SPHERE

                                 SPHERE   

                                   BY

                             PAUL ATTANASIO

                         Based on the novel by

                           Michael Crichton

              BARRY LEVINSON VERSION        SHOOTING SCRIPT

     FADE IN:

     EXT. OCEAN FLOOR - DAY

     BEGIN TITLES.

     MOVING AMONG the hallucinatory variety of creatures --
     barbaric, distorted, sublime -- that haunt the ocean floor.
     All but unknown to man except in the deep preconscious brain
     that houses the family album of the race... Where we remember
     that they are us... Then...

                                                       DISSOLVE TO:

     BALLET OF ODD SHAPES

     and exotic colors -- like a living abstract painting --
     tropical fish moving in the f.g... Aquarium fish -- fish we
     know -- fish of the lesser depths, as we RISE UP TOWARD the
     surface...

     Then nearer the surface still, fish dart and flee before a
     distant RUMBLE... that GROWS LOUDER AND LOUDER...

     HELICOPTER

     ERUPTS INTO WATERY VIEW as it blasts across the ocean...

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. PACIFIC OCEAN - DAY

     A tropical morning sun paints its luster on the sea-chop. A
     helicopter hurtles across the Pacific Ocean.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HELICOPTER - SAME TIME

     NORMAN GOODMAN, 50s, a day's growth of beard and eyes sandy
     with sleep, wakes up.  Adjusts his steel-framed glasses.
     Unballs the tweed jacket he's been using as a pillow.  He's
     nearly sitting in the lap of the PILOT, 30s, a tightly wound
     military type, as they zoom across the waves.

                          PILOT
               Good sleep?

                          NORMAN
               Not bad. So, where are we?

                          PILOT
               Where'd they bring you in from?

                          NORMAN
               San Diego.  Left yesterday.

                          PILOT
               So you came Honolulu-Guam-Pago-here?

                          NORMAN
               Yeah.

                          PILOT
               Long trip.  What kind of work do you do,
               sir?

                          NORMAN
               I'm a psychologist.

                          PILOT
               A shrink, huh? Why not. They've called
               in just about everything else.

                          NORMAN
               How do you mean?

                          PILOT
               We've been ferrying people out of Guam
               for the last two days.  Physicists,
               biologists, mathematicians, you name it.
               Everybody being flown to the middle of
               nowhere in the Pacific Ocean.

                          NORMAN
               What's going on?

                          PILOT
               They're not telling us anything, sir.
               What about you? What'd they tell you?

                          NORMAN
               They told me that there was an airplane
               crash.

                          PILOT
               Uh-huh. You get called on crashes?

                          NORMAN
               I have been, yes.

                          PILOT
               And why is that, sir?

                          NORMAN
               I'm on a list of psychologists the F.A.A.
               brings in when a plane goes down.
                   (beat)
               So, where exactly are we now?

                          PILOT
               Well, I'm not supposed to tell
               you...let's just say we're two hundred
               miles from nowhere, sir.

                          NORMAN
               You're not supposed to tell me?

                          PILOT
               No, sir.

     Norman looks out of the helicopter, at the ocean.

                          NORMAN
               Don't you get bored looking at that?

                          PILOT
               To tell you the truth, no, sir. I'm real
               happy to see it flat like this.

                          NORMAN
               Why?

                          PILOT
               Good weather.  It won't hold though.
               There's a cyclone forming up in the
               Admiralties, should swing down this way
               in a few days.

                          NORMAN
               What happens then?

                          PILOT
               Everybody just clears the hell out.
               Weather can be really tough in this part
               of the world. I was stationed in Florida
               and I've seen a lot of hurricanes, but
               you've never seen anything like a Pacific
               cyclone, sir.

                          NORMAN
               You never met my first wife.

                          PILOT
               Don't be so sure.
               That's where we're headed, over there.
               Here take a look.

     He hands Norman binoculars.

     NORMAN'S POV THROUGH BINOCULARS

     A salvage ship surrounding four other, smaller craft in
     concentric circles.  A mile long circle of bouys.

