"ZATHURA: A SPACE ADVENTURE" (2005)

Not even the stars are visible ‘in this distant corner of an obscure galaxy.

But wait, there's something -- a star, then, a field of stars. But they're dim and blurry, like they've been painted on the sky.

Because they have. This is the stamped-steel surface of an old- fashioned game board.

A shift to the right, and a narrow slot opens up. A space ship running along the track jerks into view. It's crude, die-molded steel.

A second ship lurches ahead of the first. As credits roll, we

leave the ships behind and rocket forward to explore other

features of this outer space landscape -- craters, lunar mountains, ringed planets, asteroid fields...

Then, moving faster, we go vertical, rocketing upward into the stars and then plunging downward to the center of the game, on an unstoppable crash course toward a dark black planet right at its center, a scary black mass that pulls us in and plunges everything into

DANNY BUDWING, six and three-quarters years old, sits cross- legged on the grass, staring to his left. He turns and looks to his right. Then his left. Then his right.

Sound creeps in and we hear the THWACK of ball on leather on each head turn. Danny follows the thwacks like a tennis match, left, right, left, right.

From behind Danny, we see what he sees -- DAD, in his late thirties, well okay, forty, and WALTER, Danny's nine year old brother. They both know baseball, that's for sure, healthy arms’, good with the glove. They don't drop any.

Danny keeps watching -- left, right, left, right. He sighs, rests his chin on one hand. We move in tighter on his face, tighter still, that annoying "THWACK!" getting louder and louder, the high-spirited yells of his father and brother ("Nice catch!" "Great throw!" "Way to go!") rising up specifically to bug the crap out of him.

From offscreen comes his father's voice.

+ +

+ + Oe

+e He +

2. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 2

Danny takes a deep breath and picks up his glove.

Danny scowls as his sweaty, athletic brother walks past him, giving him a dirty look.

Danny pushes the glove gamely onto his hand. He hits it a few times, stares in his dad's direction. Takes a deep breath.

Dad tosses him one underhand, gently.

Danny closes his eyes, turns his head away, and hears the ball THUD to the grass. He looks back, sees the ball resting by his feet.

Walter just barely begins to roll his eyes, but Dad catches him, holds out a finger in warning.

3. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (2) 2

Walter makes an innocent face. But Danny knows the score.

Danny sighs heavily, picks up the ball and throws it back to his dad, and gets it almost all the way there.

Danny nods, but keeps staring at his father.

Danny looks down, stares at the ball hard, Superman using x-ray vision.

Dad tosses another underhand one, puts a little more on it. This one sails higher, Danny looks up, raises his glove, closes just one eye this time and the ball actually hits his glove, he opens his other eye in excitement, but the ball bounces off his glove and falls behind him --

-- where it's caught by a diving Walter, who has leapt in from the side. He rolls on the grass, holding the glove over his head, a spectacular snow-cone grab.

Danny hurls his glove at Walter as hard as he can, it hits his brother in the head.

DANNY

THIS GAME IS EXTREMELY STUPID!

+

ae HH

4. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (3) 2

He Danny storms off across the yard and into their house, a beautiful old arts and crafts place that's seen better days, but could be wonderfully cozy again, with a little TLC. Dad sighs and looks at Walter -- did you have to do that?

Curt TO:

Danny storms into the house and SLAMS the front door behind him. The living room is just off the entryway, which has an open central area. Danny THUMP THUMP THUMPS up the stairs, comes out on the --

-- second floor landing, and STOMPS down the hall.

Dad comes into the house a few seconds later.

No answer. He starts up the stairs to the second floor.

Dad comes up onto the second floor and starts down the hallway, toward a bedroom at the end of the hall.

But then he stops, backs up a few steps, to something he passed. It's a small door in the wall, at about waist height (for an adult), looks like a laundry chute.

The door's an old wooden one, nicely carved, freckled with round holes, vents that let in light and air from the landing.

Dad pulis the door open, revealing Danny, who's scrunched up in the wooden box suspended inside the space, which is actually an old dumbwaiter.

Danny's got his knees pulled up to his chest and is sucking his thumb, but he whips the offending digit out of his mouth when he sees his dad.

5. 05/24/2004

CONTINUED : 6 DAD You know you're not supposed to play in here. DANNY

I'm not playing. Playing is when you're having fun.

Dad squats, so he and Danny are at eye level.

I was small when I was your age too, and now look at me. I'm taller than both my brothers. In fact, I-

Sick of that old story, Danny launches himself out of the dumbwaiter and takes off down the hall, toward his room.

This is the bedroom of two imaginative, busy kids. The walls are covered with posters, on one side, basketball players and athletes, on the other it's heavy on fantasy themes. They moved in fairly recently, maybe a couple months ago. Not everything is unpacked, but nearly so.

Danny flies in and flounces face-down on the bed. Dad's not far behind.

(MORE)

il

6. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 7

Just outside the door to the bedroom, Walter lurks, listening to them and licking a popsicle.

DAD And, you know, I use my imagination for a living, so I know what I'm talking about.

Danny sits up.

In the hallway, Walter stops mid-lick, listening intently for the answer to that one.

Is my imagination better than Walter's?

Dad smiles and lowers his forehead against Danny's.

e+e e OF

7. 05/24/2004

Walter leans in closer, straining to hear.

DAD (whispers to Danny) You're different than Walter.

Walter, frustrated, couldn't hear.

He flops back down on the bed facing away.

Danny sits up, looks at him.

DAD

I have to work.

He thrusts a book at Dad.

Danny flops back down with panache.

Dad comes down the stairs and into the living room, just as a football flies at his head. He manages to catch it.

Walter, who threw the football, is in a chair facing the TV, which is tuned to his favorite show, SportsCenter.

8. 05/24/2004 16 CONTINUED : ; 16

Walter's finished his popsicle and is drinking a big glass of red fruit punch.

But it's Saturday! The phone RINGS in the other room.

He tosses the football back to Walter and walks into --

-- his office, a converted dining room. He drops down at a big table where an array of art supplies is laid out, an ad layout in progress. Walter's behind him, in the doorway.

Hi. Yeah, can you hang on just one second? Thanks.

(to Walter, covering the phone) I have a meeting this afternoon, Walter, and I have to be ready. Nothing I can do about it.

OC

ee

9. 05/24/2004 17 CONTINUED : 17

Walter sets his glass down dramatically.

To whom?

I'm sorry, Richard, can I call you right back? Two minutes. Thanks.

He hangs up and slides his chair across the floor, gliding to a stop in front of Walter. He holds his son by the arms.

10. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (2) 17

Danny has come down the stairs and wandered over near the door to the office. He lurks outside, listening.

unconsciously, he puts his thumb back in his mouth.

Walter throws the football to Dad, who catches it instinctively.

Danny appears in the doorway, holding up two Nintendo remotes, their cords dragging behind him.

41. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: 21

He throws the football back to Walter, to be done with it. He is attempting to keep his patience. Walter catches the ball and Danny points hysterically at this outrage.

Dad finally snaps.

They both just stare at him, wide-eyed. Walter sets the football down on a bookcase, as if to apologize for pushing so hard. Danny drops the remotes, starts to put his thumb in his mouth but catches himself and drops his arms to his sides, his lower lip quivering.

Dad feels horrible. He sits back down and stares out the window, takes a breath. When he starts talking he's still facing away from them. He talks softly.

12. 05/24/2004

DAD (cont’d)

Do you boys remember the time I ate that bad chicken they keep under the lights at the supermarket and I was sick all night throwing up?

(they nod) And the next morning we had to get on the plane to go to Grandma's and Lisa and Mom were off looking at colleges and I was still so sick I could barely stand up?

More nods. He turns around and faces them now.

DAD (cont’d)

Remember before we left, when I told you guys I needed you to grow up a few years, right then in that very moment, so that you could help me on the trip instead of me helping you? Otherwise we wouldn't make it?

(more nods) Remember what happened?

Pause. Danny and Walter look at each other.

gotta grow up all at once. I need today to be one of those days.

Cur TO:

SLAM! The door to their bedroom closes and Walter and Danny flop down on opposite sides. Bored. Mad. long pause.

You cheat at board games, Danny.

13. 05/24/2004 22 CONTINUED : 22

You can't cheat at Stratego!

Dad drops back into his office chair. Rubs his face with his hands. Picks up the phone and dials.

Danny, back to us, is rummaging through a toy chest, tossing out boring stuff, looking for good. He comes up with two expensive- looking walkie-talkies. He turns one on, static comes out.

Danny holds out one of the walkie-talkies invitingly.

Walter heaves a theatrical sigh and takes the radio.

4 ; Cur TO:

14, 05/24/2004

Dad is shuffling through the layout materials on his desk, talking on the phone.

There is an angry SHRIEK from upstairs. He looks up at the ceiling.

Still from upstairs, he hears the bedroom door BANG open --

-- and feet THUDDING on the stairs.

...we'd be foolish to change at the eleventh hour. Uh, can I call you back one more time real quick? Small domestic emergency here. No, I know. I know. Not a problem. Okay. Okay. Thanks.

He hangs up the phone just as the door to the office bursts open to reveal Walter, holding one of his walkie-talkies in his hand. He displays its newly broken antenna like a prosecutor showing a murder weapon.

Danny is behind him, hands shoved in pockets, ashamed.

15. 05/24/2004

O nap

Walter...

CQ YOU SHUT UP!

Livid, Danny grabs Walter's football from the bookcase next to the door and hurls it at Walter's head as hard as he can. Walter ducks --

DANNY

-- Dad's eyes pop wide, he lunges for it --

-- but the ball sails past his outstretched fingertips, SMACKS into the glass of red fruit punch Walter left on the desk --

-- and spills all over the layout. Dad leaps to his feet. Walter GASPS. Danny's face turns white. DANNY (cont’d) I'm sorry! (no reply) I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry aA m sorry

I'm sorry I'm sorry!

Dad doesn't reply, just stares down at the desk, defeated, as { } the ruby-red fruit drink seeps into the layout materials.

cur TO:

16. 05/24/2004

C) 26 INT LIVING ROOM DAY 26

Walter and Danny sit next to each other in the middle of the couch, watching guiltily as Dad pulls on his jacket, gets his wallet and keys, etc.

C) fantastic. é WALTER

I like Mom's house better.

He catches himself, some bitterness crept through. He softens.

e+ + eH

L7.. 05/24/2004

CONTINUED : 26 DANNY WALTER 7 NOOO! Are you crazy?! Cor TO:

LISA is sixteen, pretty, and snappish, even while sleeping. Which she is right now. Only a fool would wake her up.

He hurries into her bedroom and throws open the curtains.

Lisa rolls over and looks at him through one open eye.

Again with the timing. +

O

18. 05/24/2004

27 CONTINUED : 27 DAD And could you please not say "hooking up? " LISA Whatevs. DAD

Look, I'm not asking you to enrich the boys' lives in any way, just keep an eye on them and make sure they don't set the place on fire. Okay?

(no reply) Okay? LISA I'm not deaf. DAD

Thank you.

He walks out. Lisa gets out of bed. She goes to the window and regards the beautiful day. Below, she sees Dad come out the front door and walk towards his car. She yawns --

-- and yanks the drapes shut. She grabs her iPod and turns it on loud, puts on her Bose noise-reducing headphones and a sleep shade. She flounces back under the covers, rolls over and faces the wall.

CuT TO:

Danny and Walter are in the living room. Alone now. Danny has turned on the tv and is playing a GameCube game, something with animated characters bashing each other all around the screen.

Walter walks over to the GameCube and SNAPS it off.

Walter switches the channel and the TV comes on, showing an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.

ON TV,

19. 05/24/2004

e SpongeBob is frustrated by Mr. Crabs.

IN THE LIVING ROOM,

Danny sees it, it's his favorite show. His face lights up, but Walter grabs the remote and flicks it over to SportsCenter.

In response, Walter holds the remote out and turns up the volume. Danny sighs.

SpongeBob? WALTER SpongeBob is for babies. DANNY ( ) You used to like it. WALTER Times change. DANNY

(mutters) Tartar sauce.

