Angels & Demons by Akiva Goldsman

Based on the book By Dan Brown

Current Revisions by David Koepp

Draft White - April 09, 2008

INT

PAPAL APARTMENT

DAY

CLOSE ON an ornate ring. It's intricately carved with a seal, an image of St. Peter casting a net. The ring is carried on a satin pillow through a darkened, regal apartment. In the distance, BELLS ARE TOLLING the slow, solemn tones that announce a death. A dozen men in scarlet cassocks, ROMAN CATHOLIC CARDINALS, bend down to inspect the ring, nodding in affirmation, part of an ancient ritual. A younger man (the CAMERLENGO) in a black cassock takes a silver knife and scratches the ring's seal twice, once horizontally and once vertically, in the sign of the cross. Now the ring is placed on a lead block. The Camerlengo raises a silver mallet and SMASHES it down, shattering the ring into a thousand tiny pieces. As the Cardinals confirm to their satisfaction that the ring has been destroyed, the HUSHED VOICE of a NEWS REPORTER comes over the image. REPORTER the Ring of the Fisherman, which bears the official papal seal and by Vatican law must be destroyed immediately following the Pope's death. IN THE HALLWAY JUST OUTSIDE THE APARTMENT, the Cardinals file out in a solemn procession. Behind them, the Camerlengo closes and locks the doors to the apartment entrance, helped by an AIDE who stretches red silk across the doors in the form of an X. REPORTER (O.S.) The Pope's Chamberlain, or "Camerlengo," then seals the papal apartments - At the juncture point of the doors, the Camerlengo places a glob of hot wax, then raises a seal and BURNS it into the wax with a hot SIZZLE. TWO SWISS GUARDSMEN, traditionally attired, step in front of the doors, their eight-foot swords held in a low cross. REPORTER (O.S.) (cont'd) - and Swiss Guard will remain posted outside the doors for at least nine days of mourning, a period known as tempe sede vacante, or -

2.

INT

ST.

PETER'S BASILICA

DAY

In St. Peter's Basilica, we move in toward an empty chair, a chair so magnificent it can only be called a throne. REPORTER (O.S.) - "the time of the empty throne." A ring appears around the empty throne and DISSOLVE TO: INT CERN - DETECTOR ROOM DAY

-- a ring as ornate in its way as the Ring of the Fisherman, except this one is a mass of technological sophistication. It's twentyfive feet across, covered with wires, sensors, gizmos. It's the centerpiece of a massive laboratory the size of a football field. SCIENTISTS and TECHNICIANS read off checklists in a variety of languages, none of them English so far. The place is a hive of activity and sound; cooling water WHOOSHES through pipes, the static HUM of high levels of current floats in the air. VITTORIA VETRA, an intense woman in her mid-thirties with the long stride of an impatient person, makes her way across the floor to PHILLIPE, the project manager, a Frenchman around fifty. She follows him as he climbs down a scaffolding that surrounds the detector wheel and heads toward a console across the room. VITTORIA (in Italian, subtitled) Somebody pulled us off the grid, Phillipe. PHILLIPE (responds in French, also subtitled) You hit 36kV down there yesterday. The whole synchrotron only loads 18. VITTORIA (switching to French) And the LEAR's specked up to 42. It's all approved by the Director, you want me to call him? Reluctantly, Phillipe sits down at a console and starts entering commands, shaking his head.

3.

PHILLIPE Waste of power, what're you extracting, still ten to the seventh APs a second? How long to produce a gram at that rate? VITTORIA About two billion years. rate. At that

He looks at her sideways, didn't like the sound of that. He hits a few last keystrokes and a series of flashing lights reconnect what looks like a lower laboratory complex to the main grid. She nods her thanks and starts to go. PHILLIPE Vittoria. (switching to soft Italian) Please don't blow us all to heaven. And on the word "heaven," everything goes white and DISSOLVES TO: INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA DAY

- a veil of thin white silk billows down over the face of the dead pontiff. TWO VATICAN FUNEREAL WORKERS pull a second veil over his face, then another over his head and hands. A burled cypress lid slides over the top of the coffin, which is carried out of frame and into EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE DAY

- St. Peter's Square, packed with THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MOURNERS, including kings, queens, presidents, and prime ministers. REPORTER (O.S.) Following the elegy Mass, the body of the pontiff, borne by the traditional twelve pall bearers will be sealed in a zinc crypt deep in the Vatican Grottoes along with the bodies of twenty-five other popes. The PROCESSION OF CARDINALS is a ribbon of red making its way through the kaleidoscope of colors of the assembled religious dignitaries. On the brilliant array of colors CUT TO:

4.

INT

CERN - DETECTOR ROOM

DAY

- another array of colors, this one like the best fireworks display you've ever seen. Pulling back, we realize it's on one of the giant monitor screens in the detector room at CERN, all of which are lit up with similar arrays. Something has happened and there's an enormous amount of excitement in the room. More Scientists and Technicians pour in, take their seats at consoles, CONFER excitedly. A computerized voice speaks English over a loudspeaker: VOICE (O.S.) Beam on beam collisions are active. It repeats the message in Italian, German, French, and Chinese. INT CERN TUNNEL DAY

Elevator doors open in a subterranean tunnel and Vittoria steps out. A long tube, about four feet across, runs off into the distance, and as Vittoria heads off in the other direction, we see that the tunnel, and its cylinder, go on forever that way too. TWO MORE TECHNICIANS hurry down the tunnel and jump into the elevator she just vacated. Vittoria steps up to a security panel and places her chin in a cup. A vertical laser sweeps across her eyeball and we CUT TO: INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA DAY

- an ancient carved incense holder that swings back and forth at the end of a chain, swung by a PRIEST in St. Peter's Basilica. A THOUSAND FAITHFUL are gathered for - REPORTER - the Pope's elegy Mass, led by Cardinal Saverio Mortati, Dean of the College of Cardinals - At the front, CARDINAL MORTATI stands behind a massive altar, arms outstretched, praying in Latin for the assembled luminaries. As he performs the service, intoning in a dead language INT ANTIMATTER LAB DAY

- Vittoria steps through an airlock and emerges in a gleaming white underground lab. Everything, everywhere, is white.

5.

There are a dozen columns of polished steel about three feet tall, each of which supports a transparent canister the size of a tennis ball can. They appear empty. LEONARDO BENTIVOGLIO, sixtyish, black pants and a short-sleeve black shirt, is at work at a command console in the center of the room. (They speak to each other in Italian, subtitled.) VITTORIA Power should be back five by five. LEONARDO It is, extraction's already started. He turns around, and we thought his black pants and shirt looked familiar now we see his Roman collar and realize this physicist is also a priest. LEONARDO (cont'd) We're in God's hands now. While Leonardo and Vittoria work at the console, we move slowly across the room toward those strange vertical pillars. INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA DAY

In St. Peter's, we're in a complimentary move, down the aisle past the College of Cardinals, one hundred sixty-five aging men in brilliant red robes, seated near the altar. REPORTER (O.S.) The College of Cardinals will lock itself in the Sistine Chapel for Conclave literally, the word means "with key" the process by which the Church chooses a new leader for the world's one billion Catholics. We move onto the altar, close enough to Mortati to get a good look at him. He's in his late seventies, grave, eyes closed in religious fervor as he consecrates the communion host. INT ANTIMATTER LAB DAY

In the lab, we're still moving, close to one of the pillars and to the transparent tube on top of it. The tube isn't empty, as we first thought, there's something suspended in the middle of it, a drop, round and white, floating in mid-air. INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA DAY

Mortati reaches the religious climax of the ceremony and holds aloft the round white communion host.

6.

A THOUSAND VOICES begin singing in St. Peter's, we go in close on the host and dissolve to INT ANTIMATTER LAB DAY

- that otherworldly drop, also round and white, a perfect match for the host, but so different, hovering in the tube like a hot blob of mercury, defying gravity. Everything abruptly goes black and a title bleeds on screen: ANGELS AND DEMONS

CUT TO: INT HARVARD COLLEGE - NATATORIUM DAWN

The bottom of a swimming pool. A lithe figure SLASHES like a knife through the water, doing laps. The swimmer is the only one in the pool, but still pushes like he's got someone to beat. His strokes echo off vacant bleachers in an oldish college natatorium. As he reaches the end of the pool, he sees a murky figure through the water. The swimmer stops, pulls off his goggles. ROBERT LANGDON is fiftyish, but looks ten years younger, must have something to do with two hundred laps at dawn every day. CLAUDIO VINCENZO is heavier, dressed in a sport jacket and slacks, looks exhausted. He speaks with an Italian accent. VINCENZO Professor Langdon? LANGDON Swim might help your jet lag. VINCENZO I beg your pardon? Langdon gets out and pulls a towel off a nearby bench. LANGDON (gesturing) Bags under your eyes, up at five a.m., Italian accent... Do I hear Naples in those Rs?

7.

VINCENZO (smiles, shows an ID) Claudio Vincenzo, Corpo della Gendarmeria Vaticano. LANGDON Vatican Police? I was expecting another letter. (Vincenzo looks confused) My request for access to the Archives? Vincenzo has no idea what he's talking about. LANGDON (cont'd) Shouldn't you be in Rome? Busy time for you guys. VINCENZO In fact I was in New York, on vacation. I got a call in the middle of the night - find Robert Langdon. A matter of great urgency. LANGDON Urgent Vatican business, involving me? I doubt that. He heads for the locker room. Vincenzo calls after him.

VINCENZO They said to show you this. Langdon turns back. Vincenzo's holding a single sheet of paper in his right hand. Langdon, curious, makes his way back to him. Takes the paper - - and, it is safe to say, feels the earth give way beneath his feet. He looks up, eyes wide, and mutters a single word: llluminati? LANGDON CUT TO: EXT HARVARD CAMPUS DAWN

As the sun comes up, Langdon and Vincenzo leave the natatorium. VINCENZO Yes, of course, but it couldn't be the llluminati as we knew them, they disappeared a hundred years ago.

8.

Did they?

LANGDON Look at the paper. VINCENZO LANGDON

I've seen it. Look again.

Vincenzo looks at it. The word llluminati is written in ornate script. Vincenzo looks back up - so? LANGDON (cont'd) Turn it upside down. Vincenzo does. Incredibly, the word reads exactly the same way upside down. LANGDON (cont'd) It's called an ambigram, the same backwards and forwards. That's common in a symbol, like a Jewish star, or yin-yang, or a swastika, but this is a word. People have searched for the llluminati ambigrammatic symbol for four centuries, modern symbologists even tried to create it, but nobody could pull it off, not even by computer. Most had concluded it was a myth. I wrote a book about it. (realizing) Which is why you're here, isn't it? VINCENZO "The Art of the llluminati," by Robert Langdon. CUT TO: INT LANGDON'S APARTMENT DAY

A hand skims along a bookcase and stops at that very title, a heavy academic tome. Langdon pulls it out and drops it on the desk in his apartment with a THUD. (The apartment is cluttered with esoterica, the home of a man whose taste in furnishings was very fashionable about four hundred years ago. A single man no kid stuff, no cats.) Langdon flips the book open to an illustrated section in the middle, filled with renderings of previous attempts to create the symbol he now holds in his hand.

9.

LANGDON Incredible. Either someone just figured out how to make this, or they found it. Recently. Which would mean the llluminati have returned. (looks at Vincenzo) An ancient brotherhood, enemies of the church, surfacing just after the death of a Pope? I'd pull you off vacation too. VINCENZO It's worse than just that. Four cardinals were kidnapped from their quarters inside the Vatican some time between three and five a.m. this morning. Shortly afterward, the Office of the Swiss Guard received that document, along with the threat that the Cardinals will be publicly executed, one per hour, starting at seven p.m. tonight, in Rome. LANGDON (mind racing ahead) Conclave? VINCENZO Was to begin today. We have postponed its start for a few hours, a story of illness, there are no suspicions. Yet. LANGDON What do you want from me? VINCENZO The perpetrators of this heinous act sent that ambigram, you say? as a provocation, a taunt. But it may also be their undoing. If you can help us learn their identity, perhaps we can stop them. Why me? LANGDON

VINCENZO Your expertise. Your erudition. And your involvement with recent Church shall we say "mysteries?"

10.

LANGDON I wasn't under the impression that episode had endeared me to the Vatican. VINCENZO Oh, it didn't. But it made you what is the word? (Italian pronunciation) Formidable. Formidable. A plane is standing by twenty minutes from here. Will you come with me? Langdon doesn't move, just stares at the ambigram, still amazed. VINCENZO (cont'd) Professor Langdon, you have spent ten years of your academic life searching for the very symbol you now hold in your hand. And the madman who created it, or who knows the secrets of its origin that person is in Rome. (checks his watch) How much longer must we pretend you have not already decided to come? CUT TO: EXT AIRPORT DAY

A small private plane SCREAMS into the sky. EXT ROME DAY

We soar over Rome, the Eternal City. A helicopter WHOOSHES into frame below us. INT HELICOPTER DAY

The papal helicopter is plush inside, and nearly silent. A very pricey piece of equipment. Vincenzo stares out the window. VINCENZO If the llluminati have returned and are in Rome, we will hunt them down and kill them. Langdon, seated across from him, stifles a laugh. LANGDON Spoken like a Roman Catholic. Vincenzo looks at him sharply.

11.

LANGDON (cont'd) The llluminati didn't become violent anti-Papists until the 17th century. Initially, they were physicists, mathematicians, astronomers. Their name means "the Enlightened Ones." In the 1500s, they started meeting secretly to share their concerns about the church's inaccurate teachings. They were dedicated to the quest for scientific truth. And for that, the church to use your words hunted them down and killed them. Drove them underground. Langdon turns and looks out the front window of the helicopter as, up ahead, the marble facade of St. Peter's Basilica blazes like fire in the afternoon sun. LANGDON (cont'd) Into a secret society. EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE DAY

Pulling away from the helicopter, we see a coat of arms emblazoned on its side two skeleton keys crossing a shield and papal crown. The helicopter SWOOPS over St. Peter's Square, filled with more tourists than usual, due to the impending start of Conclave. We drift toward a structure on the far side of the Square, closer to its huge, ornate windows. As we approach, large swaths of black drop down, draping over the windows, closing off our view. INT SISTINE CHAPEL DAY

Inside, WORKERS continue to drape large bolts of black velvet over the windows, sealing this room off from outside. Pulling back, we realize it's not just any room - it's the Sistine Chapel. As the last window is blackened, the room is bathed in a profound darkness lit only by candles. ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-ONE MEN in red robes are gathered inside the Chapel, the College of Cardinals. They talk in a polyglot of languages, milling about the place, conferring, catching up on old friendships. Cardinal Mortati, the Dean of the College who led the Pope's elegy mass, is the type of man one crosses a room to see, not the other way around.

12.

He chats in Italian with two other Cardinals, until a blackcassocked aide (FATHER SIMEON) outside the open doors of the Chapel catches his eye. Mortati excuses himself, steps through the open doorway, and into INT SALON DAY

-- the salon just outside the Chapel. Father Simeon is an unctuous man in his fifties with eyes that are always looking for whoevers behind you. (They speak in Italian, subtitled.) And? MORTATI

FR. SIMEON Commandante Rocher assures me the Guard is doing everything humanly possible to find the prefiriti. MORTATI A very long way for him to say very little. FR. SIMEON What if you were to begin in their absence? MORTATI They are the four leading candidates. If they're not present, they're not eligible. There will be no consensus without them, wid are we to vote for? Father Simeon gives him a look perhaps you? MORTATI (cont'd) It is as much a sin to offer flattery to accept it. FR. SIMEON (chastened, but not really) The Camerlengo asks how long you can postpone the opening prayer without making another announcement to the public? MORTATI Two years and three months. (Simeon looks confused) The conclave of 1316? (never mind) (MORE)

13. MORTATI (cont'd) Tell the Camerlengo the Cardinal Electors will take every minute required to perform their sacred trust. No further announcements are necessary.

FR. SIMEON He's be concerned about the public dimension. People will thinkMORTATI (cutting him off) What we tell them to think. CUT TO: EXT VATICAN - STREET DAY

On the ground now and behind Vatican walls, Langdon and Vincenzo walk briskly around a corner and are met by ERNESTO OLIVETTI, a solidly-built man in his late thirties. OLIVETTI Professor Langdon, welcome to Vatican City. Ernesto Olivetti, Inspector Generale of the Vatican Police Force. He takes Langdon by the arm and gestures down a narrow passageway. OLIVETTI (cont'd) This way, please, we'll meet in the headquarters of the Swiss Guard. LANGDON I assumed you were Swiss Guard. OLIVETTI No. The Gendarmerie is responsible for everything inside the Vatican walls, with the exception of the security of His Holiness and the Apostolic Palace. That is Swiss Guard. The Commandante Generale of the Roman Carbinieri has joined us as well, in an advisory capacity, and the Guarda Nacionale have sent a representative. LANGDON (confused) So jurisdictionally, this isOLIVETTI A God damn nightmare.

14.

They turn a corner and approach a squat stone building labeled "Offizia della Guarda Suiza." TWO SWISS GUARDSMEN are standing outside the entrance to the building. They're somewhat comically dressed in puffy tunics vertically striped in brilliant blue and gold, with matching pantaloons and spats, topped by a black beret. Langdon can't completely hide a smile. Olivetti notices. The Guards raise their eight-foot swords, allowing the three of them to enter the building. INT SWISS GUARD OFFICES - CORRIDOR DAY

The interior of the Swiss Guard offices is ornate and filled with artwork, like every other Vatican building. As they walk, Langdon studies the row of statues of male nudes that lines both sides of the hallway, all wearing fig leaves. LANGDON The Great Castration. OLIVETTI I beg your pardon? LANGDON 1857. Pius IX felt the male form might inspire lust, so he got a hammer and chisel and unmanned two hundred statues. These plaster fig leaves were added later. Olivetti stops abruptly, outside a heavy steel door with a security keyguard beside it. OLIVETTI Are you anti-Catholic, Professor Langdon? Me? LANGDON No, I'm anti-vandalism.

OLIVETTI I urge you to guard your tone in there. The Swiss Guard is a calling, not a profession, and it encourages a certain zealotry. Commander Rocher, the head of the Guard, is a deeply spiritual man, and he was close to the late Pope. Understood? LANGDON (sincere) I just hope I can help.

15.

So do I.

OLIVETTI You were my idea.

He enters a five-digit number on the keypad and the steel doors slide open. INT SWISS GUARD HEADQUARTERS DAY

The headquarters of the Swiss Guard is in a lushly adorned Renaissance library crammed with sophisticated communications and surveillance equipment. It's crowded, Swiss Guard (in suits and ties, the pantaloons are more for show), uniformed Carbinieri, and Vatican Police crammed around different stations, some working together, others arguing, mostly in Italian. Wait here. OLIVETTI

He crosses the room to a tall, fair-haired man around sixty, weathered like steel maybe "tempered" is the better word. While they confer, Langdon notices a woman to his left. recognize Vittoria Vetra, the physicist we saw at CERN. We

She catches Langdon's eye, forces a grim smile, recognizes they're both strangers here. Olivetti comes back with COMMANDER ROCHER, the tall man, very much in charge. He speaks with a French/Swiss accent ROCHER (to Vittoria) Ms. Vetra? I'm Commander Rocher, Commandante Principale of the Swiss Guard. Thank you for coming. And Professor Langdon? LANGDON That's right. Rocher looks him up and down, so, you're Langdon. ROCHER Thank God, the symbologist is here. Ms. Vetra, this way, please. He leads Vittoria across the room, to a surveillance monitor. Langdon, puzzled by the cold shoulder, looks at Olivetti, who leans in. OLIVETTI There's been a development. We received another threat from the kidnapper.

