Mission Impossible Script
INT. KIEV APARTMENT - NIGHT
We’re in a large closet. JACK KIEFER, an athletic American
in his late thirties wearing a headset, is wedged into a
corner, staring at a television screen.
The television shows a surveillance view of the living room
that lies outside the confines of the closet. The TV image
is in black and white. JACK shifts, trying like hell to get
comfortable but he’s been there a while
ON THE SCREEN
A bare bulb shines down on the contents of a shabby hotel
room. Directly under the blub a man, GENNADY KASIMOV, sits
in a straight backed wooden chair in his blood-stained T-
shirt. There are a couple of THUGS and a stray HOOKER in the
room behind him. A legend:
KIEV
KASIMOV is sobbing. Uncontrollably. A MAN enters the room,
ANATOLY, an imperious Russian in his forties, a Russian
godfather. The THUGS and HOOKERS are ushered out. ANATOLY
looks down at KASIMOV pitiously and urges him to go and sit
by him in a chair he picks up for him. KASIMOV does as he is
bid, looking gratefully up at ANATOLY. They speak in Russian
which is subtitled.
ANATOLY
Kasimov, Kasimov, good that you called
us.
KASIMOV
(sobbing)
I don’t remember what happened! We were
at the bar, drinking, laughing -- having
fun.
ANATOLY gets up out of the chair and goes to a bed across the
room. A WOMAN lies half under the sheets. She’s lying in an
unnatural position on the bed, and the sheets are smeared
with blood. She’s dead. ANATOLY lifts her eyelid.
KASIMOV
I don’t even know how I got here.
I swear, Anatoly, I never touched her! I
didn’t lay a finger on her.
ANATOLY moves away from the WOMAN.
ANATOLY
Kasimov. Don’t flounder.
IN THE CLOSET
JACK, impatient, checks his watch.
JACK
Jesus, she’s been under too long. Come
on, come on!
ON THE SCREEN
KASIMOV
You’re the only one who can help me.
Desperately he tugs at ANATOLY’S jacket. But ANATOLY hits
his hand away and smacks him around the head.
IN THE CLOSET
JACK reacts.
ON THE SCREEN
ANATOLY bends close to KASIMOV.
ANATOLY
C’mon, c’mon, tell the truth...c’mon.
KASIMOV
They’ll kill me.
ANATOLY paces up the room, away from KASIMOV.
ANATOLY
You asked for my help. You asked for my
help...come on...
KASIMOV
You’re right, of course.
IN THE CLOSET
JACK leans forward.
JACK
The name pal...give us the name.
ON THE SCREEN
KASIMOV
The contact in Minsk..the contact in
Minsk..works in a travel agency.
IN THE CLOSET
JACK
Come on!
ON THE SCREEN
ANATOLY
Come on!
KASIMOV
His name is.....Dimitri Miediev.
ANATOLY
Dimitri Miediev...Dimitri Miediev...
IN THE CLOSET
JACK
Got him.
ON THE SCREEN
Back on screen, ANATOLY places a hand on KASIMOV’S shoulder
as if he had just anointed him.
IN THE CLOSET
In the closet, JACK types the name into a computer and cross
checks -- "MIEDIEV" comes up, then "posting/American
consulate/Kiev."
JACK turns and nods to a WHOREHOUSE WAITRESS in costume in
the closet next to him, dressed in traditional Russian tunic
and virtually no bottom. She quickly leaves.
INT. SHABBY ROOM - NIGHT
We enter the room for the first time as the WAITRESS does.
She’s carrying a tray with a bottle of vodka and two shot
glasses.
ANATOLY
Now, we drink.
He pours them out and hands one to KASIMOV.
ANATOLY (CONT’D)
To friends.
KASIMOV
Yes, Anatoly, yes.
JACK
Cheers.
He drinks. He blinks. Something felt funny about that.
Dizzied, KASIMOV swoons and passes out on the floor. ANATOLY
moves to the closet door and opens it.
IN THE CLOSET
ANATOLY reaches up to his face --
--and tears away a mask of flesh. He’s no middle aged
Russian mobster, he’s ETHAN HUNT, an American in his early
thirties. He gestures to KASIMOV contemptuously. JACK hands
ETHAN a hypodermic kit and he goes quickly back into the
room.
ETHAN
(in English now)
Get rid of this scum.