Pause. Danny thinks, how to get his brother's attention.

Walter turns the TV up some more and ignores him. DANNY (cont’d) (another curse)

Fish paste.

oe Danny thinks for a moment, then leaves the room. He comes back a few seconds later with two baseball gloves and a ball.

20. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (2) : 28

He drops them on the floor in front of him. He stands there, hoping Walter will notice him. Walter doesn't.

You and I. And no.

Danny still stands there, frustrated. Waiting for Walter to look at him.

But Walter won't.

Danny picks up the ball and tosses it gently into the chair next to Walter. Never taking his eyes off the TV, Walter picks it up and drops it on the carpet, rolling it almost back to Danny in a most un-catchlike manner.

Undeterred, Danny picks it up. He tosses it again, a little bit harder. Walter sees it coming and takes his eyes off the tube just long enough to catch it. Again, he drops it on the carpet.

Danny marches forward and picks it up again, goes back to where he was. He looks at Walter, frustrated.

Walter just stares at the TV, eyes glazing over. The baseball hits Walter in the head.

WALTER (cont’d)

ow!

WALTER

You're DEAD, you little pygmy! Danny takes off. Walter bolts out of the chair.

Danny races up the stairs two at a time and runs down the upstairs hallway.

Walter covers the stairs three at a time and closes in.

Danny runs into their bedroom and slams the door behind him. There's no lock so he pushes against it as hard as he can.

O

21. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: 29

But Walter's right behind him, now he's pushing on the other side of the door.

He's shoving, Danny's shoving back, but it's a losing proposition, Walter is stronger and heavier and the door's coming open so --

-- Danny jumps back, hiding behind it as it swings open. Walter tumbles into the room and Danny races around the door and out into the hallway. Walter gets up and chases after him.

Walter races out of the bedroom and into the hallway. No Danny. That's weird. How could he have gone so far so fast?

Inside the dumbwaiter, Danny is curled up in a ball, knees to his chest, trying not to breathe hard. Through the vent holes in the wooden door, we can see the hallway outside, and Walter approaching.

Danny holds his breath as Walter draws closer --

-- and exhales as Walter walks right past.

The door of the dumbwaiter suddenly flies open and Walter's face is right in front of Danny's, grinning with malicious glee.

Danny SCREAMS. He tries to get out of the dumbwaiter, but Walter SLAMS the door on him. Danny pushes against it, but Walter pushes back, trapping him there. As they struggle:

22. 05/24/2004

CONTINUED : 31 DANNY ¥ YOU'RE A JERK! : * WALTER * YOU'RE A DWARF! * DANNY al I DON'T WANNA BE WITH YOU ALL THE TIME, * I WANNA BE WITH MOM AND DAD ALL THE * TIME! * WALTER * YEAH, WELL THAT AIN'T EVER GONNA * HAPPEN! * Eyes gleaming with malevolence, Walter spies a rope that hangs * alongside the dumbwaiter. The rope is stretched tight, looped around a-pulley that's fastened to the wall. Walter grabs hold of the rope and starts pulling down on it, hand over hand. The wooden box that Danny's curled into starts to descend. *

But he's already out of sight, as Walter is pulling on the rope like a madman, lowering Danny down, down, down...

It's much darker in the dumbwaiter when it's lowering down the chute, and Danny is terrified as the thing jiggles and rocks and drops toward the basement.

Seen from below, inside the dumbwaiter chute, Walter leans his head in from above and shouts down at us.

23.6 05/24/2004

The dumbwaiter CLUNKS to a halt and Danny is in almost total darkness. He's frozen, eyes wide. He whispers.

Walter SLAMS the door and heads back downstairs.

Danny trembles in the dumbwaiter, panicked. He peers through the holes in the door, but can't see much.

He takes a deep breath, then touches the door and pushes it open

eeeeeeever so slightly.

Danny's eyes peek around the corner of the slightly open door. The only light coming into the basement is a few wayward beams through the crack in the storm cellar doors, not nearly enough to light the whole creepy place. And it is creepy, looks like they inherited a bunch of junk from sixty or seventy years of previous owners who didn't feel like clearing it out. There's stuff piled everywhere.

Danny pushes the door open a teensy bit more, takes a deep breath --

-- and hurls himself out of the dumbwaiter. He hits the floor running, headed for a closed door at the far end.

He throws the door open, revealing a stairwell that leads upstairs. He lunges inside, tripping on the steps and OOFING down hard on his stomach.

He wriggles around and SLAMS the door behind him --

-- then FLICKS the deadbolt lock on the basement door.

He lies there, crumpled at the bottom of the steps, breathing heavily. Safe for the time being, he takes a moment to collect himself.

But as he starts to get up, he stops, his curiosity aroused.

O

24, 05/24/2004

CONTINUED : 38 There's something under one of the stairs, looks like it was ad shoved there a long long time ago, but you'd never see it unless * you fell at the bottom of the steps just the way Danny has. ¥ It's a tattered old cardboard box, must be about fifty years * old. Carved letters on the edge of the box read * ZATHURA sl A Space Adventure w Danny pulls the box out and admires it. * CUT TO: *

Walter is slumped in the chair in front of the television, watching his show again. Danny comes into the living room, carrying the wooden box and a scowl for Walter.

And that about sums it up. Danny drops down cross-legged on the * carpet by the window and looks at his treasure. The cover of

the box is carved with space stuff, old school rockets and starfields. He opens it.

The game sort of unfolds before him, its design decidedly retro, an early fifties look. Everything is well-worn. Printed on the inside of the box in large letters it says "The Rules," but Danny doesn't bother reading them.

Walter cranes around from his chair and looks at the game, a bored expression on his face.

WALTER

You would. It's for babies.

He turns back to the TV.

25. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 39

Danny frowns and looks back at the board. It's a starfield, like on the front of the box, with a path of colored squares leading to a large black planet labelled "Zathura." There's no dice, instead there's a skate key that winds up a crank, and a spinning number dial next to it.

Danny looks at the game pieces, which are different colored rocket ships. There's a red and a blue ship, stuck into the track on the planet earth.

guess. {to Walter)

Will you play with me?

Danny sighs and looks at the board again. Earth looks like the starting spot, and the mechanical track that runs off from there.

He cranks the skate key, punches the button, and the number tumbler spins, stopping on a four.

Danny reaches out to move one of the rocket ships, but the red

ship starts moving all by itself, KA-CHUNKING ahead four spaces.

When the ship reaches the fourth square, a buzzing sound comes from the board.

Danny's eyes widen as a small white card pops out of the edge right in front of him with a smart little CLICK.

Walter ignores him. Danny takes the card and looks at it. It has a big Z on one side, words on the other. Danny furrows his brow. Tries reading it.

26. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (2) 39

his view of the television is suddenly blocked by Danny's face.

Walter sighs and takes the card.

WALTER

"Meteor shower, take evasive action." DANNY

What's "evasive action?" WALTER

It's when you get out of the way of

something.

Danny looks around, takes one step to the side. Looks around again.

He looks back at the card for further information, but stops mid- sentence. There's a small, smoking hole right in the middle of the card.

He bends down and peers more closely at the hole. Through it, he can see another hole, also small, also smoking, in the floor between his feet.

He looks up, sees a matching hole in the ceiling directly above the card.

POINK!

A rock drops onto the floor in front of them.

27. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (3) 39

PLINK!

Another rock lands on the fireplace mantle, bounces off, bounces across the room and lands on the rug in front of them.

SSSSSS! The rock burns a hole in the rug, then drops through the living room floor and falls into the basement below.

Walter and Danny look at each other. Up above them, they hear a RAT-A-TAT sound on the roof.

He grabs the card and waves it in front of him.

TEENK! A meteor smashes a vase on an end table. THWOK! A meteor rips through the seat of a side chair. POW! A meteor SMASHES through a pile of books on a shelf.

TAK! TAK! TAK! TAK! The drizzle of meteors increases to a shower, and then --

BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!

-- a furious POUNDING, like a thousand golf balls hammering down on them. Danny and Walter SHOUT to one another, but their words are lost under the cacophony.

We can hear the POUNDING in Lisa's room too. But Lisa is in the isolation tank, sleep shade on, headphones blaring. Still, she must sense it, because she reaches down, spins the wheel on her iPod, and cranks the music even louder.

The skies outside the window suddenly go dark, plunging the room into gloom. Walter stumbles to the wall and flicks a light

switch.

ZZ2ZZ2Z222-CRASH!

28. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 41

A golf-ball sized meteor SMASHES through the ceiling, BLASTS xight through the coffee table in front of Danny, and CRUNCHES through the floor below it, burrowing deep out of.sight.

Danny leaps back.

He does, which consists of running around in circles.

But it doesn't seem to be a bad plan, as one golf-ball sized meteor after another SMASHES through the ceiling and craters in the floor. They seem to be landing right behind Danny no matter where he goes.

He staggers backwards and falls into an easy chair so hard it tips over backwards, landing him on his back on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. He SCREAMS and leaps out of the chair --

-- as a meteor SMASHES right through it.

Walter, meanwhile, is running across the living room, pursued by CRASHING meteors, which nip at his heels. He races out into the entryway and skids to a stop, looking up --

-- AT THREE METEORS SLAMMING THROUGH THE ROOF right over him.

He turns back around and races away as they SMASH into the floor.

Back to Danny, who's crawling across the floor. He hides behind the other easy chair, we can't see him for a moment, and then --

-- the chair is obliterated by a crashing meteor. When the dust settles, Danny is revealed, curled up in a ball behind the chair, hands over his head.

The meteors stop. Danny looks at Walter, who's also curled up in a ball in the middle of the floor, hands over his head to protect himself.

Silence for a second. They look at the smoking, smashed, ruined living room.

Walter turns, looks at the only intact thing left in the room -- the big TV set. He sighs in relief.

A low whistle like a falling bomb rises up, gets louder and louder, a dark shape approaches fast, and --

e+ eH

29. 05/24/2004 Al CONTINUED: (2) 41

( ) -- a huge meteor, six feet across, SMASHES through the roof! im

The meteor plummets downward into the house at an angle, SMASHES * through the wall that divides the living room from the foyer,

and Danny and Walter leap out of the way as it pulverizes the = television. * WALTER *

Holy sh- *

DANNY =

(cutting him off) *

Tartar sauce! *

Walter and Danny slowly get to their feet and walk over to Es either side of the crater. Everything goes quiet as the meteor * shower stops and the dust settles. * DANNY (cont’d) %

Told you. Meteors.

In shock, Walter looks at the giant meteor that is now buried in their floor. He looks up, through the jagged hole in the roof. * Outside, there's a night sky, brilliantly dotted with starlight.

( } WALTER

Dad is gonna kill us!

(looking around) * Look at this place! It's wrecked! a Danny looks up, out the hole in the roof. * DANNY Wow. Outer space! WALTER It's not outer space, Danny. It's nighttime. DANNY I don't know, Walter. Night never looked so... close before. WALTER

We must have got knocked out or something. We got turned unconscious for a while and now it's night, and that's what happened.

Danny looks around at the other windows, notices there are % C) starfields outside them too. *

30. 05/24/2004 Al CONTINUED: (3) Al

C) DANNY I don't think so. It's three o'clock, why is it so dark?

Danny just gives him a look -- don't be pathetic.

(pause) C) . I have a question.

Walter doesn't have an answer for that one.

They both turn and look at the front door. Danny walks toward it, but Walter does not, he just watches his brother.

Slowly, Danny opens the front door. He peeks outside, then turns back to Walter, amazed.

r What are you, afraid?

31. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (4) Al

Walter doesn't like to have that one turned on him. Frowning, he walks forward slowly to join Danny at the door.

The front door swings open and Danny and Walter step out onto the front porch, but there's no outside there anymore. At least, not the one they expected. It's as if the front porch opens up directly on the outer reaches of the solar system, like the view screen of a spaceship, if they had such things.

