REVOLUTION ON THE PLANET OF THE APES
ISSUE 2: LINES OF COMMUNICATION
BY JOE O'BRIEN FOR Salgood Sam
PAGE 1-
1- Establishing Hasslein Air Force Base.
CAPTION
Hasslein AFB.
2- Close on a television screen. The permasmile plastic CGI
face of ANNIE THE ANCHORPERSON grinning at us, the
everpresent Pentagon logo of America's News Network buttoned
on the screen. Behind her is a quasi-comic cartoon graphic
of an enraged chimpanzee. The screen of the TV is lightly
splattered with blood.
3- Inside Lab 44, as seen in the final pages of last month's
issue. Now devoid of its gorilla lab subjects. The
equipment's been trashed.
4- Low angle looking down a corridor at Hasslein AFB. The
twisted bodies of dead soldiers spread across the floor.
Some of the soldiers have had their uniform shirts and
helmets torn from them, for reasons that will become clear
next page.
The steel doors marked SPECIAL PROJECTS DIVISION - LAB 44
hang off their hinges, the metal dented and twisted by
something incredibly strong and angry.
5- A gorilla's paw snatches an M-16 from a soldier's cold,
dead hand.
OFF-PANEL BALLOON
Once again Media Secretary Nora
Rhodes expressed her assurance
that the situation is contained,
and that everything is under
control.
PAGE 2-
1- Splash. Aldo the gorilla leads a cadre of GORILLAS down
the corridor. Some are the experimental subjects seen last
issue, their brains exposed and trailing cables and
electrodes.
Others are normal, but have donned bits and pieces of fallen
soldiers' uniforms and helmets, wearing them in a strange
mockery of human behaviour. They're all carrying M-16s, and
pretty well, considering.
ALDO
Everything is under control.
TITLES AND CREDITS run beneath this happy image:
REVOLUTION ON THE PLANET OF THE APES
PART TWO: LINES OF COMMUNICATION
TY TEMPLETON - co-plots & edits JOE O'BRIEN - co-plots &
script RICHARD PACE - art
PAGE 3-
1- Night over San Diego. Caesar and Lisa crouch on the edge
of a high arch overlooking the main concourse, clutching the
edge of their perch with their bare toes, like the tree
dwellers they are.
CAPTION
San Diego Exclusion Zone.
CAESAR
I'm afraid, Lisa.
2- Caesar leaps through the air, reaching for a the
outcropped ledge of a nearby building. Lisa's right behind
them.
CAESAR
Afraid of what is to come. Of
what I have to do.
(2)
Of what I MUST do.
3- Caesar lands on a high rooftop. Lisa again not far behind
him.
CAESAR
I wish my parents were here.
4- Caesar and Lisa.
CAESAR
I don't remember them. But I
dream about them every night.
(2)
The trouble is, I don't know
whether I'm dreaming my future, or
their past.
(3)
I would give anything to talk to
them now . . .
5- Caesar.
CAESAR
Just to hear them speak.
PAGE 4-
1- Ground level, looking up at the building Caesar and Lisa
are upon. A CHIMPANZEE shuffles past.
CAPTION
Relationships are so tricky.
SFX
Zzzzzzzt!
2- The chimp reacts to a DART that's imbedded itself in his
upper back shoulder.
CAPTION
I always thought we were meant to
be. Despite all our differences.
3- The chimp collapses in a heap at the edge of the deserted
plaza.
CAPTION
I really thought we could overcome
them.
4- A figure emerges from the shadows. Bryce Evans, the
scientist we saw dogging Caesar last issue, his tattered,
dirty lab coat flowing like a cape.
CAPTION
"Spineless" you called me.
"Unreliable", you said.
5- Closer. Bryce picks the unconscious chimp up in his arms.
BRYCE
Don't worry little fella . . .
(2)
You're going to help me save the
whole world.
CAPTION
Nora, if only you could see me
now.
PAGE 5-
1- Another piece of underground video, like the opening of
last issue. Caesar addresses his troops at the conclusion of
Conquest. MacDonald visible in frame, as are the gorillas
surrounding the fallen form of Governor Breck.
CAESAR
By tomorrow it will be too late.
Why, a tiny, mindless insect like
the Emperor Moth can communicate
with another over a distance of
eighty miles.
MACDONALD
An Emperor Ape might do slightly
BETTER?
2- Another angle, closer on Caesar.
CAESAR
SLIGHTLY.
