Thanks for checking in on this WIP.
It’s part of a series of stories I had ideas for and started screenplays about some time again. I pitched the stories but nothing landed.
Which leaves us with stuff like this and what to do with it.
I have some ideas of where to go next, but I want to document the process and share it with anyone interested.
So when you read this, now it’s done in script format, and part of a trilogy of movies inspired by Romancing the Stone and Indiana Jones. The tense will change and so will the tone as it gets fleshed out.
And then the entire Clive Cussler inspired adventure will be available on your favorite outlet.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
ATLANTIS
An archeology professor goes on an assignment on the ocean. His specialty: underwater civilizations. He is the lead man who recovered Alexandria, and a lost Mayan civilization in the Yucatan Peninsula.
He is about to make the greatest recovery of his life, a container with the secrets of the past and a guide to the future in it. It’s from the lost civilization of Atlantis-a passion of his for many years.
He is assisted by his grad student, an ex-soldier who studies the past after destroying ancient cities in the deserts and jungles. he is dedicated to discovery, and to the professor. He is also great to have in a crisis.
They encounter a SALVAGE TEAM on the water, a group of pirates only after the money that an underwater find will bring.
The Salvage Team is lead by (what was blackbeard’s real name?) The Ocean is a cruel mistress and anything goes on her waters. She’s the best form of Darwinism, and blackbeard likes to make sure he survives.
Joan is a marine biologist who thinks that the site should remain intact since so much life has developed around it. The intrusion of a Salvage would be catastrophic to the surrounding corral reef and it’s life system, and even a precise recovery effort would do irreparable harm. She and her team of five Eco-terrorists are going to stop the recovery and the Salvage, no matter what.
There are Caribbean Pirates still, men who prey on the smaller, lesser armed boats full of bounty and booty.
There is a weird competition between the professor and his grad student over who can impress Joan more. She looks like a woman the professor dated many years ago, on his first dig. A Filipino woman, his first and only true love.
All of this takes place on the water, and a few islands.
it takes 20 minutes to get to the water-
it takes 20 minutes to wrap it up.
It takes 80 minutes to tell the story.
the beginning is research and setting the history up. It should show how well the professor and his grad student work together.
Someplace far away, where they’re not supposed to be- Bentley and Harris sneak across a dark field to the edge of a huge lake-
they don scuba gear and slip underneath the water as the sun comes up.
the lake is guarded, a campsite further down
they swim to an underwater cavern, sneak past guards to find an ancient cave city with elaborate symbols painted on the roof.
Bentley explains that it’s a new find, documenting a new era in civilization, it existed before recorded time, and shows a new something.
HARRIS
why are they guarding it?
BENTLEY
There.
He points to why they’re guarding it. Row after row of statues of gold.
HARRIS
Wow.
he snaps digital pictures of the men.
HARRIS
What are we here for?
Bentley points to a small hut at the edge of town.
BENTLEY
Adventure.
He smiles.
They go to the hut, and find another man bound on the floor. It’s Bentley’s arch rival. He stole the information from Bentley’s files. They rescue him and recover-something worthwhile. something ancient and tied to water since that’s his specialty.
The guards find them out, give chase.
Harris comes up with an elaborate escape scheme, and it works, dragging them through the water to the edge of the lake.
Bentley gets them away from the camp with his skill.
Back at the office, Bentley and Harris argue over the application of what they recovered- research or museum.
A mysterious man shows up, Richard Lawrence, he’s a professor from Florida, an avid diver who thinks he’s found Atlantis. He claims to have found Roman coins and a roman ship off the coast of Florida. He and Bentley worked together before.
The trio goes out drinking. Some thugs pick a fight. Harris kicks their ass, while the two older gentlemen watch.
Harris delivers the professor and his friend to their apartment. He leaves them alone.
That night, while they sleep, someone breaks in, knocks the professor out and kills Lawrence. They steal his briefcase and notes.
Harris works out hung over-the phone rings
he rushes to the professor, who’s a shaken, but all right, as they wheel the body out of the house.
LYNN
You’re killing them!
Dr. Lynn Rae delivers a lecture to the media regarding destruction of the marine Eco-structure. She rails against overdevelpment, run off and one of the most underreported acts of destruction- government supported salvage efforts.
She and her assistants feel like the words fall on deaf ears. They decide to take a more proactive approach.
Under the cover of darkness, they sink a salvage boat to create a new reef.
Harris and Bentley go to Florida and search the Friend’s files. They’ve been rifled, but Bentley knows the friend’s code.
BENTLEY
Anything important is kept in
secret code.
HARRIS
How old were you? This is
grade school stuff.
BENTLEY
I’ll have you know that even the
most powerful governments use code.
You used it.
HARRIS
That was different. We had
information vital to the safety
of the nation.
BENTLEY
Information that kept people safe?
HARRIS
Exactly.
BENTLEY
Information that could get someone
killed?
HARRIS
Yeah, oh-
You know, I really hate it when you
do that.