     CLOSE ON NORMAN

     as he absorbs this new information. What's going on?

                          NORMAN
               All this for an airplane crash.

                          PILOT
               I never mentioned a plane crash.
                   (beat)

                                                            CUT TO:

     EXT. SALVAGE SHIP - DAY

     The helicopter lands on the salvage ship helipad.  Norman
     hesitates at the door. A seaman coaxes him and he jumps down.
     Blasted by the downdraft of the rotors, Norman humps his
     duffel bag across the deck, hustles after his escort.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. SALVAGE SHIP - LATER

     Norman follows a SEAMAN, 20s, as he carries Norman's duffel
     bag along the narrow corridors belowdecks...

                          SEAMAN
               You have any other gear, sir?  Watch your
               step.

                          NORMAN
               I'd like to call my family.

                          SEAMAN
               We'll get you settled in quarters,
               sir.  You're to remain there until we
               send for you.

                          NORMAN
               I want to get started right now.

                          SEAMAN
               We'll send for you.

                          NORMAN
               It's critical that I see them, because --

                          SEAMAN
               See who?

                          NORMAN
               The survivors. If I don't get to them
               within the first twenty four hours...

                          SEAMAN
               What survivors?

                          NORMAN
               The survivors of the plane crash.

                          SEAMAN
               Plane crash?

                          NORMAN
               Listen carefully.  I deal in post-
               traumatic stress and survivor guilt --
               maybe I should talk to someone who knows
               what's going on.

                          SEAMAN
               You can talk to the ship's psychiatrist.

                          NORMAN
               I'm a psychologist, that's why I was sent
               down here.

     Norman follows the Seaman through a hydraulic door...They
     come upon TED FIELDING prowling the corridor.

                          TED
                   (to Seaman)
               Look, I told you people over an hour ago
               I need a phone.  A phone.

     The Seaman brusquely continues past with Norman's duffel
     bag.

                          SEAMAN
               You'll have to discuss that with
               Mr.Barnes.

                          TED
               That's fine...Barnes.  Give me a phone,
               I'll call him.

     He recognizes Norman.

                          TED (cont'd)
               Norman...what are you doing here?

     The Seaman grabs Ted's arm.

                          TED
               Would you take your hands off me, please.
               Do you have any idea who I am?

                          NORMAN
               He will if you just tell him the name of
               the book you wrote.

                          TED
               It's called 'Astrophysics You Can Use'.
               It was a Book of the Month Club Main
               Selection.

     The Seaman turns, ramrod-straight, and fixes Ted with a
     steely Aryan gaze.

                          SEAMAN
               Never heard of it.  Now back in your
               quarters.

                          NORMAN
                   (to Ted)
               You really thought that he read your
               book...after all these years?  You
               haven't changed.

                          TED
               Well, it's written for the layman.

                          NORMAN
               He's not impressed.

                          TED
               They don't read.
                   (to Seaman)
               Is there a phone in here?

     The Seaman grabs his arm again.

                          TED (cont'd)
               Would you stop doing that!  I can go to
               the room myself.

                          NORMAN
               I've been trying to call my wife for the
               last 15 hours.

                          SEAMAN
                   (sharply to Ted)
               Sir?

     Ted backs off toward his room, opens the door.

     The Seaman continues on his way with Norman, unlocks a door --
     Norman's quarters. Norman glances up the hall...

     NORMAN'S POV - BETH HALPERIN

     Thirties, a mordant beauty, stands at the threshold of her
     room.  Watching him.  A lot going on behind those eyes.  She
     and Norman exchange a look.  Then without a word, she returns
     to her room.

     CLOSEUP - NORMAN

     As the Seaman ushers him inside.

                          NORMAN
               Beth?

     Then the Seaman closes the door on him.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. NORMAN'S QUARTERS - LATER

     Norman lies on his cot, stares at the ceiling, his tweed
     jacket folded up like a pillow beneath his head.

     There's a knock at the door and it is opened by HARALD
     COTESWORTH BARNES, 40s, an imposing man in dark glasses and
     dark dress.