Immediately, there is activity, and PEOPLE everywhere. TWO
OTHERS come into the room and carry KASIMOV out.
ETHAN goes quickly to the body of the dead woman. He cheeks
the pulse in her neck, shines a penlight in her eye. He
strips the adrenalin kit and jabs the long needle into the
dead woman’s thigh. He checks her pulse again, checking a
stopwatch. In about ten seconds, the woman’s eyes open.
CLAIRE is her name, a French woman of thirty or so. She half
rolls over, GROANS, and wipes some of the blood from her
mouth.
CLAIRE
Did we get it?
ETHAN
We got it. On your feet.
CLAIRE
I want to sleep. Can I sleep here.
ETHAN
Walk, just walk. Start walking.
CLAIRE
I’m walking.
ETHAN
Talking’s good, walking’s better.
CLAIRE
Sleeping’s better.
Meanwhile, MEN in overalls take apart the room. The ceiling
lifts right off the walls, and the walls themselves start to
come down, revealing the "hotel room" to be an elaborate set
in the middle of an empty warehouse.
JACK comes into the room from the closet. He hands CLAIRE
her jewelry, including a watch and a wedding ring. ETHAN
stops what he’s doing, noticing. She looks up at him
questioningly.
CLAIRE
Are you all right Ethan. What’s wrong
with you?
ETHAN
If you’re gonna do this again Claire,
It’s not gonna be on my watch.
CLAIRE
Oh yeah?
JACK comes into the room from the closet. He hands CLAIRE
her jewelry, including a watch and a wedding ring. ETHAN
stops what he’s doing, noticing. She looks up at him,
questioningly.
JACK
Claire.
ETHAN
Jack.
She almost unconsciously slips the wedding ring onto her
finger. ETHAN notices. He turns and SHOUTS to the room at
large.
ETHAN
IS THERE ANY PARTICULAR REASON WE’RE NOT
OUT OF HERE YET?!
JACK
Just waiting for you, tubs.
He walks across the room and out the door. CLAIRE, worried,
clutches her hands together, glancing down at her wedding
ring.
We move in on it --
CUT TO:
INT. JET - DAY
-- and come out on another wedding ring, this one on a MAN’s
finger. One of several he’s drumming on an arm rest in the
plush first class cabin of a commercial airliner. He shoves
some money into his wallet, and as he does so we catch a
fleeting glimpse of a photograph of CLAIRE.
The pilot’s voice makes an announcement.
VOICE (O.S.)
Ladies and gentlemen, we have leveled off
at our cruising altitude of thirty-eight
thousand feet-and we should be arriving
in Prague right on schedule.
A FLIGHT ATTENDANT makes her way between the seats, passing
out menus.
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
Would you like to watch a movie Mr Rosen?
A passenger takes one. The ATTENDANT continues on.
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
(CONT’D)
Would you like to watch a movie Mr
Phelps?
The MAN with the wedding ring looks up. JIM PHELPS is in his
mid-forties, good-looking, intense. He’s a tired man, and
not just now, it’s a profound fatigue. He looks up at the
ATTENDANT and smiles warmly.
PHELPS
No, I prefer the theatre.
A look crosses the FLIGHT ATTENDANT’S face; her tone becomes
stilted.
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
Would you consider the cinema of the
Ukraine?
PHELPS
Perhaps you’d choose one for me.
The ATTENDANT turns and walks away. PHELPS sits back, shakes
a cigarette out of a pack, and taps it nervously on the
armrest.
AT THE FRONT OF THE CABIN.
The FLIGHT ATTENDANT opens a case loaded with video 8
cassettes of feature films. She opens a panel in the top of
the case and withdraws a tape hidden back there.
BACK AT PHELPS’ SEAT
The ATTENDANT returns with the tape and hands it to PHELPS.
He takes it without a word and she moves on.
PHELPS reaches down and turns a lever on the support between
his seat and the empty one beside him. He flips up a small
movie screen and angles it toward himself, away from the
other passengers. He puts on a headset, opens a door in the
armrest, and puts the tape in.
He presses play.
ON THE TAPE,
the image of a man comes on. EUGENE KITTRIDGE is fortyish,
but seems permanently stuck in the Nixon era -- horn rimmed
glasses, short short haircut, rather be caught dead than
tieless. But if he catches your eye, he will never, ever
look away. He’s seated at a desk, looking into the camera.