He watches as Bentley taps on the computer screen. A proposed magazine article pops up.
HARRIS
Do you have a secret code?
BENTLEY
Of course.
HARRIS
You do?
BENTLEY
You want me to explain it to you.
HARRIS
Yeah.
BENTLEY
Then it wouldn’t be a secret.
Bentley highlights the first word of every sentence and the last word of every paragraph. He cut’s and pastes to another file and discovers the secret,
a latitude and longitude map to the lost city of Atlantis, as well as a description of a tableau Rosa, the book of information.
HARRIS
Do you know what it is?
There are also notes about the crew he was working with, Morgan Monroe the captain of a small research vessel.
They go to the library for research, working on a laptop and terminal each, they research Atlantis and the tableau Rosa.
They don’t notice the tanned, blond man watching them.
Harris and Bentley go to the docks, ask for Morgan. The ship is there, but Morgan was lost at sea, along with two crewmen, a few days ago. They found the ship by itself.
there were only two other members of the crew-killed in a bar fight.
Captain Monroe is Morgan’s dad.
They charter Captain Monroe and his crew to carry them to the coordinates.
Lynn and her crew watch them load onto the boat. Lot’s of gear, lot’s of recovery equipment.
The blond from the library watches too.
Monroe’s boat pulls out from the dock.
A second, larger boat gives chase.
BENTLEY
Could be pirates.
Harris opens his gear bag, pulls an M-22 assault rifle up. He slams a magazine home.
HARRIS
I’m ready for pirates.
BENTLEY
Must you be so dramatic?
Harris rests the rifle on his hip.
HARRIS
Like this?
MONROE
There ain’t no more pirates.
Hell, it’s just us.
He hauls on the wheel, the boat circles around, he bears down on the chasing ship.
It’s Lynn and her crew.
Buffet scares them away.
They get to the site. The only boat for miles around.
They are on the edge of the Bermuda Triangle-haven for lost ships and UFO’s.
They go down to search-
Get a distress signal from Lynn and her crew
rescue her from pirates.
go back to site to ride out freak storm
Harris and Bentley develop a weird competition to impress Lynn over the course of a few days.
and discover-the Roman ship.
but it takes some time
Salvage ship sends down a scout crew to recon their work. They get into an underwater fight with Harris, pull his regulator out of his mouth.
He inflates a dive bag over the guy, rocket’s him to the surface.
The Salvage ship stands off bow with Monroe’s ship. Bentley climbs to the top of the conning tower with Harris’ gun to scare them off.
Harris surfaces to catch a glimpse of the professor on the tower.
BENTLEY
(off Harris’ look)
For dramatic effect.
Salvage ship chum’s the waters to attract sharks
Salvage ship runs them off
EDDIE
This is a multi million dollar
venture you’re messing with.
People get hurt over a hundred
dollars. For a million, they get
killed.
BENTLEY
You’re out of jurisdiction.
EDDIE
I don’t think so.
The Island government issues a temporary permit to the Salvage operators in exchange for a commission on the find and the development of a museum of natural history of the island( another payoff) They agree to use force against any aggression toward the Salvage Team.
A gunship shows up to guard the salvage team.
Bentley vows to get the site back.
Lynn vows to stop it all.
Harris vows to love Lynn. Her assistant cracks him across the back of the skull with an oar.
The Eco-terrorist’s take over Monroe’s ship to stop the salvage operation.
The gun ship stops them.
Harris slips over the side as the entire team is captured.
Dreams of mermaids rescuing him-
as a Roman soldier
Harris wakes up standing on water, he’s on a shallow corral reef, surrounded by nothing but water.
he’s picked up by a boatload of fisherman
who take him to port
where he finds the gunboat, Monroe’s ship, and her crew.
it’s a small island jail, but rough and tumble, a throwback to pirating days. These are the modern pirates, the government.
He free’s everyone, but Bentley and Lynn are still on the Salvage boat. They ran into some trouble in the drink.
Monroe takes his boat back and they escape from the port under the cover of darkness.
They glide out to the site, kill the motors and hoist a sail.
Harris don’s his scuba gear, goes in the water. He swims on the surface for almost a mile to the Salvage boat.
He hangs on the anchor and waits.
Bentley is forced to go down with a salvage team.
Harris saves him under water.
Harris uses vacuum air lift to kill a salvage guy
Harris uses pneumatic chisel to kill guy
They surface, invade the ship to save Lynn.
They back Eddie into a corner-
He’s saved by Morgan, Monroe’s son,
just as Monroe’s ship arrives.
Dad forces son to give up and they save the site-
or so they think-
until Lynn shows them how much irreparable harm they’ve done to the reef-
and Harris’ fight with the salvage crews under have turned the air lift and blowers on. The site is virtually lost.
It’s over. there’s no proof that Romans discovered American, only theories that hold up as well as UFO’s in the Bermuda triangle.
lls her close.
SLICK
Any place is heaven as long as I’m with you.
To Be Expanded and Continued
Chris Lowry Books 