Jumping back from the house, we see it is completely detached from its earthly moorings, trailing pipes and power wires out its basement, which looks like a molar that's been ripped out by the roots.

The house is drifting somewhere through the outer reaches of our solar system. Saturn is clearly visible up ahead, its icy, brilliantly colored rings lit up like a billion jewels.

Walter's bike, which was parked on the front porch earlier, drifts lazily alongside the house.

Back on the front porch, Walter's jaw drops. He walks forward toward us a few steps, transfixed, and when he reaches the top step, he starts to drift upward, out of frame, freed from the house's gravity.

Danny reaches out and grabs him by the belt, pulling him back down. Slowly, they back into the house --

-~ and close the door softly behind them.

+ + HK + ee +

ee +

32. 05/24/2004

C) DANNY

Some sorta space nuggets.

Walter turns and looks at the wrecked house with new awe.

ACROSS THE ROOM, Walter snatches the phone, but of course there's no dial tone.

{ ) WALTER

Danny, I hate to say this and I know you're going to think I'm crazy -- but maybe we have to wake up Lisa.

Cut to Lisa, still in bed, eyeshade on and music blaring. The boys stand over her in her darkened bedroom. Walter leans over and pulls one of the headphones off Lisa's ear. He's clutching the folded up Zathura board under one arm.

She pulls the eyeshade off one eye and stares at them.

C } DANNY

Nothing!

33. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 46

They start talking at the same time:

DANNY & WALTER -- get back to earth!

Lisa sits up, gravely concerned.

But she's not reacting to what they said, she's looking past them, noticing that it's dark outside.

She leaps up and heads for the bathroom, SLAMMING the door in their faces. Walter POUNDS on it.

The door to the bathroom opens and Lisa pokes her head out. Inside, the bathroom is filling with steam.

He

. 34, 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (2) 46

And SLAM! She's back in the bathroom. She hits the switch on a boom box and cranks up the MUSIC, singing along loudly. Apparently, her milk shake brings the boys to the yard.

The boys POUND on the door, calling her name, nearly hysterical. She yanks the door open again, just a towel wrapped around her.

" LISA (cont’d) What?!

Lisa SIGHS heavily.

They drop to the floor outside her bathroom door and spread out the game. Walter CRANKS the key, SMACKS the button and the spinning wheel spins.

Danny winces, covering his head. Walter cowers next to the board.

The wheel stops on a one, and Walter's space ship THUNKS forward one space most underwhelmingly.

Danny and Walter peek out.

She starts to go into the bathroom.

The board BUZZES and spits out a card.

O

OQ

35. 05/24/2004

CONTINUED: (3) A6 DANNY Wait, the card! WALTER Yeah, the card! The card's what makes

it happen! Walter takes the card and reads it.

And she's gone, into the bathroom, SLAMMING and LOCKING the door behind her. The MUSIC comes back on.

CRANK. SMACK. Spin. A two. BUZZ -- a card. Danny takes it, Walter leans in over his shoulder.

All of a sudden, the sound of the shower stops from behind the bathroom door. The music stops too. Worried, Danny and Walter look at each other.

+

ee ee

36. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (4) 46

They notice that steam is no longer coming from under the door of the bathroom. In fact, there's a thin seam of ice along the bottom now.

Walter gets up and tries to open the door, but it's frozen shut.

He and Danny lower their shoulders and SMACK into the door, which gives way.

It's cold in the bathroom, really, really cold, the room is now a deep-freeze. The tub is an ice rink, the steam that hangs in the air is more like hail and falls when you touch it, and the shower water that was coming out of the nozzle is frozen in long strands, as if someone stopped time.

Lisa stands frozen in her bathrobe, hair white with frost, one hand outstretched in the middle of the frozen strands, she must have been feeling the shower water prior to jumping in.

He turns and runs out of the room.

Walter races over to the counter and finds a bunch of long- handled matches in a jar next to a scented candle. He grabs one.

Next he picks up a can of Aqua Net hair spray, lights the match, and points the hair spray can toward it.

+ FF FO *

+

Al

37. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 47

He sprays the hair spray, which hits the flame and creates a huge blow torch effect.

He knocks the hair spray out of Walter's hand and the flame immediately goes out.

WALTER

So what are we supposed to do?!

Danny looks at him, grimly serious.

CLOSE ON a big black blob, the drawing on the game board that represents the planet Zathura. Pulling back, we find Danny and Walter, sitting cross-legged on either side of the game board back in the smashed-up living room.

Walter is leaning over the open box, reading some words that are printed on the inside of the box top.

He flips the top over, looking for more.

Danny cranks the crank a few times and gestures to Walter to push the button.

O

O

O

38. 05/24/2004

CONTINUED :

Walter reaches out to the button, transfixed, then seems to snap

out of it and sits back.

Walter stares at him for a moment --

Walter reaches out to push the button that spins the spinner,

but notices the look Danny's giving him.

Walter hits the button. The Spin-O-Matic spins, slowing to a

stop on the number --

39. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (2) 48

Walter reaches out to move his ship, but the board takes over, WHIRRING and CLICKING as it moves his rocket ahead ten spaces, landing on a blue square.

The board BUZZES and a card pops out in front of him. Walter takes it. He holds his breath and moves it sloooowwwwly up in front of his eyes, cradles it in the palm of his hand, lays eyes on it --

-- AND SCREAMS AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS! Danny leaps to his feet.

DANNY (cont’ d)

From the hallway outside comes the sound of rattling metal and a steady CLANK CLANK CLANK.

Both boys leap to their feet, staring at the source of the

sound. A shadow falls on the floor in the hallway, growing larger. It's a very scary shadow, all hyperextended arms and claws, and it's growing, growing -- *

-- they grab onto each other as the shadow completely fills the hallway outside the door, this thing must be absolutely --

-- well, turns out it's tiny. A shiny metal robot about a foot tall rolls into the doorway and stops.

Danny and Walter laugh in relief, then realize they're hugging * each other. Embarrassed, Walter shoves Danny away. ¥

40. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (3) 48

The robot's upper body rotates toward them. Its eyes light up, faint red search beams come on and scan the room. The beams pass over Danny without stopping, but then they fall on Walter and fixate --

-- on the card he still holds in his hands.

Suddenly the robot begins to grow, fast, the best transformer you've ever seen. Its lower section extends, its arms telescope out, twenty-four additional layers of metal shielding WHIP-WHAP- WHIP around its midsection, its head quadruples in size, whole metal sections unfurling from within.

WALTER

No it isn't! He drops the card as if it were on fire.

The robot reaches its full size, now standing six feet tall and four feet wide. Its clawlike hands extend, SNAP open and shut several times quickly.

And it starts to walk -- THUNK. THUNK. THUNK. Moving steadily toward Walter.

ee HK

O

41. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (4) 48

They bolt in opposite directions, just as twin turbo jets emerge from the robot's back. The jets spit blue flame, the robot's legs fold up behind it, and the robot rockets across the floor toward Walter.

He lunges out of the way just as the robot SMASHES into the wall behind where he was standing.

Its head pivots around and looks at Walter, but its body stays where it is, driven completely into the wall and stuck there.

Walter stares, wide-eyed.

But the robot's working on that. Its arms snake around to the its back and flip open two circular panels there. The claw- hands SNAP into the center of the circular panels and come out spinning, now attached to --

-- CIRCULAR SAWS.

Danny and Walter SCREAM and take off as the robot goes to work on the wall, trying to cut itself free of the drywall and broken joists.

Walter races across the room and toward the open door to the den. Danny leaps behind the sofa and hides there, eyes peeking over the top of the cushion to get a look at the robot.

The robot, meanwhile, finishes extricating itself from the wall and BLASTS across the room toward the den --

-- as Walter SLAMS and locks the door behind him. The den is a book-lined room with a big desk on one side. Walter takes off toward the desk, but --

-- SMASH! The robot explodes through the door. Walter cowers behind the desk as the robot advances on him, saw blades WHIRRING. The machine has him cornered.

Behind him, Walter can see Danny, who races into the room brandishing a broken chunk of wood.

+ +

* ee

CONTINUED :

05/24/2004

The robot's head spins around and sees Danny behind him.

Danny quivers. Now the robot's whole body spins time its head holds still) to face Danny.

The robot advances until --

-- KA-THUNK.

A book smacks it upside the head.

around (this

The robot turns back to Walter, who's standing at the bookcase,

loaded up with another hardcover.

WALTER

He lets it fly.

Go, Danny! Take your turn, make it go

away!

Danny turns and races out of the room, Walter takes cover behind the desk, but --

-- the robot

saws the desk in half. So there goe

s that.

The robot advances, but Walter dives and rolls out of the way.

In the living room, Danny slides to the floor in front of the game board and starts twisting the key frantically, winding up

the game.

Behind him, Walter races out of the den, pursued by the robot. The robot hits its afterburners, rockets across the floor --

-- Walter leaps, but hooks a foot on the back of the couch, he

falls --

-- and the rocket BLASTS right over top of him. through one of the picture windows, its blue jets fading as it disappears into the blackness of space.

It SMASHES

Walter and Danny look at each other, breathing hard. Silence

for a moment.

43. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 50

But the robot SMASHES back into the house through the other plate glass window, narrowly missing Walter and plowing into the wall behind him.

The boys SCREAM. Danny drops to his knees in front of the game board and SMACKS the button for the spinner. The wheel spins, he gets a six, and his ship starts moving.

The robot turns and its beams find Walter.

Walter takes off down a hallway toward the kitchen. The robot gives chase.

The game board BUZZES and spits out a card. Danny snatches it, tries to read the card but can't.

We zoom in fast on the words, maybe he can't read, but we can, and what we read says:

YOU PASS TOO CLOSE TO TSOURIS 3 GRAVITY INCREASED.

Danny hears a low WHOOSH and looks up. In the window, a large orange mass starts to rise up from below.

The game board slowly begins to slide toward the window, of its own accord.

Now Danny starts to slide toward the window, sucked there by some invisible force.

In space, the house passes near a massive orange planet so dense it HUMS as they come near.

On the near wall, half a dozen framed pictures drop off and SMASH into the floor. But they don't even bounce, they just SMACK into the floor and stay there, as if they were suddenly very, very heavy.

44, 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 52

In a corner, a ficus plant droops, hard.

Books are sucked off the bookshelves and SMACK to the floor, motionless.

Walter, fleeing from the robot, falls flat on his stomach.

The robot, chasing Walter, is SMACKED down onto the floor as well.

Walter grabs hold of a door frame and pulls himself forward.

THUNK! The robot sinks a claw into the floor and drags himself forward toward Walter, still in pursuit.

In Lisa's bathroom, she's still frozen. But icicles SNAP off her one by one and SMASH on the floor.

Danny is pulled all the way over to the one unbroken picture window, then THUNKS up against it, sucked in by the gravitational pull of the passing planet.

A lamp SMASHES through the window beside him and tumbles out into space.

Walter turns, painfully, and sees the robot at the other end of the hall, still heading toward him, but slower now, as its metal feet are digging into the boards, leaving long nasty gashes in the wood.

Hand over hand, Walter crawls down the staircase, toward the closed door at the bottom.

He reaches the bottom, reaches up to the handle, unlocks the deadbolt and throws open the door at the base of the stairs.

He drags himself up to his knees and turns to start back up the stairs --

-- and stops dead in his tracks. The robot is at the top of the stairs. No way out.

45. 05/24/2004

Back in the living room, still pressed against the window, Danny * winces as everything that's not bolted down in the room starts * flying toward him, some of it sailing out the hole in the * window. *

Outside, that big orange planet draws even closer, and Danny's * whole face starts to droop, pressed into the window. *

At the top of the stairs, the robot's eyes glow red.

Walter looks down in horror as the red beams find their mark on his chest.

Walter falls to the stairwell, hard, pinned there by the gravity, a sitting duck.

But the increased gravity hits the robot too, and its metal legs suddenly collapse, telescoping into themselves and crumpling slightly.

This sudden movement causes it to lose its balance and it teeters off the top step and cartwheels, ass over teakettle, down the stairs.