KITTRIDGE
(on the tape)
Good morning, Mr. Phelps. The man you’re
about to see is Aleksander Golitsyn --
The screen winks and shows an image of GOLITSYN, a burly man
in his forties. The image is herky-jerky videotape,
presumably taken from a concealed camera as GOLITSYN walks
down a foreign street.
KITTRIDGE (O.S.)
-- a former KGB Line X officer now
working the international black market
selling intelligence. This morning, we
learned that Golitsyn has stolen one half
of a CIA NOC list, the list of our non-
official cover agents working in Eastern
Europe.
The screen shows an image of what such a list might look
like, code names and other information scrolling by on a
computer screen at high speed.
KITTRIDGE (O.S.)
For security reasons, the NOC list is
divided into two encoded halves.
Golitsyn already has the cryptonym
portion, which contains agent code names
and targeting areas. This portion is
useless unless combined with the second
half -- the true name list that is kept
in the CIA station in our Embassy in Prague.
The Embassy itself comes on screen, a beautiful old building
at the base of the Charles Bridge, which spans the Vltava
River.
KITTRIDGE (O.S.)
We believe Golitsyn plans to steal the
true name list at an Embassy function
tomorrow night. Your mission, should you
decide to accept it, is to obtain
photographic proof of the theft, apprehend
those involved, and return the stolen
list. I don’t have to stress the
importance of this matter, Jim. We’re
keeping it internally black. Because of
its urgency, I’ve already sent to Prague
a team selected from your usual group.
Still photographs come on screen, some of which we’re already
seen -- JACK KIEFER, CLAIRE and ETHAN.
KITTRIDGE (O.S.)
Ethan Hunt will of course be your point
man, as usual. He’s in Kiev; we’re
getting word to him now.
INT. JET - DAY
PHELPS sits back in his seat, closes his eyes, and rubs his
tired brow. KITTRIDGE himself comes back on the tape.
KITTRIDGE (O.S.)
As always, should you or any member of
your IM force be caught or killed, the
Secretary will disavow all knowledge of
your actions. This tape will self-
destruct in five seconds. Good luck,
Jim!
PHELPS inhales deeply --
-- the tape in the armrest starts to smolder, sending up a
plume of wispy smoke --
-- and PHELPS exhales, concealing the plume in a cloud of
cigarette smoke.
CUT TO:
EXT. PRAGUE SAFE HOUSE - DAY
SARAH and HANNA, a German woman in her mid-thirties enter.
Another legend:
PRAGUE
INT. SAFE HOUSE - PRAGUE - DAY
The IMF team’s safe house is a sparsely furnished Prague
apartment with a panoramic view of the city.
The IMF team is scattered around the room. Sketches, pads,
overfilled ashtrays and equipment are strewn everywhere.
JACK and SARAH seated next to each other - JACK demonstrating
the VISCO glasses to her. CLAIRE is seated opposite JACK at
the computer. JIM and ETHAN are in the kitchen. HANNAH
taking a roll of black-out curtain through the room.
JACK
Look to your right, then back to me.
There’s a camera built right into the
bridge. Whatever you see it sees and
transmits it back here. Can you hear me?
SARAH
Of course I can hear you.
JACK
No, in your...ear piece. You have a
lovely smile (eyes). Can you hear me
now?
SARAH
Loud and clear.
JACK
What’s going on?
SARAH
I don’t know.
JACK
Why don’t you take a look?
SARAH
Jack...that’s spying.
JACK
That’s what we do isn’t it?
SARAH
Jack you’re so wicked.
JACK
Too wicked to have a drink later?
SARAH
I think I might just take that look.
ETHAN and JIM PHELPS are in a heated conversation.
ETHAN
Yeah, well, Jim, fact is I’ve got more
than ninety days leave coming.
PHELPS
A hundred and sixty-seven, I think it is.
Take it all, if you want. After this one.
ETHAN
I thought I’d take some now.
PHELPS
(quietly, to Ethan)
What the hell’s made you decide to take
your leave at the worst possible time?
Claire’s in a weird mood too.
ETHAN
Oh? What’s the problem?
PHELPS
I don’t know, I had to go to Chicago
again. You were in Kiev. You tell me.
ETHAN
Tell you what?
