere and boozing. It disgusting and fun as hell and none of these guys will live past 60.
TIME LAPSE: New impressive BANKING BUILDINGS SPRING UP and dot the Manhattan skyline. Chase, B of A, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers etc.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 5.
SMASH CUT TO BLACK
1010 WINS ANCR (V.O.) Wall Street has suffered one of it’s worst days in history as Lehman Brothers has declared bankruptcy.
5 1) TRACKING SHOT PAST HOUSING DEVELOPMENT LAWNS WITH 5 FORECLOSED AND FOR SALE SIGNS ON ALL THEM (STOCK FOOTAGE).
6 2) AND THEN A LONG LINE OF APPLICANTS AT A MCDONALD’S JOB 6 FAIR. (STOCK FOOTAGE)
7 3) IMAGES OF THE DOW DROPPING. (STOCK FOOTAGE) 7
1010 WINS ANCR (V.O.) This follows the demise of Bear Stearns and a plummeting Dow Jones, down four thousand since January.
WE FADE TO BLACK.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 6.
TITLE: THE BIG SHORT
GRAPHIC: 1985
A MIDDLE SCHOOL football game is in progress. MICHAEL BURRY age 11 catches a ball and starts running. He’s pretty good.
His parents and coaches cheer him on. Cute 8th GRADE CHEERLEADERS wave their pom poms.
PARENTS/COACH Thatta way Michael! Go! Go!
He is TACKLED by a few players and as Michael gets up we hear an OPPOSING PLAYER scream.
CU of a GLASS EYE on the field. Michael covers his eye with his hand.
Michael picks the eye up and walks back to the side lines still covering his one eye. Another player runs into replace him.
A CUTE CHEERLEADER looks at Michael with her nose scrunched up and then looks away. His MOM and DAD meet him.
11 YR OLD MICHAEL BURRY Can we just go home?
He walks away.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 7.
We see from under the water ADULT MICHAEL BURRY swimming laps. His strokes are clean and strong.
Michael Burry gets out of the pool. He towels off and walks immediately to the lockers.
GRAPHIC: MICHAEL BURRY
There is a party going on with upper class professionals drinking white wine and Heinekens. Michael stands alone between two groups of professionals talking.
FLASH to Michael starting his car, a Honda, and leaving.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 8.
Michael is seated behind his desk in a t-shirt and shorts.
We reveal he is talking to a YOUNG EAGER ANALYST in his office at the center of SCION CAPITAL, Michael Burry’s fund. Michael’s office is at the front enclosed in glass. There are 20 ANALYSTS working at desks in the main room outside the glass.
A big white board shows the quarterly profits from Scion: +38%
MARCH 2005
3 years 6 months until the crash
Beat.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 9.
Another long beat. Michael thinks. This beat keeps going. Finally the Young Analyst starts to speak just as Michael does.
I’m sorry.
The Analyst waits for Burry to complete the thought but he doesn’t.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 10.
Finally he leaves. Burry sits down at his desk and PUTS EAR BUDS IN while Googling “SEC mortgage brokerage firm violations” He gets no hits.
MUSIC: Some hard-core heavy metal like BLOOD THUNDER by MASTADON
An Asian American ASSISTANT walks by Burry’s office window and LOOKS AT CAMERA.
CU of a COMPUTER SCREEN showing THOUSANDS OF COMPLICATED LINES OF MORTGAGES from a MORTGAGE BACKED SECURITY. The lines are almost indecipherable but we see Michael Burry is reading them intently like it’s a page turning mystery novel.
Outside Burry’s office we see the Analyst he just hired David at his desk talking to another ANALYST #2
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 11.
ANALYST #2 He does this every few days. He hasn’t spoken to me since he hired me.
As he continues to read we TIME LAPSE and see the employees start to leave at the end of day. Eventually THE MAIN ANALYST’S OFFICE IS EMPTY and THE SUN IS COMING UP OUTSIDE.
Michael is on the phone. He clearly hasn’t slept and his clothes are rumpled. There are water bottles everywhere. Michael brushes his teeth over a garbage can with water.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 12.
LAWRENCE FIELDS’S office is the opposite of Michael’s. It’s lavish with Manhattan views as is he.
FIELDS motions to his assistant through the open door.
Burry spits out his coffee gargle into the garbage.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 13.
The scene freezes.
SCARLETT JOHANSSON in a white T shirt and cut off jeans let’s the waterfall run over her while explaining mortgage backed securities.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 13A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 14.
Back to the scene.
We push in on Goldman Sachs. We see FINANCIAL NEWS on a monitor outside playing Jim Cramer’s Mad Money show.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 15.
There’s a beat and then everyone laughs except Michael Burry who wasn’t kidding.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 16.
They are shocked.
The Goldman people whisper amongst themselves for a beat.
Mike starts pulling thick DOCUMENTS out of his backpack. He slides them across the table.
They scan them. They're diligent, they make us wait.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 17.
Michael Burry leaves the conference room. AS HE CLOSES THE DOOR HE HEARS THE SALES REPS AND THE NUMBERS GUY LAUGHING AND CLAPPING. He hesitates, is he hurt? But then pushes on.
MUSIC: Popular Hip Hop track like GOLD DIGGER by KANYE WEST
Michael is now across from SALES REPS from Deutsche Bank.
DEUTSCHE SALES REP #2 (waves off his colleague) Absolutely. Absolutely we can do that.
He pushes another bundle of papers across the table.
22 QUICK CUTS: OF BUNDLES OF HAND PICKED MICHAEL BURRY MORTGAGE22 BONDS BEING PUSHED ACROSS TABLES AND SIGNED AT BANK OF AMERICA, BEAR STEARNS, MORGAN STANLEY, CREDIT SUISSE ETC.
The MUSIC CUTS OUT and we see Michael Burry through the front window eating alone at a chain restaurant. His phone buzzes. He answers. It’s a photo of his WIFE, and his 6 year old son Nicholas. Under it, it reads “We miss you!”
THE HIP HOP SONG KICKS BACK IN AS SOURCE. AN UPSCALE CLUB IS PACKED WITH BANKERS dancing and drinking.
We focus in on the DEUTSCHE SALES REP AND COWORKERS WHO SOLD BURRY THE SWAPS. They are clearly CELEBRATING HARD.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 18.
