intercut with the CNN studio.
ANNOUNCER
Treasure hunter Brock Lovett is best known for finding Spanish gold in
sunken galleons in the Caribbean. Now he is using deep submergence
technology to work two and a half miles down at another famous wreck... the
Titanic. He is with us live via satellite from a Russian research ship in
the middle of the Atlantic... hello Brock?
LOVETT
Yes, hi, Tracy. You know, Titanic is not just A shipwreck, Titanic is THE
shipwreck. It's the Mount Everest of shipwrecks.
CUT TO:
17 INT. HOUSE / CERAMICS STUDIO
PULL BACK from the screen, showing the CNN report playing on a TV set in the
living room of a small rustic house. It is full of ceramics, figurines, folk
art, the walls crammed with drawings and paintings... things collected over
a lifetime.
PANNING to show a glassed-in studio attached to the house. Outside it is a
quiet morning in Ojai, California. In the studio, amid incredible clutter,
an ANCIENT WOMAN is throwing a pot on a potter's wheel. The liquid red clay
covers her hands... hands that are gnarled and age-spotted, but still
surprisingly strong and supple. A woman in her early forties assists her.
LOVETT (V.O.)
I've planned this expedition for three years, and we're out here recovering
some amazing things... things that will have enormous historical and
educational value.
CNN REPORTER (V.O.)
But it's no secret that education is not your main purpose. You're a
treasure hunter. So what is the treasure you're hunting?
LOVETT (V.O.)
I'd rather show you than tell you, and we think we're very close to doing
just that.
The old woman's name is ROSE CALVERT. Her face is a wrinkled mass, her body
shapeless and shrunken under a one-piece African-print dress.
But her eyes are just as bright and alive as those of a young girl.
Rose gets up and walks into the living room, wiping pottery clay from her
hands with a rag. A Pomeranian dog gets up and comes in with her.
The younger woman, LIZZY CALVERT, rushes to help her.
ROSE
Turn that up please, dear.
REPORTER (V.O.)
Your expedition is at the center of a storm of controversy over salvage
rights and even ethics. Many are calling you a grave robber.
TIGHT ON THE SCREEN.
LOVETT
Nobody called the recovery of the artifacts from King Tut's tomb grave
robbing. I have museum-trained experts here, making sure this stuff is
preserved and catalogued properly. Look at this drawing, which was found
today...
The video camera pans off Brock to the drawing, in a tray of water. The
image of the woman with the necklace FILLS FRAME.
LOVETT
...a piece of paper that's been underwater for 84 years... and my team are
able to preserve it intact. Should this have remained unseen at the bottom
of the ocean for eternity, when we can see it and enjoy it now...?
ROSE is galvanized by this image. Her mouth hangs open in amazement.
ROSE
I'll be God damned.
CUT TO:
18 EXT. KELDYSH DECK - NIGHT
CUT TO KELDYSH. The Mir subs are being launched. Mir Two is already in the
water, and Lovett is getting ready to climb into Mir One when Bobby Buell
runs up to him.
BUELL
There's a satellite call for you.
LOVETT
Bobby, we're launching. See these submersibles here, going in the water?
Take a message.
BUELL
No, trust me, you want to take this call.
CUT TO:
19 INT. LAB DECK / KELDYSH - NIGHT
Buell hands Lovett the phone, pushing down the blinking line. The call is
from Rose and we see both ends of the conversation. She is in her kitchen
with a mystified Lizzy.
LOVETT
This is Brock Lovett. What can I do for you, Mrs... ?
BUELL
Rose Calvert.
LOVETT
... Mrs. Calvert?
ROSE
I was just wondering if you had found the "Heart of the Ocean" yet, Mr.
Lovett.
Brock almost drops the phone. Bobby sees his shocked expression...
BUELL
I told you you wanted to take this call.
LOVETT
(to Rose)
Alright. You have my attention, Rose. Can you tell me who the woman in the
picture is?
ROSE
Oh yes. The woman in the picture is me.
CUT TO:
20 EXT. OCEAN - DAY
SMASH CUT TO AN ENORMOUS SEA STALLION HELICOPTER thundering across the
ocean. PAN 180 degrees as it roars past. There is no land at either horizon.
The Keldysh is visible in the distance.
CLOSE ON A WINDOW of the monster helicopter. Rose's face is visible, looking
out calmly.
CUT TO:
21 EXT. KELDYSH - DAY
Brock and Bodine are watching Mir 2 being swung over the side to start a
dive.
BODINE
She's a goddamned liar! A nutcase. Like that... what's her name? That
Anastasia babe.
BUELL
They're inbound.
Brock nods and the three of them head forward to meet the approaching helm.
BODINE
She says she's Rose DeWitt Bukater, right? Rose DeWitt Bukater died on the
Titanic. At the age of 17. If she'd have lived, she'd be over a hundred now.
LOVETT
A hundred and one next month.
BODINE
Okay, so she's a very old goddamned liar. I traced her as far back as the
20's... she was working as an actress in L.A. An actress. Her name was Rose
Dawson. Then she married a guy named Calvert, moved to Cedar Rapids, had two
kids. Now Calvert's dead, and from what I've heard Cedar Rapids is dead.
The Sea Stallion approaches the ship, BG, forcing Brock to yell over the
rotors.
LOVETT
And everybody who knows about the diamond is supposed to be dead... or on
this ship. But she knows about it. And I want to hear what she has to say.
Got it?
CUT TO:
22 EXT. KELDYSH HELIPAD
IN A THUNDERING DOWNBLAST the helicopter's wheels bounce down on the
helipad.