PHELPS
When you started noticing your short term
memory loss. What the problem was you
and Claire had in Kiev?
ETHAN
What problem?
PHELPS
(laughs)
Ah, God, forget it. What are we talking
burnout here?
ETHAN
I guess.
PHELPS
Ethan, you can’t burn out.
ETHAN
Why not?
PHELPS
Because I can’t afford it. And because
you’d burn up before you’d burn out.
CLAIRE, who is at the computer behind them, somehow seems to
be the reference point in the following exchange:
ETHAN
How was Chicago?
PHELPS
Wonderful. Ran into a convention of auto
dealers at the Drake Hotel. You hear the
one about the astronaut who comes back
from the first manned flight to Mars
after two years? His wife’s got a year
old kid. So he says "All right. Who was
it? My friend Harry?" She says no. "Oh,
it was my friend Sammy." She says it
wasn’t Sammy. "Oh, I suppose it was my
friend Lou." "No, what’s the matter,
don’t you think I have any friends of my
own?!"
PHELPS laughs. ETHAN doesn’t. The back of CLAIRE’S head is
in his line of sight.
PHELPS (CONT’D)
Boy, you really are grim. Come here,
take a look.
He leads ETHAN to the window, which overlooks the city.
EXT. PRAGUE - DAY
ETHAN’s POV of Embassy.
INT. SAFE HOUSE - DAY
ETHAN nods.
PHELPS (CONT’D)
Beyond Charles Bridge there is our
Embassy. See it? Tomorrow night, if
anything goes wrong, this guy will steal
the names of our agents in every country
all over Eastern Europe. Up for grabs to
the highest bidders -- third world
terrorists, arms dealers, drug lords --
any and everybody who’d love to get rid
of long term coverts like us, and some
very dear friends among them. If they’re
exposed, they’ll be executed. Come over
here. Take a lock at this.
CLAIRE, who is working at a computer, has pulled up a
quicktime video image in a box on her screen. In it, an old
edition of the McLaughlin Report, the PBS news show, is
playing.
ETHAN is distracted by it.
INSERT - TELEVISION
SENATOR WALTZER, a bearded, bespectacled man in his forties,
is holding forth:
SENATOR WALTZER
I’ll go you one further. I say the CIA
and all its shadow organizations have
become irrelevant at best and
unconstitutional at worst. It’s time we
throw a little light on the whole concept
of the Pentagon’s "black budget." These
covert agency subgroups have confidential
funding, they report to no one -- who are
these people?! We were living in a
democracy the last time I checked.
BACK TO SCENE
ETHAN looks back at JIM.
ETHAN
You’re going to use Walter?
PHELPS
He’s our guy.
ETHAN
Isn’t he chairing the Armed Services hearing?
PHELPS
Not this week. This week he’s flyfishing
at the Oughterard Slough in County
Kildare, with one of our best Irish guides.
ETHAN
He won’t be back in a hurry?
PHELPS
No, not in a hurry. What do you think?
You think the plot’ll work?
ETHAN
Sure. If the main character does.
PHELPS
If you were me, Ethan, who would you
trust to make him believable?
JACK comes breezing in with a piece of bubble gum.
JACK
Sorry, am I interrupting?
ETHAN
Always.
JACK shows the gum to ETHAN.
JACK
Stick of gum. If you come up against a
lock you can’t pick --
Half the gum is red, the other half is green.
JACK (CONT’D)
Red light. Green light. Mash them
together, asta lasagna. Don’t get any on
you -- you have five seconds.
He offers the gum to ETHAN.
PHELPS
Are you gonna take it?
CLAIRE glances up from the computer and catches ETHAN’s eye.
PHELPS may have caught the glance, but is focused on ETHAN.
ETHAN
(relenting)
Give me the God damn gum.
JACK
Just don’t chew it.
PHELPS
Thank you.
CUT TO:
EXT. AMERICAN EMBASSY - NIGHT
The American Embassy glitters beside the Vltava River. Party
at the Embassy tonight.
INT. AN ELEVATOR SHAFT - NIGHT
JACK, wearing black coveralls and slightly odd-looking
eyeglasses (they’re called Visco glasses), enters an elevator
shaft through a small door at the base of the wall. He looks
up the shaft, shining a flashlight until he finds what he’s
looking for --
-- a gray metal box, protruding from the wall one floor up.