It somersaults right over Walter, through the open basement * door, and SMASHES to a stop on the floor of the basement. #

From outside the house, we see Tsouris 3 pass by, its massive orangeness now headed away from the house.

The branches on the ficus plant slowly rise again as the orange planet releases its gravitational grip.

46. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 62

Danny THUNKS to the floor, dropping off the window as the planet releases its hold on him.

He gets up and races out of the room.

Danny appears at the top of the basement stairs and looks down, to where Walter is twisted around, staring in shock at the pile of broken robot.

Walter leans over and peers into the robot's eyes, which no longer glow red -- they're black. It doesn't move. One arm is completely detached, lying on the floor a few feet away with a bunch of other broken robot stuff.

Danny edges down the stairs. He and Walter stand in the doorway to the basement, staring down at the robot. Danny looks apprehensively around the basement, doesn't want to go in. Walter creeps in for a closer look.

Walter kicks the arm. Nothing happens.

Walter gets right up over the robot corpse. He gives ita gentle kick in the side. Nothing happens. He bends down, to look into its eyes --

-- and they light up!

Danny SHOUTS.

+

Al. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 63

A small panel in the robot's chest slides open and a multi- pronged tool emerges on the end of a folding metal arm. It BUZZES to life.

Don't have to tell Walter twice. He takes off for the door as the whirring tool starts repairing broken wires in the robot's torso.

Walter bolts through the door and SLAMS it, leaving the basement dark, except for the flashing laser lights of the robot's repair mechanism.

Danny and Walter drop to the floor on the cushions of the overturned couch, leaning against its back, exhausted. Danny is quivering, truly shaken now. This isn't fun anymore.

After a long moment --

-- Walter drags the game board over toward them.

Danny doesn't. Walter cranks the key, hits the button, and the spinner spins. A four comes up and Walter's blue ship moves that many spaces. A new card spits out of the board.

Danny rolls his eyes as Walter's blue ship THUNKS ahead another two spaces.

+ Oe

ee

ee

48. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 64

WALTER (cont’ d)

Great! DANNY (imitating him) "Great!" WALTER

Your turn. Danny shakes his head no.

Walter looks at him. Danny's on the verge of tears.

And he sits back, arms folded across his chest. Walter looks at him, thinking.

_ CUT TO:

The kitchen also shows the effects of the super gravity that hit

the house earlier -- it's completely trashed, pots and pans that were once hanging from a rack are all over the floor.

+

+ + ee HO ee HH

ee

49, 05/24/2004 65 CONTINUED : 65

O Danny is staring obstinately at the Zathura game board laid out in front of him on the kitchen counter, where Walter is studying the directions on the side of a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. A pan boils on the stove.

WALTER

It can't be that hard. I've seen\Dad do it a million times.

He takes the cheese packet out and sets it aside. He lifts the * pan off the stove and dumps the macaroni water into a strainer in the sink.

Oh, come on, sure you do. Don't you

know what Zathura's like? It's bel a

incredible.

How do you kext yor A to [be

Walter takes the chair next to his brother. As he talks, he be “unwraps a whole stick of butter and dumps it in the pan.

whatever your wish is. 4 (warming to this) ple ws So maybe if you won you'd get to/play Th * games with Dad whenever you want/ as W'! $ much as you want and he wouldn't get ¥ tired or have to go to work or Anything pt = stupid. And I won I'd never have to * quit or give up my turns because it'd * be- C) He stops, seeing the look on Danny's facé. He realizes what he's implying. Danny snatches up the eese packet and starts

tugging on it.

O

©

CONTINUED :

POOF!

50. 05/24/2004 (2) 65

The cheese packet rips open all at once, sending cheese

powder flying into the air. Danny dumps the remainder into the

pan.

Walter picks up a wooden spoon and starts stirring the macaroni

mess.

WALTER : Okay, what do you think Zathura's like? DANNY Black. Scary. Evil. Your basic nightmare. WALTER Try again. Something good. Use your imagination. DANNY

Well... maybe...

(getting an idea) Maybe it's like this place? It's like this place where bullies aren't allowed to even go. And the guy who invented evil gets in really big trouble. And when I play a game I don't always have to be the worst one at it, and you and me and Mom and Dad and even Lisa all live in one house together, and you're probably gonna make fun of me for even thinking that, so you just go right ahead because I don't care and I'm not playing.

Walter scoops a big spoonful of macaroni and cheese from the pan, PLOPS it into a bowl and slides it over in front of Danny.

51. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (3) 65

Danny looks down at it. It oozes too much melted butter, there are large chunks of un-mixed cheese powder coagulating at the edges, and the whole thing has a bright orange color that is nowhere to be found at nature.

Danny looks up at Walter, impressed but not wanting to show it.

Danny takes a spoon and eats a mouthful. His expression is rapturous. Walter slides the Zathura game board over in front of him and gives the skate key a couple CRANKS.

Danny's waffling. WALTER (cont’d) Danny? All those things you said? They can never come true unless you play the game.

Realizing he's right, Danny reaches out and SMACKS the button.

The wheel spins. Stops on a six -- * WALTER (cont’ d) *

(encouraging) *

Hey, you got a six, good job! *

-- and Danny's space ship CLUNKS ahead that number of spaces and * a card spits out.

Walter takes it and reads while Danny eats.

Danny, looking over Walter's shoulder, doesn't respond. Instead, his eyes go wide, his spoon droops, and the macaroni PLOPS back into the bowl.

Walter looks at him, puzzled, then whirls around, following Danny's line of vision and looking out the kitchen window.

52. 05/24/2004

OUTSIDE THE WINDOW, 66

a nasty-looking, old fashioned Buck Rogers-type spaceship has pulled up right alongside the flying house and is measuring its pace. Bizarre guttural SQUAWKINGS are blasting from external speakers, somebody's trying to tell them something in tones so loud the windows rattle.

BACK IN THE KITCHEN, 67

OUTSIDE THE WINDOW, 68

the barrel of a cannon emerges from a porthole on the side of the ship and points right at them.

BACK IN THE KITCHEN, 69

Walter scoops up the game board, Danny scoops up his bowl of macaroni, and the boys take off, running out of the kitchen and into --

-- the living room, but by the time they get there the Zorgon ship has already banked around the house and pulled up in front of the big picture window.

The boys SCREAM.

Outside, a white hot light glows from within the laser cannon and a ball of searingly bright light fires out, headed straight for the house.

He grabs Danny and they dive into the only place that looks remotely like cover -- the fireplace.

The photon blast SLAMS into the chimney at the top of the house. Walter looks up, sees a cascade of bricks dropping right towards them.

53 5 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 70

They both dive out of the chimney just before the bricks CRASH to the hearth where they were crouching, crushing the bowl of Macaroni and cheese Danny dropped there, and nearly crushing the Zathura game board, which Walter dropped in his haste.

Outside, the laser cannon adjusts its aim and fires another * blast at the house -- % -~ which decimates the front porch, knocking it clean off the % front of the house. * Walter's bicycle, still floating along beside the house, is * blown upward by the force of the blast, tumbling end over end * toward the roof. *

Danny and Walter throw themselves to the floor and cover their ° heads. Another blast -- *

-- EXPLODES through the wall of the upstairs bathroom.

Frozen Lisa doesn't stir as the entire house shudders from the blast, but a few icicles SNAP off in the shower and SHATTER on the tub.

Back in the living room, a spray of water springs from a new hole in the ceiling. Danny and Walter uncover their heads and look out the window. The Zorgon ship is zipping around them, searching for an angle of attack.

The loudspeakers kick in again, the Zorgons BARKING commands at the house in unintelligible tones.

54. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 75

Danny and Walter are cowering under the window ledge, the only place they're unseen by the ship outside. Walter army-crawls across the floor and scoops the Zathura game board off the floor, then crawls back and opens it up in front of Danny. He starts CRANKING the key, preparing to take his turn.

Walter hits the button and the spinner spins a five. As Walter's ship moves ahead, the board BUZZES and spits out a card. Walter grabs it.

"Reprogram. For use against enemy machines." What does that mean?!

Walter holds the card up in front of him, pointing it toward the windows like an FBI badge.

As if in response, the Zorgon ship levels another blast, which SLAMS into the side of the house right in front of them.

Walter shoves the card in his pocket --

-- cranks the crank, and shoves the game board over in front of Danny.

Danny SMACKS the button. The spinner spins a five and Danny's ship moves ahead. The board spits out a card, which Danny snatches before Walter can get to it.

Behind them, they don't notice as the Zorgon ship wipes past, revealing a white speck visible in the distance outside the window, a white speck that's growing larger.

55. 05/24/2004

The white speck, unseen by either of them, is larger still. It's a human form, tumbling straight for their window.

Danny squirms away, but Walter grabs him and pins his hand to the floor, pries his fingers open and reads the card.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

They whirl and see the white speck we've been watching, but it's no longer a white speck, it's an ASTRONAUT in a space suit, a square pack strapped to his back, a propulsion system he controls by squeezing right and left handles on which he rests his hands, little bursts of power that control his speed and direction.

The Astronaut keeps POUNDING on the window.

56. 05/24/2004

O pasaiy

No we don't! The Astronaut tries to open the window, to no avail.

Walter leans closer to the window but he can't see the astronaut's face through the reflective visor on his helmet, he just sees a big, distorted image of himself.

The Zorgon ship, still not giving up, BLASTS past them, behind the Astronaut, sending him cartwheeling away from the window, swept along in their wake, out of frame to the left.

C) For a moment, it's silent. The boys look at each other. Maybe he went away?

DANNY (cont’d)

Who's that?!

He starts to get up, but Danny yanks him back down.

But their argument is cut short by a RATTLING sound over at the front door.

C) The doorknob is turning!

They draw in their breath --

57. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (4) 75

-- and a second later the front door BANGS open, SLAMMING up against the wall, revealing the Astronaut in full glory.

But upside down. He squeezes his handles and his propulsion pack HSSTS on one side, rotating him counter-clockwise to an upright position.

Now he squeezes both handles and bursts forward, floating into the center of the entry hall and THUDDING down on his boots as the house's gravity takes hold of him.

He pushes the door shut behind him and turns toward the boys.

They cower in the corner, no idea what to make of this guy. The Astronaut takes off his helmet, revealing a good-looking young guy around twenty. He shakes his shaggy hair out of his eyes and looks around the room in amazement.

KA-BOOM!

Another Zorgon blast shakes the house to its foundations. The Astronaut flops himself onto the floor and wriggles expertly out of his space suit, revealing a tattered flight jump suit. *

He crawls over to join the boys in the corner.

Wide-eyed, Walter points to Danny. The Astronaut turns and looks at Danny. His eyes fill with emotion.

WALTER

I'm Walter. I'm a Fleet Admiral.

58. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (5) 75

Walter looks crestfallen, Danny triumphant.

ZORRCH! A photon blast cuts through the wall and obliterates Walter's favorite easy chair, reducing it to a pile of ash.

The Astronaut looks at Danny. Just the sight of the little kid seems to fill him with glee.

Danny and Walter crouch on the kitchen floor behind the Astronaut, who's rummaging through the cabinet under the sink. They talk fast as the RUMBLING Zorgon ship circles outside the windows.

59. 05/24/2004

CONTINUED : 76 ASTRONAUT Already did. But that's not the worst part. The real problem is their appetites -- they never stop eating. He finds what he was looking for -- a can of EZ-Off oven cleaner. ASTRONAUT (cont’d) Ah hah. WALTER Wh-what do they eat? ASTRONAUT Meat. DANNY (relieved) Well, that's good. ASTRONAUT Dude -- you're meat. Danny GASPS.

Danny runs off to follow orders. The Astronaut turns to Walter.

Walter turns,

sees the still-lit burner on the stove. ASTRONAUT (cont’d)

Burning gas, that's probably what brought 'em in the first place.

He takes the can of oven cleaner and hurries toward the door to the living room.

60. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (2) 76

And he leaves. Walter turns and flicks off the burner on the - stove.

CLOSE ON the blue flame as it's extinguished.