More Dom is poured. A male and female sales rep make out. The Trader steps over to another table and taps a guy on the shoulder.
For the first time we see the Modern Trader, JARED VENNETT, 32. He’s smart, a bit slick with a slight Jheri curl and wears a sharp suit. HE’S OUR NARRATOR.
GRAPHIC: JARED VENNETT
Jared LOOKS AT CAMERA.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 19.
Michael Burry is on the phone with Lawrence Fields.
Lawrence Fields is in Florence with the David behind him. He steps away to continue the conversation.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 20.
Half beat.
He hangs up. His computer and phone are dinging.
QUICK CUTS OF EMAILS FROM MICHAEL BURRY’S INVESTORS:
1. “Have you lost your mind? I’m seriously worried about you.”
2. “What the hell is a credit default swap???”
3. “I am not comfortable trying to guess what the peak of a 70 year housing spike is!”
4. “So you’re telling me that rather than receiving profits on stocks I will now be paying premiums on these credit default swaps you bought? How is this in anyway good news?”
And finally we push in on one last ominous email:
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 21.
“A LOT OF PEOPLE IN NEW YORK ARE TALKING ABOUT WITHDRAWING THEIR MONEY FROM YOUR FUND.”
CU of a cell phone on the ground. We hear a voice.
VOICE (V.O.) Paul? Are you there Paul? Paul!
We FLASH out.
A group of 7 PROFESSIONALS in suits sits in a circle with A THERAPIST leading the group session.
Businessman ... I’m a nice guy all day long. Ask anyone. I’m a pleasure to work with. But the second my son screws up I’m yelling at him just like my Dad did to me-
MARK BAUM, 40, moppish hair, rumpled suit, will always say what he thinks, busts into the room.
He sits down and starts right away.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 22.
Beat as the room catches up.
BUSINESSMAN #2 Yes.
BUSINESSMAN #2 I’m in commodities.
Mark’s phone is buzzing.
He answers and walks out.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 23.
He leaves. The group is left stunned.
GRAPHIC: MARK BAUM
We see GIANT BILLBOARDS: for Movado watches, Mercedes SUVs, Designer jeans (with a topless woman with her back to us). We’re on the streets of Manhattan and Mark’s walking while talking on his phone.
MUSIC: Pop song like HIPS DON’T LIE by SHAKIRA plays on monitors in the window of an electronics store.
January 2006
2 years 7 months until the collapse
A30 INT. YASHIVA SCHOOL - DAY A30
10 YEAR OLD Mark Baum and his 8 YEAR OLD BROTHER PAUL run around with kids in the hallway of a Yashiva while his MOM, 35, talks to the RABBI, 52.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 23A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 24.
Beat.
BACK TO MANHATTAN STREET
INTERCUT:
Mark’s wife, CYNTHIA (35). Their TWIN DAUGHTERS (10) are on the floor on matching laptops while their SON (7) runs around.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 24A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 25.
MUSIC: Dreamy new-age song like ENYA’S ONLY TIME
We see SLO MO people walking down the street. Some laughing. Some stressed about work. Some eating hot dogs.
MUSIC: OUT
Mark is now trying to hail a cab.
32 QUICK FLASH TO THE CELL PHONE ON THE GROUND. 32
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 25A.
WE PULL UP AND SEE A MAN IN A SUIT WALK TOWARDS THE EDGE OF THE BUILDING... AND STEP OFF.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 26.
WE CUT BACK TO MARK just as the man falls fully out of frame.
There is silence for a beat before Cynthia speaks.
Mark is quiet. He’s still unconsciously holding his arm up for a cab.
A cab stops.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 27.
He grabs the guy and yanks him out of the cab.
Everyone walking in and out of the Morgan Stanley building is on their Blackberries. Mark gets out of his cab while finishing a conversation with his cab driver.
He walks into the building and passes a Morgan Stanley higher up KATHY TAO.
Small. Provisional. A tiny SUPPORT STAFF. There are four desks with Mark’s team working at each.
Mark enters, pushing open the door that reads “FrontPoint Partners.”
VINNY DANIEL, a Queens city school graduate in a Macy’s suit turns from his desk.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 28.
An athletic Wasp, PORTER COLLINS, 31. who wears a suit jacket and polo shirt, covers his blue tooth to chime in.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 29.
DANNY MOSES (31) Southern but moving fast towards New Yorker, a self-effacing analyst type, though he's actually their trader. HE’S FINISHING A PHONE CALL.
He hangs up.
Danny checks his computer.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 30.
One of the ASSISTANTS (the real DANNY MOSES) LOOKS UP TO CAMERA.
Jared Vennett, his Chinese Quantitative Analyst, TED JIANG and a Deutsche YOUNG SALES REP stand and sit in front of the room.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 31.
Mark, Porter, Vinny and Danny listen to the bond trader's spiel, which is condescending and very sharp.
The Deutsche Rep hands out hard copies.
38 FAST CUTS: A HALF DOZEN PEOPLE THAT HE TALKED TO PREVIOUSLY38 SAYING “NO” “GET LOST JARED” “YOU’RE HIGH” ETC.
On the table is a JENGA GAME of stacked wooden blocks. On the side of the blocks is written the ratings of the tiers AAA, AA, BBB, BB, and B.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 31A.
He throws one of the B blocks into a TRASH CAN.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 32.
Jared chucks another B block and a BB in the garbage.
Jared gestures to his CHINESE QUANT, sitting to his right.
Ted turns to camera.
Danny's trying to get his head around Jared’s numbers.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 33.
Jared takes a bunch of the BBB, BB and B rated blocks and makes a precarious NEW tower.
FREEZE: Mark, leaning forward completely engaged.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 33A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 34.
In a high end professional kitchen ANTHONY BOURDAIN opens a fridge with a bunch of fish in it.
Bourdain chops up the old fish and pushes it into the big pot of “SEAFOOD STEW.”
BACK TO THE SCENE
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 35.
He starts pulling blocks out of the CDO and MBS towers and throwing them in the garbage.
On this last one, the table shakes... both towers collapses.
Vinny, Danny and Porter cluster unhappily at their desk.
They watch Mark say good-bye to the Deutsche Bank team at the door. He's lost in thought as he returns.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 36.
Mark’s team can't resist him when he's in adventure mode.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 37.
Vinny pfiffs his concession.