INT. SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT
PHELPS is at a table in the safe house apartment, watching
the bank of monitors HANNAH wired together earlier. The
monitors are alive now, showing various views of the inside
of the Embassy, where the party is going on, and one view of
the elevator shaft.
PHELPS wearing an IMF headset and speaks into the mouthpiece.
PHELPS
Ethan. Jack’s inside. Window’s open by
twenty-three hundred.
INT. EMBASSY - NIGHT
Inside the Embassy, the party is a formal, tuxedoed affair
that’s in full swing on the second floor.
SENATOR WALTZER, the man who was on TV, walks up a grand
staircase, headed in. An AMERICAN DIPLOMAT in a tuxedo
hurries up to him.
DIPLOMAT
How do you do, Senator, I’m Rand Housman,
the Ambassador’s aide. If I could just
steer you through the reception line here
--
The DIPLOMAT pilots the SENATOR by one arm, guiding him to a
reception line at the base of the stairs to the party.
DIPLOMAT (CONT’D)
Allow me to introduce Jaroslav Reid, the
director of the National Gallery -- Petr
Brandl, the mayor of Prague --
SARAH, a very attractive young American dressed in an elegant
gown, steps out of the reception line and shakes hands with
WALTZER.
SARAH
I bet you don’t remember me, do you, Senator?
SENATOR WALTZER
Of course I do. How are you, Miss
Norman?
He leans in and kisses her on the cheek, and as he does so
SARAH whispers something in his ear.
SARAH
He’s in pocket. Under the archway behind me.
Her tone, her words -- we realize she’s on the team.
The SENATOR pulls a pair of Visco glasses from his pocket
(and if we didn’t know the SENATOR was ETHAN before, this
confirms it), puts them on, and looks up, over her shoulder.
UNDER AN ARCHWAY NEAR THE ENTRANCE,
ALEKSANDER GOLITSYN, the Ukrainian, has just come in from
outside.
INT. SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT
PHELPS sees the SENATOR’s point of view of GOLITSYN, through
the glasses, broadcast back to PHELPS’ monitor. He speaks
into his microphone.
PHELPS
Sarah, mark the package and go to two.
INT. EMBASSY PARTY - NIGHT
SARAH still has the SENATOR’s attention.
SARAH
Your advance team mentioned you’d want a
tour of the facility, so I’ve gone ahead
and set that up for you --
SENATOR WALTZER
Terrific. Let’s get going.
(to the Diplomat)
Will you excuse us?
He slips an arm around SARAH and they walk off, not into the
party, but the other way, toward a staircase that leads
further into the Embassy.
DIPLOMAT
Uh, sir?
INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT - NIGHT
JACK climbs up the elevator shaft, towards the gray metal
box. He just begins to remove the cover when he hears a
noise from above. He looks up and sees the elevator above
him descending.
JACK quickly pulls himself flush against the wall. The
elevator comes down adjacent to him and stops, pinning him
to the wall.
JACK
Great. Come on.
INT. EMBASSY PARTY - NIGHT
As the SENATOR and SARAH pass behind the entering GOLITSYN,
SARAH pulls a small bottle of perfume from her purse. But as
she sprays, she points it slightly to the left, missing
herself and hitting the back of GOLITSYN’S head. He never
notices. They move on and down the flight of stairs.
INT. SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT
JIM PHELPS monitors the Visco views of the party. He looks
to the fourth monitor and checks a view of the party, a jumpy
one, as someone hurrying up stairs.
PHELPS
Hannah. He’s marked. Lets go.
INT. EMBASSY PARTY - NIGHT
On a flight of stairs, HANNAH, dressed for the party and
slightly out of breath, hurries up the stairs.
HANNAH
En route.
She also has a pair of Visco glasses, which she trains on the
party below. She pushes a micro switch on the side of her
glasses, activating an electronic filter, which tints the
lenses.
PHELPS (O/S)
Hannah, pull the shade (or - Hannah go to
night vision).
HANNAHíS VISCO POV
the party looks the same, but one head in the crowd stands
out. That head is GOLITSYN’S, his hair a fluorescent green
where SARAH sprayed it.
INT. THE DENIED AREA/ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT
The SENATOR (let’s just call him ETHAN) and SARAH come down
the stairs and pass a sign that says "Denied Area --
Political Attaches Only." ETHAN checks his watch. 23:00.