Danny runs down the upstairs hallway, turning out the lights one by one.

The Astronaut hurries into the living room and searches around in the rubble, looking for something in particular. He comes across a small wooden box and his eyes light up.

He flicks it open, revealing a stash of fireplace matches.

Walter walks nervously down the stairs toward the basement door as a photon BLAST hits hard somewhere in the house.

But as he reaches for the doorknob, he notices something in the crack under the door.

Sparks. Like from a welding torch.

He leans closer to the door, puts his ear against it. He hears machinery inside, a little saw, a power screwdriver --

-- and the Robot's muffled VOICE, giving itself repair instructions.

Walter turns and races back upstairs without opening the door.

Walter runs down the hallway to a gadget on the wall at the far end -- the thermostat.

He turns it down, way down, below fifty.

In the basement, the bright yellow flame under the furnace THUNKS out. But the blue pilot light burns on. ca

61. 05/24/2004

Walter gives himself a little smile for his ingenuity. Danny runs up beside him, out of breath and scandalized.

They come running around a corner and into the foyer to discover the Astronaut is, indeed, wrecking the couch. He's holding the can of EZ Off in one hand and a lit fireplace match in the other, turning the thing into a flame thrower.

He sprays the couch with the fiery concoction, the fabric catches and bursts into flame.

Danny runs to the door and flings it open as the Astronaut ducks down behind the couch, puts his shoulder up against the part of it that has not yet caught on fire, and pushes hard. Walter joins in and together they shove the thing all the way across the foyer and out the front door.

Here's a good image -- the house, plummeting through space. Suddenly a burning couch comes flying out its front door and sails off, weightless, blazing as it sails off into the void.

Danny, Walter, and the Astronaut stand in the open doorway, watching as the burning couch sails off into the distance.

THROUGH THE OPEN DOOR, 86 they see the Zorgon ship keel over to starboard and turn to

follow the flaming projectile. They watch as it disappears into the vast reaches of space. The Astronaut sighs in relief.

O

CONTINUED :

Walter and Danny both look up at him.

Back in the darkened kitchen, the door opens on the freezer section of the refrigerator and the Astronaut shines his flashlight inside. His eyes fall on something and light up.

He reaches in and pulls out three half-finished pints of Ben &

Jerry's, a package of Eggo waffles, and a box of Haagen Dazs vanilla almond ice cream bars.

He SLAMS them down on the kitchen table and stigks his head’ the fridge. WALTER * What are you doing? . \ e

The Astronaut emerges from the fridge with a big squeeze bottl of Hershey's Syrup and opens the cupboard over the dishwasheq,

He finds a bag of M&Ms and a long sleeve of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Beneath the counter he locates a mixing bowl.

ASTRONAUT

I'm doing this because it might be another twelve years before I run into my good friends Ben and Jerry again.

He piles the ice cream into the bowl and douses it with the Hershey's Syrup. Danny watches enviously.

©

87 CONTINUED :

63. 05/24/2004

He tosses Danny a spoon and Danny grins enormously at this

anarchy.

He plows a massive spoon of ice cream into his mouth, salts the bowl with M&Ms.

spoon) He spun me. Good thing, too. Maybe I can help you finish the game.

WALTER

I do not! That's not fair! ASTRONAUT

See, there you go, complaining about

everything. (MORE)

64. 05/24/2004

He finds a Kit Kat bar, rips the wrapper off, and takes a bite. Relishes it.

a game of my own. It's complicated.

ASTRONAUT ah * C) I can't. le S * WALTER rt . *

\i’

Why not? *

The Astronaut doesn't answer, ju icks his ice cream and *

carries it with him toward the Ifving xr a

ASTRONAUT * Come on, let's get going.

Walter and Danny look at each other, then follow hin.

An overhead shot, above the game board in the entrance to the

ruined living room. Walter, Danny, and the Astronaut sit down around the board, preparing to play. Danny and the Astronaut

are on the living room side of the board, Walter, on the other side of the board, is technically sitting in the foyer.

Walter SMACKS the button and the spinner spins.

C) WALTER Nine. Awesome spin! al

65. 05/24/2004 88 CONTINUED : 88

O —

(imitating Walter) "Awesome spin."

(to the Astronaut) Is he annoying or what?

Walter's rocket ship motors forward and stops on a blue square. Walter takes the card from the board and reads.

He scoffs and tosses the card on the board.

ASTRONAUT

What's it say? WALTER

It's stupid.

Danny picks up the card and squints at it, doing his best. { ) DANNY force-ar-ti-fi-" This is like a fifth

grade word!

Let me just take a-

But Walter has vanished, he's no longer sitting across from him.

C) DANNY (cont’ d) Walter?

66. 05/24/2004

CONTINUED: (2) 88

The Astronaut, next to Danny, is looking up at the ceiling, a big grin on his face.

Danny drops the card and looks up. In the foyer, Walter is floating slowly up toward the roof, in a slow head-over-heels tumble.

gravity! Danny stares at him in shock -- and a little impressed.

DANNY

Cool! ASTRONAUT

Isn't it? WALTER

GET ME DOWN! ASTRONAUT

Relax, I'll find some rope.

He turns and heads out of the room, in no great hurry. Walter is still floating upwards --

-- toward the hole in the roof, the one the meteor crashed through when they started the game.

From the second floor landing, we see Walter fly up through the

foyer, SCREAMING, feet first. Feet, legs, torso, head,

outstretched hands all fly up through the open space toward the

hole in the roof.

Walter is still tumbling upwards, headed straight for the hole in the ceiling and deep space beyond.

67. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 91

At the last second, he just manages to grab hold of a roof joist sticking out of the jagged edge of the hole in the roof, which saves him from sailing out into the blackness, but unfortunately

-- he's still dangling upside-down over the house as it moves through outer space.

Pulling back fast and far, we get a view of the whole crazy situation -- the house, motoring along like Dorothy's in the tornado and the little boy hanging upside-down out the hole in the roof, SCREAMING at the top of his lungs.

ee He

Danny races up the stairs onto the second floor landing and runs over to stand beneath the hole. He stares up at Walter and puts his hands on his hips, furious.

Danny looks around for something rope-like, can't see anything.

He spots a lamp on a hallway table. The outlet is a ways away and the lamp is plugged into an extension cord, so there's a good ten feet of length. He unplugs it.

He tosses the cord up at Walter. Once it passes over the railing and is in the foyer's airspace it's weightless too, so it flies straight up at him pretty easily.

68. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 93

Walter stretches out, straining, straining, the extension cord looks like it might be just out of his reach, but he stretches himself as far as humanly possible --

-- AND GRABS HOLD! His face breaks into a triumphant smile, as he wraps his hand around the lifesaving cord for maximum grip, and he's actually

still smiling -—-

-- as he watches the lamp itself go floating right past him and drift out the hole in the roof. Whoops.

Suddenly, a coil of rope comes tumbling up from beneath,

unfurling as it rises straight up toward Walter. It shoots up through the hole in the roof. =

The Astronaut is standing at the edge of the living room below, holding the other end of the rope, which rises up through the foyer in front of him.

Walter throws both hands around the rope and holds fast.

In the living room, the Astronaut starts hauling Walter down, fast, hand over hand.

Walter is suddenly yanked back into the house, hard and fast, and he SMACKS his head off the ceiling.

69. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 97

He goes shooting downward, BANGING off the second floor railing right in front of Danny.

As he keeps getting pulled downward, Danny leans out over the railing, yelling furiously.

OW, I said ow!

-- and the Astronaut, visible now at the edge of the living room, keeps. hauling him in, as fast as he can. Walter drags upside-down across the underside of the second floor overhang, crosses the threshold into the living room --

-- and THUDS to the living room floor at the Astronaut's feet, where gravity is normal. The Astronaut drops the rope on top of him.

Walter claws it off himself and looks up at the Astronaut, angry.

WALTER

And three quarters!

70. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 99

WALTER

Ah, what do you know about it. He's a clumsy little spazz, and this time he almost got me killed.

Danny tromps back into the room.

DANNY

I don't make trash, I just... um... (can't remember the rest)

I throw it, um... in the trash. WALTER

Good one. ASTRONAUT

That's enough! Both of you guys. Sit down and be quiet before I lose my temper and throw you both out the front door.

They do. He points to the game board and looks at Danny.

In Lisa's bathroom, the shower stream suddenly turns into water again, the ice particles turn back into steam, and Lisa's eyes

pop open.

71. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 100

She shivers once, confused. She exhales, sees her own breath.

Lisa STOMPS out of her room, MUTTERING and hugging her arms tight around herself.

She heads directly to something on the far wall, not looking up, down, or sideways, so focused is she.

She reaches the far wall and squints at the thermostat. LISA (cont’ d) forty-eight degrees?... what are

we, savages?

She reaches up and spins the dial all the way to eighty-five. Immediately, we cut to --

-- the basement, where the furnace is. Right above the still- lit pilot light, there is a low WHUMPH as the gas jets HISS to life and a lake of bright orange flame erupts.

Lisa nods in disgruntled satisfaction and shuffles back to her bedroom.

Lisa comes into the bathroom and gets ready to shower. She hits a boom box on the counter, spins a CD, and cranks up the volume.

cur TO:

Downstairs, Dam cranks the k Snd is about to hit the spin button on the boa when Walt suddenly sits forward.

72. 05/24/2004

© He looks down at the board. His astronaut game piece is only two squares ahead of Danny's rocket ship.

iece, which has been wrenched ed\in place at an odd angle.

He bends down, oks at Danny's ahead on the t ack and is now j

| WALTER \ (cont’ d) Ydéu broke it! You little\cheater, you anked your piece ahead and you BROKE

t! f (to the Astronaut) He cheats at everything!

105 CONTINUED: (2)

13... 05/244a004

He reaches down, wigg. SNAPS back into place inside the board

far behind Walter's“pi

rocket ship just so, and it t way. Immediately, the chain back to where it ought to b

I

+ Fe FH

cheating, please?

Danny nods, busted. gets a four and his rocket ship RATTLES forward and stops on a

He reaches out and SMACKS the button. He

new space. The board BUZZES and Danny snatches up his card. He reads it, moving his lips silently.

Danny's jaw sets. He's angry. Yer" WALTER

Well?

"Lose map of galaxy, go back si

S wv spaces." Sexvessyou=rrghe al ot . ASTRONAUT (oo

Hey, no gasoline on the fire, if you aR af don't mind.

Y) _The board WHIRRS to life again, moving the piece back six space automatically. Danny sits back, arms folded across his chest, breathing hard through his nose. YW or a] "

get to go back home. Okay? 7 Im ye’ Danny doesn't respond, but then, he doesn't explode eithér, Vdd

O

74. 05/24/2004

Walter spins the wheel and it comes up nine.

Danny's forced nose breathing gets even louder, he sets his jaw harder. But still he doesn't explode.

Walter's rocket ship moves ahead to a special-looking square, one of the only ones on the board with a drawing on it -- it's a bright star, brilliant fiery rays shooting out from all sides.

The Astronaut GASPS slightly, holding in his breath.

Even LOUDER breathing from Danny, who is like a volcano with its crater plugged up. The Astronaut holds out a calming hand.

The board BUZZES out Walter's card. He takes it and reads.

He looks up at the others, thrilled.

Finally, the top blows off the volcano. Danny leaps to his feet, SHOUTING.

O

105 CONTINUED:

75. 05/24/2004 (4) 105

QO

ne Ge HL. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (5) WW we 105

DANNY * -- AND IT'S YOUR FAULT MOM AND DAD GOT DIVORCED! *

Walter's eyes narrow as Danny drops this nuclear bomb of sibling insults.

For a split-second, Danny regrets it, knows he's gone too far,

but it's too late to take it back. He turns, storms out of the room, and races upstairs. They hear his feet BOOMING down the

hall, then the door of the bedroom SLAMS in the distance.

Suddenly, everything in the room starts to slide toward the big picture windows -~- vases, pictures, rubble on the floor -- it's as if a giant magnet is pulling up outside the house.