16.

Across the room, they hear Vittoria GASP. them, nodding to Langdon to follow. AT THE MONITOR,

Olivetti goes to join

Langdon and Olivetti join Rocher and Vittoria and stare at the image on a video monitor it's a familiar-looking canister, in which a metallic drop of liquid shimmers in the middle, suspended. The acronym CERN is stenciled up its side. On its base is an LED display, counting down from about six hours. At the top of the monitor flashes superimposed text -- LIVE FEED, CAMERA #86. VITTORIA (continuing) canister was stolen from our lab around midnight last night. The intruder killed my research partner, Leonardo Bentivoglio, and mutilated him in order to bypass security. They look at her, don't quite see the connection. VITTORIA (cont'd) We use retinal scanners. (they still don't get it) They cut out his eyes. They cringe. VITTORIA (cont'd) That canister contains an extremely combustible substance called antimatter. We need to locate it immediately or evacuate Vatican City. ROCHER I'm quite familiar with incendiaries, Ms. Vetra. I haven't heard of antimatter. VITTORIA It's new, energy research technology. It uses a reverse polarity vacuum to filter out anti-matter positrons generated in particle accelerations in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. They look at her blankly. She points at the screen,

17.

VITTORIA (cont'd) The anti-matter is suspended, there, in an airtight nanocomposite shell with electromagnets at each end. But if it were to fall out of suspension and come into contact with matter say, the bottom of the canister the two opposing forces will annihilate one another. Violently. ROCHER And what might cause it to fall out of suspension? VITTORIA The battery going dead. Which it will. (looks at the screen) In six hours and eleven minutes. Silence for a moment. VITTORIA (cont'd) Where is that camera? Number eightysix? OLIVETTI It's wireless. It too was stolen. That could be anywhere inside the Vatican walls. VITTORIA You've got to find it. ROCHER We're a bit preoccupied with four missing cardinals at the moment. VITTORIA You don't understand. An annihilation is a cataclysmic event. It would be a blinding explosion, equivalent to about five megatons. The blast radius alone would be Softly, Langdon speaks up from behind her. LANGDON "Vatican City will be consumed by light." A few voices fall still. They turn and look at him.

18.

ROCHER Those are the exact words the kidnapper used. INT ROCHER'S OFFICE DAY

A few moments later, they're crowded around the communications console at Rocher's desk, where a dimly-lit video recording is playing back on a computer screen. (The office is behind a glass wall to one side of the headquarters.) The images on the recording are of FOUR OLDER MEN, some in their sixties, the others in their seventies, filmed in dim light behind bars in a dank, dungeon-like space. A lightly accented VOICE speaks from behind the camera. VOICE (O.S.) We will destroy your four pillars... brand your preferiti and sacrifice them on the altars of science... and then bring your church down upon you. Vatican City will be consumed by light. LANGDON It's an ancient llluminati threat. (Rocher pauses the recording) The destruction of Vatican City through light. The four pillars he probably means the kidnapped cardinals. You didn't mention they were the preferiti. (to Vittoria) The favorites to be chosen as the new Pope. Play it again. VOICE (O.S.) We will destroy your four pillars... brand your preferiti and sacrifice them on the altars of science... Stop it there. Rocher does LANGDON (cont'd) "Brand" them, another llluminati legend, this one says there are a set of five brands, each one an ambigram. (MORE) LANGDON

19. LANGDON (cont'd) The first four are the fundamental elements of science earth, air, fire, water. The fifth is a mystery. Maybe it's this.

He pulls the "llluminati" ambigram from his pocket. ROCHER He said they'd be killed publicly. In churches. LANGDON (nods, not surprised) Revenge for La Purga. La Purga? ROCHER

LANGDON Don't you guys read your own history? 1668. The church kidnapped four llluminati scientists and branded their chests with the symbol of the cross. To "purge their sins." Murdered them and left their bodies in the street as a warning to others to stop questioning church rulings on scientific matters. It was after La Purga that a darker, more violent llluminati emerged. This sounds like retribution. (to Rocher) Is there any more? Rocher hits play again. VOICE (O.S.) .... and then bring your church down upon you. Vatican City will be consumed by light... While listening this time, Langdon notices a darkened video monitor, inlaid at an angle on Rocher's desk. It faces away from the outer office, and instead of an on/off switch, there is an oddly-shaped keyhole. VOICE (O.S.) (cont'd) A shining star at the end of the Path of Illumination. Langdon looks up sharply.

20.

LANGDON The Path of Illumination? Rocher stops the video. LANGDON (cont'd) I need to get into the Vatican Archives. Rocher shakes his head, looks at Olivetti harshly, is embarrassed. OLIVETTI Professor, this is not the appropriate moment toROCHER Your petition has been denied seven times, Mr. Langdon. LANGDON This has nothing to do with that, (fast) The Path of Illumination is an ancient trail through Rome that leads to the Church of the Illumination, a secret place where llluminati members could meet in safety. If I can find the Segno, the sign that marks the start of the Path, I'm willing to bet the four churches along it are where he intends to murder your cardinals. If we can get to one of them before he does, we can stop it. But to find the start of the path, I need to get into the Archives. ROCHER Even if I wanted to help you, access is only by written decree of the curator and the Board of Vatican Librarians. LANGDON Or by papal mandate. ROCHER Yes. But as you've no doubt heard, the Holy Father isLANGDON What about Il Camerlengo? talk to him. Let me

21.

ROCHER The Camerlengo? He's just a priest here, the former Pope's Chamberlain. LANGDON Doesn't the power of the Holy See rest with him during tempe sede vacante? They just stare at him. Shit, this guy's good. Langdon checks his watch, getting irritated. LANGDON (cont'd) Hey, fellas - you called me. CUT TO:

INT

PAPAL OFFICES

DAY

A spectacular view of St. Peter's Square, through the windows of the Papal offices. Moving down, we find a figure dressed in a simple black cassock, his back to us, staring out at the crowd. FATHER SEBASTIAN GUTTIEREZ, the Camerlengo, speaks with a soft Spanish accent. CAMERLENGO His Holiness once told me that a Pope is a man torn between two worlds... the real world and the divine. Assembled in the grand office are Langdon, Rocher, Olivetti, and Vittoria. The Camerlengo's back is still turned. CAMERLENGO (cont'd) He warned that any church that ignored reality would not survive to enjoy the divine. He turns around. He's younger than we thought, in his midthirties, deep, dark eyes. The kind of priest who often inspires, before the years of dogma catch up with him. CAMERLENGO (cont'd) It seems the real world is upon us tonight. (to Langdon) I'm familiar with llluminati lore, and the legend of the brandings. La Purga is a dark stain on the church's history; I'm not surprised this ghost has come back to haunt us.

22.

He sits behind the massive desk, and if he seemed young before, he seems like a child now, overcome by the position he's in. But when he speaks to Rocher, he's in command. CAMERLENGO (cont'd) Commandante, have you begun a search for this explosive device? ROCHER Of course, but it could be anywhere, and the safety of the cardinals is my primary concern at the moment. CAMERLENGO The Sistine Chapel is a fortress, as long as the cardinals are in conclave, your security concerns are at a minimum. Devote as much of your resources as possible to a search forROCHER Signore, if you're about to suggest we make a naked-eye search of all of Vatican City, I mustCAMERLENGO (sharply) Commander. Though I am not His Holiness, when you address me, you are addressing this office. Do you understand? Yes, Padre, ROCHER

CAMERLENGO Good. Now you said the image on screen was illuminated by artificial light. May I suggest methodically cutting the power to various sections of the City. When the image on your screen goes dark, you'll have a more specific idea of the device's location. Rocher looks at Olivetti gotta admit, that's a pretty damn good idea. CAMERLENGO (cont'd) Ms. Vetra. Besides yourself and your research partner, who knew about your antimatter project?

23.

VITTORIA Only the director of CERN. But Leonardo kept detailed journals; if he told anyone else about what we were doing, he would have made a note of it. CAMERLENGO (pause) Do you have these journals? VITTORIA I can have them flown here from Geneva in an hour. He pauses, thinking, then turns the phone on his desk to face her. While she picks it up to dial, the Camerlengo comes around his desk to speak privately to Langdon. CAMERLENGO Mr. Langdon. You're correct that I may grant you access to the Archives. LANGDON Thank you, Padre. CAMERLENGO I said you're correct that I may, not that I will. Christianity's most sacred codices are in that archive. Given your recent entanglement with the church I need to ask you a question first. Langdon looks at him fire away. CAMERLENGO (cont'd) Do you believe in God, sir? LANGDON (delicately) Father, I simply believe that religions can oftenCAMERLENGO I didn't ask if you believe what man says about God, I asked if you believe in God. LANGDON I'm an academic. My mind tells me I will never understand God.

24.

CAMERLENGO And your heart? LANGDON Tells me I'm not meant to. The Camerlengo looks at him that's not quite good enough. LANGDON (cont'd) I believe that faith is a gift, which I have not been fortunate enough to receive. The Camerlengo looks at him for a long moment. Pretty damn good answer. He puts a hand on Langdon's shoulder and leans in. CAMERLENGO Be delicate with our treasures. CUT TO: EXT APOSTOLIC PALACE DAY

The back doors of the Apostolic Palace BANG open and Langdon is ushered out (fast) by Olivetti, the head of the Vatican Police. OLIVETTI The archives are this way. They turn down a narrow passageway. A VOICE calls from behind them. VITTORIA (O.S.) Professor Langdon! Vittoria catches up to them. VITTORIA (cont'd) If this path really leads to the Church of Illumination, that may be where they've hidden the antimatter. LANGDON "A shining star at the end of the Path." My thoughts exactly. OLIVETTI (to Vittoria) If we find this bomb, can you deactivate it?

25.

VITTORIA No, but I can change its battery, as long as it has more than five minutes of life. That would give us another twenty-four hours to get it back to CERN. Olivetti nods to her, come on along. They walk again, holds a hand out to Langdon. VITTORIA (cont'd) Vittoria Vetra. Are you really a symbologist, or was he mocking you? Both. LANGDON You're a physicist?

VITTORIA (nods) Bio-entanglement physics. Interconnectivity of life systems. Okay. LANGDON

VITTORIA What are we looking for in the archives? LANGDON A little book written by Galileo. VITTORIA Galileo was llluminati? LANGDON And a devout Catholic. He thought science and religion weren't enemies, but two different languages telling the same story. He wanted like minds to be able to find the Church of Illumination, but he couldn't exactly advertise its location, so he created a coded path. An unknown llluminati master sculpted four statues, each a tribute to one of the four fundamental elements earth, air, fire, water and put them out in public, in churches throughout Rome. Each statue held a clue, pointing to the next. And at the end of the trail was the Church of Illumination.

26.

Vicenzo, leading them, turns up Via Sentinel and starts up the hill toward the Archives. They follow, quickly. OLIVETTI What makes you think he's going to murder the cardinals in the churches? LANGDON The llluminati called those four churches by a special name L'Altare di scienza. The altars of science. VITTORIA (making the connection) "Sacrifice them on the altars of science," he said. Langdon stops in his tracks. Oh. Oh, wow. LANGDON

He's staring up at the impressive facade of the Vatican Archives. He takes a deep breath, then steps forward to enter. But Vincenzo doesn't follow. Langdon looks at him. LANGDON (cont'd) We go in alone? OLIVETTI Vatican Police aren't allowed access to the archives, only Swiss Guard. Lt. Chartrand will meet you inside. I'll be here when you're done. Langdon turns back to the Archives with a look of deep contentment he's wanted in here for a long, long time. And steps through the double doors. CUT TO: INT APOSTOLIC PALACE DAY

The Camerlengo walks briskly through the hallways of the Apostolic Palace, deep in thought. He reaches the top of the Royal Staircase, and can hear the RUMBLING of activity in the Sistine Chapel below. Looking down the stairs, he sees the doorway open, and the gathering of cardinals inside. As he reaches the base of the stairs, Cardinal Mortati, who has been summoned, steps outside to meet him, flanked by his aide, Father Simeon.

27.

Vincenzo, leading them, turns up Via Sentinel and starts up the hill toward the Archives. They follow, quickly. They speak in English, their common language. CAMERLENGO You've been informed of the new situation? MORTATI (nods) May God's mercy be upon us. CAMERLENGO And the other cardinals? MORTATI Await your word. The Camerlengo thinks, feels the weight of this decision on his young shoulders. CAMERLENGO May I ask your guidance, Padre? MORTATI My belief is we should proceed with the sealing of conclave. At this hour? unorthodox. CAMERLENGO That would be highly

MORTATI And yet within church law. It's in my power, I've been chosen Great Elector. CAMERLENGO The cruelest honor in Christendom. MORTATI The only ambitions I have are for my church. St. Peter's church, which is under attack at its most vulnerable moment. This is not a coincidence. Is it possible our enemies hope to distract us from our sacred task? CAMERLENGO The church will not fall in a day. We may be wise to consider evacuation.

28.

MORTATI That is exactly what they want, publicity and panic. We must not give them oxygen for the media fire. CAMERLENGO What of the safety of the cardinals? MORTATI Surely there is not an elector present who values his physical being more than the unbroken leadership of the Holy See. CAMERLENGO And the people in St. Peter's Square? MORTATI They care as deeply about their church as we do. Their faith will sustain them. CAMERLENGO But if their faith does not protect them from an explosion? MORTATI We're all bound for heaven eventually, are we not? CAMERLENGO Spoken like one who has enjoyed the blessings of a long and full life. Mortati bristles at the thinly-veiled insult. MORTATI Signore, do not confuse the power of the office you temporarily hold with your true place here in the Vatican. You were a favorite of His Holiness, but His Holiness is with his Father now. Mea culpa. CAMERLENGO

Satisfied, Mortati looks back over his shoulder, at the anxious faces in the Chapel. Then turns back to the Camerlengo. MORTATI Seal the doors.

29.

With a heavy THUD, the huge doors close and bolts SLAM into place. An ancient key GRINDS in an ornate lock, two heavy chains RATTLE into place, FOUR SWISS GUARD take position in front of the doors and at that very moment INT VATICAN ARCHIVES DAY

two huge, modern glass doors WHOOSH open, revealing what looks like a 23rd century library. It's a massive underground space, like a darkened airplane hangar, with a dozen glass boxes evenly spaced throughout. They're lit up from within, each containing row upon row of bookshelves, neatly filled with books, papers, and arcana. LT. CHARTRAND, a twenty-five year old member of the Swiss Guard (in a suit and earpiece, not the traditional garb), leads Langdon and Vittoria toward the glass enclosures. CHARTRAND (Swiss accent) The chambers are hermetic vaults, oxygen is kept at lowest possible levels. It's a partial vacuum inside. More than ten minutes in the vault is not recommended without breathing apparatus. He stops at one particular chamber and gestures to the sign on its door "Il Processo Galileano." CHARTRAND (cont'd) I'll be just outside the door. Langdon starts toward the entrance to the vault, but Chartrand puts a hand on his chest, stopping him. CHARTRAND (cont'd) Watching you, Mr. Langdon. Langdon looks at him. INT GALILEO VAULT He's not popular around here. DAY

The electronic revolving door spins and admits Langdon to the interior of the vault. He takes a deep breath, holds it, and lets it out. Vittoria follows shortly behind him, and she's unprepared the lack of oxygen hits her hard, she dizzies.

30.

LANGDON Take a moment. If you feel double vision, double over. VITTORIA (bends over) Feels like I'm... scuba diving... with the wrong mixture. LANGDON Plenty of time. He checks his watch. It's 7:07.

LANGDON (cont'd) Uh... actually, I take that back. CUT TO: INT A DARK SPACE DAY

In a dark space, a tea bag bobs delicately up and down in a cup of hot water. An elegant man in his forties, dressed in a casual suit, no tie, HUMS softly to himself as he steeps his tea. No idea of his name, but his suit is gray, so how about MR. GRAY. The tea is on an old wooden table, being heated by a small can of sterno. While Mr. Gray bobs the tea bag, he stares at something to his right. Money. A lot of it, in a number of different denominations, neatly segmented in a briefcase. And three passports, all different colors (and nationalities), neatly placed on top of it. Satisfied, Mr. Gray CLICKS the briefcase shut and slides it under the table, tucking it up against the wall. He removes the cup from the heat, still bobbing the tea bag. He walks, lit by candlelight that throws harsh shadows on strange walls. He heads down a very dark hallway, past a row of stonewalled cells, and within each is the dimly lit figure of the older men we saw on the videotape earlier the kidnapped cardinals. He stops at the last cell, where the man, CARDINAL LAMASSE, looks up at him from the wooden bench he's sitting on. MR. GRAY You have no idea what you're missing. LAMASSE Conclave will go on without us. The voice of God will not be silenced.

31.

MR. GRAY I was referring to my tea. Last chance, I'd be happy to make you a cup. LAMASSE May God forgive you for what you've done. MR. GRAY Father, if God has issues they won't be with what I've done (seems genuinely saddened) but with what I'm about to do.

A MOMENT LATER, Mr. Gray's hand takes the burning tin of sterno and tosses it into a fireplace, where the liquid fire consumes a pile of dry kindling. He picks up something else and places it in the heart of the flames. A long-handled iron rod. CUT TO: INT VATICAN ARCHIVES DAY

Inside the archive, Vittoria is searching the lower shelves while Langdon, on a ladder, digs through folio bins higher up. LANGDON confiscated from the Netherlands by the Vatican shortly after Galileo's death. I've been petitioning to see it for almost ten years. Ever since I realized what was in it. VITTORIA What makes you so sure the Segno is there? LANGDON (while searching) The number 503. I kept seeing it over and over in llluminati letters, scribbled in the margins, or sometimes just signed that way, "503." It's a numerical clue, but to what? Five, of course, is the sacred llluminati number the pentagram, Pythagoras, a dozen other examples in science but why three? (MORE)

32. LANGDON (cont'd) It made no sense. And then I thought what if it were a Roman numeral?

(thinks) D-I-I-I? D3.

VITTORIA

LANGDON Galileo's third text. (ticking them off) Dialogo. Discorsi.

His eyes light up as he pulls a slender volume out of a folio bin on one of the top shelves. Diagramma. LANGDON (cont'd)

A MOMENT LATER, Langdon, now wearing white cotton gloves, sets the tiny manuscript on a viewing stand. LANGDON Diagramma della Verita. of Truth. The Diagram

VITTORIA I know about Dialogo and Discorsi Galileo laid out his theories about the earth revolving around the sun, and the church forced him to recant. But what was this? LANGDON This is where he got the word out. The truth, not what the Vatican forced him to write. Smuggled out of Rome and printed in Holland on sedge papyrus. That way any scientists caught with a copy could simply drop it in water and the booklet would dissolve. Carefully, he turns the first page. LANGDON (cont'd) Between its delicate nature and the Vatican burnings, it's said this is the only copy that remains. (turns the second page) (MORE)

33. LANGDON (cont'd) And if I'm right the Segno should be hidden (and the third) on page number (and the fourth) five.

He stops.

They study the page, Latin. A bit. LANGDON (cont'd) Can you - ? VITTORIA

She reaches for the book, to pull it towards her, but Langdon SLAPS her hand. He holds up his own, glove Finger acids. LANGDON There are

She rolls her eyes and leans in, studying the page. sketches on the page as well.