MUSIC: A rap song with a great beat and attitude like GRILLZ by NELLY
JAMIE SHIPLEY, 30, good looking but earnest and CHARLIE GELLER, 31, very smart and neurotic are dancing on a dance floor in a high end Chelsea club.
WOMEN COME TO HANDSOME Jamie but his horrible dancing soon chases them away TO Charlie who tries to impress.
The WOMEN move away.
MOMENTS LATE: Charlie and Jamie approach a table full of ATTRACTIVE MANHATTAN PROFESSIONAL WOMEN.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 37A.
Jamie starts to sit down with them.
Jamie jumps up and they leave.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 38.
GRAPHIC: CHARLIE GELLER AND JAMIE SHIPLEY
Charlie and Jamie sit nervous under massive Richter works.
Finally, they hear...
They stand, straighten their suits. A BOY BANKER hurries out from behind the reception desk.
He gestures to the chairs they just stood from. Not good.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 39-40.
Jamie and Charlie flinch.
Awkward beat.
He walks away.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 41.
There are scattered brochures and folders with names like “The Nostradamus Fund” and “The Long Short Group.” Under one is Jared Vennett’s “Shorting the Housing Market.”
Jamie LOOKS TO CAMERA
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 42.
Freeze.
45 OMIT 45
46 OMIT 46
A CRAPPY GARAGE with computer paper on the wall reading “The Brownfield Fund” It’s hot as Jamie and Charlie work on their lap tops. Jamie pours water over his head. A CHOCOLATE LAB sleeps on the floor.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 42A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 43.
FREEZE: WE CUT TO BEN RICKERT, 45, and the most neurotic person we’ve met so far, walking his dog with Jamie on A RESIDENTIAL STREET or PARK.
We see hands putting down jugs of water next to a dozen jugs of water in a kitchen. It’s Jamie and Charlie.
Ben enters.
FREEZE
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 44.
CU: The hilarious scowl of the MIAMI DOLPHINS LOGO.
Porter and Danny pass a shop with the Dolphins logo on every conceivable domestic item. They're on a mission, one they're sure is a waste of time.
Beat as they walk.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 44A.
Porter and Danny get out of a rental car and consider a FAILED DEVELOPMENT. Four model houses sit alone, closed for business, their perfect yards surrounded by cyclone fencing.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 45.
STREET LIGHTS NOW COME ON ACROSS THE EMPTY AND HALF FINISHED SUBDIVISION. Danny and Porter are puzzled, and intrigued.
Two-hundred eager PARTICIPANTS attend a seminar called, "You Can Be a Real Estate Millionaire!"
In the back, Porter sips a hotel takeaway cup, stunned, appalled. Danny takes notes. An EAGER GREETER spots them. She slips out.
Porter and Danny slip away.
Danny knocks like someone knocking for the last time. No answer. He looks in the mail slot... the house is empty.
Covered in old newspapers. Porter checks one for a date. It’s three months old.
Danny peers in a front window. This time, the door OPENS. A sleepy MAN WITH A TATTOOED NECK rubs his eyes.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 46.
There's fear in his eyes, the last thing Danny expected. A CHILD now appears between the big man's legs.
The man stays at the door as Danny hurries away.
The door opens. Danny and Porter peer in... the place is abandoned; its few modest furnishings, covered in dust.
Porter tries a light switch, dead.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 47.
A CORKBOARD above a desk still has post-its. The carpet is covered with files, books, a box of old photos.
He picks up a dusty TIME MAGAZINE with Greenspan/Summers/ Rubin on the cover. "The Committee to Save the World".
White bread molds in the bag.
At the counter, Porter watches Danny shows the old mortgage bill: the house's owner used a black marker to circle the amount due and then wrote...SORRY!
The back yard is over grown and the pool is murky green.
Suddenly something swirls in the pool and they see a 10 FOOT ALLIGATOR emerge and submerge.
DANNY IS VISIBLE IN THE WINDOW OF A CUBAN RESTAURANT EATING. Porter is outside on the sidewalk on his phone.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 48.
We pan past Scion’s office which is now littered with empty desks and land on the WHITE BOARD showing last quarter’s returns: -9.3%.
Two ANALYSTS talk to each other from their desks gossiping while Burry in his office works on his computer.
ANALYST #2 I heard he had a breakdown. He’s letting the fund tank.
A PHONE RINGS at Burry’s ASSISTANT’S DESK.
The FRONT DOOR opens.
Lawrence Fields and MARTIN BLAINE (45) of Metro Capital enter. 2 thousand dollar sport coats and polo shirts.
They stride right for Mike's office. MIKE'S ASSISTANT starts to email Burry furiously, gives up, stands.
They enter Mike's office, shut the door.
Lawrence sits. Martin stands. They're angry. Yet, Mike, in T- shirt, shirts with no shoes, doesn't seem to even register there's any emotion here at all.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 49.
Okay, let's talk numbers.Lawrence changes tack.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 50.
Lawrence raises a finger to ask his partner for restraint.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 51.
He sounds like a crazy man defending himself to a tree.
They didn't know this, and it seals the deal.
CLOSE ON:
BUMPERSTICKER: “Pricing gets traffic, staging gets offers.”
The sticker's on a brand new...
Mark gets a house tour from a wealthy REAL ESTATE AGENT.
MUSIC: A dreamy samba like SO NICE by BEBEL GILBERTO
A YOUNGER AGENT sits in the back between Danny and Porter.
Mark’s engrossed by the upper-middle-class world out the window; Every driveway has a new SUV, or odd Prius. Every garage has a Winnebago, jet ski, speed boat. Complicated riding mowers. Trampolines. Plundered Ebay and Amazon boxes.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 52.
And, yet, there are For Sale signs everywhere.
An attractive brick house, exhaustively landscaped. In fact, the harried HOMEOWNER is now edging his lawn.
The SUV has stopped at a discreet distance.
He spots her. Come show it!
She waves back. Not today!
SHOTS of the SUV driving them past big houses for sale.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 53.
Danny and Porter exchange a look. The market's in trouble.
69 OMIT 69
Bitch better like me, I sent her to Cabo.
The bar's empty save Mark, Danny and Porter sitting with two overly-groomed MORTGAGE BROKERS -- their ties match their shirts: the hip one's in BLACK; his friend, MAROON.
The guy in Maroon has Porter's business card.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 53A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 54.