WALTER * I get my wish now, don't I? * ASTRONAUT * The moment it passes, yeah. *

The living room gets very bright, brilliant. Walter and the Astronaut turn and squint out the big picture window. There's a huge glowing fireball headed straight for them, fast.

billow out in front of them, their hair stands up and floats toward the windows.

WALTER * You don't know what I'm thinking. * ASTRONAUT * Maybe not, but I can tell it isn't *

good.

Walter lets the star pull him to the window and he stares outside, an idea forming in his mind that is every bit as dark as the star is bright. The shooting star is just ten seconds away now.

77. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (6) 105

Walter reacts, he is thinking something awful, but he still won't look at the Astronaut. The shooting star's closer, they can start to hear it now, a hot SIZZLING WHOOSH growing louder and louder. Five seconds away.

But Walter is transfixed, staring out the window. The Astronaut grabs him.

With a CRACKLING WHOOSH, the star passes directly by the living room windows, its brilliant light washing the whole room hot white for one spectacular moment --

-- and then it's gone.

As the room returns to normal, it's as if Walter comes out from under a spell. He shakes his head to clear it, and turns away.

The Astronaut grabs him by the arms and spins him around.

The Astronaut lets him go, turns and looks upstairs.

78. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (7) 105

He takes off for the stairs.

The Astronaut bounds up the stairs, three at a time.

The Astronaut tops the stairs and races down the hallway.

No answer from the other end. He reaches the door to the boys' room, closes his eyes and murmurs a silent prayer --

-- and throws open the bedroom door.

The Astronaut stands in the doorway to Walter and Danny's room and looks everyplace at once.

There's no one in the room. He comes inside, looks all around. Nobody. His shoulders sag.

He drops onto the bed.

The Astronaut leaps to his feet, looks down at the bed, his face lighting up.

79. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 108

The Astronaut drops to the floor and looks under the bed. Danny is wedged underneath, thumb stuck in his mouth. He doesn't bother to remove it, just talks around it.

He grabs hold of the kid and hauls him out from underneath, stands him up on his feet --

-- and pulls him in close for a big hug.

Walter races into the room and picks up a regulation size NFL football that has suddenly appeared on his bed.

The Astronaut turns and looks at it. There's some scribbling on the side of the ball.

©

80. 05/24/2004

curt To:

Walter, Danny, and the Astronaut sit in a corner of the darkened bedroom, huddled together, lit by the starlight streaming in through their window. They speak in hushed tones.

ASTRONAUT

I was so mad that when that star passed, I made my wish. And my wish was... I...

(to Danny, tearful) I wished my brother had never been born.

Danny draws in his breath. He looks at Walter skeptically, wondering if Walter too had the very same thought.

81. 05/24/2004

.

; ee ASTRONAUT (cont’ d)

. - horrible. I tried to roll again, I thought maybe I could land on another star and wish him back, but the game wouldn't let me go--- because it wasn't my turn.

(to Walter) ‘

That's what I was.telling’you downstairs. There are some games you can't play alone.

He wipes some sweat from his forehead.

Walter blushes and looks away. ‘

Cau Madey bits bon2ts

Deal.

They look at each other. The Astronaut reaches up and wipes his brow -- he pulls back a palmful of sweat.

He looks at Walter, concern creasing his brow. ASTRONAUT

You blew out the pilot light on the furnace, right?

©

82. 05/24/2004

WALTER

Um...

NY FURNACE, RIGHT?!

The Astronaut races out of the bedroom and tears ass down the hall to the thermostat at the far end. He checks the reading.

He spins the dial back down as far as it will go.

The bright orange flames under the furnace in the basement WHUMPF out again.

@ the boys, who havé lowed

The Astronaut whirls edroom.

— nS

Wasn't me!

They turn toward the other end of the hallway and hea Lisa's bedroom, but stop in their tracks when they hear --

-- a THUNK from downstairs.

83. 05/24/2004

C) . WALTER

(whispers) Did you hear something?

He looks at the Astronaut, exasperated.

He and Danny take off down the rest of the steps and are about to burst into the living room when they are both suddenly lifted off their feet, pulled back, and SLAMMED onto the steps.

The Astronaut stands over them, eyes ablaze.

Sufficiently terrified, they shake their heads no. ASTRONAUT (cont’d) (still whispering) Wait here. I'll check it out. ZfTI give you the all clear... come on in.

They nod again. He straightens and creeps into the living room, silently.

Danny and Walter stay where they are, trembling.

+ + ¥ + + ee *

84. 05/24/2004

The Astronaut comes around the corner into the living room, which is --

-- completely empty. We're talking totally empty, no furniture, no drapes, no pictures on the mantel, not even a rug.

He suppresses a GASP, which is a good thing, because a chunk of brightly colored glass falls to the floorboards and TINKLES at his feet.

He freezes, hunching low in the shadows, and dares a look up. Through the hole in the roof, he can't see the stars anymore, what he sees instead is a hatchway on the underside of a spaceship that has landed on their roof.

And through that hatchway he sees two pairs of scaly, green, lizard-like legs, still dangling down into the house. The legs slither up through the hatchway, pulling their scaly, green, lizard-like tails up after them.

The Astronaut stays perfectly still, not even daring to breathe.

The hatchway slides shut, the ship accelerates and lifts off the roof.

Finally, the Astronaut lets out a breath. He calls out.

Walter and Danny creep around the corner, in time to see out the picture window as the Zorgon ship hits the afterburners.

"EXT: HOUSE (IN SPACE) NIGHT 114

The Zorgon ship banks away from the house and heads out into space.

Danny HISSES out one word.

% % # *

85. 05/24/2004

* He stops in the middle of his sentence. The Astronaut looks at him. So does Danny. As one, they turn away from the window and look into the living room again.

From across the room, we see the vast expanse of empty floorboards.

On either side of the Astronaut, Danny and Walter slide down the C) wall and collapse into a sitting position on the floor, staring in shock and dismay. Now what do we do?

ASTRONAUT : { ) Then they'll just have to find us.

Curt To:

86. 05/24/2004

CRACK! The Astronaut swings a kitchen chair down on the edge of the counter as hard as he can, smashing it to bits. He picks up another and SMASHES that one to bits too, does the same with a third, tossing the pieces onto a pile he's making in the big fireplace in the kitchen.

CRASH! Danny and Walter tip over the big bookcase in Dad's office and an ocean of paper spills out onto the floor, all the

projects he's worked on for the past few years.

They scoop up as much of it as they can carry and head into the kitchen --

-- and hurl it into the fireplace, where the Astronaut has started a fire. The small fire gets bigger, not a bad little blaze. The Astronaut steps back and looks at it.

MOMENTS LATER,

stuff starts flying into the jammed up fireplace. Pillows. Boxes of cereal. Anything remotely combustible.

The three guys step back. This fire's really getting there, the flames are licking out of the fireplace and up the wall.

Lisa is blow-drying her hair in her bathroom, now dressed in a Juicy track suit. She stops, SNIFFS the air. She turns off the blow dryer and SNIFFS again.

Definitely smells something. What are those little bastards up to? She walks out.

Lisa comes out of her bedroom and heads down the hallway, looking around more carefully than last time.

The smell is stronger out here, but she notices something else as she comes out onto the landing -- the huge hole in the roof.

87. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 120

She starts down the stairs.

Lisa comes down the stairs and her face goes slack with disbelief and taut with rage at the same time (good luck).

The living room, aside from being completely empty, is also completely trashed.

She turns and looks toward the kitchen, where black smoke is pouring from underneath the swinging door.

She runs toward it, reaches the swinging kitchen door, pushes it open --

-- and recoils from the intense heat of the bonfire inside.

She's just in time to see Walter and Danny throw a pile of dirty laundry into the fireplace, which has no more room for anything now and is spitting out six foot tongues of flame which reach the ceiling.

They turn and look at her, break into big smiles.

88. 05/24/2004

She starts ripping through the cabinets, searching for it.

them.

Lisa finds the fire extinguisher, points it at the fireplace, and pulls the handle. An enormous SPLOOSH of foam shoots out and blankets the fire.

The boys cry out to object, but Lisa keeps blasting until the fireplace is full of foam.

Suddenly the Astronaut BANGS through the opposite door of the kitchen and races over to the big windows.

The boys race over to look out the windows with him. In the distance, they see the tiny dot of a Zorgon ship approaching.

The Astronaut turns to her and draws in his breath, about to tell his story --

-- then changes his mind and turns back to the window.

89. 05/24/2004

CONTINUED: (2) 122 LISA WHAT IN GOD'S NAME IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?! WALTER

We told you once. It's not our fault if you weren't listening.

Through the window, a Zorgon ship is nearly upon the house and turning broadsides to fire its cannons.

He takes off toward the living room, sweeping everyone off in front of him, they BANG through the kitchen doors --

~~ and SLAM to the floor of the living room with a collective GROAN. The Astronaut rolls over and army-crawls to the window, peering up over the ledge at the ship, which fills the windows. But it's not about to fire anymore, it turns and dives under the house.

Lisa looks from the ship to the Astronaut to her little brothers, eyes wide.

Sure enough, a second ship has appeared from on the horizon and is circling the house.

WALTER

They wanna burn us and eat us. (jerks a thumb at his brother) Danny spun ‘em.

a

~

a

O

9 \ oF

24/2004

WR es eo ae Ps wl

SLAM! The house rocks as the first Zorgon ship SLAMS into it from below.

SLAM! The house rocks back the other Way as the second ship lands hard on the roof.

The Astronaut and the boys run to the edge of the foyer and look up through the hole in the roof. The hatchway to the Zorgon ship is back, it slides open and a dark shape slithers out of the ship, THUDS to the carpet on the second floor landing, and crawls quickly out of sight.

Lisa GASPS.

Now a second dark shape slithers through the hatch and THUDS to the carpet up on the second floor. Overhead, they hear lizard feet SCURRYING across their floor.

She races out of the room, expecting the others to follow her, but they're all distracted.

He stops, looking after Lisa, her words sinking in.

+ FF *

+ +

91. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (2) 123

Lisa races down the hallway, calling back over her shoulder.

She hears THUNDERING feet as they app: assumes they're following. She reaches the door to the basément stairs and throws it open, starts down the stairs as thd others appear at , Q

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM, Lisa's feet pound down thé steps tha lead to the basement.

LISA wot GUYS COME ON, WE'LL BE SAFE IN HERE, Y HURRY, HURRY! She reaches a hand out for the door. e\

The Astronaut and the boys are approaching, we can hear their SHOUTS.

Lisa flicks the lock on the door.

The guys appear at the top of the stairs and race down toward her, ALL SHOUTING AT ONCE. The result is an incomprehensible jumble of words, "basement," "don't," "robot," "killer," "all Walter's fault."

Lisa throws open the basement door ~-

-- AND SEES THE HALF-REPATRED ROBOT SITTING UP AND DRILLING ITS * OWN HEAD! *

Lisa SCREAMS. *

O

92. fa/20

af ROBOT a re

ALIEN LIFE FORM.

CONTINUED :

down on ve,

Lisa's frozen, SCREAMING, but a hand He shoves her behind 5

and yanks her away. It's the Astronaut/ him --

ROBOT (corit’ d)

ASTRO) We gotta hide! CUT TO: *

Shadows move under the crack of the door. Walter, Danny, and

Lisa are crammed into the laundry room upstairs, huddling on the * floor in front of the washer and dryer with the lights out. The * Astronaut has Walter's set of walkie-talkies in his hand and is working on the broken antenna.

WALTER

They're not gonna work. Danny broke ‘em, they're completely destroyed, he-

The Astronaut SNAPS the "broken" antenna back into place easily.

The Astronaut hands the walkie-talkie to Walter.

93. 05/24/2004

e ASTRONAUT

Keep the volume low. Use this only if you need me.

The Astronaut slips out the door and closes it behind him, leaving the three kids alone. The only light comes from the a crack beneath the closet door.