VITTORIA (reading) Movement of the planets... elliptical orbits... heliocentricity... Langdon's nervous. This doesn't sound right. Vittoria turns the page, turns it back. VITTORIA (cont'd) I'm sorry, I don't think there's anything that could be interpreted as aDo that again. LANGDON

She turns the page, then turns it back. Noticing something in the deep crevice of the margin as the page moves, Langdon grabs a magnifying glass on the end of a long pole and swings it over. There, in the print gutter, what looked like a smudge is revealed under the magnifier to be LANGDON (cont'd) A line of text. In English.

(cont'd)

34.

English?

VITTORIA Why English?

LANGDON No one spoke it at the Vatican. It was considered polluted. Too freethinking, the language of radicals like Shakespeare and Chaucer. He rotates the book. Another line. LANGDON (cont'd)

He keeps rotating the book, finds two more tiny lines written at the very edges, barely visible to the naked eye. LANGDON (cont'd) "The path of light is laid, the sacred test..." I need a pen, we have to transcribe this. VITTORIA Sorry, Professor. No time. Before Langdon can do anything to stop her, she RIPS the page from the text and shoves it in her pocket. Langdon's jaw drops. He shoots a look over his shoulder at Lt. Chartrand, but the man's back is turned. LANGDON Ah, what the hell. He SNAPS the magnifying glass off the end of its pole. CUT TO: EXT VATICAN ARCHIVES DAY

The doors SLAM on a Vatican police car and the tires SQUEAL as Olivetti hits the gas. INT CAR DAY

Olivetti is behind the wheel, Vittoria's in front, Langdon leans in from the back seat. OLIVETTI Twenty minutes till eight, where are we headed?

35.

LANGDON I'll know in a minute, give me the paper. Vittoria pulls the page from the Diagramma out of her pocket and hands it to Langdon. He pulls the magnifier from his coat and studies the thin paper, turning it in his hands. LANGDON (cont'd) (reading) From Santi's earthly tomb with demon's hole... OLIVETTI Where did you get that paper?! LANGDON 'Cross Rome the mystic elements unfold. VITTORIA We borrowed it. LANGDON The path of light is laid, the sacred test... OLIVETTI Are you insane?! LANGDON Let angels guide you on your earthly quest. OLIVETTI You removed a document from the Vatican Archives?! LANGDON Huh? Oh, um well, she moved so fast.. VITTORIA The first marker sounds like it's at Santi's tomb. (musing) Sounds like. LANGDON

VITTORIA But who is Santi?

36.

Raphael. Raphael?

LANGDON VITTORIA The sculptor?

LANGDON Santi was his last name. VITTORIA So the path starts at Raphael's tomb! LANGDON (not entirely convinced)

Yeah.

OLIVETTI Raphael is buried at the Pantheon. VITTORIA Is the Pantheon even a church? OLIVETTI (snatching up the radio) Oldest Catholic church in Rome! Langdon has fallen silent, but it all makes perfect sense, so he says nothing as Olivetti cranks the wheel hard EXT ROME - STREET DAY

the car fishtails into a 180, and they take off in the opposite direction, headed for the Pantheon. CUT TO: EXT PANTHEON - SIDE STREET DAY

The police car pulls to a stop, as quietly as possible, across an open plaza from the Pantheon. Two black Alfa-Romeos with either side of them. As Commander Rocher and THREE surround them. Rocher goes tinted windows glide to a stop on Langdon and the others get out, MORE SWISS GUARD, all in black suits, straight to Langdon, highly skeptical.

ROCHER I've just pulled a dozen of my best men from Vatican City during conclave and left the search for the antimatter device in the hands of secondary officers. You'd better be right.

37.

LANGDON I believe I am. ROCHER The Pantheon is one of the busiest tourist spots in Rome, how could he hope to get away with it? It's impossible. LANGDON As impossible as kidnapping four cardinals from Vatican City? The poem is precise. Olivetti catches eyes with Langdon, who's still clutching the page pulled from the Diagramma. He slips it quietly into his jacket pocket. ROCHER The poem. Unbelievable. I'm basing this operation on an American's interpretation of a four hundred year old poem. VITTORIA The information we have clearly refers to Raphael's tomb, and Raphael's tomb is inside that building. She points to the Pantheon, its edifice shimmering in the early evening light. LANGDON The Pantheon is your one chance to catch this guy. ROCHER One? I thought you said four. A pathway, four markers. We'll have four chances to catch him. LANGDON You would have, a hundred years ago. The Vatican had all the pagan statues in the Pantheon removed and destroyed in the late 1800s. Whatever marker was there to lead us to the next church is gone now. The path is dead. This is your chance. Rocher looks at him for a long moment, then turns abruptly to a UNIFORMED OFFICER.

38.

ROCHER Separate approaches. Cars to Piazza della Rotunda, Via degli Orfani, Piazza Sant'Ignazio, and Sant1Eustachio. No closer than two blocks, no uniforms, three minutes. Understood? The Officer salutes and they snap into action. ROCHER (cont'd) And I need a set of eyes inside. Two BEEFY GUARDSMEN in black suits step forward. VITTORIA Wait a minute, you'll scare him off. ROCHER They're not in uniform. VITTORIA I'm sorry, two weightlifters in matching black suits and earpieces, they're hardly disguised. ROCHER There's no time to get undercover men here. Fine. VITTORIA I'll go.

ROCHER I'm not sending a womHer arched eyebrow stops his sentence in its tracks. ROCHER (cont'd) a civilian into this situation. You have no communications and you can't carry a walkie-talkie, it's too conspicuous. VITTORIA Tourists have cell phones, don't they? (pulls out her own and holds it to her ear) Hi honey, I'm at the Pantheon, you should see this place!

39.

Rocher seems to be thinking about it. protective instincts aroused.

Langdon looks at her, his

LANGDON You can't send her in there alone. ROCHER I don't intend to. EXT PANTHEON - TWO MINUTES LATER

CLOSE ON a pair of hands, linked. Vittoria and Langdon, holding hands like lovers, walk slowly toward the entrance to the Pantheon. A COUPLE DOZEN TOURISTS, blissfully unaware, mill about the square while up on the rooftops, SNIPERS have them in view. Langdon looks around, this wasn't what he had in mind. glances at him, amused. VITTORIA You're crushing my hand. I'm sorry. LANGDON Vittoria

VITTORIA A nervous newlywed? LANGDON Ancient newlywed. Try harder. VITTORIA

He puts an arm around her waist, feels a lump in her back. LANGDON You really know how to use that gun gave you? VITTORIA I can tag a breaching porpoise from forty meters off the bow of a rocking ship. LANGDON Thought you said you were a physicist, I am. VITTORIA Long story. LANGDON

Make it short.

40.

(thinks) Can't be done.

VITTORIA What time is it?

Langdon raises his hand and checks his watch. LANGDON Seven minutes to eight. VITTORIA (of the watch) Was that Mickey Mouse? Long story. Make it short. (thinks) Can't be done. LANGDON VITTORIA LANGDON

And with that they step through the entrance and into INT PANTHEON DAY

the Pantheon, a massive, circular room with a 141-foot unsupported span even larger than the cupola of St. Peter's. There are a DOZEN TOURISTS scattered around, and a TOUR GROUP on one side hearing a lecture from a MUSEUM DOCENT. Langdon looks up at the hole in the ceiling through which a bright shaft of light is shining. LANGDON The oculus. That could be the "demon's hole" in the poem. Looking around, Vittoria sees several sarcophagi scattered around the room, all pointing obliquely in a certain direction. As they move stealthily through the crowd, they speak in low tones: VITTORIA Why are the tombs at an angle? To face east. LANGDON Sun worship.

VITTORIA But this is a Christian church.

41.

LANGDON (shrugs) New religions often adopt existing holidays to make conversion less shocking. December 25th was the pagan holiday of the Unconquered Sun. Made it a handy choice for Christ's birthday. VITTORIA You're saying Christianity is repackaged sun worship? LANGDON Where do you think halos came from? Not just sun worship though, the Catholics borrowed Communion from the Aztecs, canonization from Euphemerus, the cruciform from the Egyptians VITTORIA No wonder they don't like you around here. LANGDON Just trying to keep the conversation lively. (points) Check the recesses. I'll go left. See you in a hundred eighty degrees. He starts to the left, she goes to the right, walking in the shadowy recesses behind the pillars at the edges of the room. Langdon walks slowly, checking out faces. Teenagers. More tourists. Tourists. Couples.

Around every column, there are shadows, and in those shadows - nothing. He looks at his watch. Five minutes to eight. And then --

- a SHRIEK from the other side of the room. Vittoria backing away from something. Vittoria!

He whirls, sees

LANGDON (cont'd)

He races across the room, reaches her at the far side. Her face is ashen. She's pointing at something, aghast.

42.

VITTORIA Raphael's tomb! But -Langdon rushes forward to the crypt. There doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary, except VITTORIA (cont'd) - it's the wrong one! LANGDON What are you talking about?! He leans down, looks at the plaque on it. VITTORIA He was moved here, in 1759. A century after Diagramma was published! LANGDON That's not possible, the poem saidVITTORIA Where was he originally buried? LANGDON I don't know... Urbino, I think... (thinking like crazy) Santi's earthly tomb... what else could it possibly... Santi 's tomb... His eyes flit around the room, from one ornate sarcophagus to another. And then it hits him: LANGDON (cont'd) Damn it! "Santi's tomb" must mean one of the chapels he built! He's not buried in it, he designed it! Rich people commissioned burial chapels in churches all over Rome in his day! (looks up) And the "demon's hole," it isn't the oculus, it's an undercroft, a crypt, common sixteenth century term! At that very moment, the tour group is passing them, and the elderly Docent asks his group the perfunctory wrap-up: DOCENT Does anyone have any questions? Langdon busts in on the group.

43.

LANGDON Yes! Did Raphael Santi ever design a chapel with an ossuary annex and angel figure commissioned by the Catholic Church?! The Docent blinks. question. Wasn't expecting quite so esoteric a LANGDON (cont'd)

Well?!

DOCENT I'm sorry, I... I can only think of one. Langdon suppresses the urge to grab him by the lapels and shake it out of him. One'll do. LANGDON CUT TO: EXT PANTHEON DAY

A clock in the square outside the Pantheon says 7:56. Langdon and Vittoria face Rocher, Olivetti, and half a dozen Swiss Guard. Wrong? ROCHER What do you mean, wrong?!

LANGDON (fast) The first altar of science is the Chigi Chapel, in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, about a mile from here! It used to be called Capella della Terra, Chapel of the Earth. Earth, the first element! This is it, I'm certain. ROCHER You were certain of the Pantheon. LANGDON Please, we have four minutes! Rocher looks at Langdon with contempt, then BARKS orders to his men in Italian. They begin to head for their cars. VITTORIA Back to the Vatican?! You can't!

44.

LANGDON Commandante, if you care at all about your churchROCHER My church? My church feeds the hungry, comforts the sick and dying. What does your church do, Professor? (no answer) Ah, that's right, you haven't one. He turns and walks away, glaring at Olivetti. ROCHER (cont'd) Take him if you want, but I'm done with him. CUT TO:

EXT

PIAZZA DEL POPOLO

DAY

Olivetti's car SCREECHES to a halt in the Piazza del Popolo at sunset. Langdon, Vittoria, Olivetti, and Vincenzo, the Vatican cop who first came to see Langdon, all climb out, start scanning the square. LANGDON This is the place. He points to an obelisk in the center of the square. LANGDON (cont'd) An obelisk, with a pyramid at the top. Both Masonic symbols. VITTORIA The Freemasons? Are Illuminati? LANGDON The Illuminati were infiltrators. There isn't a powerful organization on earth they didn't place members in. Look at a dollar bill some time. A pyramid, an occult symbol representing convergence upward, with the eye of illumination above it, and beneath it the Latin for "New World Order."

45.

VITTORIA The United States government was infiltrated by Illuminati? LANGDON FDR's vice-president was a highranking Freemason. Convinced him the words in Latin actually meant "New Deal." A church bell begins to TOLL. Eight o'clock! OLIVETTI

Langdon takes off running, toward and eleventh-century church at the southwest corner of the plaza, covered in scaffolding. At the front door of the church, Langdon hops over the sawhorses blocking the entrance and tries the door. Locked. A sign says the place is under construction. At a side door, Olivetti races alongside the church, followed by the others. He reaches a door with a large, heavy ring, and pulls it toward him. But the door won*t budge. He pushes, throws his shoulder into it. Locked. LANGDON (approaching) No, no, it's an annulus! But Olivetti just races onward, looking for another door, followed by Vincenzo. As they disappear around the back of the church, Langdon steps up to the large ring, gives it an almighty twist INT SANTA MARIA DEL POPOLO DUSK

-- and the heavy door CLUNKS open. The interior of the church is an obstacle course of torn-up flooring, brick pallets, mounds of dirt. Silt drifts in the dying sunlight that shines through the broken windows and walls. Nothing moves. Dead silence. Langdon and Vittoria walk slowly to the middle of the floor, at one end of the chapel. There are eight recesses, four on either side of a central aisle, all covered with large sheets of plastic, to protect them during construction.

46.

LANGDON (whispering) The chapel is in one of those apses. The plastic RUSTLES ominously. of them. Anything could be behind any one

Vittoria pulls the gun from her waistband and holds it in front of her. Langdon notices, it makes him uncomfortable. LANGDON (cont'd) You have to give that back. She looks at him - what are you, nuts? Something rushes at them from the side, she whirls - and nearly blows Olivetti to kingdom come as he and Vincenzo barrel in through the side door. Langdon gestures - everybody quiet. Olivetti points to the left gestures to Langdon and Vittoria to go to the right. They separate, to either side of the main aisle. AT THE FIRST CHAPEL, Langdon pulls the plastic aside, eyes scan the chapel. ON THE OTHER SIDE, Olivetti does the same, at another chapel. AT THE THIRD CHAPEL, Vittoria pushes the plastic aside, gun in front of her. a sudden movement to her left, she whirls - and a rat scurries away. AT THE FOURTH CHAPEL, Langdon pushes the plastic aside, steps inside -- and GASPS. Moving behind him, we see a Christian chapel like no other we've ever seen. Finished entirely in chestnut marble, overhead it has a domed cupola with a field of illuminated stars and the seven planets (as known in Galileo's day). Further down the wall, there are tributes to earth's four seasons but most incredible of all are the two huge structures that dominate the room from either side. There's Nothing. Nothing.

47.

Pyramids.

Ten feet high.

Vittoria steps in behind him. Pyramids. This is it. LANGDON In a Catholic church.

Behind them, the plastic rustles, as if drawn by a wind, and as Langdon turns, he hears, faintly, a DOOR CLOSING far away. He turns back, eyes drawn to the floor. There is a large oval medallion there, with a skeleton carved into it. It's slightly off center, raised. As if it's been opened recently, and hurriedly replaced. LANGDON (cont'd) The demon's hole. IN THE DEMON'S HOLE, we're looking up now as the medallion GRINDS to the side. Faces peer down at us Langdon, Vittoria, Olivetti, and Vincenzo. They recoil from a stench. UP TOP, Langdon squints, trying to see inside. LANGDON Anybody got a flashlight? Vincenzo hands him one. Langdon shines it down into the crypt. There are shapes, but thirty feet down and hard to make out. There's one in particular, in the darkness, seems too short to be a person, but it's moving slightly. OLIVETTI Can you tell what it is? LANGDON Not from up here. He reaches down, rattles the ladder that leans against the wall of the crypt. Takes a deep breath, looks at the others. Those guns. LANGDON (cont'd) Keep 'em handy?

48.

IN THE DEMON'S HOLE, Langdon reaches the bottom, still shining the light at the figure in the distance. It's brighter here, he can see it's fleshcolored, but still indistinct. He takes a step toward it - and something CRUNCHES under his feet. He shines the light down. He's standing on a pile of human skulls

OLIVETTI (calling down) You okay? More or less. LANGDON

He takes two more steps, closer to the swaying figure on the other side of the crypt. He can now clearly see a man's naked back. LANGDON (cont'd) He's here! I think he's -- sitting. (moves closer) Hello? (closer still) Are you all right? It's a human figure. As Langdon draws close, he sees the source of the movement - rats, gnawing at the dead body. They scurry away as Langdon comes around the front, and we pull back to see what he sees. It's Cardinal Lamasse. He's been buried in the earthen floor of the crypt up to his waist his jaw broken, his mouth crammed full of dirt. But that's not the worst of it. Langdon GAGS as he sees the blackened word that has been branded into the red flesh of the Cardinal's chest. It's an ambigram, like we've seen before, but this time it says EARTH. CUT TO:

INT

SISTINE CHAPEL

DAY

Cardinal Mortati sits regally at the main altar at the front of the Sistine Chapel as the electors, one by one, cast their votes in the traditional manner.

49.

An AFRICAN CARDINAL at the front of the line kneels before him. AFRICAN CARDINAL (subtitled) I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected. The African Cardinal stands, holds his ballot over his head, t lowers the ballot to the altar, where a plate sits atop a large chalice. He places the ballot on the plate, then picks up the plate and uses it to drop the ballot in the chalice. He then replaces the plate over the chalice, bows to the cross, and heads for his seat. The next cardinal steps up to repeat the process. A SHORT TIME LATER, A DISSOLVE, and the line is gone. Mortati holds the chalice with all the votes. He shakes it, chooses oneMORTATI Eligo in summum pontificem and reads an unfamiliar name. He makes a note in a ledger, then raises a threaded needle and pierces the ballot through the word "Eligo," sliding the ballot on the thread. A SHORT TIME LATER, ANOTHER DISSOLVE,

and there are a hundred and sixty-one ballots on the thread, Mortati looks up from his ledger and speaks to the room. MORTATI The first ballot has failed. He takes He thread carrying all the ballots and ties the ends together to create a ring. He lays the ring of ballots on a silver tray. heavily with a yellowish powder. A DOOR OPENS on a small incinerator. The ring of ballots is hurled inside and bursts immediately into flame. Dusts the tray

50.

A dark, brackish smoke billows up from the burning ballots, and we follow the smoke up, up, into the chimney EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE DUSK

- and to the roof of the Sistine Chapel, where the black iUPke puffs out into the early evening sky. Below, a CROWD OF THOUSANDS GROANS in disappointment as the message is sent - no new pope yet. But while they are all watching the smoke, we turn our attention? to the opposite direction, to the east, across Rome, to where - CUT TO: EXT PIAZZA DEL POPOLO DUSK

- those black Alfa Romeos, four this time, glide silently to a halt outside the church where Langdon just found the corpse. Swiss Guard in black suits pour out of the vehicles and hurry into the church, trying to attract as little attention as possible. INT SANTA MARIA DEL POPOLO DUSK

The inside of the church is being sealed off as a crime scene. Rocher, just arriving, takes charge as the plastic is RIPPED off the Chigi Chapel. ROCHER Get that body out of there and search the rest of the building. Swiss Guardsmen drop into the demon's hole to remove the body. ROCHER (cont'd) (to another Guardsman) Outside a perimeter. Secure but invisible. No lights, no guns, no one knows. Understood? Langdon, lost in thought, drifts through the small chapel, studying the intricate carvings and other artwork. LANGDON Earthly symbology... everywhere... Rocher passes through his field of vision, livid: ROCHER Why the hell didn't you figure this out in the first place?

51.