(2)
What you have seen here today,
apes on five continents will be
imitating tomorrow!
3- A red screen. Bold yellow text reads: YOUR ISP HAS BEEN
SHUT DOWN IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE AMERCIAN TRUTH ACT.
4- Annie again, her huge beaming plastic face.
ANNIE
Authorities assure us that there
is absolutely no cause for alarm.
5- Video footage. A JAY LENO-ESQUE TALK SHOW HOST in mid
monologue.
TALK SHOW HOST
So have you heard this? San
Diego's being run by a talking
monkey.
(2)
No one's surprised. After all
Washington's been run by a talking
ASS for years
PAGE 6-
1- The War Room in all its big round table, giant world map
Kubrickian splendor. President Trundy and all his advisors
assembled, including Defense Secretary Sparks and Ape
Management Director Culley, both seen last issue. Nora
Rhodes and Dr. Reich in attendance.
On the map above them, RED ZONES mark areas of reported ape
revolution. The West Coast is solid red, with pockets
spreading out across the midwest in a random but clearly
radiating pattern. A few dots here and there along the East
Coast, as well as a few popping up sporadically in other
continents. It has the look of a disease vector, or a blast
pattern.
CAPTION
Washington D.C.
PRESIDENT TRUNDY
Someone want to explain to me what
the HELL is happening here?
DIRECTOR CULLEY
-- ape incidents cropping up
across the country now --
DEFENSE SECRETARY SPARKS
-- unable to re-establish contact
with several military complexes --
ADVISOR
-- National Guard are already
overextended --
REICH
It is self-evident, Mr. President.
2- President Trundy, Reich, Nora and Sparks.
REICH
They're COMMUNICATING.
DEFENSE SECRETARY SPARKS
They can't even SPEAK.
REICH
Communication is not SPEECH, Mr.
Defense Secretary. One can speak
for hours and communicate NOTHING.
(2)
Don't you think, Ms. Rhodes?
NORA
What I THINK, Doctor, is that your
theories are of little practical
value.
4- Trundy, Nora and Sparks.
DEFENSE SECRETARY SPARKS
We need to strike at Caesar NOW!
PRESIDENT TRUNDY
Not while we still have CHURCHDOOR
to worry about.
NORA
Sir . . . ?
PRESIDENT TRUNDY
Not your concern, Secretary
Rhodes. I want to know about your
INFORMATION CONTROL INITIATIVE.
5- Nora.
NORA
There's a complete media blackout
surrounding the San Diego
Exclusion Zone. No information is
getting out.
6- Reich slides a magazine across the table in front of a
horrified President Trundy.
REICH
As a scientist, I often find that
information has a life of its OWN.
PAGE 7-
1- A copy of PEOPLE NEWS Magazine on the table. On the cover
is an image of Caesar from the night of the ape revolution at
the conclusion of Conquest over a headline that reads "HAIL
CAESAR! -- He's running San Diego and he can TALK! Exclusive
interview with the new King of the Apes. Is this the fabled
child of Cornelius And Zira? See page 23."
(Ty has generated a mockup of this for the backup story this
issue, so this panel is probably all postproduction/letters).
OFF-PANEL BALLOON
What the hell is THIS!?
OFF-PANEL BALLOON
Minor leakage, Mr. President. No
pays any attention to PRINT media.
2- Nora snaps the magazine up.
NORA
In any case, we intercepted the
print run at the warehouse.
(2)
Everything is under control.
3- Reich.
REICH
Everything is clearly NOT under
control. I believe Caesar has
access to a media beyond Ms.
Rhodes access --
(2)
Or anyone else's.
4- Reich and Trundy silhouetted against the big map.
PRESIDENT TRUNDY
So Caesar is more intelligent, so
what?
REICH
Not just more intelligent. The
very structure of his brain is
UNIQUE.
(2)
If he is communicating with other
apes remotely, he can ORGANIZE
them.
PRESIDENT TRUNDY
And how do we deal with that?
5- Nora.
NORA
We do the only thing we can do,
Mr. President.
(2)
We INTERVIEW him.
(3)
Face-to-face.
PAGE 8-
1- A riot in progress. Ground level. Bullets ripping
through a crowd of rioting gorillas and fleeing inner-city
civilians, killing both indiscriminately.
A combined SWAT-National Guard Unit trying to get through the
crowd. The closest to us, a humungous SWAT guy whose
breastpatch identifies him as WOOLEY, is unloading his M-16
into the crowd.