The brokers just nod, glad to be part of the conversation.
It's about 60.
Maroon nods. Me, too. Almost.
Ten. Maybe 15.
Most. Ninety percent. The bonuses on those sky rocketed a few years ago. Adjustable is our bread and honey.
No, they're all cash-out refi's, or property to flip. A shitload of condos. A few primaries.
They laugh.
Dude, if they get rejected I suck at my job.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 55.
We call those loans “Dorothys” cause they’re magic. No credit, no income, no problem: just tap your shoes together three times and say “There’s nothing like owning a home.”
If I write a loan on Friday afternoon, the big banks buy it by Monday lunch.
Eyeing the brokers, Mark whispers with Porter and Danny.
Mark takes an ottoman right in front of the brokers.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 56.
Mark starts to say something, then turns to Black.
I'm a yield guy. I make 2,000 on fixed-rate prime loans. I can make 10,000 on a subprime adjustable. Trust me, I would not be driving a Hummer without Strippers. Nobody on the pole has good credit. And they're all cash rich.
Porter and Danny watch Mark consider punching this punk. The last thing they expect is...
MUSIC: A sexy pop song like SEXYBACK by JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
A DANCER does rote gyrations. Mark’s indifferent to the lap dance, unashamed, occupied by his agenda.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 57.
She peeks out of the alcove, sees a BURLY MAN WITH A HARD FACE and keeps dancing.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 57A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 58.
She stops and gives him a look.
Full of purpose, Mark strides ahead of Porter and Danny.
Danny holds out the offering doc.
Jared Vennett is running on a treadmill when the phone rings.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 59.
Jared steps off the treadmill to take the call.
Vinny on the phone.
Jared cackles.
Jared steps away from a few guys working out.
Static.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 59A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 60.
He disconnects, punches air. His casual pose evaporates.
78 OMIT 78
A79 EXT. WIDE SHOT OF BOULDER COLORADO - DAY A79
Can be stock footage showing mountains and the town of Boulder. We hear a phone ringing.
B79 INT. BEN RICKERT’S HOME OFFICE - BOULDER COLORADO - DAY B79
APRIL 2006
2 years 4 months until the collapse
CU on a cell phone ringing on a desk. A hand fumbles for it and answers.
It’s Ben Rickert. His office has three computer screens showing the Japanese markets, the Dow, Nasdaq, weather satellite images and tidal charts.
He hangs up. After a beat a satellite phone rings. Ben answers.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 60A.
Ben picks up a bootleg copy of Jared’s PRESENTATION.
A brick loft. Jamie and Charlie are gathered around a phone on speaker. We cut back and forth.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 61.
Ben holds up a report Jamie and Charlie did on CDOs.
FREEZE
A80 INT. KICHEN -- DAY A80
Bourdain stands over the pot of seafood stew.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 61A.
He puts a weird gray meat in.
Bourdain reaches into a box marked simply MEAT (?) and throws a bunch in.
Wee pull out and see dozens of pots of stew all around the kitchen.
B80 INT. BROWNFIELD OFFICE - GREENWICH VILLAGE - DAY B80
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 61B.
Charlie and Jamie share a careful glance.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 62.
Sam’s tone is less than definite, he's clearly tempted.
Beat
Charlie and Jamie high five.
Silent air pumps.
Jamie and Charlie celebrate more.
MUSIC: An popular alternative hip hop song like FEEL GOOD INC by GORILLAZ plays us into the next scene.
C80 INT. KENNEDY AIRPORT TERMINAL - DAY C80
Ben rides the long airport escalator wearing a flu mask. And holding a duffle bag.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 62A.
He passes an Asian man also wearing a flu mask, salutes his comrade-in-fear. The man stares back confused.
At the bottom of the escalator Charlie and Jamie wait with a sign reading “Ben Rickert”
Ben walks past them with out breaking stride and crumples up the sign.
D80 EXT. DEUTSCHE BANK - TWO HOURS LATER D80
Establishing
Charlie and Jamie sign an ISDA CONTRACT in the lobby.
Ben waits over them. NOAH, 26, Vennett’s assistant takes the contract.
Charlie and Jamie stand. Noah goes. The boys exchange an unsure look. What now?Ben gestures to the exit.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 62B.
Ben doesn’t break stride.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 63.
81 QUOTE COMES UP OVER BLACK: 81
“THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE. BUT NOT UNTIL IT IS DONE WITH YOU.” -DAVID FOSTER WALLACE, INFINITE JEST
An electronic scroll on the side of Morgan Stanley reads:
Mortgage Delinquencies Hit New High
January 11, 2007
1 year 7 months until the collapse
We hear snippets of business news audio:
Mark Baum is running down the street while dialing his phone and trying to hail a cab.
A CAB STOPS, he gets in.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 64.
Vinny is walking through the FrontPoint offices. Danny, Porter and the rest of the staff are on the phones.
We see emails on Vinny’s screen from Duetsche notifying that the bond’s value is up. “Garabaldi IV: BBB tranche”
Porter turns over his shoulder from his desk.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 64A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 65.
The West African CAB DRIVER looks over his shoulder.
Vinny peers into their Conference Room, where there are THREE RISK MANAGERS. Standing at the head of the table is a very pregnant, Kathy Tao.
Mark on the phone.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 66.
He hangs up.
He drives crazy fast through traffic.
Vinny enters. The risk managers go silent.
The Risk Managers wait for nuance. None will be coming.
Michael Burry writes on the big white board the quarterly returns: -11.3%. There are now only five working analysts. The rest of the desks are empty.
Michael walks into his office closes the door and yells.
Everyone in the office looks up and then after a beat, go back to working.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 67.
Michael is watching Business News on the TV while his WIFE, pretty and direct, tries to talk to him.
SOMEONE FROM THE TREASURY OR THE FED BEING INTERVIEWED.
She turns off the TV.
NICHOLAS his six year old son is playing with a toy crane on the floor.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 68.
Nicholas has walked over to them holding his toy crane.
90 OMIT 90
She goes to her desk... where Mark and Vinny wait.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 69.
Mark considers this old saw a moment.
She's inscrutable behind her sunshades. But the fact she doesn't argue tells us he's shaken her confidence.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 70.
Half beat.
A stunned beat. She's not supposed to say this.
Silence. Mark didn't know it was that simple, that cynical.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 70A.