It was more a rhetorical question, but Langdon answers honestly, still lost in thought, his voice soft. LANGDON I made a mistake. He drifts toward a statue, of the highest quality white marble, resting in a niche on the far side, out of the way of the mayhem. Vittoria joins him. Is it Raphael? VITTORIA

LANGDON The chapel is. But the sculptures are Bernini. (stunned) The unknown Illuminati master was Bernini. VITTORIA Didn't he work for the Church? LANGDON Almost exclusively. It means the Illuminati even infiltrated the Vatican. They hid in plain sight. He steps closer to the statue. It's of two life-size human figures, intertwined, one a regal, bearded man, the other a cherub, floating overhead. LANGDON (cont'd) Habakkuk and the Angel. Habakkuk? VITTORIA

LANGDON The prophet who predicted the annihilation of the earth. This is the first marker. He steps closer, studying it carefully. LANGDON (cont'd) "Let angels guide you on your lofty quest..." His eyes move slowly over the statue, and ours do too, from the angel's innocent face, down his arm, and to his right hand, which is outstretched, one finger extended

52.

pointing the way. LANGDON (cont'd) The Path is alive. CUT TO:

EXT

PIAZZA DEL POPOLO

DUSK

Langdon dashes down the stairs outside the church and into the middle of the piazza. It's getting dark now, shadows streaking the square. Southwest... LANGDON it points southwest...

He gets his bearings, looks to the southwest, sees nothing but buildings in the way. He runs back up the church steps, where Vittoria and Rocher are just coming outside. Langdon's mind is racing. LANGDON (cont'd) Earth-air-fire-water, we're looking for a Bernini sculpture having something to do with air... (to Rocher) And the next church is southwest of here. ROCHER You're sure this time? LANGDON I need a map. One that shows all the churches in Rome. Rocher just stares at him, studying him. LANGDON (cont'd) I could use it now. Rocher starts down the steps toward his car. And a compass! LANGDON (cont'd)

He looks around, sees the rickety scaffolding outside the church, and -

53.

A MOMENT LATER, - he climbs into our view, now on the scaffolding. upward, fast, toward EXT CHURCH ROOF DUSK He's moving

- the roof of the old church, also undergoing renovation. The view of Rome is spectacular from up here, and Langdon rushes to the western wall, looking intently off in that direction. He sees something that makes him suck in his breath, hears a voice from behind him - Robert! VITTORIA (O.S.)

- and turns as Vittoria tosses something small and black up to him. A compass. He catches it, holds it steady, and walks toward the edge of the roof as the compass needle swivels and settles on SW. Langdon looks up, following the line of the needle, up over the rooftops of Rome, to a massive structure in the distance, exactly in line with the compass needle. A huge dome on the horizon blots out the setting sun. ST. PETER'S BASILICA. CUT TO: INT CAR NIGHT

CLOSE ON a map of Rome, unfolded in the back seat of a racing car and spread out over Langdon and Vittoria's laps. Langdon has a pen and is drawing a line on the map, through LANGDON The black rectangles with crosses are churches, and none of them intersect the line until it comes to an end, right in the middle of St. Peter's Square. Night has fallen, and the four Alfa Romeos are now speeding across Rome. No sirens, but lots of speed. Olivetti drives, Rocher is in the passenger seat.

54.

ROCHER Your theory doesn't hold up, Professor. Michelangelo designed St. Peter's, not Bernini. LANGDON The Basilica is Michelangelo, but the square is Bernini. The second marker must be a statue in the square. VITTORIA It's ten minutes till nine! go any faster?! Can we

ROCHER Not unless we want the full attention of the world press. She looks down, to two television screens mounted into the backs of the front seats. Both are tuned to coverage of the papal selection process, REPORTERS doing stand-ups from the middle of crowded St. Peter's Square. We move in on one of the images, then into the image, coming out CUT TO: EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT

- on a television monitor in St. Peter's Square. The Reporter, a JAPANESE WOMAN, is giving a stand-up report on the progress so far, gesturing to the chimney over the Sistine Chapel. The crowd has grown, now four thousand, maybe five. FLASHBULBS POP. A few PROTESTERS CHANT. Almost silently, behind them all, half a dozen black Alfa Romeos race in, too fast, and come to an abrupt halt. IN ROCHER'S CAR, they all get out, trying to avoid causing a panic. Langdon walks into the square, eyes focused on an object in the middle. LANGDON Another obelisk. We're close. He looks up, at row after row of statues that ring the square from atop the oval colonnades. SHARPSHOOTERS scurry among the statuary, setting themselves up.

55.

In the crowd, Rocher MUTTERS into his radio and to undercover SWISS GUARD scattered throughout. The crowd is unaware of them. Langdon keeps walking, turning in circles, looking above him, to the tops of the colonnades that border the square. VITTORIA There must be a hundred statues up there, which one is it? LANGDON How in God's name would anyone make a sculpture about air? And indeed there are. minutes to nine. And then he freezes. Langdon looks at his watch. Staring down, not up. Two

He takes a step back. There is a fresco carved into the square beneath his feet, or more accurately Bas relief! LANGDON (cont'd)

He takes a step back, to look at the carving, as does Vittoria. LANGDON (cont'd) The other half of sculpture is bas relief. (to Vittoria) Look for more! Something having to do with air! They move through the crowd, pushing people aside, causing a bit of a ruckus as they try to uncover the elaborate carvings in the stone of the square. (IF WE ARE EAGLE-EYED, at this point we will see TWO ROBED MEN, one helping the other, who carries a cross, as they pass through the crowd behind Langdon.) Remembering something, Langdon rushes forward, toward the center of the square, uncharacteristically brusque with the crowd, shoving his way through now. He draws close to one carving in particular, slows to a stop, and stares down at it, eyes wide. It's a carving of an angel's face, cheeks billowing outward as it blows a gust of wind, symbolized by five vertical streaks. Its title is -

56.

LANGDON (cont'd) "West Ponente." The West Wind. An angel's face and five streaks. Air! So this is it, but now what? They look around frantically, scanning the crowd. So does Rocher, so does Olivetti. The BELLS of St. Peter's start to TOLL the hour. NEARBY, a LITTLE GIRL dances with a doll. going on. ELSEWHERE, some PROTESTERS tangle. Some believe one thing, others don't. Happily unaware of what's

Swiss Guard and Vatican Police race in to break it up. But there's no bloodshed. CLOSE TO THAT, a ROBED MAN carrying a small wooden cross falls to the ground. Somebody near him SCREAMS. NEARBY, the Little Girl is jostled by a HOMELESS MAN, drops her doll. THE ROBED MAN is helped to his feet by the Police. away, holding his cross high. He's fine. He wanders

And as he passes us, we catch just a glimpse of his face --and recognize Mr. Gray. THE LITTLE GIRL bends down, picks up her doll, and sees IT'S COVERED IN BLOOD. She looks down at the ground, sees a trail of blood, follows it with her eyes to where the Homeless Man, dressed in torn rags, leans against a fountain, gasping for breath. ACROSS THE CROWD,

57.

Vittoria and Langdon hear the SCREAMS. They're closest, and they're at the fountain in just a few seconds. Langdon drops to his knees, turns the Homeless Man over. Through the man's torn shirt, he can see a black and red brand burned into his chest. Three letters, ornate script, reading the same front to back: AIR. Vittoria grabs his arm, feels for a pulse.

VITTORIA He's still alive! But the dying Cardinal is gasping for breath, his mouth opening and closing like a fish on a dock. She bends down, arches his neck, closes her mouth over his, and blows air into his lungs. Immediately, a fog of red mist BILLOWS from two puncture holes in the man's chest, covering Langdon in blood - his face, his clothes. VITTORIA (cont'd) His chest! They punctured his lungs! Langdon recoils in horror, overcome, completely out of his depth. Rocher arrives, as does Olivetti, as do a DOZEN MORE SWISS GUARD and VATICAN POLICE. Rocher looks around, defeated and enraged, as the Cardinal expires and the Crowd panics, fleeing in all directions. He presses his radio to his lips and keys the mic. ROCHER Clear the square. CUT TO: INT BATHROOM NIGHT

Blood and water swirl down a drain. Langdon looks up from the sink, water rushing from his face. He dries himself, looks in the mirror. He holds up his hands. They're shaking. He's standing in a lavish marble bathroom, now cleaned up and changed into black pants and a black long-sleeved shirt. No Roman collar, they don't just give you those, but clearly the clothes of a priest. He steps out of the bathroom and into -

58.

INT

PAPAL OFFICE

NIGHT

the papal office, where the Camerlengo, Rocher, Olivetti, and Vittoria are gathered again, as are HALF A DOZEN other security officers. It's crowded, busy, little knots of jurisdictional arguments and competing theories around the room. The Camerlengo, at his desk, is stunned, speaking to Olivetti. Langdon edges close enough to hear, but not too close. CAMERLENGO When did this call come in? OLIVETTI Three, four minutes ago. The same voice as on the tape. We're analyzing the accent now, Alsatian is our best guess at the moment. CAMERLENGO And he actually claimed responsibility for the death of His Holiness? OLIVETTI Not personally, but he said it was the Illuminati. He said they murdered him. CAMERLENGO That's ridiculous, the Holy Father died of a stroke. Did he say how they claim to have done it? OLIVETTI The Pope's own medication. known as Heparin? There is silence for a moment. A drug Looks away.

Rocher looks up.

VITTORIA The Pope took Heparin? CAMERLENGO He had thrombophlebitis. He took an injection once a day. But no one knew that. Someone knew. OLIVETTI

59.

ROCHER His Holiness had health concerns; he was subject to seizures as well. But he took steps to make sure he was watched. For safety. That's all he wished to be made public, and that's all we should discuss. VITTORIA (ignoring him) Heparin is lethal in the wrong dosage. An overdose would cause massive internal bleeding and brain hemorrhages. At first it might look like a stroke, but in a few days his body would show signs, we could easilyRocher spins on her, livid. ROCHER Ms. Vetra, in case you're unaware, papal autopsies are prohibited by Vatican Law. We are not about to defile His Holiness's body just because his enemies claim toCAMERLENGO Of course we're not. We'll make a public announcement refuting this absurd claim. Father Simeon, Cardinal Mortati's aide, steps forward. FR. SIMEON I'm afraid that's out of the question. Cardinal Mortati has insisted this entire matter be kept internal. CAMERLENGO Cardinal Mortati shouldn't even be aware of this, he's locked in conclave. FR. SIMEON His final instructions before sealing the doors were very clear no outside communications unless absolutely necessary. CAMERLENGO Cardinal Mortati will remember that he is Dean of the College of Cardinals, not His Holiness himself.

60.

FR. SIMEON As you say. Yet, technically, now that Conclave has begun, it is his privilege and duty to control public announcements. I've drafted a short release about the incident in the square, but any other statements are specifically prohibited. For that, the Cardinal has asked me to remind you we have a chimney. The Camerlengo just stares at him, a power struggle. Which he is going to lose. CAMERLENGO As you say. (turns away) Commander Rocher, the search for the device? ROCHER We've turned the power off and on to about twenty percent of Vatican City. Nothing on the video yet. CAMERLENGO Mr. Langdon, you've been right so far, if belatedly, about the Path. It's now nine fifteen, how quickly can you find the next church? Langdon refers to a map spread out on the desk. LANGDON The line of the breath in the carving points due east, directly away from Vatican City, but there are five lines, so there's room for error. While he talks, an AIDE in a business suit is ushered quietly in the door by a Swiss Guardsman. He's carrying a satchel. Vittoria recognizes him, and he goes to her. LANGDON (cont'd) There are about twenty churches that intersect it. None of their names invoke "fire," but there must be a Bernini sculpture inside one of them that does. I'm going to need to get back into the Archives to find it.

61.

CAMERLENGO (to Olivetti) Escort him. Langdon looks to Vittoria you coming? She looks up from a table, where she's opened the satchel brought in by the Aide. She holds two leather-bound books in her hand. VITTORIA The journals I asked for. I'd like to stay here and study them. If Leonardo told anyone else about our project, that could be the killer. Fine. CAMERLENGO

The group starts to break up, half of them headed for the doors. As Langdon rolls up the map on the desk, the Camerlengo notices his black clothes for the first time. CAMERLENGO (cont'd) Professor, would it surprise you to find those clothes suit you? Langdon manages a sliver of a smile, starting to like this guy. LANGDON It would surprise the hell out of me. CUT TO:

EXT

ST.

PETER'S SQUARE

NIGHT

St. Peter's has been cleared out, the throng moved to barricades at its edges so that the crime scene can be properly investigated. Flashbulbs POP everywhere. The row of TV REPORTERS is nearly shoulder to shoulder, and we move along them - first up is an ITALIAN REPORTER: ITALIAN REPORTER (subtitled) a statement just released by the Vatican expressing sympathy for the family of the mugging victim, a tourist from Dusseldorf Still moving, we pass a CHINESE REPORTER.

62.

CHINESE REPORTER (subtitled) - who is now confirmed dead. Vatican Police have a suspect in custody, and after photographing the crime scene - Still moving, a FRENCH REPORTER. FRENCH REPORTER (subtitled) - will allow the crowds of faithful back into St. Peter's Square, where security will be doubled. Still moving, a BBC REPORTER, in English.

BBC REPORTER Sadly, the Vatican spokesman points out, where crowds go And finally, an AMERICAN. AMERICAN REPORTER - so often follows crime. We're trying now to get the name of the tourist who was- wait aThe American Reporter looks confused, somebody's talking to her in her earpiece. AMERICAN REPORTER (cont'd) We're getting word now of smoke, smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney, apparently there's been another vote I And almost as one, the row of TV cameras all swing away from the crime scene in the square and up, to the Sistine Chapel chimney, where there is indeed a thick cloud - of black smoke. effectively changed. Still no new pope, and the subject is CUT TO: INT VATICAN ARCHIVES NIGHT

Langdon and Lt. Chartrand, the young Swiss Guardsman, walk quickly down the row of hermetically sealed vaults in the Vatican Archives. Langdon's leading, looking at the names on the outsides of each of the individual vaults.

63.

CHARTRAND What are you looking for this time? Assets. LANGDON

CHARTRAND I beg your pardon? LANGDON Artwork is valuable, and corporations tend to keep track of their holdings. CHARTRAND The Catholic Church is not a corporation, Signore, it is a beacon, a source of inspiration for one billion lost and frightened souls. LANGDON Sure sure, I get that. He stops, pointing up at a sign on the end of one of the vaults BANCO VATICANO. LANGDON (cont'd) But it's also a bank. He takes one last breath of oxygen-rich air, pushes through the revolving door INT VAULT NIGHT

- and comes through the other side, eyes scanning the place. A moment later, Chartrand follows him through the door. Langdon looks at him - you're coming in too? CHARTRAND Cfmmander Olivetti said I was not to leave your side this time. LANGDON (a mutter) Wasn't me, it was her, MOVING FAST ALONG THE LEATHER-BOUND VOLUMES, Langdon searches the place as fast as he can. BAM! A book drops onto a table, pages flip by, Langdon studies it, SLAMS it shut.

64.

BAM! BAM! Two more books, flipped open, compared, pages rifled, nothing. BACK IN THE STACKS, his hand finds a five-inch thick ledger marked "Bernini." ON A TABLE, it SMACKS down and opens to the first page. Langdon sits, begins turning the pages, one by one. LOOKING AT THE PAGE, his vision momentarily blurs. again. He rubs his eyes, it clears

He looks up, at a vent over the doorway. Thin ribbons flutter in the breeze of the minimal oxygen that's being pumped in. He goes back to work. Chartrand watches him. CUT TO: INT PAPAL OFFICE NIGHT

Looking out the window of the papal office, we see the barricades removed from the edges of St. Peter's Square. The crowds return. Pulling back, we see the Camerlengo looking out at them, thinking, troubled. There are still half a dozen Security Officials in the papal office, but the Camerlengo turns and looks at Vittoria, working alone at a desk on the far side of the office. AT THE DESK, Vittoria pores over the journals sent from Geneva. Sensing something, she looks up. The Camerlengo is standing over her. He speaks quietly. CAMERLENGO What sort of signs? I'm sorry? VITTORIA

The Camerlengo looks over his shoulder, to make sure their conversation is private. CAMERLENGO If the Holy Father were given an overdose of Heparin... what signs would his body bear?

65.

VITTORIA Bleeding of the oral mucosa. (off his questioning look) His gums. Postmortem, the blood congeals and turns the inside of the mouth black. CAMERLENGO Even though he died fourteen days ago? VITTORIA It wouldn't show up until at least a week after his death. He looks around the room once more. Then back to her?

CAMERLENGO He was... very important to me. I understand. VITTORIA

He thinks for a long moment, then Please come. - turns and leaves the room. then follows him out. She leaves the journals behind. CUT TO: INT VATICAN ARCHIVES NIGHT CAMERLENGO She makes sure no one's looking,

CLOSE ON the Bernini ledger, which Langdon is now almost halfway through. He tiyrns a page, scans the list of items written there, then moves on to the next. He blinks, his vision blurring again. He looks over at Chartrand, who's suffering even worse, panting for air, hands on his knees. LANGDON You don't smoke, do you? CHARTRAND (yes, a lot) A little bit. LANGDON Sit down before you fall down.

66.

Chartrand half-stumbles into a chair on the opposite side of the table. Langdon goes back to what he was doing, flipping a page-- and then immediately flipping it back. There is a hand-written notation alongside one of the entries. LANGDON (cont'd) My Italian's no good, what does this note say? Next to the entry for The Ecstasy of St. Teresa? Chartrand leans over the ledger, squinting hard, trying to focus. CHARTRAND "Moved at suggestion of the artist." LANGDON Moved to another church? Bernini"s suggestion? At

Chartrand, really suffering for air, can't follow it. I don't know. CHARTRAND

Langdon flips the page back, to a photograph of the sculpture in question. THE STATUE is of a woman, seemingly in the throes of ecstasy, while an angel hovering over her holds a spear aloft. Langdon raises an eyebrow. The word "Seraphim" jumps up from the page, words in quotes after it "Seraphim, meaning 'the fiery one...'" Fire. LANGDON

More words pop out at us "His great golden spear... filled with fire..." Fire. LANGDON (cont'd)

Still more "woman inflamed by passion's fire..." And now a close-up of her enraptured face.

67.

Fire.

LANGDON

And now three things happen in quick succession: Langdon SLAMS the ledger shut, the ribbons on the air vent fall as the oxygen into the vault is cut off, and one by one, ALL THE LIGHTS IN THE ARCHIVES GO OUT. Total silence for a moment. Langdon and Chartrand look at each other in the darkness. The door ? Electronic. LANGDON (cont'd) CHARTRAND

LANGDON That's too bad. CUT TO: INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA NIGHT

The Camerlengo, flanked by two Swiss Guardsmen, escorts Vittoria rapidly across the deserted floor of St. Peter's Basilica. VITTORIA Where are we going? CAMERLENGO To see my father. VITTORIA I don't understand. They circle past a pillar and she sees an orange glow up ahead, seeming to emanate from beneath the floor in the center of the basilica. CAMERLENGO I was orphaned when I was nine years old. A bombing in Madrid Basque separatists protesting the visit of a Catholic archbishop. As they draw closer, she sees it's the entrance to a sumptuous underground chamber, surrounded by scores of glowing oil lamps.

68.