He nods to SARAH, they round a corner, and come to an
elevator at the end of the corridor. A sign in front of it
says "Out of Order." They head for it anyway.
A MARINE GUARD appears from behind a side door, catching them
by surprise.
JACK
Governor’s in position. We have the elevator.
GUARD
Excuse me, can I help you?
SARAH
-- which leads directly to the Denied
Area, the only limited access area in the
whole facility.
SARAH flashes an ID at the GUARD and keeps talking.
SARAH (CONT’D)
As you can see. this area has both a
Marine guard and video surveillance, and
is strictly monitored at all times.
She walks up to the thumbprint analyzer on the elevator bank
and slides her thumb inside. The panel lights up and flashes
a message -- "ACCESS DENIED." SARAH and ETHAN trade a look.
SARAH (CONT’D)
(covering)
Senator, don’t you have a young man on
your staff named JACK?
She tries the thumb again, Still no soap.
ETHAN
Jack? I believe we did have a young man
named Jack. Not a reliable man, as I
recall. Constantly late or behind in his
work.
Now the GUARD, noticing that Sarah’s not being allowed
access, comes closer to them.
GUARD
Excuse me, let me see that ID again!
INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT - NIGHT
JACK is still pinned to the wall by the elevator, listening
to their conversation.
PHELPS (O.S.)
Jack’s pinned down Sarah. Should be a
second. Keep dancing.
ETHAN (O.S.)
(with the Senator’s southern accent)
We were forced to tie him to my best
stallion and drag him around the barn a
few times.
Finally, the elevator moves down a floor and JACK is freed.
JACK
Relax your crack, Foghorn, I’m workin’ on
it.
He quickly opens the gray metal box, revealing a maze of
circuitry. He patches in his computer, climbs on top of the
elevator, and hits the keyboard, beginning to download.
THE LAPTOP
there’s a split-screen of SARAH’s thumbprint and the ID
picture. JACK downloads her file into the security computer.
INT. THE DENIED AREA/ELEVATOR BANK - NIGHT
Ignoring the GUARD, SARAH turns and slides her thumb into the
thumbprint analyzer once more. The panel glows, this time
the message flashes --
IDENTITY CONFIRMED
-- and the elevator doors slide open briskly.
The GUARD, surprised, now catches sight of the SENATOR.
GUARD
Oh. Sorry, sir.
He snaps a salute. ETHAN and SARAH get into the elevator and
the doors close behind them.
INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT - NIGHT
JACK looks down at the elevator below. Through a grating, he
can see them inside.
JACK
The drink (date) with Sarah is definitely
off.
INT. SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT
PHELPS moves from JACK’s view of the elevator car to HANNAH’s
view of the party on his video monitors.
PHELPS
(a touch of impatience)
Hannah -- I’m blind again. Hannah.
INT. EMBASSY PARTY - NIGHT
HANNAH, stationed on the second floor of the Embassy, moves
to get a better view of the party. She reacquires GOLITSYN’s
glowing head.
HANNAH
He’s heading to the denied area.
INT. EMBASSY WORK ROOM - NIGHT
This work room is filled with combination lock filing
cabinets and various computer terminals. ETHAN hands SARAH
his Visco glasses and she crosses the room, placing them
upside down on top of a filing cabinet.
ETHAN straps on a Visco wrist monitor and tunes it in,
switching several times.
ETHAN
(to Sarah)
Higher. Higher.
SARAH
Higher.
ETHAN
Right, right. Good.
SARAH adjusts the glasses.
THROUGH THE GLASSES,
the view of the main computer terminal is upside down, but
clear. Anyone sitting there will be recorded.
INT. SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT
On PHELPS’ monitor, we see ETHAN, via his Visco glasses on
the filing cabinet, standing next to the computer. PHELPS
barks out a warning.
PHELPS
Get moving, Ethan. He’s rolling to you.
INT. EMBASSY WORK ROOM - NIGHT
ETHAN pushes the elevator button but the elevator is already
moving up.
ETHAN
Jack we’re in position.
INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT/WORK ROOM - NIGHT
In a split view, we see both sides of the elevator wall
simultaneously -- on one side, JACK is lying on top of the
rising elevator, on the other side, ETHAN and SARAH are
waiting for it to arrive.
ETHAN
Jack. Jack.