She takes her glasses off. Her eyes are watery, dilated.
She's nailed him.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 71.
Vinny watches Mark as they ride back uptown in a crowd. He’s rattled.
(then) You okay?
Mark nods.
Charlie and Jamie are climbing the walls. Ben is on speaker phone.
A94 INT. BEN RICKERT’S OFFICE - SAME TIME A94
Ben sits at his desk reading the Sixth Great Extinction. We cut back and forth.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 71A.
Beat as Charlie catches a thought.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 72.
Jared Vennett is seated in the conference room. Mark, Vinny, Danny and Porter are SCREAMING AT HIM. He is amazingly calm and even CHECKS HIS PHONE at one point.
Finally the group is exhausted from yelling and they run out of gas.
Danny laughs. Everyone glares at him.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 72A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 73.
Charlie is pleading to his case.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 74.
CU The LIVING STATUES AT THE VENETIAN. The white classical statues are STILL FOR A BEAT and THEN MOVE AND LOOK INTO CAMERA.
MUSIC: A hip hop or rap song that exudes attitude like TOUCH IT OR NOT by CAM’RON kicks in as soon as the statues move.
QUICK SERIES OF IMAGES: 1) Cash being exchanged for chips 2) A SEXY WAITRESS serving drinks with a tattoo of her baby daughter on her calf 3) A MARINE is playing two slot machines smoking and drinking. 4) A poster showing happy good looking people gambling and winning.
A sea of sponsored booths. Familiar banks. Lots and lots of White people. A BANNER tells us it's the:
American Securitization Forum
Ben gives Charlie and Jamie the tour. Jamie takes photos with his cell. Charlie gets schooled.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 75.
Ben stops, turns to his proteges.
Mark, Vinny, Danny and Porter enter and cross past the Brownfield Guys.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 76.
Vennett approaches the group with his young ASSISTANT, who hands out room keys.
Mark nods. The group still checking out the crowded lobby.
RICH GUY and Reps from Bear Stearns in business casual shoot guns.
Bullets rip into politically incorrect targets...a black kid attacking a sexy white woman, an Asian gangster, a big photo of Osama bin Laden.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 76A.
Charlie and Jamie shoot Uzi's, surprised by how much fun they're having. Clips spent, they remove headgear.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 77.
BEAR REP #2 Nice shooting, Brown Holers.
BEAR REP #2 Yeah, I know. But it’s more fun to call you Brown Hole.
Another Bear Rep #1 is about to shoot.
BEAR REP #1 (removes head phones) What’s going on?
BEAR REP #1 7 years? I just need this CDO machine to keep going for another 2 years. By then I’ll be rich enough to get a place in Aspen.
BEAR REP #1 Don’t be a buzzkill, dude. We didn’t bring you guys out here to talk work, OK?
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 77A.
BEAR REP #1 We need a client along so we can expense the ammo.
Aims machine gun at a poster of thug, and fires.
Jamie checks his cell.
TWO HUNDRED OR SO BANKERS AND BOND TRADERS TAKE THEIR SEATS in a large ball room with a podium at the front. A sign reads “Option One CEO Paul Dantone: The Mortgage Market is Strong and Getting Stronger”
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 78.
LATER: THE CEO OF OPTION ONE is speaking to the room.
Mark raises his hand.
Mark juts his hand up even higher.
Mark raises his hand again. But his hand is in the shape of a ZERO.
His phone rings.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 79.
He gets up and leaves while answering his phone.
Mark walks past Vennett, patting him on the shoulder. JARED flips him off and then looks to camera.
CU OF EMAILS:
“Withdrawing money end of the month”
“I trusted you. And you betrayed that trust. I am done with Scion”
“Will be severing ties with Scion next month”
“When my two year period is over next month I withdraw all my money from your fund”
Mike Burry is looking at his emails at his desk. He looks pale and unhealthy. He now has only THREE EMPLOYEES -- the other desks have the abandoned look of people laid off quickly.
Mike comes out and goes to the company white board. He writes the latest quarterly returns...-19.3%.
On his way out, he stops at a ladder where his Assistant is putting up Valentine’s decorations.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 79A.
Mike starts to leave.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 80.
Silence.
He leaves.
A103 INT. BURRY’S BASEMENT - LATER A103
MUSIC: BY DEMONS BE DRIVEN
Michael sits behind drums and furiously plays double kick drum heavy metal drums to Pantera. Finally he breaks the sticks from playing so hard.
We hear his wife from upstairs.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 81.
Ben and Charlie are testing the waters for a deal with the MERRILL REP at the Merrill Lynch Booth.
He takes Charlie firmly by the arm, marches him away.
The Rich Bear Rep passes them.
BEAR REP #1 Hey! It’s Brown hole!
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 81A.
Jamie in polo shirt and shorts is talking to a bookish but pretty college friend who works at the SEC, EVIE, 30.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 82.
She gets up and leaves. The guy she’s approaching grabs her.
He pulls Evie and himself into the pool. A whole group of bankers laugh while dance music plays. Jamie looks sickened.
Jamie, Ben and Charlie are eating chopped salads.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 82A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 83.
They eat for a beat, defeated.
Jamie fishes some paper work out of his bag and points to some numbers.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 83A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 84.
Ben looks at the returns on AA swaps.
Charlie LOOKS TO CAMERA
MUSIC: A song with a beat like US v THEM by LCD SOUND SYSTEM
106 MONTAGE OF CHARLIE, JAMIE AND BEN MEETING DIFFERENT BANKS106 OVER DRINKS, LUNCH, BLACKJACK TABLE, POOL SIDE.
BEAR REP #1 Brother, I will sell you as much as you want. And you can shoot with us anytime you want.
As they get AROUND A CORNER, Charlie AND Jamie SILENTLY CELEBRATE AND EVEN DANCE A BIT. But Ben tells them to cool it.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 85.
Jamie and Charlie look like kids who have been caught teasing an old person.
He walks off. Exiting through double doors.
MUSIC: Traditional Japanese string version of something like LIONEL RITCHIE’S EASY
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 85A.
A tranquil waterfall out of plate glass windows. Jared walks in with Mark and his team.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 86.
FLASH CUT: Mark sits at a table. His dining partner is MR. CHAU (50), Chinese-American, an expensive suit.
Mark glances through hibachi steam to see Jared... raising his beer. Meet your counter-party. Meet the sucker.