Chris Leung, the Asian teen from issue one, visible in the
foreground of the crowd.
CAPTION
Los Angeles.
WOOLEY
Come and get it!
SWAT GUY
Wooley's gone ape!
2- Chris tackles a HISPANIC WOMAN, knocking her clear
Wooley's line of fire. The bullets chew up the street behind
them
CHRIS
Look out!
3- Chris stares up at Wooley, enraged, one lens of his
glasses shattered. A chunk of shattered cement in his hand
the size of a baseball.
OFF-PANEL BALLOON
Oh my God he's killing everyone!
4- A cement chunk glances off Wooley's forehead, blood
spilling into his eyes.
WOOLEY
Come on you dumb bast--
(2)
AHH!
5- Others -- people and apes alike -- follow Chris's example,
hurling chunks of debris at the cops. Chris is horrified.
CROWD BALLOON
Get 'em!
CROWD BALLOON
Take this!
CHRIS
No!
PAGE 9-
1- Chris darts down an alley, the crush of the riot visible
behind him.
CAPTION
It's really all over, isn't it?
2- Chris emerges onto a a desolate, post-battle street.
Burned out buildings, smashed storefronts, overturned cars,
dead soldiers, fallen M-16s. Smoke still chokes the air.
CAPTION
I don't even know whose side I'm
on.
CAPTION
If there even ARE sides anymore.
3- Chris grabs a laptop computer from inside a smashed
storefront window reading CAMERA & COMPUTER BLOWOUT.
CAPTION
I can't just stand by and do
nothing. Someone has to make sure
this gets out.
4- He spins as something grabs his attention.
CAPTION
The people have to know what's
going on.
OFF-PANEL BALLOON
Hll . . . ss-srr . . .
CHRIS
Huh?
CAPTION
And I'll tell them . . .
5- Reverse past Chris, holding the pistol in one hand and the
laptop computer in the other. He's staring up at a half
demolished wall, where a LONE ORANGUTAN has just finished
crudely spray-painting the words HALE CEZAR.
CAPTION
As soon as I know just what that
is.
ORANGUTAN
Hll ss-srr!
PAGE 10-
1- Another Caesar dream image. This time we're in the final
moments of Beneath From The Planet of the Apes. The Alpha
Omega bomb in all its glory. The bloodied, mortally-wounded
COL. GEORGE TAYLOR (looking as much like The Hest as is
legally allowable) hunched over the detonation switch. DR.
ZAIUS nearby, pointing an accusing finger.
CAPTION
I have dreamt this all my life.
CAPTION
Apes and humans at each others
throats.
CAPTION
A great golden sword poised to
destroy them all.
CAPTION
In the hands of a man whose fear
of our kind is outstripped only by
the loathing of his OWN.
2- The Alpha-Omega bomb exploding, vaporizing everyone.
CAPTION
A hatred so BRIGHT it burned the
world to a cinder.
3- Caesar.
CAESAR
I always wondered how someone
could HATE with such all-consuming
purity.
(2)
And then I met you.
OFF-PANEL BALLOON
CAESAR! I demand you let me go
now!
PAGE 11-
1- Big panel. GOVERNOR BRECK strapped into the same shock
table Caesar was wired to in Conquest. Caesar looms over
him. MacDonald nearby.
CAESAR
You no longer have any authority
here, Governor Breck.
(2)
This city belongs to ME now.
BRECK
MacDonald! You bleeding-heart
monkey-loving sonofabitch! It
figures you'd go along with
something like this.
2- MacDonald looks past Breck to Caesar, who's standing by
the control switch for the table.
MACDONALD
Caesar, this isn't necessary.
CAESAR
Oh but it IS, Mr. MacDonald. And
if you'd spent even a moment on
this table, you'd know that.
BRECK
Like father like son . . .
3- Breck.
BRECK
Like mother, too. You never knew
your parents, did you? But I know
them for what they are. Like I
know you for what you are.
(2)
Monsters.
(3)
Your mother CUT humans up like LAB
RATS. Your father KILLED an
unarmed orderly in COLD BLOOD.
4- Caesar, growing more and more angry.
CAESAR
Liar!
OFF-PANEL BALLOON
Look it up!
PAGE 12-
1- Big panel. Caesar leans on the switch, enraged.
MacDonald lurching toward him, arms outstretched, horrified.
Breck writhes on the table, in unbearable agony, arcs of
electricity twisting around him.
CAESAR
LIAR!!
MACDONALD
CAESAR NO!!