CAMERLENGO (cont'd) The archbishop felt responsible, and he adopted me the following day. I was raised by him, and by the church. The Camerlengo starts down a winding stairway, rimmed by the lamps, ON THE STAIRCASE, they descend, lit by the spectral glow of the oil lamps. CAMERLENGO (cont'd) He was the wisest man I ever met, even with my youthful foolishness. He always saw the middle way. I wanted to be ordained, but I also refused to be excused from military service. So he suggested I fly rescue missions, helicopters bringing the wounded to hospital. He stops at the bottom of the stairs and looks up at her. CAMERLENGO (cont'd) He was a great man. He died? VITTORIA

CAMERLENGO (nods) Fourteen days ago. Vittoria, stunned, realizes who he's talking about. CUT TO: INT VATICAN ARCHIVES NIGHT

KA-CHUNG! Emergency lights switch on in the Vatican Archives, casting a weird, reddish glow over everything. But the ribbons at the oxygen panel remain limp. Below, Langdon pushes, again and again, on the deadened exit button, trying to activate the doors. Nothing doing. He's weak, weaving, barely on his feet. Chartrand's already slumped against a wall, his radio in hand, keying it over and over again, but getting only static.

69.

Anything?

LANGDON

Chartrand gestures weakly around the room. CHARTRAND Walls... lead-lined... no signal. Langdon blinks, his vision becoming seriously impaired. He holds his eyes closed for a moment, opens them, it's not much better. Langdon looks at the glass wall on the far side of the vault. Then at the row of bookcases. Gets an idea. He goes to the last bookcase, which is about six feet from the glass wall. He hoists himself up on the shelf of the bookcase opposite it, wedges himself in. And pushes with one leg. barely. The giant bookcase teeters, but just

Langdon hoists himself further up, gets both legs up against the bookshelf. Pushes again more movement this time. Now he puts everything he has into it, straining like hell. The bookcase starts to tip, goes just past the point of no return, starts to fall, gloriously headed straight for the glass wall, which it SLAMS into with enormous power and - stops. Leaning against the wall. scratch. Forget cracks, there's not even a

Langdon CURSES under his breath, looks around for another idea. He hears a soft THUD from the other side of the room, sees Chartrand has slumped over, unconscious. But his jacket has fallen open, revealing the sidearm he carries in a shoulder holster. LANGDON'S HAND slips the gun out of the holster and hefts it. never held one of these before. Safe bet he's

He staggers over toward the glass wall, raises the gun, and pulls the trigger. Nothing happens. Trigger doesn't even move.

70.

After a moment of oxygen-poor thinking, he figures out how to CLICK off the safety. Tries again. (Pow.) The sound of the shot is barely audible to Langdon. going fast. His brain's

If he was hoping to bring the whole wall down, he failed, but there's a faint HISSING sound coming from the bullethole, and he goes to it and takes a deep breath of air from the outside. He stands back, his brain clearing momentarily. Seized by an idea, he looks up at the wall, at its four corners, and at the tiny web of cracks radiating out from the hole he just made in the center. He raises the gun again and fires off FOUR SHOTS in quick succession. They're in an odd pattern upper left corner, upper right, not quite as high, lower middle-left, and the very lower right corner. Now there are four new holes, each HISSING slightly, and the first hole, in the center. Shaking his head once more to clear it, Langdon steps forward to the glass wall, but instead of barreling against it or throwing a chair, he simply raises one hand, places it flat over the first hole he made, the one in the center of the glass wall - -- and presses gently. Almost immediately, a SHARP SOUND comes from the hole beneath his hand and a jagged crack leaps out from the first hole, shooting up to connect with the hole in the upper left corner. He presses just a touch harder and a SECOND CRACK starts, shooting down to the lower right. Then a third, and a fourth, the glass is cracking like ice in springtime, all four extremities connecting with the central hole, and with a huge GROANING SOUND -- the entire glass wall falls to pieces at his feet. Air RUSHES into the vault. And, wouldn't you know it, the power comes back on in the Archives. CUT TO:

71.

INT

VATICAN GROTTOES

NIGHT

Vittoria, the Camerlengo, and the two Swiss Guard reach the entrance to the Holy Vatican Grottoes just as --- their power goes out. Two flashlights CLICK on, and the Guardsmen lead the way in. both sides, hollow niches line the walls. Recessed in the alcoves, as far as the flashlights let them see, the hulking shadows of sarcophagi loom. On

On top of each tomb are life-sized marble carvings of each Pope, shown in death and wearing full papal vestments, arms folded across their chests. CAMERLENGO If the Holy Father was murdered, the implications are profound. Vatican security is impenetrable, no one from the outside could have gotten anywhere near him. VITTORIA Meaning it was someone on the inside. CAMERLENGO We can trust no one He steps up his pace, taking the lead, knows exactly where he's going. The others fall behind, as everyone slowly realizes what he intends to do. And they're not at all sure they're up for it. AT THE LATE POPE'S SARCOPHAGUS, the Camerlengo closes the last few feet alone. He knees down in front of the bright marble carving, a likeness of the late Pope. He WHISPERS. CAMERLENGO Father... Holy Father... You told me when I was young that the voice in my heart was that of God. You told me I must follow it no matter what painful places it leads. I hear it now, asking me the impossible. Give me strength. Forgive me. What I do, I do in the name of everything you believe. BEHIND HIM,

72.

the others watch as he finishes his private prayer, stands, and turns to them. CAMERLENGO (cont'd) Remove the covering. Nobody moves. Just stares at him. CAMERLENGO (cont'd) Did you hear me? SWISS GUARDSMAN Signore, by law we are at your command. But we are also bound byCAMERLENGO I ask your forgiveness for putting you in this position. Vatican laws are established to protect the church. But it is in that very spirit that I command you to break them now. A moment of silence, and then --- they step forward. Set their flashlights on the floor. And step to the tomb. Bracing their hands against the marble covering near the head of the tomb, they plant their feet and push. It doesn't move. They push harder. Vittoria and the Camerlengo join them. With an almost primal GROWL of stone on stone, the lid slides, rotating off the top of the casket and coming to rest at an angle. The Camerlengo picks up a flashlight and shines it in the crypt. Vittoria leans forward. The light creeps up the Pope's body, over his burial vestments, past his folded hands, and finally to his face. His cheeks have collapsed, the Pope's mouth gapes wide -- and his tongue is black as death. CUT TO: --

73.

EXT

VATICAN ARCHIVES

NIGHT

The face of Langdon's Mickey Mouse watch is smeared with blood from a cut on his hand, but we can still read the time. It's 9:41. Langdon and Chartrand stagger down the front steps of the Vatican Archives, where they're immediately met by three Vatican Police cars. Olivetti leaps out of one and meets them at the base of the steps, holding his hands up in defense almost before Langdon can lay into him. LANGDON Are you out of your minds?! Please. OLIVETTI In the car.

LANGDON Someone tried to kill me. OLIVETTI Do you know where the next church is? Yes. LANGDON

OLIVETTI Then get in the car! Langdon jumps in the back seat of the car with Olivetti, and they SQUEAL away from the Archives. IN THE CAR, they continue as the DRIVER tears through the streets of Rome. OLIVETTI We had no idea that -LANGDON You heard me ask permission! You assigned me an escort! Don't try to tell me you didn't know I was in there! OLIVETTI (let me finish) Of course I knew, but we had no idea that portions of our white zones are

74.

OLIVETTI (cont'd) cross-wired with that building. Commander Rocher was extending the search, if he'd known the Archives were on that grid, he never would have killed the power. Langdon looks at him evenly, sees in Olivetti's eyes that they may be thinking the same thing. LANGDON Or there is the other possibility. Olivetti doesn't answer. But he's thinking about it.

LANGDON (cont'd) Infiltration is the Illuminati specialty -- why not the head of the Swiss Guard? OLIVETTI (agonized) Perhaps. LANGDON I want to speak to the Camerlengo. OLIVETTI Il Camerlengo is unavailable, Unavailable? LANGDON Why?

OLIVETTI He's found evidence that the Holy Father was indeed murdered. He is seeking guidance. From whom? Olivetti looks at him LANGDON

-- what are you, an idiot? OLIVETTI LANGDON OLIVETTI Make an effort. CUT TO:

From God. Oh, right. Please.

75.

INT

PAPAL OFFICE

NIGHT

Vittoria, escorted by the two Swiss Guardsmen from the grottoes, returns to the papal office. She goes to the desk where she was sitting earlier, to resume her examination of the journals. But the desk is bare. The journals. VITTORIA Where are they?

The Guardsmen look at her blankly. VITTORIA (cont'd) Who took the journals from this desk?! INT APOSTOLIC PALACE - GREAT STAIRCASE NIGHT

The Camerlengo, in deep meditation, slowly descends the stairs that lead to the Sistine Chapel. At the bottom, Four Swiss Guard (in traditional garb) guard the locked doors. The Camerlengo reaches them. Hesitates. one last word of encouragement, and then -CAMERLENGO Unseal the doors. INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT Looks heavenward for

There is an audible GASP from the assembled cardinals as the heavy locks CLUNK open, the chains RATTLE away, and the main doors of the Sistine Chapel sweep open. The Camerlengo walks in, a stark presence in his black cassock amid the sea of red robes. Cardinal Mortati steps from behind the altar to meet him. MORTATI Signore, do you realize that for the first time in Vatican history, a Camerlengo has just crossed the sacred threshold of conclave after sealing the doors? CUT TO: CAMERLENGO There has been a development.

76.

EXT

ROME - STREET

NIGHT

Olivetti's Alfa Romeo races through the streets of Rome, trailed by three other cars. INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT

The Camerlengo has just passed on the shocking news, and the whispered word "murder" can be heard in several languages. Even Mortati is shaken. The Camerlengo speaks to the Cardinals.

CAMERLENGO Please... a moment... if I... He strides quickly up the steps of the altar to address the group -- again, to the shock and surprise of this most conservative and rule-bound group. But no one stops him. CAMERLENGO (cont'd) It is true we are under attack from an old enemy. And this time they've struck from within, murdering our Holy Father and threatening us all with destruction at the hands of their new god, science. So what are we to do? INT OLIVETTI'S CAR NIGHT

CLOSE ON the dashboard clock in Olivetti's car, which now reads 8:57. Langdon looks up from it, staring intently through the windshield. On the horizon, he sees a faint orange glow. Oh no. INT SISTINE CHAPEL LANGDON NIGHT

The Camerlengo continues, and the cardinals are listening. CAMERLENGO Since the days of Galileo, the church has tried to slow the relentless march of science, sometimes with misguided means, but always with benevolent intention. Still, they call us backward, ignorant.

77.

CAMERLENGO (cont'd) But who is more ignorant? The man who cannot define lightning, or the man who does not respect its awesome power? INT OLIVETTI'S CAR NIGHT

Through the windshield of Olivetti's car, we see that orange glow, closer now. It's a building on fire. INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT

The Camerlengo continues, growing passionate. CAMERLENGO The promises of science have not been kept. We're a fractured and frantic species, moving down of destruction in the name of progress. EXT SANTA MARIA DELLA VITTORIA NIGHT

The police cars come to an abrupt stop in front of the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. Flames glow like evil eyes through the stained-glass windows fifty feet above the ground. A small CROWD has gathered, stabbing at their cell phones. SIREN WAILS in the distance. INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT A

Mortati's Aide, Father Simeon, takes advantage of the open Sistine Chapel doors and slips inside. He takes a place just behind Mortati as the Camerlengo goes on. CAMERLENGO Science and religion are not enemies. But there are things that science is simply too young to understand. We are here to lead, but how? EXT SANTA MARIA DELLA VITTORIA NIGHT

With three sharp CRACKS, Olivetti fires into the lock in the front door of the church. He KICKS it open --- and flame RIPS out into the night air. INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT

The Camerlengo speaks faster now:

78.

CAMERLENGO Shall we cloak ourselves in silence and secrecy, as in the past? Or do we open the doors, take down the blackened curtains, and speak to our flock? INT SANTA MARIA DELLA VITTORIA NIGHT

Olivetti, Langdon, and four other VATICAN POLICE make their way into the burning church. There is a massive pile of church pews in the center aisle, burning wildly. INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT

The Camerlengo's wrapping up: CAMERLENGO Signores, I ask, no, I pray that you break this conclave. Open the doors. INT SANTA MARIA DELLA VITTORIA NIGHT

In the burning church, two heavy incensor cables run from the walls of the church and rise above the burning pews at an angle, strung tightly to a center point. Langdon follows the wires up with his eyes -INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT

CAMERLENGO Evacuate St. Peter's Square. INT BURNING CHURCH NIGHT

-- the wires meet at a center point, just above the roaring flames, where -INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT

CAMERLENGO Tell the world the truth. INT BURNING CHURCH NIGHT

-- the third cardinal, still alive, is suspended over the searing flames. A word is branded into the center of his bared chest: FIRE.

79.

Vatican Police, led by Olivetti and Vincenzo, race into the building and draw their weapons. Olivetti SHOUTS to them in Italian, looking for a way to cut down the agonized cardinal. Langdon races toward the pyre, but is repelled by a wall of heat ten feet away. The Cardinal SCREAMS, and Langdon looks to the sides, following the cables that reach to the walls. One of the Vatican Cops ducks INTO THE LEFT SIDE AISLE, which is lit only by the wild orange flames. He creeps forward, gun in front of him, toward a fire extinguisher mounted on the wall. He reaches for it --- but a HAND reaches for him from behind, he's pulled off his feet and -IN THE MAIN AISLE, Olivetti and Vincenzo whirl as TWO GUNSHOTS come from the darkened side aisle. They race toward it. AT THE BONFIRE, Langdon SHOUTS to two more Vatican Cops, pointing upward. LANGDON The cleat, on the wall! something to stand on! Get

He's pointing at a cleat, maybe ten feet up on the wall, where the right guide wire is attached. Vatican Cops 2 & 3 drag a half-burned pew out of the fire and pull it underneath, leaning it against the wall for greater height, Langdon starts to climb it, to uncleat the wire. IN THE DARKENED LEFT AISLE Olivetti creeps forward, gun at the ready, Vincenzo close behind him. They see a form on the floor in front of them and Olivetti bends down -- it's the first Vatican Policeman. Dead in a pool of his own blood.

80.

Vincenzo, standing behind Olivetti, looks down, horrified, and in that moment of distraction, a figure creeps up behind him --- and twists his head 180 degrees with one smooth motion. Olivetti whirls, but his gun comes around a split-second slower than he does and in that split-second a shadow falls over him, something SLASHES through the air and -IN THE MAIN AISLE, Langdon struggles to climb the pew that's leaned against the wall as Vatican Cop 4 finds a long-handled candle snuffer and races toward the edge of the fire with it. Blinking back the intense heat, he manages to hook the Cardinals manacled foot with it, he turns to Langdon -- who, stretched as far as he possibly can, just manages to loose the wire from its cleat, holding tightly to it so as not to let the Cardinal go into free-fall. But the pew on which he's balanced starts to wobble, then- --- BLAM! BLAM!

Two gunshots THUD into the chests of Vatican Cops 2 & 3, who were supporting the pew. They fall, the pew tips --- and Langdon, falling --

-- loses his grip on the chain. The Cardinal falls toward the flames. Vatican Cop 4 tries to pull him to safety, but doesn't have enough of WHIRRS through the pulley until it reaches its the Cardinal to an abrupt stop, six feet lower -- and directly in the middle of the bonfire. His SHRIEK of agony echoes through the burning church. Langdon SLAMS to the floor just at the edge of the burning church pews, maybe CRACKING a rib on the hard floor of the church. A FIGURE steps out of the shadows, looming over him, Langdon looks up, expecting a gunshot, but instead --- sees the bleeding figure of Olivetti, staggering toward him, clutching his slit throat in his last moments of life. NEARBY,

81.

Vatican Cop 4 is desperately trying to pull the Cardinal from the flames, the end of the candle-snuffer is now hooked around the Cardinal's foot, he pulls him closer, reaches out, can almost grab his ankle --- until he is SHOT in the back. He falls to the floor, drawing and dropping his gun in the process, losing his grip on the long-handled pole as well. On the ground, bleeding, he sees his gun, just a foot away from his hand. He reaches for it. And a foot steps on his wrist, BREAKING it. Mr. Gray stands over him, FROM A DISTANCE, we see Mr. Gray fire two shots into the ground where Cop 4 is lying. Then he turns toward us. NEARBY, Langdon, still on the ground, looks up at the sound of the shots. Through the burning church pews he can see Mr. Gray, starting toward him. Langdon crawls, on all fours, through the outskirts of the bonfire, toward a recessed part of the wall ten or fifteen feet away. Mr. Gray steps up behind him, raises his gun Polizia! VOICE (O.S.) -implacable.

-- and turns. TWO MORE COPS, Roman Carbinieri, have run into the burning church and are making their way down the center aisle, straight toward him. Mr. Gray raises his left (non-gun holding) hand, displaying a leather billfold with a badge in it. MR. GRAY (good Italian accent) Gendarmeria Vaticano! Recognizing the ID, the two Cops glance away for a second, to search the rest of the church --

82.

-- and Mr. Gray BLASTS two shots into each of them. They drop, dead, but one of them squeezes off a single round before falling. Mr. Gray looks down, at his right shoulder, where a dark red stain is spreading on his suit. He touches it, more annoyed than anything. UNDERNEATH THE BURNING PEWS, Langdon has crawled as close as he dares to the raging fire, and the sleeve of his shirt is ablaze. He rolls out the other side of the embers, stamping out the flames, gets to his feet, and takes off running. Mr. Gray pursues, only slowing his gait slightly to DOUBLE TAP two shots into the head of a dying Vatican Cop. ACROSS THE CHURCH, Langdon hurls himself over a balustrade and into a chapel on the far side of the church. Bullets SHATTER the glass of an elevated crypt, three feet off the floor. (Inside is a superbly detailed wax statue of a saint in death.) Langdon dives under it and crawls backwards, staring in horror at Mr. Gray's feet as they approach the chapel from across the church. Langdon's back THUDS into a wall. Dead end. But there's an old wooden grating in the wall. it with both feet. He turns, KICKS

The grating CRUNCHES into pieces, revealing a narrow crawlspace IN THE CRAWL SPACE, Langdon army-crawls through it. Mr. Gray's face appears in the entry to the crypt. change clips on his handgun --- the floor beneath Langdon abruptly runs out -- Mr. Gray raises his gun --He pauses to

-- and Langdon disappears. The gunshots THUD into cement wall where he was, not where he is.

83.

UNDERGROUND, Langdon CRUNCHES to a hard landing on a subterranean stone floor, rolls over, and sees Mr. Gray above him, now pointing down. But there's another crawl space, and Langdon scurries into it. IN THE SECOND CRAWL SPACE, it's hopelessly dark, an even tighter space than the last one, filled with cobwebs that Langdon blindly claws his way through. He hits another hole in the floor, falls a second time - INTO THE CATACOMB, -- and lands on top of a pile of long-decayed skeletons in the nearly-black bottom of the church's underground warren of hiding places. He looks up. He's ten feet from the nearest handhold, only a fool would follow him down here BACK UP IN THE BURNING CHURCH, -- and Mr. Gray is no fool. and leaves the chapel. He steps back over the balustrade

The waxen face of the carving in the sarcophagus melts in the intense heat of the out-of-control fire. CUT TO: INT SISTINE CHAPEL - SALON NIGHT

In the salon outside the Sistine Chapel, the Camerlengo waits alone. From inside can be heard the sound of VOICES in debate. Finally, the big doors open and Cardinal Mortati emerges, goes to him. MORTATI My son... God answers all prayers. He puts a hand on the Camerlengo's shoulder. MORTATI (cont'd) But sometimes the answer is no. The Camerlengo closes his eyes mistake. -- this is a terrible, terrible

84.