Mark can't tell if Mr. Chau is being naive or just arch.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 87.
Mr. Chau finally chuckles -- he’s actually being defiant.
MOMENTS LATER: Vinny, Jared and Danny nervously watch Mark huddle with Mr. Chau. Mark’s animated, speaking too loudly.
Ignoring his food, Mark scribbles furiously on a napkin.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 88-89.
LATER: Mark’s completely disheveled now, tie off. Mr. Chau is as decorous as ever, enjoying his dessert.
Another paper napkin slaps the counter.
Mr. Chau shrugs.
We FREEZE on his disoriented expression. *
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 88-89A.
SELENA GOMEZ sits at a black jack table with a giant stack of * chips. She wins another hand and rakes in more chips from the * PROFESSIONAL DEALER. A crowd cheers her on around the table. *
CROWD * She can’t lose! That’s seven hands * in a row! *
SELENA GOMEZ * So here’s how a synthetic CDO * works. Let’s say I make a bet of 10 * million on a black jack hand... *
DR. THALER * 10 million because this hand * represents a simple mortgage bond. *
She is dealt a Jack and an 8 by the dealer. *
SELENA GOMEZ * Did you really create a whole field * of economic study? *
DR. THALER * Well is was inspired by the great * work of others, but yes. *
SELENA GOMEZ * I have 30 million twitter * followers. *
DR. THALER * I have 30,000. *
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 88-89B.
SELENA GOMEZ * (Trying to be encouraging) * That’s not bad. * (back to the explanation) * So my odds are great. And I am on a * winning streak. Everyone else here * wants in on this. I can’t lose, * right? *
DR. THALER * We have done countless studies that * show that people often make this * error in their thinking. If * something is happening-- like * Selena winning seven hands in a row *
SELENA GOMEZ * Or the housing market going up for * seven years straight... *
DR. THALER * Exactly. They think it will go on * forever. It’s called extrapolation * bias. People see something * happening and they extrapolate that * it will continue to happen. *
SELENA GOMEZ * So the people who are watching and * think I can’t lose will make a side * bet which is the first CDO. *
We see A WOMAN IN GLASSES standing behind SELENA. She turns * to a BUSINESS MAN. *
WOMAN IN GLASSES * Wow. I love Selena Gomez. And she’s * won seven in a row with a seven * showing for the dealer. I bet you * 50 million she wins and I’ll give * you three to one odds. *
BUSINESSMAN * 3 to 1 odds? Okay, I’ll take that * bet. *
DR. THALER * Then someone behind him decides to * bet on their bet with someone else. * That’s synthetic CDO number two. *
There’s a GUY IN A WARRIORS GAME JERSEY talking to a AN OLD * WOMAN. *
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 88-89C.
GUY IN GAME JERSEY * Hey I bet you 200 million that lady * in the glasses wins that bet. *
OLD WOMAN * She probably will win, she always * does, so I want a great pay off. *
GUY IN GAME JERSEY * How about 20 to 1? *
OLD WOMAN * Deal. *
SELENA GOMEZ * And this goes on and on and on and * on.... With more and more CDOs * betting on the bet on the bet on * the bet... *
DR. THALER * This happens all the time. In the * stock market. In sports. In * basketball, they call the Hot Hand * fallacy. A player hits 3 shots in a * row and everyone thinks he is * definitely going to make that 4th * one. We know, from a lot of * statistical evidence, that there is * no such thing as hot hands, but * people refuse to accept that. *
SELENA GOMEZ * People are cray cray. *
DR. THALER * I don’t know what that means. *
We see a LONG LINE OF PAIRS OF PEOPLE making bets of * increasing value and complexity that stretches behind Selena * and Dr. Thaler at the table down the hall and around the * corner and out of the doors of the casino. *
SELENA GOMEZ * And then the dealer plays out his * hand. *
The dealer turns over a 3, giving him 10 and then turns over * a King. DEALER WINS. *
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 88-89D.
There is then a long chain reaction of winners and losers’ * reactions. *
LONG CHAIN OF BETTERS * Shit! Pay up! Crap! Wait, I lost? I * want my money! How could Selena * lose! Nooo!!! *
DR. THALER * They all should have known the odds * they could lose. But they got * overconfident. And because of the * synthetic CDOs and all the bets on * bets on bets... The one loss * becomes thousands of losses. *
SELENA GOMEZ * And those losers? Pension funds, * insurance companies. City * governments all over the world. * Crazy shit right? *
DR. THALER * Not crazy, just human. The crazy * part is assuming people will act * logically all the time. *
SELENA GOMEZ * Translation: crazy shit. * (MORE)
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 90.
SELENA GOMEZ (CONT'D)
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 91.
UNFREEZE BAUM AND MR. CHAU. All Mark can think to do is stand and collect his things.
Mark looks straight in the face of everything he hates.
Mark walks away and past Jared and the guys.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 92.
SLO MO: Hungover and broke people straggle out of the hotel in the bright morning Vegas sun dragging luggage. They get into valet’d cars and cabs.
Charlie and Jamie exit and jump into a Mercedes SUV. They looked vaguely ashamed and Charlie looks freaked.
Mr. Chau walks out with a smile on his face, designer luggage and enters a stretch limo.
A short moment later Mark, Porter, Danny and Vinny walk out. Mark looks particularly far away and haggard.
Three of the Bear Stearns firing range guys leave with two BEDRAGGLED PARTY GIRLS. They’re still drunk. They get in a Humvee Limo.
And last, we see Evie, from the SEC and the Goldman Sachs guy, Doug, leaving together. They kiss and then he gets in a Range Rover and she gets in a cab.
Mark struggles to pull his bag out of a taxi's trunk.
The Baum’s are in an elegant and isolated seating area in Cynthia’s upscale clothing boutique.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 93.
She had no idea. A SALES CLERK approaches.
They lower their voices, lean closer.
A silence between them. Cynthia refuses to break it.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 93A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 94.
His silence means yes.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 94A.
Mark starts to break.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 95.
They both sit there holding hands.
Mike's son Nicholas plays alone, talking to himself about the different parts of a BACKHOE LOADER.Stabilizer legs...bucket...atriculated arm...
Mike enters. His Wife's been waiting, annoyed, gestures to her watch. Where were you?
His wife doesn’t respond.