BRECK
ARRRYYAAAARRRGGGAAHHHH!!!!!
SFX
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTT!
2- Caesar throws the switch back to the off position.
MacDonald's grabbed him by the shoulder.
MACDONALD
This is --
CAESAR
Inhuman? Of course it isn't.
This shock table was INVENTED by
humans. USED by humans to torture
and kill. It couldn't be MORE
human.
3- Breck, terrified, staring up at Caesar.
BRECK
If you kill me it'll be all out
war! There'll be nowhere for you
to hide!
CAESAR
I don't want to hide. And I don't
want to kill you. I simply want
you to see the world as I do. And
then I want the world to see YOU.
4- Caesar.
CAESAR
But first . . .
(2)
Tell me about Churchdoor.
PAGE 13-
1- A BOEING PASSENGER JET emblazoned with the Pentagon ANN
logo flies high above the clouds.
BALLOON
What the hell is Churchdoor?
2- Inside the spacious passenger cabin. This is a private
government jet, not a commercial flight, so the furnishings
are designed for luxury, not efficiency.
Nora sits across from Defense Secretary Sparks.
DEFENSE SECRETARY SPARKS
You're in charge of MEDIA, Rhodes.
Your not cleared for actual
INFORMATION.
NORA
I don't need clearance to know
Breck's in bed with your Defense
Council.
(2)
Why won't the President let you
attack Caesar? What's there that
you can't afford to lose?
3- Sparks, looking flustered.
OFF-PANEL BALLOON
Or you can't afford Caesar to
find?
4- Rhodes and Sparks.
DEFENSE SECRETARY SPARKS
You're from San Diego originally,
aren't you Rhodes? You got family
there? Mother, father . . .
NORA
Fiancee, actually.
DEFENSE SECRETARY SPARKS
Right, the GENETICIST. Bryce
Evans.
Which I guess means EX-fiancee,
since you're no longer speaking.
5- Now Nora's the one who's flustered.
OFF-PANEL BALLOON
You're not the only one who knows
how to find things out. Did he
end it, or you?
NORA
None of your business.
6- Sparks smiles grimly.
DEFENSE SECRETARY SPARKS
So you DO understand the value of
keeping sensitive information
SECRET.
PAGE 14-
1- A pair of F-16 FIGHTER JETS fly towards the plane.
PILOT
Passengers be advised we are
beginning our descent toward San
Diego.
2- Inside the cockpit, looking past the pilots through the
cockpit window. The F-16s getting dangerously close. The
pilot's talking into a radio mic.
PILOT
God willing we should be on the
ground in twenty minutes.
CO-PILOT
What's that?
3- Reverse two-shot. The co-pilot's reacting with horror.
PILOT
This is government flight David 14
on priority approach to incoming
military aircraft. Bit late for
an escort, isn't it fellas?
CO-PILOT
Oh my God . . .
4- Looking through the bubble canopy of the closest fighter.
The pilot is one of Aldo's exposed-brain apes.
We can just see the other fighter and make out the shape of
its simian pilot as well.
5- The F-16s launch a volley of air-to-air missiles.
PAGE 15-
1- One of the missiles clips the wing, BLOWING UP the engine.
SFX
BOOM!
2- Inside the cabin. The plane's already in a roll.
Everything not tied down in airborne, including Rhodes and
Sparks.
DEFENSE SECRETARY SPARKS
Oh God!
3- A piece of the fuselage rips away. Sparks is sucked
towards the opening. He's got one hand wrapped around Nora's
wrist. She's clinging for dear life to her seat.
NORA
Tell me! What is CHURCHDOOR!?
4- Sparks fingers start to slip. He's terrified.
DEFENSE SECRETARY SPARKS
Caesar musn't find it!
5- Outside the plane, burning and crashdiving through the
clouds. Sparks is sucked out of the massive tear in the
fuselage, screaming . . .
DEFENSE SECRETARY SPARKS
HE'LL DESTROY US
AAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!
PAGE 16-
1- Nora tumbles forward towards the cockpit as the plane goes
near vertical, knocking past a rack of PARACHUTES. The cabin
behind her is literally disintegrating.
2- Nora crashes into the cockpit, struggling to hang on to
something.
3- Nora's POV. The cockpit's trashed. Both pilot's are dead
in their seats. The ground visible through the smashed
canopy, rushing toward us.
4- Nora, eyes wide with terror.
NORA
NO!
TO BE CONTINUED
END OF ISSUE TWO