JACK
I didn’t touch it.
The elevator stops, the doors open --
-- and GOLITSYN gets on. GOLITSYN descends in the elevator
with JACK on top and ETHAN and SARAH waiting down below!
INT. SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT
PHELPS sees JACK’s point of view of the elevator, with
GOLITSYN inside.
PHELPS
(tension rising)
He’s in the box, Ethan, he’s in the box!
INT. EMBASSY WORK ROOM - NIGHT
ETHAN and SARAH are waiting in front of the elevator, the one
GOLITSYN is about to step off of! ETHAN looks around, for a
place to hide.
ETHAN
OK. Taking Golitsyn’s exit. Jack, open
the doors.
SARAH
What about my coat? I’ll freeze.
JACK (O.S.)
I don’t have it.
INT. SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT
PHELPS whips over to a laptop and starts typing.
PHELPS
Opening the doors. Go under.
He jabs ENTER on his keyboard.
INT. EMBASSY WORK ROOM - NIGHT
The elevator doors WHISK open, revealing the empty shaft
beyond. ETHAN and SARAH jump into the shaft.
INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT - NIGHT
ETHAN and SARAH jump down into the five foot empty space
below the work room floor. Above them, the elevator
continues its descent, with them hiding below. The elevator
drops to just over their heads and stops.
INT. EMBASSY WORK ROOM - NIGHT
GOLITSYN steps off the elevator, crosses the room and slides
a 3.5 computer disk into the computer in the work room.
Through the Visco glasses, we can clearly see him at work,
downloading the vital information.
INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT (BELOW ELEVATOR) - NIGHT
Waiting below the elevator, ETHAN takes off his jacket,
starting to reverse it. He checks his Visco wrist monitor as
GOLITSYN perpetrates the theft. He smiles and speaks into a
microphone.
ETHAN
He’s got it. Saved your ass again Jack.
JACK (O.S.)
Give me a break, Pops.
SARAH
Such a nice ass.
JACK (O.S.)
And a lonely ass.
ETHAN
Sarah’s reconsidering. Claire, transport
in five minutes.
CLAIRE (O.S.)
Roger that.
INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT (BELOW ELEVATOR) - NIGHT
Back inside, ETHAN strips off his mask and wearing his now
reversed jacket, he and SARAH exit the small door at the base
of the elevator shaft.
EXT. ELEVATOR SHAFT (ABOVE ELEVATOR) - NIGHT
JACK rapidly disconnects his equipment. But as he pulls the
final electrical clip from the elevator’s wiring, it flashes
and SPARKS.
EXT. EMBASSY - NIGHT
ETHAN and SARAH exit an Embassy service area by the
waterfront and blend into the Embassy crowd, as an amorous
couple.
ETHAN
In position. Jack open the door, let the
package roll.
JACK (O.S.)
Roger that. Opening doors now.
ETHAN
Stairway, youíre wrapped, go to
transport.
ETHANíS voice comes over HANNAHíS earpiece.
HANNAH
En route.
HANNAH breaks off and goes up the stairs.
INT. ELEVATOR - NIGHT
The button marked "ROOF" lights up, seemingly all by itself.
INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT (ABOVE ELEVATOR) - NIGHT
The car engages with a sharp jolt --
JACK
Hey.
--and starts to rise. JACK looks down, into the elevator
car, through the grate. Thereís no one in it.
INT. SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT
On one of his monitors, PHELPS sees the elevator moving in
the shaft.
PHELPS
Jack, what are you doing?!
INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT (ABOVE ELEVATOR) - NIGHT
JACK
Iím not doing anything! (I donít have it
either).
INT. SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT
PHELPS is typing at his keyboard and jamming the enter button
but gets no response.
PHELPS
I donít have it -- I donít have
control!
INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT (ABOVE ELEVATOR) - NIGHT
JACKíS face pales. He looks up, above him, at the
approaching ceiling.
JACK
Uh -- then I have a problem.
INT. EMBASSY WORK ROOM - NIGHT
GOLITSYN pulls out the now-programmed disk from the computer,
slips it in his jacket pocket and heads for the door.
INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT (ABOVE ELEVATOR) - NIGHT
JACK looks up through his Visco glasses at the approaching
roof, covered with spikes.