                          BARNES
               Goodman!  You been here long?

     He shakes Norman's hand.

                          NORMAN
               I've been here three hours.

     Barnes sweeps him along into the hallway.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. HALLWAY - SAME TIME

     Barnes leads Norman along the hallway and down some stairs.

                          BARNES
               Welcome aboard.  I don't mind telling
               you, this thing scares the hell out of
               me.

                          NORMAN
               It's probably already too late.  You
               might as well put me on a helicopter and
               send me back. Whatever damage was done to
               the survivors, is already done. You know
               what I mean?

                          BARNES
               Hold on, we'll get to that.

                          NORMAN
               I don't even know who you are.

                          BARNES
                   (admiring)
               Well, I sure know who you are.

                          NORMAN
               Who are you...Navy...military?  What are
               you?

                          BARNES
               You ever hear of the O.S.S.A.?

                          NORMAN
               Yes.

                          BARNES
                   (proudly)
               Well, they don't know who I am.  That
               should reassure you.

     Barnes takes Norman aside.

                          BARNES
               Look, you haven't talked to anybody about
               this, have you?

                          NORMAN
               Well, I talked to the helicopter pilot.

                          BARNES
               What'd you tell him?

                          NORMAN
               What did I tell him. I told him I was
               here to see the plane crash.  That's my
               job.

     Barnes chews this over thoughtfully...

                          BARNES
               The plane crash.  Good.

                          NORMAN
               There was no plane crash?

                          BARNES
                   (confidentially)
               Spacecraft.

                          NORMAN
               Spacecraft?  I guess that explains a lot.
               NASA?

                          BARNES
               That doesn't surprise you?

                          NORMAN
               Well at least it explains the secrecy.

                          BARNES
               The secrecy's critical, Norman.  You made
               that explicit in your report.

                          NORMAN
               What report?

                          BARNES
               The ULF.

                          NORMAN
                   (remembering)
               I wrote that for the Bush Administration.

                          BARNES
               And that's our Bible here.  Every jot and
               tittle.

                          NORMAN
               But that was a report about a possible
               encounter with an alien being.

     Norman laughs nervously, looks at Barnes.  Barnes isn't
     laughing.  Suddenly Norman isn't laughing either.

                          BARNES
               You want to come with me?

                          NORMAN
               Oh, boy.

                                                            CUT TO:

     INT. BRIEFING ROOM - LATER

     A video image of SEAMEN aboard a telephone-cable ship showing
     the sheared fiber optic cable to the camera as Barnes, laser
     pointer in hand, delivers a briefing.

                          BARNES
               About three weeks ago, a ship laying
               fiber optic cable between Honolulu and
               Sydney hit an obstruction a thousand feet
               underwater.  Cut the cable clean as a
               shears.  The Navy got interested -- sent
               out a search ship.

     ANGLE ON BETH

     As she watches... SUPERED below:

     DR. BETH HALPERIN:  PHYSICIAN/BIOLOGIST

     ANGLE ON HIGH-RESOLUTION TV IMAGE

     A sonar image of an enormous triangular fin jutting abruptly
     from a ridge of coral...

                          BARNES
               ... Turns out what did it was this -- We
               took this with the side-looking sonar --
               an aerodynamic fin longer than a football
               field.  Bigger than any known wingspan.

     ANGLE ON TED

     As he watches.... SUPERED below:

     TED FIELDING:  ASTROPHYSICIST

                          TED
               You have any idea what it's made of?

                          BARNES
               We sent the SCARAB robots to snip a piece
               out of it...

     ANGLE ON MICROSCOPE IMAGE

     of the composition of the fin...

                          BARNES
               It's a titanium alloy in an epoxy/resin
               honeycomb.  It's more sophisticated than
               anything we can duplicate.

                          TED
               The Russians don't have anything like
               this?

     ANGLE ON SONAR IMAGE

     This one composed of fine dots.

                          BARNES
               You tell me.  That's the fuselage. Ultra-
               high-res S.L.S. bottom scan, came in a
               week ago.  There it is...buried under
               about eight yards of coral.