VULCANIA SCREENPLAY SYNOPSIS
As of April 12,
2016, we are seeking representation with this synopsis.
VULCANIA
A
prequel to Walt Disney's classic 1954 motion picture version of Jules Verne's 20,000
Leagues Under the Sea; adapted from Pat Regan's 2013 novel Vulcanium (The Secret of Captain Nemo and the Nautilus).
An amicable inventor, wrongfully
imprisoned and tortured for his secrets, escapes with a convict crew to an
island where they build an advanced submarine.
Their voyage of discovery becomes a struggle for freedom and a good man
becomes a ship-sinking monster in the eyes of the world.
Aboard
the prison ship MOIRA on the Indian Ocean in 1858, an inmate who stole food is
fed to the sharks. Below decks, it's
dog-eat-dog. MANU, a fierce Maori
prisoner, protects a catatonic convict during their voyage to the island of
RORAPANDI; otherwise, that man would have died.
Logged
into Isolation as "NEMO", the mysterious invalid regains his
memory. He is PRINCE RAKESH DAKKAR:
nautical engineer and inventor of a new source of electrical energy derived of
the elements found in sea water. He was
kidnapped and tortured by a clandestine nation of international military
industrialists who wanted his discovery as a super weapon. After they murdered
his wife and son, Dakkar leapt from a high window to
end his own life. He survived in
catatonia and was covertly shipped to Rorapandi, to
live or die where the crimes against him would remain unknown.
Imprisoned,
without reason to live, Nemo's sadness is so deep and
profound that he wants to die. But after
an attempted hanging and period of rumination, he finds the will to go on and
begins exercising in his cell. An OLD
CORPORAL sees a human being trying to save his own life and, though prohibited
from communications, affords the inmate extra food and recreation time.
Weeks
later, the prison COMMANDANT chokes to death at lunch, taking the secrets of Nemo's burned dossier with him. Not knowing whom the prisoner is and without
apparent reason to hold him in Isolation, the new ACTING COMMANDANT releases Nemo to the prison's general population where he rejoins
Manu, the friend who saved his life aboard the Moira.
By 1861,
Nemo is planning an escape with powerful allies in
the prison black market. Unknown at the time, his father (wealthy shipping
magnate PRATAP DAKKAR) has sailed from Ceylon to rescue him in the lavishly
refurbished corporate flagship, S.S. KORU: a former military ironclad converted
for heavy cargo. Upon arrival at Rorapandi, Pratap is delayed by
red tape and Nemo unknowingly steals his father's
rescue ship. Twenty-four fugitives and three merchant seamen survive a cyclone
at sea and take refuge on a volcanic island (VULCANIA), only to be trapped in
the inner lagoon when an earthquake collapses the entrance.
Survival
becomes paramount. Using materials found
aboard ship and in cargo, the crew fabricates diving suits of Nemo's design to hunt and farm the lagoon. When they discover an underwater tunnel
leading to the sea, a plan is born: build a submarine from the Koru's iron
hull, power it electrically with Nemo's revolutionary
power source (now named "Vulcanium") and
escape.
Produced
in five years of difficult and dangerous labor, the submarine NAUTILUS begins a
voyage of discovery, but chance sightings soon have the newspapers filled with
wild stories about sea monsters. Captain
Nemo discreetly returns to Ceylon, only to learn that
hated nation has murdered his parents, destroyed their home, and still pursues
him.
Nemo can go where none may follow,
but still his enemies persist. For
months, he peacefully and productively explores the sea: salvaging treasure,
inadvertently inspiring JOHN PHILIP HOLLAND, seeking MARK TWAIN as an emissary,
adopting a pet seal (ESMERALDA), and learning to surf, among other things. Then, Nautilus is ambushed by a mercenary
warship sent by his foe. A crewman dies
and Nemo is forced to sink the attacker.
The
combat leaves Nemo affected with guilt and remorse,
but the crew wants revenge for their fallen shipmate. Nautilus stalks and sinks the nitrate ship
GOLDEN ARROW, but that only fuels Nemo's angst. He suffers from PTSD. Friends try to help but Nemo
is becoming colder; darker and more distant.
In the
months that follow, the crew of the Nautilus discovers the BLACK GROTTO and
farms the fertile underwater plains of the sunken island CRESPO. But all the while, Nemo
remains a haunted man, looking over his shoulder for the next warship on the
horizon.
Then,
one night while cruising serenely at depth, Nautilus is rocked by a distant
explosion and surfaces to investigate.
Apparently, the crew of a nitrate ship has accidentally destroyed their
own vessel. Nemo
knows "the monster" will be blamed.
But the truth is, they made their own monster and this time it killed them.
At that
moment, the warship U.S.S. ABRAHAM LINCOLN appears from beyond the burning
wreckage. Nemo
has no quarrel with the Americans.
Nautilus turns to depart as the Lincoln fires; a long shot strikes the
submarine, killing Nemo's friend Manu.
For the
first time in righteous anger, Nemo wields the Nautilus as a weapon. But he breaks at the moment of truth because,
even though they'd fired on him, Nemo knows the men
behind those guns are not the real enemy, and he is still not a killer at
heart. Nautilus veers to starboard at
the last instant, raking the Lincoln to disable rather than destroy, and
sending three men overboard as "the monster" disappears into the
night.
Morning
finds Nautilus surfaced in fog with vents and hatches open. The crew gathers around Manu's body lying in
state in the Grand Salon. Nemo knows this was not his fault. If he has become a monster, men far more evil
have made him one. For whatever happens
next, he is not to blame. The First Mate
affirms the crew's fidelity. "We understand sir. And we're with you." They bow their
heads in silence.
Thus, the origins of Captain Nemo and the Nautilus are shown to vindicate an erroneously
vilified and oft-maligned literary icon; giving audiences a more positive
outlook on the characters and events portrayed in 20,000 Leagues Under the
Sea, for all the benefits such might have.
Pat
Regan
©2016, Pat Regan, "All Rights Reserved."