Lisa stares after the Astronaut, fascinated. i wr

LISA / yr Wow... that guy... who is he? I just Ip *, feel so... so safe around him. 0

t Oh, brother. Lt LISA v CO What? He obviously feels very yor \n

protective of me... if we get out of **

this, who knows? qe" 1 WALTER \yf

Would you just? a DANNY

Shh! I hear something --

Shadows move under the crack in the door. Walter, Danny, and Lisa are holding their breath, trying not to make any sound.

A pair of feet move past, but they're not human -- Zorgon feet. Another pair of lizard feet meet the first pair, now soft Zorgon ING can be heard outside. They're looking for the humans.

Danny is terrified, sucking his thumb again. He sees Lisa Looking at him and pulls it out of his mouth, doesn't want to get busted. Lisa, softening, slides over next to him, takes his hand --

-- and pushes his thumb back in his mouth.

The Zorgon feet move away, but they remain frozen in fear. a Suddenly, a vpice SQUAWKS out from right among them, an urgent * i *

94. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (2) 126

Lisa, Danny, and Walter all jump at the sound and gr onto each other.

Realizing what it was, they all look at each other sheepishly. The Astronaut's voice starts cutting in and out.

There's bumping and rustling on the other end.

There is a frantic rustling for a few seconds, and transmission abruptly cuts out.

Silence. They look at each other, terrified. speaks what's on their minds.

‘inally, Danny DANNY Is he... dead?

WHAM! The closet door jerks open. They're all about to SCREAM when they realize it's the Astronaut, who has returned.

ee HH

95. 05/24/2004

C) He closes the door quickly behind him and hunches down in front _.* of them, speaking in an urgent whisper. 1S aa

board their ship, but there were too

many of ‘em. There was a narrow vent

that led right to it, but I couldn't

fit through... 5]

I couldn't get to it! The game's on Loe"

He takes a moment, catching his breath.

LISA x We know you did the best you could. *

ASTRONAUT ii Thanks. *

She reaches over and puts her hand on his. mi

eo Will you please!

+

++ + HH

+

ASTRONAUT

%

What?

+ + eH

WALTER

Yeah!

C) WALTER

But he's too big!

+ Fe

+

©

96. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (4) 126

He trails off, noticing they're all staring at him.

Danny is jammed into the dumbwaiter box on the second floor landing, his knees crunched up against his chest. Even he

barely fits, nobody else would stand a chance.

The others are grouped around him, speaking in hushed voices.

know what hit 'em. GO Danny looks at him, wide-eyed. He nods, trying to be brave.

She's standing at the railing, looking downstairs, where Zorgons can be heard patrolling the living room, their clawed feet CLICKING off the floor.

Walter bends down in front of his brother.

Danny gestures to Walter to lean in close. He whispers, so the others can't hear.

ee He HK

97. 05/24/2004

O

Walter puts an arm on his shoulder, and it's the first compassion we've seen from him.

WALTER

I'm scared too. If you weren't scared, it wouldn't be such a brave thing. And when you get back, you're gonna be a hero, and when people ask me "Do you know that kid Danny, the hero?" I'm gonna say "Yeah, sure, I know Danny. He's my brother."

WALTER

Me too. Listen, I promise, nothing bad is going to happen to you. I won't let it. I promise you that. Believe me?

Walter steps aside and the Astronaut reaches for the rope. He starts to pull it, hand over hand, and the box begins to move.

As Danny lowers out of view, we look up to the pulley, the one that's fixed into the ceiling of the shaft, the one that holds the dumbwaiter box up.

It's pulling right out of the wood.

Inside the dark chute, Danny-in-a-box lowers past us, hugging his knees and managing to look rather miserable.

DANNY

It is very, very, very, very, very, VERY hard to be the youngest.

+e +e + HF HK

* * + ee *

+e eH

98. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 128

\ We look down, past him. The chute seems to go down forever, toward a blazing bright spot at the bottom.

|

The Astronaut keeps tugging on the rope -- and the pulley keeps straining at its screws.

The Astronaut notices.

He starts lowering Danny faster.

The box starts moving faster, bouncing and shaking as it lowers. Danny notices.

But the box moves faster, and faster still.

Up on the landing, Lisa is standing lookout at the railing while Walter and the Astronaut continue to lower Danny. Suddenly she crouches, as the shadow of a six foot lizard falls on the wall behind her -- a Zorgon on patrol down in the living room.

The Astronaut freezes, stops lowering Danny. He and Walter get down low.

They all freeze. They follow her gaze, look up at the Zorgon shadow on the wall above them. It turns, looking in all directions.

The Astronaut looks back at the pulley. With the box stuck in midair and the Astronaut not suspending it, the strain is too much.

The screws are pulling right out of the wood.

99: 05/24/2004

O 132 INT DUMBWAITER CHUTE NIGHT 132

Danny has stopped, not yet at the bottom. He wriggles, trying to move again.

He twists around, trying to look up at them.

He rocks back and forth in the box --

rs -- and the screws pull free!

The pulley yanks out of the ceiling and the rope starts whizzing through the Astronaut's hands.

Danny CRIES OUT as the box goes into free fall.

On the second floor landing, the ruckus attracts attention -- the shadow of the Zorgon on the wall turns abruptly toward them.

But the rope is still sliding through the Astronaut's hands.

. ASTRONAUT Help me!

Walter lunges over and grabs hold, together they stop the rope and hold it fast..

The box containing Danny JERKS to a sudden stop right about at basement level (although it could still go down further, to the bottom of the chute).

Danny peers out through the holes in the cabinet door but can't - see much. But the SOUNDS coming from the other side are sure - scary -- the THROB of a motor, the ROAR of a hungry inferno. e

C ) 137

100. 05/24/2004

While Walter and the Astronaut strain to hold the dumbwaiter rope, on the wall behind them the shadow of the Zorgon starts getting larger. It's approaching.

Summoning all his courage, Danny takes a deep breath and pushes the CREAKY dumbwaiter door open slowly.

He slips out, and into --

-- a basement taken over. It was a creepy place before, but now it's a hundred times worse, lit by the uneven orange light of a fire.

Danny looks around. There are a pair of storm-cellar doors that re-fitng open on the far side. A Zorgon furnace ship is backed up to them, white-hot flames raging within. A giant pile of junk is just beyond the doors, on board the ship, stuff that's being fed into the furnace.

Despite the fact that every ounce of him wants to run the other way, Danny creeps toward it.

A pair of Zorgon feet climb slowly up the stairs to the second floor.

Lisa sees it and crawls over to the Astronaut.

They scamper away across the second floor. The Zorgon's head and the tip of his blood-encrusted sword, are just visible coming up the top of the stairs.

The Astronaut, who is still holding the rope, looks around -- what the heck do I do with it?!

OE

ee

eS

©

101. 05/24/2004

The light from the fire reflects off Danny's eyes, peering up over the top of a huge pile of junk that sits right in the entrance to the Zorgon ship. Danny slips over the pile and into the ship, darting between two crates.

When he turns around to get another look into the ship, he comes face to face --

-~- WITH HE HILT OF A ZORGON SWORD.

One of the beasts is standing right in front of him, but facing the other way. Danny holds his breath, the Zorgon walks off to join another, and we get our first good look at these things.

They're hideous, green, scaly bastards, and every one of them holds a ruby-handled, blood-encrusted broadsword. Much worse than we imagined. And there must be a half-dozen of them, just in the bowels of this one ship.

Danny swallows.

Peering out from his hiding place, he gets the lay of the land. The walls are lined with massive cables and ducts. A long conveyor belt runs across the floor, to the furnace on the far side, where a Zorgon is shoveling piles of stuff into the flames.

There, on top of a pile of stuff waiting for burning, something is shining.

Danny waits until the Zorgons are facing the other way and scurries across the floor, to another hiding place where he can get a better look.

That shiny something is the Zathura game box, charred and scarred, but basically intact.

Danny's eyes light up. He's only about fifteen feet from it now.

A Zorgon scoops up more junk with a shovel and tosses it on the pile, right on top of the board game. There's no way Danny can get to it without that Zorgon seeing him.

BLEAT!

Danny nearly jumps out of his skin. He suppresses a scream and whirls around. There behind him, he is face to face with some kind of SPACE GOAT.

The pitiful thing makes eye contact with Danny.

e+ He +

+

%

oF + ee HH * +

102. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 142

The Zorgon tugging on it stops and SNIFFS the air for a moment -- does he smell Danny? -- then RATTLES the goat's chain and drags it away, toward the group of Zorgons at the far end.

Danny sighs in relief. He scurries closer to the flames, closer to ‘the Zathura game. But the Zorgon guard is still there.

-- until the Zorgon with the goat BARKS and SNAPS at him. The shoveling Zorgon drops his shovel and goes over to join a group of them across the room, all BARKING and SNAPPING at each other.

The goat is in between them all, moving around.

Danny takes advantage of this opportunity to move closer. He steps out of his hiding space.

SQUISH.

He looks down. His shoe is covered in glow-in-the-dark space- goat shit.

He moves on. The Zorgons are now clustered around the SQUEAKING goat and completely distracted. But then they goat isn't squeaking anymore.

Yuck, we realize. They're eating. The occasional bone flies over their shoulder and skitters across the cement floor.

Danny is horrified.

Up on the second floor, Zorgon feet come to a stop on the landing. But there's nobody up there.

There is, however, a rope, conspicuously tied to the railing, leading down into the dumbwaiter chute.

The Zorgon steps forward to the rope, studies it. What does this mean?

While the feeding Zorgons are distracted, Danny crawls quickly across the pile of junk and digs through it, searching for the game he saw just moments ago. He finds it, stuck under a corner of the pile, and starts tugging at it. It won't come, and the stuff on top of it teeters precariously.

Danny braces his feet, grabs hold with both hands, and pulls as hard as he can. The game comes free, Danny falls over backwards, the mountain of stuff on top of it tips and CRASHES to the floor of the basement --

103. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 144

-- the Zorgons on the other side of the room whirl around to see what the sound was --

-- and Danny lands with a THUNK on the floor, just out of their vision.

The Zorgons see nothing, figure it was just falling junk. They turn away again, go back to eating.

Danny tucks the game securely under his arm and is about to head back the way he came in when TWO ZORGONS walk over and take up position right between him and the storm-cellar doors that lead to the basement.

Tartar sauce! Danny looks around for another way out. The walls are lined with massive cables and ducts. To his left, he notices a duct that runs along the ceiling, with an entrance just big enough for a little guy to wriggle into.

He crabwalks toward it, the game under one arm. He scales the wall of the ship and wriggles into the duct.

ACROSS THE SHIP,

one of the Zorgons looks up from his meal, hearing a low BOOM. He draws his sword and goes to check it out.

In the duct, Danny watches through a vent as the Zorgon passes beneath him.

In the ship, the Zorgon's nose leads him to Danny's old hiding place between the crates. Finding nothing, he goes back to join the others --

-- but stops. Something has caught his eye.

Footprints! In glowing green space-goat shit.

Danny's tracks can clearly be seen leading toward the entrance to the duct.

Danny starts crawling through the duct as fast as he can. There is a SCREECH of metal and sharp shafts of light that rip into the duct as the Zorgons stab their swords into it from underneath, just behind him.

Danny moves faster, but they're catching up.

eK + * K

%

104. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 147

SCREECH! A Sword shoots up right in front of him, just under his nose. *

%

Danny maneuvers around it, kicks open the grate at the other

end, and tumbles out, falling onto -- *

-~ the huge pile of junk near the entrance to the basement. The * pile falls over, knocking into the Zorgons, giving Danny a * couple seconds' head start. * He takes off, back into the basement. *

Danny scampers across the basement and leaps into the dumbwaiter * chute, still hanging by the rope. He climbs into the box and Pe HISSES up into the chute.

He reaches out of the box and tugs on the rope a few times to get their attention.

Up on the landing, the Zorgon who was staring at the rope jumps back in alarm as it bounces in front of him, pulled by Danny from below. This thing is alive!

The Zorgon BARKS at the rope, raises his sword --

-- and cuts right through it with a single slice.