EXT. EMBASSY - NIGHT
Through the monitor, ETHAN sees JACKíS P.O.V. of the roof of
the building approaching. Fast.
ETHAN
Cut the power. Cut the power Jack. Do
you hear me.
INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT (ABOVE ELEVATOR) - NIGHT
On top of the elevator, JACK has ripped open the control
panel again and is frantically trying to adjust wires to get
the thing to stop.
He swears, his fingers fumble, he works faster and faster.
He looks up. The roof of the building is nearly upon him.
ETHAN (O.S.)
Come on, Jack, come on.
JACK looks up again, he cringes, he covers his head with his
hands, he SCREAMS --
--and heís crushed to death against the roof.
EXT. EMBASSY - NIGHT
ETHAN is staring at the static on the monitor that once was
JACKíS signal.
ETHAN
Jack. Jack.
He closes his eyes, knowing what that means.
INT. SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT
PHELPS also sees the static.
PHELPS
Man down. Stay where you are. Iím on my
way.
He gets up and races out of the apartment.
INT. EMBASSY WORK ROOM - NIGHT
GOLITSYN, who now has the disk, jabs again and again at the
elevator button but it wonít even light up. He studies the
elevator doors and jumps into the shaft, just as ETHAN and
SARAH did moments before.
He hits the floor of the elevator shaft and exits the small
door at the shaftís base.
EXT. PRAGUE SAFE HOUSE - NIGHT
PHELPS hurries towards the bridge.
PHELPS
En route.
EXT. CHARLES BRIDGE - NIGHT
PHELPS dashes onto the Charles Bridge and heads across the
river, toward the Embassy. He throws a look back, over his
shoulder. Paranoiaís setting in.
EXT. EMBASSY (AS SEEN FROM CHARLES BRIDGE) - NIGHT
Outside the Embassy, GOLITSYN escapes, pushing through the
service area door and racing past a DRUNKEN COUPLE who are in
the midst of a loverís quarrel, in Russian.
Pan past the embankment and onto the bridge where PHELPS is
still racing to meet ETHAN. But he stops suddenly, as if
hearing something and looks behind him, at the deepening
gloom.
EXT. EMBASSY - NIGHT
ETHAN and SARAH hear PHELPíS voice over the monitor.
SARAH
The package is in the open.
ETHAN
Jim. Jim. Heís in the open.
PHELPS (O.S.)
Iíve got a shadow.
ETHAN
Can you lose him?
PHELPS (O.S.)
No. Abort.
Over ETHANís shoulder, SARAH sees GOLITSYN getting away. Fog
starts to roll over the river towards the bridge.
SARAH
Ethan. Heís out of pocket.
ETHAN
(to Phelps)
Jim we canít.
PHELPS (O.S.)
Abort. Thatís an order.
ETHAN
Negative, Golitsynís on the move.
INT. GETAWAY CAR - NIGHT
Seated in the getaway car, CLAIRE listens to JIM and ETHAN
argue.
PHELPS (O.S.)
No, damn it, no, I said ABORT!
EXT. EMBASSY - NIGHT
Outside the Embassy, SARAH and ETHAN argue.
ETHAN
Sarah eye on the package. Jim, Iím
coming to you.
SARAH
Jim gave an abort, we should walk
away.
ETHAN
No, weíre going to recover the disk,
understand?! Now move!
ETHAN takes off for the bridge, leaving SARAH to shadow
GOLITSYN.
EXT. PARKING AREA - NIGHT
HANNAH hurries toward the getaway vehicle.
EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET - NIGHT
ETHAN moves to the bridge stairs.
PHELPS (O.S.)
Where are you?
ETHAN
About two hundred yards from the bridge.
PHELPS (O.S.)
Theyíre covering this frequency, Ethan.
Cut all radio communications. Repeat.
Cut all radio communications.
ETHAN continues to run toward the stairs to the bridge. Past
CLAIRE who sits in the getaway car. He looks on his monitor
and again sees PHELPSí POV. Only ominous silence. Phelps is
looking back over his shoulder. The bridge is deserted.
EXT. EMBANKMENT - NIGHT
SARAH follows GOLITSYN as he hurries toward the shore, where
a cobblestone promenade runs along the river. He disappears
into the fog at the edge of the river.
EXT. STAIRS TO BRIDGE - NIGHT
ETHAN checks his monitor again.
THE MONITOR