MORTATI The College will not break conclave. CAMERLENGO We can't hide this anymore. burning church -The

MORTATI A despicable act of terrorism. Father Simeon will make a suitable announcement lamenting the loss of life. May I suggest you direct your energies to helping the Swiss Guard confront the possibility of this explosive device, and leave church leadership -He gestures to the open doors to the Sistine Chapel, and the assembled cardinals within. MORTATI -- to its leaders. (cont'd)

The Camerlengo looks at him for a long moment, then turns and wa1ks away. Father Simeon, who had been lurking in the open doorway to the chapel, now glides up beside him and touches Mortati's arm. FR. SIMEON Eminence. There is a growing fear that without the four prefiriti, a twothirds majority for any candidate may be impossible. Unless -He trails off, gestures vaguely. Speak plainly. MORTATI

FR. SIMEON It is the recommendation of many that you ask to be removed from your post as Great Elector -Mortati raises an eyebrow, seeing where this is going. FR. SIMEON (cont'd) -- thereby making yourself eligible to wear the Ring of the Fisherman.

85.

Mortati looks at him for a moment, then looks back, over his shoulder, where a small knot of Cardinals, who have clearly discussed this, are looking at him in confirmation. MORTATI If it is God's will, may His will be done CUT TO: INT OFFICE OF THE SWISS GUARD NIGHT

CLOSE ON a handwritten page, half-filled with mathematical computations; the other half with a scratchy handwritten prose. (IF WE'RE EAGLE-EYED, we'll notice the phrase we move past just as we cut into the scene is "may His will be done," the same phrase we just heard Mortati utter.) Commandante Rocher is at his desk, Vittoria's leather-bound journals on the desk in front of him. He's studying them carefully, and seems troubled by what he reads. Through the glass walls of his office, we can see a commotion in the still-chaotic Swiss Guard headquarters. Someone is walking toward us, briskly, a WOMAN'S VOICE complaining loudly in Italian. Rocher calmly places the journals on top of the screen of the video monitor inlaid in his desk, the one we saw earlier, with a keyhole where a power switch should be. He pushes a button and the monitor rotates shut, into an inlaid panel in the desk's surface. It closes just after -VITTORIA (O.S.) Those journals are private property. -- Vittoria arrives in the doorway, livid. VITTORIA (cont'd) I demand that you return them to me. ROCHER (no attempt at a denial) They are material evidence in a Vatican investigation. VITTORIA I am an Italian citizen and I have a right to-

86.

ROCHER This isn't Italy. It isn't even Rome. The Vatican is its own country, with its own laws, and when those journals crossed our border they became our property. You will get them back when I have decided they contain nothing of value to this investigation. She looks at him, then down at the desk, where the outline of the hidden panel is visible in the veneer of the wood. VITTORIA Do you have something to hide, Commandante Rocher? ROCHER Do you, Doctor Vetra? He stresses her title, as if it offends CUT TO: EXT SANTA MARIA DELLA VITTORIA NIGHT

The burning church, now mostly extinguished. But a LARGE CROWD has gathered, along with a dozen police and fire vehicles. INT SANTA MARIA DELLA VITTORIA NIGHT

As FIREMEN put out the last of the flames (not using water, but Halon gas, which creates no steam), a metallic TAPPING sound comes from somewhere. One of the Firemen approaches another, gets his attention what you're doing and listen. They shut down a hose and stop, listening. There it is again. They SHOUT in Italian to the others, now everybody shuts down their hoses and listens. The metallic TAPPING echoes in the smoldering church. They walk toward it -- it's coming from an oval plate in the floor, like a manhole cover, heavy and carved. We've seen one of these before, it leads to a Demon's Hole. The TAPPING is louder now, rhythmic. Somebody's down there. Crowbars are produced, the cover of the Demon's Hole is pried off and shoved aside, revealing --- stop

87.

-- Robert Langdon, wedged into the top of the opening, holding a rock in one hand as he clings precariously to the walls he has climbed. Strong hands reach down, haul him to his feet AT THE FRONT OF THE CHURCH, -- and those same feet hurry to the front of the smoldering church, coming to a stop in front of --- Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa. The statue he came here to find. Now, as the Italian-speaking police and firemen work around him, Langdon moves, as if in his own world. He looks to the statue, repeating fragments of the poem he has by now memorized: LANGDON Let angels guide you on your lofty quest... Directly over the recumbent saint, against a backdrop of gilded flame, hovers Bernini's angel. The angel's hand clutches a pointed spear of fire. LANGDON (cont'd) Cross Rome the mystic elements unfold... Langdon's eyes follow the direction of the shaft, arcing toward the right side of the church. Professor? VOICE (O.S.) --

A ROMAN POLICEMAN, a member of the Carbinieri, comes up to Langdon, discussing him in Italian with TWO OTHER COPS as he approaches. ROMAN COP Langdon, is it? Langdon ignores him, pointing at the wall instead. LANGDON What direction is that? ROMAN COP Direction? West, I think. Mr. Langdon, we've confirmed with the Vatican that they invited you into this investigation, but what I-

88.

Map. A MOMENT LATER,

LANGDON

as if by command, a map CRINKLES out on the floor of the church. It's detailed, a fire department map, and Langdon drops down on all fours, studying it. LANGDON We're here... Piazza Barberini... Langdon whips a glance over at the angel, gets bearings, and rotates the map to match. His finger travels over the map and CLOSE ON THE MAP, we watch as his finger crosses church after church after church, tiny black boxes with crosses in them. There must be two dozen. Damn it. He sits back for a moment. The Roman Cop bends down next to him. person. Treats him like a crazy LANGDON --

ROMAN COP Professor, I need to know what you saw here. LANGDON Fire and death. Show me where Santa Maria del Popolo is. (the Cop doesn't understand) The Church, it was the first altar of science. The Cop points to a spot at the top center of the map. LANGDON And St. Peter's is... (cont'd)

The Cop points to a spot at the bottom center. Langdon's eyes widen, he grabs the Cop by the lapels -- and pulls a pen from the man's pocket. --

89.

He turns back to the map and draws a straight line, from north to south, connecting the two churches the Cop just pointed to. LANGDON (cont'd) And we're over here -He puts the pen on a point on the eastern side of the map. LANGDON -- and west is -(cont'd)

He draws a line straight across the map, to the west, sucking in his breath as he realizes something. 'Cross Rome... LANGDON (cont'd)

Now he stands, slowly, and as he stands, we rise up, to get a birds-eye view of the map on the floor. On which he has drawn a perfect cross. LANGDON (cont'd) It's a cross. The poem meant it literally. The four altars of science form a perfect cross. The Cop, who has no clue what he's talking about, gets a call on his radio and turns away to take it. LANGDON (cont'd) (muttering to himself) Which means the fourth element, water, should be right about -He drops to his knees again, and traces the horizontal line to where it stops on the western side of the city, exactly as far from the center line as was the church on the eastern side. Here. LANGDON (cont'd)

ROMAN COP (behind him) Professor, I am asked to escort you to the Vatican immediately. Commander Rocher has asked to see you. LANGDON (ignoring him) Water.

90.

As Langdon peers down, we see the line on the map comes to a stop in the center of a place called Piazza Navona, and as we go in closer on the map, an odd-shaped object in the middle of the Piazza starts to move, to ripple, right there on the map, and we hear the sound of running water as it slowly dissolves to -DISSOLVE TO:

EXT

PIAZZA NAVONA

NIGHT

-- Bernini's spectacular Fountain of the Four Rivers in the Piazza Navona. There is a black van parked beside the fountain, and we drift over toward it. Passing through the passenger window, we go inside to find --- Mr. Gray, facing the rear of the van, his jacket off and his shirt open, engaged in battlefield surgery on his injured right shoulder. Using a long-handled tweezers, he digs into his own flesh, gets a hold of the bullet that pierced him, and tosses it onto the metal floor of the van with a TING. It lands beside a lumpy tarp, and as metal hits metal, the tarp jumps. There's a human being in there. Mr. Gray speaks to the lump.

MR. GRAY Were it up to me, it would not be this way. It is a sin to kill with pain. (sighs) But I am a sinner. We pan off him quickly and look out the driver's window, up at a clock tower on the far side of the plaza. It's sixteen minutes to eleven. CUT TO: EXT BURNING CHURCH NIGHT

Langdon hurries down the steps of the still-smoldering church, followed closely by the Roman Cop and TWO OTHER COPS. Professor! ROMAN COP The Vatican insists that-

91.

LANGDON (turning on him) The Vatican is about to see its fourth Cardinal murdered tonight. He realizes he spoke too loudly, and there is quite a crowd assembled outside the smoking church. Langdon lowers his voice and presses in. LANGDON (cont'd) Now you can either do what they tell you and force me to go to the Vatican, where we can all mourn his death together, or you can show them how real cops act and take me to the Piazza Navona, where we might be able to stop it. The Cop looks at him, thinking, confers with another Cop in rapid Italian. Langdon checks his watch. LANGDON (cont'd) By all means, talk it over. But in fourteen minutes he'll be dead. CUT TO: EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT

St. Peter's Square is even more crowded than before. Another move down the row of international television reporters, but this one's about twice as fast as the last one. (Anybody not speaking English is subtitled.) SOUTH AFRICAN REPORTER -- possibility of terrorism, as the church has now confirmed arson at one of its oldest and holiest churches Moving on, to an Asian Reporter: ASIAN REPORTER -- resulting in at least six confirmed deaths -To a Brazilian: BRAZILIAN REPORTER -- initial rumors that one of the dead was Cardinal Ebner of Frankfurt -To an American:

92.

AMERICAN REPORTER -- been refuted by the Vatican, which has asked international media not to engage in, quote, "wild speculation"-And to a French Woman: FRENCH REPORTER -- as conclave goes on, with no sign of agreement on a new pope yet. CUT TO:

INT

OFFICE OF THE POPE

NIGHT

In the papal office, the Camerlengo sits, alone, in front of the fireplace, staring into the flames, thinking. Behind him, a small knot of Swiss Guard debate their next move in Italian. He speaks softly to them, in Italian, subtitled. CAMERLENGO At 11:15, if the church is still in peril, give the order to evacuate the cardinals. But with dignity, let them exit into St. Peter's Square, with their heads held high. I don't want the last image of this church to be frightened old men sneaking out a back door. If Cardinal Mortati protests, escort him bodily. Do you understand? The Guardsmen are uncomfortable with that idea. SWISS GUARDSMAN If you think it is the right thing, Signore. CAMERLENGO I'm certain it's the wrong thing, and I will be removed from my post for it. But I also know we have no choice. They just look at him. You're the boss.

CAMERLENGO (cont'd) Please clear the room so that I may pray on the matter.

93.

They get out.

He stares into the flames. CUT TO:

EXT

PIAZZA NAVONA

NIGHT

Piazza Navona is lightly peopled on this soft summer night with so much attention directed toward the Vatican. The hood of a car glides into view, nearly silent, on the far side of the fountain. Langdon and the two Roman Cops step out and survey the area. Langdon looks to the fountain. Its central core is twenty feet tall, a rugged mountain of marble with caves and grottoes through which water churns. Atop it stands an obelisk that climbs another forty feet. LANGDON (eyes searching) Let angels guide you... But there's no angel anywhere. He turns to the first Roman Cop.

LANGDON (cont'd) Isn't there an angel on this fountain? Not anymore. ROMAN COP

LANGDON The marker's no good without an angel, pointing to the finalROMAN COP Blame Mussolini. He wanted it for his summerBut the Cop stops mid-sentence as he notices the black van parked on the far side of the fountain. Silently, the Cops gesture to each other to go opposite ways around the fountain, and to Langdon to stay where he is. Langdon, frustrated but no action hero, watches them as they slowly encircle the van. AT THE DRIVER'S SIDE, the First Cop approaches the Driver's Window, sees Mr. Gray sitting implacably behind the wheel. He taps lightly with a knuckle, his drawn gun at his side, just out of view.

94.

Mr. Gray opens the window. Si? MR. GRAY

The Roman Cop looks down, ever so briefly, at a small spreading bloodstain on Mr. Gray's shirt. When he looks back up --- there is a silenced pistol pointing directly at him. PHOOM. He takes a bullet in the forehead, slumps forward against the window, and -FROM A DISTANCE, we see his body pulled rapidly into the van through the driver's window. Whole thing took about three seconds. DINERS at an outdoor cafe don't even notice. FROM LANGDON'S POINT OF VIEW, on the other side of the fountain, the van rocks slightly, but he can't see anything out of the ordinary. He turns, looks to the Second Cop, who is just now approaching from the rear of the van. WITH THE SECOND COP, this one's got his gun in front of him, he's ready for anything. We creep around the back of the van with him, and just as he comes around to where he can see the driver's side --- the barrel of the silencer presses into his forehead. quick exchange in Italian: Per favore? Non posso. PHOOM. Another bullet, another slumping Cop, and FROM LANGDON'S POINT OF VIEW, the van rocks again, but he can't see anything more detailed than that. All he knows is the two cops aren't coming out from the other side of the van, something is going on -SECOND COP MR. GRAY A

95.

-- and the bell in the clock tower starts to BONG. EVEN UNARMED, LANGDON STARTS TO MOVE FORWARD, JUST AS --

-- the sliding door on the fountain side of the van SLAMS open -- revealing the figure of the FOURTH CARDINAL, wrapped in chains and with manacled hands and feet. He thrashes against the iron links, but the chains are too heavy. One of the links bisects his mouth like a horse's bit, stifling his cries for help. Mr. Gray hovers over him. Langdon GASPS --

-- and Mr. Gray shoves the bound figure roughly out of the van. The Cardinal rolls, falling into the fountain with an enormous SPLASH. His weighted body sinks immediately to the bottom. There is a moment, frozen in time, in which Langdon locks eyes with Mr. Gray, still hunched in the back of the van as the clock tower continues to BONG, the only sound we can hear. Langdon looks at him, then down at the body in the fountain, then back up at Mr. Gray -- who salutes him - -- the van door SLAMS shut, and the van tears ass out of there. Langdon looks from its receding taillights to the idling police car, its door hanging open, he could jump in and give chase, but then his eyes go back to the fountain, where the drowning cardinal must not have much time left, and it's really no decision at all. Langdon covers the distance to the fountain in two quick strides and leaps in. IN THE FOUNTAIN, the water is waist deep and like ice. rise up from the bottom, churning it. Steady streams of bubbles --

Langdon reaches the body of the Cardinal, plunges in UNDERWATER,

-- and struggles to get both arms underneath the drowning man. Through the watery haze, we can see the man's bare chest, branded with the final ambigram: WATER.

96.

Langdon struggles to lift him, but the weight is too much, he can barely get him a few inches off the bottom of the fountain, much less all the way to the surface. Langdon, running out of air, bursts to the surface and SURFACE, -- takes a deep breath, then plunges back UNDERWATER, -- but he still can't move the Cardinal. He makes eye contact with the dying man, who seems to be accepting his fate, maybe even welcoming it. Langdon changes his grip, strains like hell, and actually gets him a few inches higher this time, but nowhere close to the air supply. But with the new position, his eyes fall on something behind the cardinal -- a plastic tube, six inches across, streaming bubbles into the fountain. He goes back ---- ON THE

ABOVE THE SURFACE -- takes another breathy and sees the fountain of bubbles rising up to the surface just above the tube. Air! Several PASSERS-BY notice the commotion in the fountain as Langdon dives back under the water. UNDERWATER, Langdon drags the body of the Cardinal a few feet across the bottom of the fountain and RIPS the tube free from its mooring, pulling it to the Cardinal's mouth. He clamps it down over the man's lips, and the Cardinal sucks a few greedy breaths from it. Enough to keep him alive. Langdon takes the tube and draws a couple breaths of his own, then digs his hands back underneath the Cardinal to lift him, but this time --- SIX MORE HANDS come in from all sides. Several Passers-by have jumped into the fountain to help, and as they all strain together --

97.

ON THE SURFACE, -- the Cardinal's bound body breaks the surface and he GULPS deep lungfuls of air. He is saved. Langdon sags against the side of the fountain, exhausted and freezing, as the others pull the Cardinal's body to safety. In the distance, SIRENS. Langdon, gathering himself, goes to the Cardinal, speaks in rapid Spanish, subtitled. LANGDON Cardinale Guidera? Si...si... CARDINAL GU

LANGDON The Church of Illumination. It's where you were being held, isn't it? Guidera nods weakly as, around them, it seems like everybody arrives at the fountain -- Carbinieri, Swiss Guard, Vatican Police, paramedics -- car after car after car. LANGDON (cont'd) (still to Guidera) Where is it?! CARDINAL GUIDERA Castel... Sant'Angelo... CUT TO:

INT

OFFICE OF THE SWISS GUARD

NIGHT

CLOSE ON a row of weapons in a cabinet in the Office of the Swiss Commander Rocher selects a pistol and slips it into a harness. While his back is turned to the room, Lt. Chartrand, the young Swiss Guardsman who escorted Langdon to the Archives, hurries up behind him. CHARTRAND Langdon says Cardinal Guidera will be killed in Piazza Navona. He's on his way there with two Carbinieri.

98.

ROCHER Send everyone we can spare. He closes and locks the cabinet, heads for the door. You? CHARTRAND Alone.

ROCHER Staying here to continue the search for the explosive. He leaves. Chartrand looks back at the weapons cabinet. the space from which the pistol was taken. Sees CUT TO: EXT CASTEL SANT'ANGELO NIGHT

We fly over a bridge, flanked by a dozen angel statues standing sentinel on either side, leading directly toward -- the Castel Sant'Angelo, Castle of the Angels, its ancient stone ramparts lit by floodlights. Soaring swiftly up its facade, we close in on a mammoth bronze angel standing atop the citadel. It points the way, all right, its sword aimed directly downward, at the castle itself, as if to say you've found it. DOWN ON THE GROUND, several Police Cars come to a stop in front of the castle at the same time. Langdon climbs out the back of one just as Vittoria gets out of a car driven by a SWISS GUARDSMAN. Langdon grabs her, thrilled to see her. LANGDON You're all right? VITTORIA I'm all right, what about you?! LANGDON Cold and wet but alive. Rocher? Where's

VITTORIA I don't know. He took the journals, he's hiding something.

99.

More Cops arrive, and a SECURITY GUARD is pressed into service behind them, opening the massive front doors to the Castle, LANGDON This is it. The Church of Illumination is somewhere in the castle. Cops pour into the courtyard of the castle. Vittoria follow. Langdon and

EXT

CASTEL SANT'ANGELO - COURTYARD

NIGHT The courtyard -- catapults,

They dash around the outer bulwark of the Castle. beneath them looks like a museum of ancient warfare stacks of marble cannonballs, fearful contraptions.

As the Cops quickly and silently search every nook, Langdon and Vittoria follow closely. LANGDON The Vatican used this place for centuries as a hideout, a prison for enemies of the church -- there are passages and catacombs everywhere. It makes sense, the Illuminati infiltrated the Church's own stronghold. Bernini was chief architect here, he left clues everywhere, it's even surrounded by a pentagonal park! They reach the central core of the castle. Another angel statue, similar to the one atop the citadel, stands in front of them, its sword held in the same position, pointing downward at an angle. Langdon studies it, follows the line of the angel's sword sees a gated drive that cuts across the courtyard itself. There. A MOMENT LATER, he and Vittoria are down in the courtyard, at the mouth of the gated drive. The gate is open and leads to a tunnel, a gaping entry in the central core. LANGDON (cont'd) -- and

100.