Danny is still tugging on the rope.

The rope suddenly goes slack and falis out of the chute, dropping into a useless pile of hemp at his feet.

He looks up. Across the room, half a dozen Zorgons, backlit by the raging inferno outside the storm cellar doors, are clambering over the pile of junk and coming into the basement. *

105. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 151

Danny takes off across the basement as fast as he can. The Zorgons take off after him.

But Danny is little, and little means maneuverable. He crawls underneath a work bench, bounces off the front of the washer, he cuts a circle around the water heater, he wriggles through a harrow maze of ducts, all the while leaving slipping, GROWLING, flailing Zorgons too big to get through the spaces he's finding.

Danny leaps forward and cuts toward the stairs but stumbles, flying into a corner of a paint rack and grabbing on for dear life.

The paint rack flips around with Danny on it, like a revolving bookcase, and SLAMS up against a pillar just as the Zorgons catch up to him.

But the shelves of the paint rack hold the Zorgons back, and just a GROSS ZORGON TONGUE slithers between the shelves and flicks across the back of Danny's neck.

But no time to think about it, Danny leaps back to his feet, BANGS into the basement door and turns the handle, but it's locked!

The basement door handle RATTLES back and forth, we can hear Danny's muted SHOUTS from the other side, but that door ain't budging.

A SHADOW falls over the door, a great big scary shadow of something at the top of the stairs. The something starts down toward the door, descending, headed right for it.

CRASH! Behind Danny, the paint rack EXPLODES into wood chips as the Zorgons chop the hell out of it with their swords and start to climb over it.

Danny is BANGING on the basement door as hard as he can, but it's no use, the Zorgons have him pinned now, but no!, the doorknob turns, the door swings open --

106. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 153

-- and Walter grabs hold of his brother and hauls him out of the basement.

They turn to flee, but at the top of the stairs, TWO MORE ZORGON LIZARDS appear!

Walter and Danny SCREAM, yep, they're doomed for sure, stuck on the stairs, killer lizards above and below, no way outta this one. The Zorgons above SNARL, the Zorgons below BARK and SPIT -- -- and suddenly go flying out of the way like bowling pins.

THE ROBOT now stands where they were, eyes blazing red again.

Danny and Walter SHOUT in triumph! or But the robot turns, its eyes blazing red at Walter. - ROBOT (cont’ d)

ALIEN LIFE FORM. MUST DESTROY. * Danny and Walter SCREAM in despair! * WALTER

GAAHH! It still wants to kill me!

Remembering, Walter fumbles in his pocket for the card the game gave him earlier.

The robot's red beams fall squarely on Walter's chest.

Walter pulls the card out, holds it in front of him like a badge, and SHOUTS:

The Robot BEEPS, a series of rapid BOOPS and HUMS come from its processor.

107. . 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (2) 153

It lurches forward, STOMPING toward them, its feet SMASHING through the stair steps. It's on them in a second, looming over them, its arms shoot out -- N

-- and gently push the boys aside. Now its red beams SHIFT, they split and land on the Zorgons, standing at the top of the stairs!

, ROBOT ALIEN LIFE FORMS! MUST DESTROY!

The robot's afterburners pop out of its back and it takes off like a guided missile, flying straight up the stairs.

The Zorgons bolt out of there, headed back toward the living room, and the robot SLAMS into the wall where they stood.

Walter SLAMS and locks the basement door, trapping the other Zorgons downstairs.

Immediately, their swords start to hack at the door.

The two Zorgons fleeing the robot race back into the living room, BARKING and SNARLING in fear.

The robot appears in the doorway of the living room, busting out its spinning, WHINING circular saw blades. Its afterburners fire and it rockets across the room, just missing the Zorgons as they leap up toward the ceiling, giant lizard leaps that carry them all the way up through the hole in the roof and into their ship.

Walter and Danny appear in the doorway, amazed and grateful and staying the hell back. Lisa and the Astronaut come racing in from the other room.

But the robot isn't satisfied. As the Zorgon hatchway starts to slide shut, the robot's afterburners kick in again, and it blasts off, straight up, just squeezing through the hatch before it closes.

FRANTIC SCREAMS can be heard coming from inside the ship as it takes off with its new passenger.

Everyone runs to the window and sees the Zorgon ship. From inside it, green goop SPATTERS up against one of the portholes.

The ship careens away into deep space, twisting and turning as the robot wreaks its havoc inside.

+

+e Xe Fe

~*~ ee

©

108. 05/24/2004

SMACK! Wasting no time, Danny slaps the Zathura game down in the middle of the floor and all four of them dive down to it.

He twists the key, hits the spinner button, and the spinner comes up four. Danny's piece moves ahead, the card comes out, and the Astronaut grabs it for him.

Everyone looks at Danny, expecting an explosion, but he simply blinks and gives them a deadpan look.

He cranks the cranker and is about to push the button to spin the spinny thing when the Astronaut reaches out and grabs his hand.

They all look at him, puzzled, as he SMACKS the button and spins the spinner.

The spinner stops on three and Walter's blue space ship RATTLES ahead three spaces.

eH

+

x %

109. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED: (2) 154

The board spits out a card, which the Astronaut snatches up and reads. His eyes light up. ‘

His piece moves back three spaces, which of course lands him vight back on the wishing star.

Immediately, they all wince from a blinding light that is shining through their windows. They turn and look.

A shooting star is approaching, exactly like the one that Walter wished on. Just as it did then, everything in the room starts sliding toward the windows, drawn by the star's mass.

The Astronaut stands up, transfixed, unable to believe what seems to be happening. The star is just ten seconds away.

The star is just three seconds away. The Astronaut steps forward toward it, closes his eyes, and makes his wish, softly, to himself.

The star passes the house with its hot SIZZLING sound and the

light turns brilliant, blinding, they ail turn away and cover their eyes as it washes the entire screen white for a second.

Finally it passes and the light fades, they all turn back toward the windows as they are slowly able to see again, and when they see what they see is --

-- an EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD KID standing in front of the windows!

The Astronaut's jaw drops. So does everybody else's.

ae

O

O

O

110. 05/24/2004

The Kid looks around, just as confused as everybody else, trying to figure out where he is. He looks down at his own hands, flips them over once or twice as if they're new to him. He sees the Astronaut, who has tears running down his cheeks.

The Astronaut rushes forward and throws his arms around the Kid, pulling him into a tight embrace.

Young Walter looks at Young Danny as they both figure it out.

Young Walter looks at Young Danny, pointing at Grown Danny.

111. 05/24/2004

YOUNG WALTER

Ew!

Young Danny puts a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

The basement door SPLINTERS as the Zorgons SLAM into it with their swords from the other side.

KABOOM! The front door of the house EXPLODES off its hinges, hit by a Zorgon blast. Grown Walter and Grown Danny hit the deck, now all five of them are back around the game board.

Outside, a Zorgon ship fires a photon blast at the house. It SMASHES through the big plate glass window, shattering it and spraying glass everywhere.

And that's not even the worst of it. Outside the house, we see that there are now at least a dozen Zorgon ships who've come to join the party. They're circling the house in big lazy arcs, mosquitoes around a porch light.

More and more and more specks are visible on the distant horizon. This is not going to end well.

eb +

+

112. . 05/24/2004

Walter, Danny, Lisa, and the Astronaut are flat on their stomachs, covering their heads from the falling debris as the house is attacked.

Grown Danny cranks the crank --

-- and SLAMS the button. The big wheel spins.

One of the circling Zorgon ships directs a FIRE BLAST at the top of the house and it bursts into flame. They're going to destroy this thing right here, right now.

The wheel slows, passes five, six, seven, it's slowing down too much!, just barely makes it to eight --

SMASH! The Zorgons from the basement finally burst through the door and STOMP up the stairs.

-- the wheel passes nine, nine and a half, teeters there -- -- AND CLICKS OVER TO TEN!

His rocket ship motors ahead ten spaces, toward the round black blob Zathura, which waits at the end of the trail.

Young Danny leaps to his feet, SHOUTING, the way he sees it, if Future Him wins, then damn it, he wins.

113. 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 160

But instead of spitting out a game card, this time the whole game board itself opens up, like a flower blooming, revealing a dark, black round thing in the middle.

Suddenly, the whole front of the house tears off!

Now they're flying through space without a front wall, and now they're moving fast, really fast, headed straight toward this giant swirling black mass which occupies nearly their entire field of vision, outside the front of the house.

Yep, it's a black hole, all right, and it's pulling them and everything else into it. Books, lamps, furniture, everything not nailed down sails out the front of the house and disappears into Zathura. Everybody SCREAMS as --

-- the house tumbles and spins toward the black hole, sending Zorgons flying in all directions, back out into space, some grabbing onto their fleeing spaceships as they go.

But the house keeps headed for Zathura twisting and bucking and we follow it right into that black mass until suddenly --

curt TO:

-- we pop out, tight on Danny's face and he's still SCREAMING, but he's sitting on the living room floor now, and the living room is brightly lit like it was at the beginning, sunlight and trees out the window, and Walter's sitting with his back to Danny like he was at the beginning, slumped in the chair in front of the TV set, SportsCenter playing again.

Danny stops screaming and looks around, disoriented. He looks down.

His red rocket ship game piece is resting on the planet earth again. Walter's blue ship is back in the box. The board is

spread out in front of him, and Danny's hand is outstretched, ready to push the button for the first time.

114, 05/24/2004 CONTINUED : 162

He turns, his hand frozen in mid-air, and looks at Walter.

Walter turns around slowly and stares at him. Walter's eyes are as wide as saucers.

Veeeeeeerrrrry carefully, Danny stands up and backs away from the game.

Walter gets up out of the chair. They stare at the board for a second, then at each other.

Danny hurls himself at Walter and tackles him, they both fall backwards onto the carpet.

He's hugging Walter so hard they're both rolling across the carpet.

Walter wrestles Danny off of him and they roll around on the floor, but it's playful this time, Walter is laughing, they're both laughing --

-- when Dad hurries through the door.

» DAD I distinctly remember asking you guys not to kill each other.

They both get up and hurl themselves at their father, each tackling a leg, and now he goes down to the carpet and all three of them are down on the floor, rolling around like crazy people. Danny and Walter talk at the same time, a mile a minute.

O

115. 05/24/2004

WALTER DANNY im

Dad there was this game we It was so scary there were played this game and it sent these lizard guys and we went the house into outer space and through a black hole and I'm everything got wrecked and we the one who stole the game almost had to stay in it back from the Zorgons I did it forever and we saw ourselves by myself and everything and-

grown up and-

And he gets up and heads upstairs, WHISTLING.

The boys look at each other, realizing there's no point in * telling Dad later, no one would ever believe this. as DANNY But you and me know, right? WALTER (nods) You and me. *

A car pulls up in front of the house and HONKS twice. *

Dad waves to the car, standing in the open doorway. He turns, *

bends down to help Danny put on his backpack.

Danny is having trouble zipping his jacket, so Dad helps. He brushes Danny's hair out of his eyes and kisses him.

Walter hurries up, zipping his own coat, backpack already on. Dad kisses him too.

116. 05/24/2004

Walter and Danny head out the door, walking down the sidewalk toward their mom.

Lisa comes steaming out of the house, jammed-up backpack over her shoulder. She looks a wreck, hair all over the place, eyes as big as dinner plates, dark circles under them.

She bends down between the boys as she passes through them.

LISA

We never speak of this. Got it? DANNY

Sure. WALTER

Whatever.

Lisa looks at Walter, holds out a warning finger.

She stops, nothing to do except shudder in horror. She stomps toward the car, blows past her mother, gets in the front seat, and SLAMS the door behind her.

Walking the short walk from one parent to another, Danny looks at his brother.

As Walter good-naturedly grabs his brother by the backpack and drags him around in circles with it, we pull back across the yard to take in the whole scene -- Dad standing in the doorway, Mom waiting at the car, and the two little boys walking down the sidewalk, closing the space between.

A lovely moment.

And then Walter's bike falls from the sky and SMASHES to smithereens on the front lawn.