Mike has a stack of books: Attwood'sThe Complete Guide to Asperger's, Baron-Cohen's Mindblindness,etc.
Sceptical, he choosesA Parent's Guide and reads...
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 96.
Mike's surprised, this actually resonates.
JUMP CUTS: A dizzying whirl of TEXT PASSAGES fly at us...
Mike stops reading. Sweating. Thunderstruck.
A strange truth settles over his face.
Mike has sought counsel from a MED SCHOOL FRIEND, a psych ward doctor currently self-medicating on a joint.
CLOSE on Mike, taken with the idea, and its implications.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 97.
MUSIC: A heavy metal song like METALLICA’S EYE OF THE BEHOLDER fades in.
Mike types an email. He is alone in the office with empty desks outside.
Mike breathes deep, and hits SEND.
He sits listening to the quiet hum of office outside his open door. The distant highway.
A very long beat.
Slowly at first, isolated, then gathering like an angry storm, the office PHONES begin to RING and his email box begins to ding.
One email stands out: From Lawrence Fields. The subject: I’M SUING.
118 OVER BLACK WE SEE THE QUOTE: 118
“Everyone, deep in their hearts, is waiting for the end of the world to come.” - Haruki Murakami, 1Q84
We DISSOLVE to TV Channels flipping from one to the next.
1) SOME SORT OF FLUFFY POP ENTERTAINMENT, a sitcom, game show, reality show.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 98.
2) BARRY BONDS defends himself in a press conference.
3) Footage celebrating Lance Armstrong.
Charlie is the one flipping through the TV channels. Jamie is on his lap top. They’re restless, tense and killing time.
April 2, 2007
The Crash Begins
Charlie turns the channel to business news.
Jamie stops and watches while Charlie rolls over on the couch.
He grabs the remote and rewinds and freezes the TV. On the crawl at the bottom of the financial news show we see:
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 99.
Nation's second-largest mortgage lender bankrupt.
Vinny, Danny and Porter watch Kathy, thin again, yelling at Mark in the Conference Room.
ON A WALL TV: The FED CHAIRMAN is speaking to Congress.
The Dow is down 283 points.
An assistant turns off all the TVs in the office.
Danny Moses, on the phone yells over to Vinny.
The DOOR opens. Kathy and her minions storm off... and out.
Mark emerges beaten, yet hardened.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 100.
Charlie is getting off the phone.
He hangs up and turns to Jamie who’s at his computer.
Jamie shows him an email on his computer.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 100A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 101.
Charlie and Jamie just explained the situation to CASEY, 30 their college friend, and the junior finance reporter.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 101A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 102.
He’s holding the door for them. They exit.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 102A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 103.
Mike is at his desk. The headline on the site he’s on is:
Bear Stearns liquidates mortgage backed securities hedge funds. Losses at 3.6 Billion.
The office is completely empty save two LAWYERS who are wheeling files out on a hand cart. Michael is on the phone hearing a voice mail.
He hangs up.
July 31, 2007
Burry’s PHONE rings. The caller ID isThalia/Private.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 104.
Static.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 104A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 105.
She clicks off. Mike hangs up.
The phone RINGS again almost immediately.Goldman.
Mike realizes what's happened.
Static.
Mike hangs up. There. See. Done.
The trading desk is hopping. We see someone on their computer on Bloomberg.com. The story:Countrywide Financial Warns of “Difficult Conditions.”
The Dow is down 325 points
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 106.
Mark has a phone full of blinking red lights, about to pull up a call, as soon Danny finishes prepping him.
Mark punches a blinking light.
Jared enters a bathroom, pushes a BANKER OUT THE DOOR.
Mark hangs up. Everyone's looking his direction.
A long, weird beat. No one speaks. No one celebrates.
For good reason...
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 107.
Mark strides for a corner office. A young woman passes in tears, carrying a personal effects box and crying, newly fired.
A BREAST-PUMP on a credenza.
Mark’s waiting on Kathy. Considering her Spartan office, he realizes she has no personal effects, save the pump.
Kathy Tao enters, frazzled, scared.
He nods. She sits.
He points to the breast pump.
Half beat.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 107A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 108.
Silence. They held them.
Beat.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 108A.
We see she’s not just stunned, she’s terrified.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 109.
At a window table, Mark and Vinny sit across from Porter and Danny.
Mark’s brooding dangerously.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 110.
The Waitress is wounded. Goes. A brutal beat. No one can look at Mark.
Jamie is walking down the street on his cell.
August 3, 2007
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 110A.
A SPIN CLASS IS IN PROGRESS WITH LOUD MUSIC PLAYING and 20 people on bikes. A sweaty Charlie is standing off to the side on his cell.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 111.
The Spin Class instructor turns to Charlie.
CLOSE on Mike's good eye: he's scanning his monitors.
January 14, 2008
He hovers over his terminal, worried. The numbers are not good. We see default rates above 12%, Dow down 420 points etc. He picks up the phone and dials a number by heart.
We hear disappointment in Mike's voice.
It's been cleared out, even Mike's Assistant is gone. The light goes off in his inner office.
Leaving, Mike stops off at his WHITE BOARD, erases-19.3% with his palm and starts to write+...
He stops, turns and considers the room full of abandoned desks, just a telephone on each, all of them silent.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 112.
A southern England old world pub on a wet street in a small country town.
Ben has his Bloomberg terminal set up at a table, wears a fancy headset, rolls calls in sweatpants.
The PROPRIETRESS and THREE OLD ENGLISH MEN AT THE BAR pretend not to listen to the strangest conversation they've ever heard.
Everyone laughs in the pub. Now they’re openly watching.
PUB-GOER #2 Have em throw in a million for me!
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 113.
Charlie and Jamie stand around Charlie’s SPEAKER PHONE.
He hangs up.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 113A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 114.
Dark. Elegant. A well-heeled crowd of 200 INVESTORS.
March 14, 2008
A podium waits for Greenspan. Beside it are 3 chairs with THE HOST, BRUCE MILLER, ruddy and confident and a sloppily- dressed Mark Baum.
Vinny's in the front row.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 114A.
Wholly uninvited, Mark takes his mic to the podium.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 115.
The crowd laughs.
Arriving late, Porter slips in the last row behind Danny.
Danny gets a quote, curses, types,Here we go! Bear at 47!
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 116.
Vinny gets a text...Bear at 35 last!