LANGDON A traforo. Commanders on horseback used them to ride directly into a castle from the outside. He gestures to the nearby Cops, who are already on it, and they all head into the darkened tunnel. INT TUNNEL NIGHT

Police flashlights switch on and their beams bounce crazily off the walls of the tunnel. Footsteps CRUNCH as they all press in, Langdon and Vittoria content to let men with guns lead the way. It gets darker as they descend, and then, by the echo of their footfalls, they can tell they've entered -A LARGE CHAMBER. More lights are switched on, illuminating the space, which terminates in three stone walls. LANGDON It's a dead end. But the Police attention is focused on the black van parked in the center of the room. Roman Police snap into action, flashlight beams bounce everywhere, guns point in every possible window of the van, SHOUTS for whoever's inside to get the hell out now, now, now. The doors are flung open. The van is empty. Except for the two dead policemen from the Piazza Navona. The police frenzy reaches an even higher level, URGENT MESSAGES passed along on radios, half the Cops turning and heading back out of the tunnel. LANGDON Where are they going? (cont'd)

Vittoria listens to the orders being given in Italian. VITTORIA Back to search the outer castle.

101.

LANGDON No... no, it has to be here! But there's no stopping the Cops, and the only two that remain are posted outside the van, guarding their fallen colleagues. VITTORIA Robert, it's a dead end. Langdon walks forward, to the stone wall at the end of the tunnel, and feels his way along it. It joins smoothly with the wall on the right side. Robert... VITTORIA (cont'd)

But he waves her off, this has to be it. He feels all along the wall toward the other corner, and as he looks down at the ground, his eyes widen. LANGDON Bring a flashlight. Vittoria borrows a flashlight from one of the two remaining Cops, who now get a CRACKLY MESSAGE on their walkie-talkies and race out of the tunnel, toward the top, leaving Langdon and Vittoria alone in the dead end. She brings the light to Langdon, who shines its beam down at the floor. There, in the corner, is a granite block. LANGDON (cont'd) None of the other blocks are granite. And they're all square. He bends down, looks closer. LANGDON (cont'd) This one's a pentagram. It points -Sure enough, the block is carved in the shape of a pentagram, with the tip pointing into the corner. LANGDON -- at nothing. (cont'd)

But as he shines the light, there's something off about the shadow it casts in the corner of the room. It creates an odd, dark slit. Langdon crouches in the corner and slides his hand along the back wall of the chamber. When he reaches the point at which it should intersect the side wall --

102.

-- his hand disappears. LANGDON The walls overlap. (cont'd)

He flattens himself against the back wall, shining the light straight at what should be the intersection of the walls. Half the flashlight's beam falls on the side wall, and the other half -INT SECRET PASSAGE NIGHT

-- shines through into the secret passage behind the wall. Langdon draws in his breath and forces himself through the tiny slit, just wide enough for a determined person to squeeze through. Vittoria follows. They look ahead, shining the light. They're in an extremely narrow passageway. They start carefully down it, flashlight in front of them. whisper. LANGDON Do you still have the gun? VITTORIA You told me to give it back. She pulls the gun from her waistband. I ignored you. VITTORIA (cont'd) They

LANGDON Ignore me any time you like. To their right, they pass half a dozen tiny jail cells, the iron bars on most eroded away. Several of the larger cells are intact, and on the floor of one they see black robes and red sashes. They approach an iron doorway in the wall. The door is ajar and beyond it there is some sort of passage. Langdon squints at two words above it -- II Passetto. Vittoria gestures -- that way?

Langdon shakes his head no.

103.

LANGDON (cont'd) (whispers) Leads to the Vatican. Or from it. An ancient escape route. They round a corner, where the tunnel takes a ninety degree turn to the right. At the corner, Langdon notices another pentagrammal block in the floor. He bends, studies the direction it's pointing, LANGDON Another overlap. feels the wall --

(cont'd)

-- and finds another overlapping angle, this one even smaller than the last. The wall is actually joined at the floor, seems to open out at the middle (in roughly the shape of a human form turned sideways), and joins again at the top. HE TAKES A DEEP BREATH, SLIPS THROUGH THE GAP --

-- and finds himself at the base of a set of steep spiral stairs. Langdon looks up, to the top of the stairs. archway, adorned with a tiny carved angel. There is an

Vittoria slips through the gap, sees the carving too. An angel. VITTORIA

Langdon, sensing they're close, starts up the stairs. CUT TO: INT APOSTOLIC PALACE - HALLWAY NIGHT

Commander Rocher, eyes dead-set, walks down a hallway in the Apostolic Palace. He passes two Swiss Guardsmen with radios. ROCHER Get on the radio and put the word out. Conclave is to remain sealed. SWISS GUARDSMAN But the Camerlengo gave the order for evacuation at eleven fifROCHER I'm countermanding it. ButSWISS GUARDSMAN

104.

ROCHER That door stays SHUT! Do you understand? Yes sir. Rocher keeps walking. CUT TO: INT CHURCH OF ILLUMINATION NIGHT SWISS GUARDSMAN

Langdon and Vittoria creep into the Church of Illumination, and we get our first good look at it. The embellishments, though faded, are replete with familiar symbology. Pentagram tiles. Planet frescoes. Pyramids. VITTORIA We have thirty minutes left, I can still change the battery if we can find the cannister. Langdon nods, but he's fascinated by the place. In the center of the room, there is an open fireplace, its embers still smoking. The four Illuminati brands, their faces wiped clean, have been placed back in a molded velvet case. Langdon, fascinated, spots an empty slot in the very center of the case, surrounded by the four used brands. But this one's missing. Vittoria arrives over his shoulder, having completed a quick search of the place. It isn't here. VITTORIA (cont'd)

LANGDON There's a fifth brand. What? VITTORIA

He touches the indentation in the velvet, puzzling it out. LANGDON Two crossed keys.

105.

VITTORIA The symbol for the Vatican? LANGDON The papacy. (thinking) They're going to kill him. Before they blow up the Vatican they're going to kill and brand the pope himself. VITTORIA But there is no pope. LANGDON Technically, there is. VITTORIA The Camerlengo?! We have toMR. GRAY (O.S.) Please place your gun on the floor. They freeze. Vittoria looks at Langdon, who nods do it. She does. MR. GRAY Now turn around. -- you'd better

(cont'd)

They turn and face Mr. Gray. He looks quite dapper, and not too much the worse for wear. There is a briefcase on the ground beside him, and he's changed into a fresh shirt. Kick it to me. MR. GRAY (cont'd)

She does. He picks it up, ejects the clip and the round in the chamber, pockets them, and tosses the gun into the smoldering fire. LANGDON You could have been long gone by now. MR. GRAY Some do God's work for love, others for money. Which do you take me for? As if to answer his own question, he picks up the briefcase from the floor beside him. Then studies Langdon for a moment.

106.

MR. GRAY You're not one of them. LANGDON Neither are you. I was expecting a fanatic. MR. GRAY When they call me -- and they all call me -- it is so important to them that I know what they ask is the Lord's will. Or Allah's, or Yahweh's. And I suppose they're right. Because if He were not vengeful, I would not exist, would I? He picks up his briefcase. Be careful. He turns to go. MR. GRAY (cont'd) These are men of God.

Langdon can't help himself: LANGDON Why didn't you kill us when you had the chancer

Vittoria looks at Langdon like he's nuts. seems puzzled by the very thought.

Mr. Gray turns back,

MR. GRAY Because no one asked me to. He leaves. Langdon and Vittoria pause for a moment, look at each other LANGDON We've got to get to the Vatican. CUT TO: INT PAPAL OFFICES - HALLWAY NIGHT --

Rocher reaches the office of the Pope. Two uniformed Swiss Guard are stationed outside. Another Swiss Guardsman steps out of the office, reporting back from within.

107.

SWISS GUARDSMAN The Camerlengo says he will grant you an audience. ROCHER I'd like to see him alone. The Swiss Guards look at each other. SWISS GUARDSMAN That's impossible, sir. No oneROCHER Have you forgotten who you work for?! Rocher is truly intimidating when he wants to be. No, sir. SWISS GUARDSMAN

He nods to the other Guards, who raise their swords, allowing access. CUT TO: INT SECRET PASSAGE NIGHT

Vittoria and Langdon barrel down the stone stairs, into the passage, and through the open doorway to Il Passetto. INT IL PASSETTO NIGHT

The passetto is narrow and dark, lit only by streaks of moonlight coming through the vertical slits in the walls. But up ahead, there's light. They race for it. CUT TO: INT OFFICE OF THE POPE NIGHT

The Camerlengo kneels in prayer in front of the fire. He hears a sound behind him and turns as the door to the papal office opens. Rocher enters, closes and locks the door behind him. CAMERLENGO Have you come to make me a martyr? CUT TO:

108.

INT/EXT

IL PASSETTO

NIGHT

Vittoria and Langdon race up a flight of stairs, and the passetto comes out into the open for a hundred yards or so as it leaves the Castel Sant'Angelo. Ahead, they see a rope ladder over the side. They look down.

Directly below them, Mr. Gray is getting into an Alfa Romeo parked discretely at the end of a dead end street, making his escape. DOWN ON THE STREET, the car door SLAMS. IN THE CAR, Mr. Gray turns the key. UP ON THE PASSETTO, Langdon and Vittoria are running toward the Vatican again when the EXPLOSION rips through the still night. They stagger and turn back, in time to see Mr. Gray's car go up in an enormous fireball. Men of God. VITTORIA The Passetto descends

Langdon grabs her arm and they take off. again, into -INT IL PASSETTO NIGHT

-- another underground space. looms ahead, blocking their way.

The outline of a steel gate

But as they draw closer, they find the ancient lock hanging open, and the gate swings freely. This tunnel has been used, and recently. FURTHER AHEAD, they plow onward, and now there is a low ROARING sound from above them. Langdon pauses, looks up. LANGDON We're under St. Peter's Square. They keep on. CUT TO:

109.

INT

PAPAL OFFICES - HALLWAY

NIGHT

In the hallway outside the Pope's office, there are raised VOICES from behind the closed door. Lt. Chartrand approaches nervously. He and the Guards look at each other, don't know what to do. From the other direction, Father Simeon, Cardinal Mortati's Aide, strides toward them. FR. SIMEON I demand to speak to the Camerlengo. AN ANGRY SHOUT from behind the door draws their attention what the hell is going on in there? CUT TO: INT IL PASSETTO NIGHT

Langdon and Vittoria hit another gate, this one heavier, but it too is unlocked. The sound of St. Peter's Square fades behind them now. UP AHEAD, they turn a corner and, without warning - the tunnel ends. There is only a thick iron door, and as Langdon searches it with his flashlight, he finds no handle, no knob, no keyhole, no hinges. LANGDON Senza chiave! A one-way portal, the only access is from the other side! With a ROAR of anger, he starts to POUND on the door. joins in. INT OFFICES OF THE POPE - HALLWAY NIGHT Vittoria

CLOSE ON a watch -- 11:40. Outside the door to the Pope's office, Lt. Chartrand is desperate. While Father Simeon attempts to argue with him in Italian, Chartrand turns, hearing the POUNDING coming from down the hall. He heads toward it, rounds a corner INT POPE'S PRIVATE LIBRARY -NIGHT

-- and steps into the Pope's private library, where the POUNDING is louder.

110.

He steps to a heavy door in the wall, looks unused for a century, but it's clearly the source of the sounds. He looks down, sees three keyholes in the door, and an ancient key in each of them. Chartrand puts his ear to the door, hears VOICES INT IL PASSETTO NIGHT --

-- and, on the other side, Langdon and Vittoria squint at the light as the heavy door is hauled open before them. Chartrand looks at them in amazement -- how'd you get here?

LANGDON The Camerlengo is in danger! INT PAPAL OFFICES - HALLWAY NIGHT

Chartrand, Langdon, and Vittoria round the corner and race down the hallway toward the Pope's office, just as --- a BLOODCURDLING SCREAM comes from behind the closed doors. The Swiss Guard move fast, throwing open the door. INT POPE'S OFFICE NIGHT

Langdon and the others race into the pope's office and find a truly bizarre scene. Rocher is near the fireplace, brandishing his sidearm, aimed at the Camerlengo, who lays on the floor, writhing in agony. His cassock is torn open, and his bare chest is seared black. large, square brand is on the floor at Rocher's feet. Two of the Swiss Guard act without hesitation A

-- they open fire.

Two bullets SLAM into Rocher's chest and he crumples. Father Simeon bursts into the room, and as he does the Camerlengo rolls over onto one side, points his index finger at Simeon, and cries out a single word: ILLUMINATUS! You bastard! CAMERLENGO FR. SIMEON You sanctimonious-

He rushes at the Camerlengo and Chartrand reacts on instinct, putting three bullets in Father Simeon's back.

111.

He falls to the floor, dead. Chartrand and the Guards dash to the Camerlengo, who clutches his chest, convulsing in pain. Langdon walks toward him, stunned, as the Guards pull the Camerlengo's hands away from his wound, revealing the fifth brand. The crossed keys, seared into the flesh of his chest. Langdon looks at Rocher in utter disbelief. Rocher's still alive, trying to say something, holding out a hand. Everyone else in the room is focused on the Camerlengo, so Langdon bends down, takes the dying man's hand. Rocher looks up at him, desperation in his eyes, trying to communicate something but too weak to say more than: For safety. And his eyes close. Langdon withdraws his hand from Rocher's, and finds the dying man has pressed something into his palm. A key. Langdon looks at it, and it gives him a thought. He turns, looks at the Camerlengo, whose chest is exposed. The crossed keys are indeed branded there down. -- but they're upside ROCHER

Langdon slips the key in his pocket and approaches the Camerlengo as Chartrand gets to his feet, on his radio. CHARTRAND I need a Medevac to St. Peter's Square, right now! The Camerlengo struggles to a sitting position. CAMERLENGO Order the evacuation. We only have nineteen minutes. LANGDON (pointing) The keys. They're upside down.

112.

VITTORIA You think it's a sign? LANGDON Everything has been a sign, why should this be any different? He looks at Rocher, dead on the floor. keys. Back at the branded

LANGDON (cont'd) Crossed keys -- the symbol for the papacy, upside-down. St. Peter. CAMERLENGO

LANGDON (yes) The first pope, he was crucified upside-down, on Vatican Hill. Right beneath where we're standing. CAMERLENGO "Upon this rock I will build my church."... LANGDON Or bring it down upon itself. He looks back at Rocher, and at Father Simeon, dead on the floor. LANGDON (cont'd) They were conservatives, the former Pope was becoming more and more liberal. Maybe they loved their church so much they were willing to destroy it. CAMERLENGO (thinking, repeats) Upon this rock I will build my church. LANGDON St. Peter's tomb is the very core of Christendom. CAMERLENGO The bomb is in St. Peter's tomb! LANGDON (almost admiring it) The ultimate infiltration.

113.

VITTORIA I can still change the battery if we hurry! CUT TO: EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT

The square is more crowded than ever, and now the helicopter. Chartrand called SWOOPS in low overhead as Vatican Police frantically try to clear a landing area. CUT TO: INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA NIGHT

Langdon, Vittoria, the Camerlengo, and two Swiss Guard are hurrying across the deserted floor of St. Peter's Basilica when the lights go out. CHARTRAND The grid is still cycling -- the power to this section must be down. They race down the center aisle, to the candlelit balustrade which surrounds the winding staircase into the grottoes. Oil lamps. CAMERLENGO Grab one!

They do, and run down the center stair. On the staircase, the ninety-nine burning oil lamps throw exaggerated shadows on stone walls. VITTORIA What's down here? LANGDON The Necropolis. City of the dead. Oh. The Camerlengo drops to his knees and opens an iron grate in the marble floor. CUT TO:

114.

INT

THE NECROPOLIS

NIGHT

Vittoria, Langdon, the Camerlengo, and Chartrand drop down through an open hole and into an underground city of ancient, winding streets. Part museum, part ruin, they run past ancient structures, some hundreds, some thousands of years old. The rectangular tombs are similar to little houses, complete with doorways, thresholds, windows, and terraces. AROUND A CORNER, the Camerlengo seems to know exactly where he's going; he leads them down a narrow stone passageway. AROUND ANOTHER CORNER, they hurry up a small hill. At the top of the grade, there is a stone grotto, toward which the Camerlengo is racing. He reaches the grotto, searches, but finds nothing. Langdon and Vittoria come to a stop behind him, breathing hard. CAMERLENGO It must be here! It must be! He rips aside some protective tarps, finds that underneath the actual burial site is an underground area, part of a dig in progress. He climbs down into it, we see just the top of his head as -- a soft glow seems to emanate from beneath him. The Camerlengo's head is wreathed in light for a moment, and then, as he climbs out, we see that he's holding in his hands --- the glowing canister of anti-matter. ON THE GROUND NEARBY, Vittoria drops to her knees, a tiny silver pellet in one hand, two wires leading from opposite ends of it. VITTORIA Set it down flat. The Camerlengo does. the timer. Langdon bends close. Vittoria checks --

VITTORIA (cont'd) We still have seven minutes. Good.

115.

She leans down, reaching for the canister's baseplate. As she does, a drop of sweat rolls to the tip of her nose She freezes. Wipes the sweat away, thinking about it VITTORIA (cont'd) It's hot down here. Isn't it? What's wrong? LANGDON

VITTORIA Heat decreases battery life. have less than five minutes. So? CAMERLENGO

We may

VITTORIA If I pull the power with less than five minutes, the residual charge won't hold suspension. We should leave it and get clear if we can. At least if it goes off down here the damage will beNO. CAMERLENGO

And with that, he snatches up the canister and takes off running, back the way they came. Wait! VITTORIA

LANGDON Father, please! But he's already gone, around a darkened corner. EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT

In St. Peter's Square, the helicopter that was brought in for the Camerlengo waits, propellers spinning. The Crowd seems even bigger now, and a REPORTER tells us why: REPORTER -- in St. Peter's Square where, despite a bomb threat and order of evacuation, the crowd is actually growing in size as we await --

116.

INT

ST.

PETER'S BASILICA

NIGHT

The Camerlengo emerges from the spiral staircase, accidentally kicks over one of the oil lamps, spilling its burning oil on the floor of the Basilica. He ignores it, racing for the front doors. INT THE NECROPOLIS NIGHT

Langdon and Vittoria come around a corner in the Necropolis, having taken slightly longer to find their way. Langdon spots the circular entry by which they first came in. There it is! LANGDON

They race toward it and climb up.

INT

ST.

PETER'S BASILICA

NIGHT

They hurry across the floor of St. Peter's Basilica and burst out the huge doors that open onto St. Peter's Square, just as -EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT

-- the helicopter lifts off. The Crowd watches in amazement, and the PILOT stands in the square, talking animatedly to two Swiss Guard, gesturing toward the helicopter. But if he's not flying it... Langdon looks up at the helicopter as it climbs, straight upward. Oh my God... INT HELICOPTER NIGHT LANGDON

The Camerlengo is indeed at the controls of the helicopter, piloting it upwards and away from the crowd below. The canister is beside him on the passenger seat. EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT

The crowd falls silent, all eyes turning upward, watching the helicopter recede into the clouds.

117.