Lovett, Buell and Bodine watch as the HELICOPTER CREW CHIEF hands out about
ten suitcases, and then Rose is lowered to the deck in a wheelchair by
Keldysh crewmen. Lizzy, ducking unnecessarily under the rotor, follows her
out, carrying FREDDY the Pomeranian. The crew chief hands a puzzled Keldysh
crewmember a goldfish bowl with several fish in it. Rose does not travel
light.
HOLD ON the incongruous image of this little old lady, looking impossibly
fragile amongst all the high tech gear, grungy deck crew and gigantic
equipment.
BODINE
S'cuse me, I have to go check our supply of Depends.
CUT TO:
23 INT. ROSE'S STATEROOM / KELDYSH - DAY
Lizzy is unpacking Rose's things in the small utilitarian room. Rose is
placing a number of FRAMED PHOTOS on the bureau, arranging them carefully
next to the fishbowl. Brock and Bodine are in the doorway.
LOVETT
Is your stateroom alright?
ROSE
Yes. Very nice. Have you met my granddaughter, Lizzy? She takes care of me.
LIZZY
Yes. We met just a few minutes ago, grandma. Remember, up on deck?
ROSE
Oh, yes.
Brock glances at Bodine... oh oh. Bodine rolls his eyes. Rose finishes
arranging her photographs. We get a general glimpse of them: the usual
snapshots... children and grandchildren, her late husband.
ROSE
There, that's nice. I have to have my pictures when I travel. And Freddy of
course.
(to the Pomeranian)
Isn't that right, sweetie.
LOVETT
Would you like anything?
ROSE
I should like to see my drawing.
CUT TO:
24 INT. LAB DECK, PRESERVATION AREA
Rose looks at the drawing in its tray of water, confronting herself across a
span of 84 years. Until they can figure out the best way to preserve it,
they have to keep it immersed. It sways and ripples, almost as if alive.
TIGHT ON Rose's ancient eyes, gazing at the drawing.
25 FLASHCUT of a man's hand, holding a conte crayon deftly creating a
shoulder and the shape of her hair with two efficient lines.
26 THE WOMAN'S FACE IN THE DRAWING, dancing under the water.
27 A FLASHCUT of a man's eyes, just visible over the top of a sketching pad.
They look up suddenly right into the LENS. Soft eyes, but fearlessly direct.
28 Rose smiles, remembering. Brock has the reference photo of the necklace
in his hand.
LOVETT
Louis the Sixteenth wore a fabulous stone, called the Blue Diamond of the
Crown, which disappeared in 1792, about the time Louis lost everything from
the neck up. The theory goes that the crown diamond was chopped too... recut
into a heart-like shape... and it became Le Coeur de la Mer. The Heart of
the Ocean. Today it would be worth more than the Hope Diamond.
ROSE
It was a dreadful, heavy thing.
(she points at the drawing)
I only wore it this once.
LIZZY
You actually believe this is you, grandma?
ROSE
It is me, dear. Wasn't I a hot number?
LOVETT
I tracked it down through insurance records... and old claim that was
settled under terms of absolute secrecy. Do you know who the claiment was,
Rose?
ROSE
Someone named Hockley, I should imagine.
LOVETT
Nathan Hockley, right. Pittsburgh steel tycoon. For a diamond necklace his
son Caledon Hockley bought in France for his fiancee... you... a week before
he sailed on Titanic. And the claim was filed right after the sinking. So
the diamond had to've gone down with the ship.
(to Lizzy)
See the date?
LIZZY
April 14, 1912.
LOVETT
If your grandma is who she says she is, she was wearing the diamond the day
Titanic sank.
(MORE)
LOVETT (CONT'D)
(to Rose)
And that makes you my new best friend. I will happily compensate you for
anything you can tell us that will lead to its recovery.
ROSE
I don't want your money, Mr. Lovett. I know how hard it is for people who
care greatly for money to give some away.
BODINE
(skeptical)
You don't want anything?
ROSE
(indicating the drawing)
You may give me this, if anything I tell you is of value.
LOVETT
Deal.
(crossing the room)
Over here are a few things we've recovered from your staterooms.
Laid out on a worktable are fifty or so objects, from mundane to valuable.
Rose, shrunken in her chair, can barely see over the table top. With a
trembling hand she lifts a tortoise shell hand mirror, inlaid with mother of
pearl. She caresses it wonderingly.
ROSE
This was mine. How extraordinary! It looks the same as the last time I saw
it.
She turns the mirror over and looks at her ancient face in the cracked
glass.
ROSE
The reflection has changed a bit.
She spies something else, a silver and moonstone art-nouveau brooch.
ROSE
My mother's brooch. She wanted to go back for it. Caused quite a fuss.
Rose picks up an ornate art-nouveau HAIR COMB. A jade butterfly takes flight
on the ebony handle of the comb. She turns it slowly, remembering. We can
see that Rose is experiencing a rush of images and emotions that have lain
dormant for eight decades as she handles the butterfly comb.
LOVETT
Are you ready to go back to Titanic?
CUT TO:
29 INT. IMAGING SHACK / KELDYSH
It is a darkened room lined with TV monitors. IMAGES OF THE WRECK fill the
screens, fed from Mir One and Two, and the two ROVs, Snoop Dog and DUNCAN.
BODINE
Live from 12,000 feet.
ROSE stares raptly at the screens. She is enthraled by one in particular, an
image of the bow railing. It obviously means something to her. Brock is
studying her reactions carefully.
BODINE
The bow's struck in the bottom like an axe, from the impact. Here... I can
run a simulation we worked up on this monitor over here.
Lizzy turns the chair so Rose can see the screen of Bodine's computer. As he