In the back, a man hurries out holding on his cell phone.
Danny's just typedBear at 29 last!!! as he hears this.
Mark pats Bruce Miller on the back as he takes his seat.
A YOUNG BANKER stands, unwilling to wait for the Q & A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 117.
Awkward silence.
Mark whispers into his mic...
Mark watches the whole room scramble for the aisles.
A PR PERSON leads ALAN GREENSPAN (never fully seen) and his ENTOURAGE toward an auditorium door.
The PR Person leads Greenspan and entourage in up front. THERE ARE ONLY SIX AUDIENCE MEMBERS in the vast hall.
Empty. The SCROLL is dead.
Suddenly, it flickers and kicks to life as if re-booted.
The first message says it all...
Lehman bankruptcy leaves country in turmoil.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 118.
A beautiful day. Charlie stands on a bench watching LEHMAN EMPLOYEES with effects boxes exit through a PRESS gauntlet.
September 15, 2008
Jamie ends a call below him.
Charlie is still watching the chaos at Lehman.
His box already in a taxi, a LEHMAN GUY looks from Jamie and Charlie’s expectant faces to the building.Fuck it.
The Guy takes off his ID tag and hands it over.
Vinny is on the phone. Danny and Porter work quietly if feverishly at their desks that are covered in screens.
Danny's panicked.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 119.
Vinny and Porter exchange a worried glance.
Danny squints at his screens; something's wrong with his vision. He's soaking wet. Looks down at his chest.
He's extremely pale but doesn't walk from the desk, tries to regulate his breathing as Porter and Vinny watch.
Danny looks as if he can't hear.
Vinny picks up the phone to call 911.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 120.
A DIMINUTIVE EXEC is in the flow of departing Employees.
Jamie holds up the pass for a Guard, who hurriedly waves he and Charlie through the turnstile, like two diplomats slipping back in the embassy as Saigon falls.
Abandoned. A few EMPLOYEES pack. Loose paper's everywhere.
Charlie and Jamie walk through the destruction: plundered desks; emptied picture frames; sad tchotkes.
On one desk, someone's made a pyramid of Red Bull cans.
On one wall, someone's painted a huge...LEH: 0.00.
Charlie considers this question a few seconds.
A BUSINESS CROWD passes.
On the church steps, Danny is now okay. He, Vinny and Porter watch the crowd, rushing past, oblivious.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 121.
Vinny paces. His Blackberry RINGS.
Mark sits at a table with his laptop and a coffee, shell shocked staring off into the building around him.
Vinny's on Mark’s cell phone speaker.
CLOSE on MARK. He's staring at nothing.
FADE TO BLACK:
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 122.
Bare feet on corporate carpet.
Mike's at the Assistant's Desk sorting through a stack of his mail. He's also listening to the VOICE MAIL on the phone's speaker, erasing most messages after they start.
He hits ERASE. And keeps sorting.
Burry’s FORMER ASSISTANT is stocking Red Bulls in a convenience store.
A150 EXT. UPSCALE MIAMI NEIGHBORHOOD - DAY A150
The neighborhood Baum toured with the real estate agent is now covered with foreclosure signs.
With two dozen others, Marlene and the Younger Agent are taking a seminar, “You Can Be a Real Estate Millionaire”.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 122A.
SEMINAR LEADER #2 (again) The housing crisis represents the greatest financial opportunity of your lifetime!
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 123.
The Man with the Tattooed Head comes out of the store and hurries to his CAR, carrying food. When he gets in, we see his child, wife and their stuff. They now live in the car.
A large JOB FAIR.
Maroon waits in a long line for his turn with an ADVISOR, one of many in a row of folding tables. He looks over to see his friend, Black, in another line. Nods.Hey. Hey.
The West African Cab Driver that drove Mark looks at his 401K. It says -43,540 dollars. Leaving only 46k.
Mike types the email we've been hearing in VO throughout.
It's the night Mike erased the WHITE BOARD in the empty office.
This time, we watch him write his fund's growth...+489%.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 124.
He circles it. Then walks out.
Inscrutable, Jared Vennett considers a BONUS LETTER on his desk. He talks to camera.
His bonus for 2008 is$47,000,000.
He kisses the check.
Mark as before, quiet, talking to Vinny via cell phone.
MUSIC: A piano piece like THE TWINS by MAX RICHTER fades in slowly
Mark’s voice is full of masked emotion, quiet, resigned.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 124A.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 125.
158 MONTAGE OF REFORM IMAGERY: 1. HEARINGS AT CONGRESS. 2. THE158 DODD/FRANK BANKING REFORM BEING SIGNED, 3. BANKERS BEING PERP WALKED IN HANDCUFFS.
159 SMASH TO: VT. OF 1) PEOPLE SCREAMING AT IMMIGRANT CHILDREN ON159 THE BORDER. 2) GOVERNORS AND TALK SHOW HOSTS BLAMING TEACHERS 3)CONGRESS VOTING DOWN SERIOUS BANKING REFORM.
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 126.
PICTURE OF THE ONE BANKER WHO WENT TO JAIL.
Mark silently looks off into the distance, still on the phone with Vinny.
Long beat.
The Big Short
BUFF REVISED, MAY 11, 2015 127.
MUSIC: ORCHESTRAL THEME.
And then over black...
“When the dust settled from the collapse 5 trillion dollars in pension money, real estate value, 401k, savings, and bonds had disappeared. 8 million people lost their jobs, six million lost their homes. And that was just in the USA.”
“Charlie Geller and Jamie Shipley attempted to sue the ratings agencies but were laughed out of all law offices. Jamie still runs Brownfield with Ben Rickert but Charlie left New York to live in Charlotte and start a family. He did not go on Lithium.”
“Cynthia says Mark Baum actually became gracious after the collapse and never said “I told you so” to anyone. But he did give large sums of his money to a charity that helps people escape from cults. Danny, Vinny and Porter all still run a fund together and are as terrified as ever.”
“Michael Burry contacted the government several times to see if anyone wanted to interview him to find out how he knew the system would collapse years before anyone else. No one ever returned his calls. But he was audited four times and questioned by the FBI. The small investing he still does is all focused on one commodity: water.”
After a beat...
“In 2015 several large banks began selling billions in something called a “bespoke tranche opportunity.” Which according to the Wall Street Journal is just another name for a CDO.”
END.