INT

HELICOPTER

NIGHT

The canister BEEPS on the seat beside the Camerlengo -- still a few minutes left on its timer, but the urgently flashing red power light can't be considered a good sign. The Camerlengo looks at it. Crosses himself. Raises the crucifix from around his neck and brushes it against his lips. EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT

All eyes are upturned, all voices have fallen still, watching as the helicopter's anti-collision lights disappear into the clouded night sky. EXT IN THE SKY NIGHT

High above the square, the helicopter still climbs, rotating in circles. INT HELICOPTER NIGHT

CLOSE ON the canister as the red light flashes even faster, and a shrill BEEPING fills the cockpit. EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT There's something in

In the crowd, faces turn, PEOPLE point. the sky above them.

Langdon and Vittoria see it too -- a faint white speck, far up in the sky. This is the explosion? EXT IN THE SKY NIGHT -- and the

No, the faint white speck is a billowing parachute Camerlengo dangles at the end of it. ABOVE HIM,

the helicopter continues to climb, far up into the night. INT HELICOPTER NIGHT

And in the canister, the BEEPING sound becomes continuous and the light winks out altogether.

118.

The shimmering bead of anti-matter falls out of suspension and drops, slowly, toward the bottom of the canister, it barely touches the surface -EXT IN THE SKY NIGHT

-- and the helicopter explodes in a blinding pinpoint of white light. EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT

Up in the sky over St. Peter's Square, the pinpoint of light is tiny at first, then it shoots out to either side in a searing white line, then the white line balloons out on either side, expanding into a gigantic ball of hot white light. And then the sound hits. THIS is the explosion, and it is so much more ferocious than we could have imagined. The entire image is bleached white, with only the faint outlines of people visible within it. And then concussive force of the blast hits, like heat waves, rippling everything in its way. SCREAMING and panic. EXT IN THE SKY NIGHT

The Camerlengo, clinging to the parachute, is buffeted wildly, spun over and over, tangling him in his cords, which makes him fall faster. EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT

The second wave of the blast comes, and this one's ten times as powerful as the first. Everything standing is flattened -- PEOPLE, camera trucks, the fountain in the middle of the square collapses in a shower of marble and water. INT ST. PETER'S BASILICA NIGHT

Ceiling tiles fall and SMASH on the floor inside St. Peter's, statues topple. EXT IN THE SKY NIGHT

The Camerlengo falls, unconscious now, tumbling over and over, dropping too fast. He SLAMS off an angled rooftop, headed for the ground.

119.

EXT

ST.

PETER'S SQUARE

NIGHT

In the square, Langdon and Vittoria dodge falling debris. Vittoria loses her footing as a chunk of plaster CRUNCHES off a building, plummeting toward her. Langdon pulls her to safety as the plaster PULVERIZES itself in the square. EXT IN THE SKY NIGHT

The Camerlengo CRUNCHES off the side of another building and drifts downward, fast, toward the crowd in St. Peter's. His unconscious form SMASHES through a dozen people before SLAMMING to the ground at one edge of the square. AND IN THE SKY ABOVE, the blast suddenly turns inward on itself, the heat and light and sound all seeming to suck back up into a perfect horizontal line, which then collapses in from the sides, until once again it is just a speck of white hot light --- that disappears into the night. EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT

The only sound that remains in the square is a soft night wind. The wounded pick themselves up off the ground. The crowd, realizing the blast is over, turns its attention to the body of the Camerlengo, on the far side of the square. Langdon and Vittoria try to make their way toward him, but the crowd surges past them, and we soar over the heads of the crowd, wanting to get there first, wanting to be the first ones to see - his eyes open. He's alive. WIDE ON THE SQUARE AS a great CHEER rises up from the crowd. CUT TO: INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT

The CHEERS from outside are clearly audible in the Sistine Chapel, where the doors have been thrown open and they have gotten the news. Jubilation reigns. A SWISS GUARDSMAN runs in, finds Cardinal Mortati.

120.

SWISS GUARDSMAN Signore Mortati, he is alive! Camerlengo is alive! Praise God. MORTATI

The

But he looks around him -- the Cardinals have split into small groups, they're discussing something with great animation amongst themselves. Mortati watches, doesn't like what he's seeing. CUT TO: INT OFFICE OF THE SWISS GUARD NIGHT

Langdon and Vittoria, on a bench in the office of the Swiss Guard, are having superficial wounds treated. The buzz in the office is intense, just as excited as in the square and the Sistine Chapel. Langdon looks over at Vittoria. Are you okay? LANGDON

She looks back at him, nods. Smiles. He reaches over, interlaces his fingers with hers, and takes her hand. Thank God. LANGDON (cont'd)

She smiles, turns his hand, noticing the glass on his wristwatch is broken. He notices, seems distressed. VITTORIA Do we have time for that story now? LANGDON Do I have someone to tell it to? She smiles and kisses the back of his hand comes from outside and we see -EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT -- yes. A ROAR

-- the crowd in St. Peter's Square, in rapture. There is SINGING, there's CHANTING of the Camerlengo's name. It's exactly midnight.

121.

INT

SISTINE CHAPEL

NIGHT

In the Sistine Chapel, Cardinal Mortati is in hushed, urgent conversation with a group of seven or eight Cardinals. MORTATI Signores... you are no doubt aware that by Holy Law the man is ineligible for election to the papacy. He is not a cardinal, he is a priest, a chamberlain. And there is the matter of his inadequate age. I'm sorry, the protocols of conclave are not subject to modification. I will not call a ballot on this matter. The African Cardinal who cast his vote earlier speaks up. AFRICAN CARDINAL But Signore, you would not call the ballot. Surely you remember -- you gave up your post as Great Elector. Mortati looks at him. Boxed into a corner.

Outside, the crowd in St. Peter's can be heard, singing joyously. A SECOND CARDINAL steps forward. SECOND CARDINAL They are singing in St. Peter's Square! What happened here tonight transcends our laws! MORTATI Does it? Is it God's will that we abandon reason and give ourselves over to frenzy? Discard the rules of the church? A THIRD CARDINAL now, a peacemaker: THIRD CARDINAL Perhaps they need not be discarded. They all look at him. THIRD CARDINAL (cont'd) I am thinking now of Romano Pontifici Eligendo, Numero 63. Most of the Cardinals look puzzled -- but Mortati's face darkens.

122.

THIRD CARDINAL (cont'd) Balloting is not the only method by which a Pope can be elected. There is another, more divine method. MORTATI "Acclimation by Adoration." Si, signore! THIRD CARDINAL

The Second Cardinal sparks to this idea. SECOND CARDINAL Of course! (answering those around him who look confused) Election by Adoration occurs when all the cardinals, as if by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, freely and spontaneously, unanimously and aloud, proclaim one individual's name. THIRD CARDINAL And the law states that Adoration supersedes all other eligibility requirements. The candidate need only be an ordained member of the clergy. (dramatically) BUT! (they listen) He must be present in the Sistine Chapel at the moment of election. Many cries now of "Bring the Camerlengo to us!" Mortati looks deeply troubled. CUT TO:

INT

ROCHER'S OFFICE

NIGHT

Bandaged now, Langdon and Vittoria are ushered into Rocher's office by a Swiss Guardsman. SWISS GUARDSMAN Please wait here while we arrange your transportation. May I get you anything?

123.

They shake their heads, no thanks. side of Rocher's desk. They look uncomfortable office.

Settle into chairs to the

-- it's weird to be in a dead man's Thinks of something.

Vittoria looks at his desk.

She gets up and goes to it, running her hand lightly over it. LANGDON What are you doing? VITTORIA Leonardo's journals. back. I want them

She feels in the surface of the desk and finds the square outline of the inlaid panel where Rocher hid the journals. She tries prying it open, but that doesn't work, she tries pushing down on the front of it --- and the panel slowly rotates open. The journals, which were laid on top of the television monitor, slide out and onto the desk. Vittoria scoops them up and is about to close the panel again when -Wait a minute. He looks down at the monitor. LANGDON Thinking.

At its odd, key-shaped on/off switch. He pulls something from his pocket just as he died. IN LANGDON'S MIND, he sees Rocher's face, looking up at him, dying: For safety. BACK IN THE OFFICE, Langdon looks at the key, and its odd shape. Looks down at the monitor, the same odd shape where its switch should be. ROCHER -- the key Rocher gave him,

124.

IN LANGDON'S MIND, they're back in the Pope's office, but Rocher is alive, and saying words he said earlier: ROCHER The Holy Father was subject to seizures... but he took steps. BACK IN THE OFFICE, Rocher's voice continues over, but Langdon mouths the words as he remembers them: ROCHER'S VOICE (O.S.) "MADE SURE HE WAS WATCHED." IN LANGDON'S MIND, Rocher is back in the office again, finishing his sentence: For safety. IN ROCHER'S OFFICE, Langdon holds the key up, repeating those last words: For safety. LANGDON ROCHER

He lowers the key to the monitor, extending it toward the keyhole -- and it's a perfect fit. He twists it. An image

And with a ZZZZT of power, the monitor winks to life. comes into focus. Where's that? VITTORIA

LANGDON That...is the papal office. On the monitor, they are indeed looking at an image of the Pope's office. There are two dead bodies on the floor, covered with sheets, and VATICAN POLICE are photographing everything. Must be live. IN ROCHER'S OFFICE, Langdon's figuring it out.

125.

LANGDON The Pope spent a lot of time in contemplation, alone. If he was worried about seizures, he must have asked Rocher to install a camera without telling anyone. To keep an eye on him. For safety. And maybe -He reaches down to the screen, toward a touch panel at the bottom. You don't have to be a symbologist to understand these symbolsplay, pause, fast forward. And rewind. Langdon touches it.

ON THE MONITOR, the image ZIPS backwards, rapidly, to the shooting, and the all the way back to when Rocher and the Camerlengo were alone together. Rocher stands just behind him, the Camerlengo still kneels before the fireplace. As the image starts to play forward, in real time, we go in close on the monitor and come out -INT POPE'S OFFICE NIGHT

-- in the papal office, to watch the scene in person. CAMERLENGO The scientist kept journals? ROCHER You figure prominently in them. The Camerlengo turns his eyes back to the flames, stirring the embers with a poker. Really. CAMERLENGO So?

ROCHER Leonardo wasn't just a physicist, he was a Catholic priest. Deeply conflicted about the implications of his work and in need of spiritual guidance. About a month ago, he requested an audience with the Pope. But you'd know that, because you granted the audience, and were present during it. The Camerlengo twists the poker in the fire. Speaks softly.

126.

CAMERLENGO The fool thought he had duplicated the moment of creation. ROCHER And the Holy Father urged him to go public. His Holiness thought the discovery might actually prove the existence of a divine power -- begin to bridge the gap between religion and science. CAMERLENGO Science. The new God. Ignore the weapons and chaos and madness. The Camerlengo looks up at him, and his expression is different than we've ever seen it. Contemptuous. Angry. Violent. CAMERLENGO (cont'd) His work was not religious, it was sacrilegious! ROCHER But you saw the Pope's position as a softening of church law. An old man's weakness. Your father's weakness. CAMERLENGO He raised me to protect the church. Even from within. ROCHER So you brought an old enemy back from the dead to frighten people. CAMERLENGO Nothing unites hearts like the presence of evil. ROCHER It didn't work, Father. CAMERLENGO It isn't finished. ROCHER I've informed Father Simeon of what I learned and he'll get word to the Cardinals the moment conclave opens. The Camerlengo looks at him calmly for a moment --

127.

CAMERLENGO I was planning on doing this alone. -- and then removes the poker from the fire. But it isn't a poker, it's a long-handled brand, with a cross of some kind at the end. Rocher pulls his gun, holds it at his side. Put that down. ROCHER

The Camerlengo rips open his cassock with his free hand. CAMERLENGO But perhaps it's better that youre here. ROCHER (raising the gun) Put it down! But the Camerlengo RAMS the red-hot brand into the exposed flesh of his bare chest. His skin SIZZLES and smokes, Rocher SHOUTS, the Camerlengo SCREAMS in agony, and we know the rest --- the door bursts open, Swiss Guard pour in, Rocher is shot, Father Simeon races toward the Camerlengo -You bastard! FR. SIMEON You sanctimonious-

-- and the Camerlengo rolls over, pointing one long finger at Father Simeon and CRYING OUT: ILLUMINATUS! CAMERLENGO

As we saw before, Lt. Chartrand FIRES THREE TIMES, killing Father Simeon in his tracks, we pull back, the image turns to -INT ROCHER'S OFFICE NIGHT

-- video again, and as we complete the move out from the monitor, we see it isn't Langdon and Vittoria watching the image this time -- but Cardinal Mortati, flanked by two other red-robed Cardinals and a half-dozen Swiss Guardsman. Langdon and Vittoria stand to one side as Mortati turns and looks at them. Suddenly, he seems very, very old. CUT TO:

128.

INT

GRAND STAIRCASE

NIGHT

The Camerlengo, escorted by two Swiss Guardsman, descends the Royal Staircase that leads to the Sistine Chapel. Though he is injured and limping, he radiates confidence, even benevolence, a man certain this is the greatest day of his life. He approaches the chapel doors, speaks to the Swiss Guard posted there as he approaches. CAMERLENGO I have been summoned by the College of Cardinals. Oh, they know all about it. They lift their swords, the doors sweep open, the Camerlengo strides boldly across the threshold -INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT

-- and stops, right there, the look of imminent ascendancy frozen on his face. The Cardinals are looking at him, all right, but not in joy, not in wonder, not for leadership. One hundred sixty-one faces are turned toward his, with an expression of - -- utter condemnation. He stands there for a moment, searching their faces, trying to figure out what could possibly have happened. But it doesn't matter. They know. And he knows they know.

He takes two steps backwards, almost involuntarily. Starts to teeter, balances himself in the doorway. Then straightens himself, smoothes his cassock. And turns and walks away, back up the staircase. Two Swiss Guard move to go after him, quickly, but Cardinal Mortati gestures to them. Gently. MORTATI But within our walls.

The Swiss Guard follow the Camerlengo up the staircase. CUT TO:

129.

INT

ST.

PETER'S BASILICA

NIGHT

The Camerlengo comes out of a doorway and into St. Peter's Basilica. He heads for the main doors --- just as HALF A DOZEN SWISS GUARD step in from outside, blocking his way. Some MURMUR softly into their radios. He stops, turns around to come back the way he came -- but TWO SWISS GUARD appear in that doorway, also with radios. He turns again, no way to go but toward the front of the Basilica. He sees the candlelit balustrade near the front, the one that leads to the grottoes and the Necropolis. He picks up his pace. The Swiss Guard follow, at a slight distance. The Camerlengo reaches the spiral staircase and stops, looking down, seeing the oil lamp he kicked over earlier. He thinks. He picks up a fresh lamp, holds it to his face --

-- and blows out its flame with a soft PUFF. ACROSS THE BASILICA, we're with the Swiss Guard as they walk slowly toward him. But they hear a CRY from ahead, he's gone down the stairs a short distance, and they can hear the sound of liquid SLOSHING. They break into a run as they realize what he's about to do, they're twenty feet away, then ten, then just close enough to see the Camerlengo as he --- SMASHES a burning oil lamp at his feet. onto his oil-soaked clothes and --- HE IGNITES IN A PILLAR OF WHITE FLAME. CUT TO: INT SISTINE CHAPEL NIGHT The flames leap

CLOSE ON a bundle of one hundred sixty-one slips of paper, pierced by a needle and strung together. They're tossed into the fireplace in the Sistine Chapel, where they too burst into flame. We rise up again, ahead of the smoke this time, all the way up to --

130.

EXT

ST.

PETER'S SQUARE

DAWN

-- the chimney above St. Peter's Square, where the throng is still gathered, waiting for some word as the sun rises on the horizon. And this time, the smoke that billows from the chimney -- is white. There is a new pope. to toll -INT

--

The crowd ROARS its approval, BELLS begin DAY

PAPAL APARTMENT

-- the red silk sash covering the doors to the papal apartment is SLICED apart --- the wax seal BREAKS as the doors are flung open, and we --

DISSOLVE TO: EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE DAY

-- St. Peter's Square, later the same day. The Crowd, if you can believe it, is even bigger. A STRING OF REPORTERS fills us in for the last time (non-English speakers subtitled). BBC REPORTER Church sources now confirm that Camerlengo Father Sebastian Guttierez has died of internal injuries sustained in his heroic fall -A BRAZILIAN REPORTER: BRAZILIAN REPORTER -- which has spurred calls for his immediate canonization and sainthood. The Vatican also announced the death of three of its cardinals in the fire at Santa Maria Delia Vittoria -An AMERICAN REPORTER: AMERICAN REPORTER -- but all eyes here are on the papal balcony as we await the appearance of the new Holy Father, who, despite terrorist attempts at disruption -We move off the Reporter and up, toward the papal balcony, its doors hanging open, curtains billowing.

131.

AMERICAN REPORTER (cont'd) -- seems to have been selected in one of the swiftest and smoothest conclaves in modern church history. DISSOLVE TO: INT PAPAL APARTMENT DAY

Inside the papal apartments, Robert Langdon sits stiffly on a straight-backed chair in a hallway. Couldn't look more uncomfortable if he tried. A Swiss Guardsman stands on either side of him. The door to his right suddenly opens, another Guardsman nods to him, and Langdon gets to his feet, straightening his jacket. INT OFFICE OF THE POPE DAY

Langdon is shown into the office, where a robed figure is being dressed by two VATICAN ATTENDANTS -- the clothes he dons are unmistakably papal vestments. The figure, his back to us, gestures to a nearby table. One of the Swiss Guardsmen goes to the table and picks up an envelope, hands it to Langdon. SWISS GUARDSMAN A token of thanks from His Holiness. Langdon, puzzled, opens the envelope and lets the contents fall into his hand. It's a thin volume, but a familiar one -- the only surviving copy of Galileo's Diagramma. Langdon nearly GASPS. The figure in the papal robes turn around. Cardinal Mortati. It is, of course,

MORTATI This should help you complete your scholarly work, Professor. Langdon is too stunned to speak, MORTATI (cont'd) I ask only that in your last will and testament you ensure it finds its way home. I -- yes, I LANGDON -- of course.

132.

Mortati takes a few steps forward, studying Langdon, MORTATI When you write of us -- and you will write of us -- may I ask one thing? Langdon looks at him questioningly. Do so gently? I'll try. MORTATI LANGDON (cont'd)

MORTATI Religion is flawed, Mr. Langdon, but only because man is flawed. Including this one. He touches his chest lightly. The Aides now pick up the miter, the spade-shaped papal hat. stands still while they place it on his head, completing his attire. LANGDON I hear you've chosen the name Luke. There have been Marks and Johns, but never a Luke. MORTATI It's said he was a doctor. LANGDON Is that a message? Science and faith all in one? MORTATI The world is in need of both. Science can heal, or science can kill. It depends on the soul of the man using the science. Langdon looks at him. Likes the sound of that. He

LANGDON You'll lead wisely. MORTATI I'm an old man. I'll lead briefly, Mortati comes closer to Langdon, raises his right hand, and makes a gentle sign of the cross over him, murmuring softly.

133.

MORTATI (cont'd) Thanks be to God, for sending someone to protect His church. LANGDON I -- don't believe He sent me, Father. Oh, my son... He smiles. MORTATI (cont'd) Of course He did. He turns, and his Aides part the billowing silk curtains that lead to the papal balcony. We move forward with him as he steps out over St. Peter's Square and a great ROAR rises up from below. Cardinal Mortati, Pope Luke I, holds his arms out to his sides, an embrace to take in the world --- and behind him, hidden in the shadows of the papal apartment, just behind the billowing curtains, Robert Langdon folds his hand in front of him --- and bows his head. FADE OUT. MORTATI