THE NIGHT JAGUAR

(SIZZLE REEL)

story by

Robert Zimmer, Jr.

&
Matthew Halterman

screenplay by

Robert Zimmer, Jr.

PRODUCTION DRAFT (v1.1)

June 2, 2020

PRODUCERS:

Nikki Blacklock
Matthew Halterman
Robert Zimmer, Jr.

CONSULTING PRODUCERS:

Martin Aguilera
Valentín Cortez

Cambrian Entertainment/
Deeper Magic Communications

Registered WGA
(c) 2020
1 EXT. GUADALAJARA, MEXICO (ZAPOPAN SUBURB) - DAY 1

An affluent suburb. High-rise condos. A WALL separates this

exclusive neighborhood from the destitute masses surrounding
it.

[WIDE SHOT bisected by a white stucco security wall, dead

white on bottom, as we TILT UP to see pale sky and tan
mansions at top of frame--]

ÁLVAREZ (V.O.)
Roth taught me that ambition is
like a virus...

CUT TO:

2 EXT. MINISTRY OF TOURISM - AFTERNOON 2

To establish.

ÁLVAREZ (V.O.)
... it always consumes the host.

3 INT. MINISTRY OF TOURISM (ÁLVAREZ’ OFFICE) - AFTERNOON 3

CLOSE ON: Adam’s HAND, about to sign CONTRACTS in triplicate

with a fancy MONT BLANC PEN, hesitates. Álvarez hands Adam
an ENVELOPE. Adam opens it. Inside, a CHECK for ten million
U.S. dollars.

PULL BACK TO REVEAL: Álvarez’ office is definitely not the

drab DMV vibe you’d expect -- instead, it’s mid-century-
modern meets Brazilian tropical, with a masculine timbre.

ADAM
Tell me something first -- where
did the money come from?

ÁLVAREZ
Does it matter?

CLOSE ON: Adam’s signature.

CUT TO:

4 EXT. GUADALAJARA, MEXICO (ZAPOPAN SUBURB) - DAY 4

Income inequality: poor children dressed in “exotic” costumes

perform tricks to pry coins from gullible tourists.
 2.

Across the street, in fashionable restaurants, the wealthy

laugh and gab over lunch and cocktails.

HANDS (of unseen patrons) toss their CREDIT CARDS faux-

competitively on to a restaurant table -- exquisitely lit
American Express Centurion card, JP Morgan Chase Palladium
card, Santander Mexico Platinum, etc. partly IN SLO-MO.

ADAM (V.O.)
Just because you have access to
capital doesn’t mean you get to
dictate our deal terms.

One FEMALE HAND sweeps the other cards aside and puts hers
down -- domination.

ÁLVAREZ (V.O.)
Actually, yes it does.

CUT TO:

5 EXT. GUADALAJARA, MEXICO (ZAPOPAN SUBURB) - DAY 5

Álvarez’ BLACK government SUV rolls up to a stoplight.

6 INT. / EXT. ÁLVAREZ’ SUV (ZAPOPAN SUBURB) - DAY 6

[EXTERIORS SHOT VERY CRAMPED-SCENE, 1/3 OF SHOT BLOCKED BY

BRICK WALL, AS IF SOMEONE CROUCHING, HIDING, WATCHING THE
ASSASINATION]

In the BACK SEAT, JOSE DE JESUS ÁLVAREZ ÁLVAREZ, 47 and

dapper, talks to his eight-year-old daughter, ISABELLA.
Their driver scans the intersection nervously.

POV: from inside the SUV -- a hailstorm of BULLETS shatter

and blow out the windows. Isabella SCREAMS.

CU: Álvarez draws a 9MM PISTOL from his jacket.

ÁLVAREZ
(to his driver)
Get us out of here.

GUNSHOTS ECHO into...

CUT TO:

7 EXT. LIMBO STEP-AND-REPEAT / RED CARPET - NIGHT 7

... PAPPARAZZI CAMERA BULBS pop pop pop!!

 3.

M.O.S. + sound design/MUSIC only: Chen, armored in a low-cut

red dress and a glittering waterfall of jewels covering her
cleavage. She WATCHES Adriana OFF-SCREEN. A beat as she
reacts, and we ZOOM IN on her lips, as she LAUGHS:

CU CHEN’S LIPS:

CHEN (V.O.)
There is something about her. She
is... centellante.

EXT./INT. LIMBO (WITHIN “EYES WIDE SHUT” SEQUENCE) - NIGHT

Chen and Adriana lean close, speaking intimately.

CHEN
Tell me something about yourself
that might surprise me. That most
people wouldn’t guess.

CUT TO:

8 INT. ADAM & ADRIANA’S HOTEL SUITE - NIGHT (SAME) 8

At first, we only see the HOTEL WINDOW, looking out over

Guadalajara.

ADRIANA (V.O.)
... We’re not married.

Then we hear oddly famliar MOANS. CAMERA FINDS Adam’s PHONE,

flashing with TEXT notifications from Adriana.

The MOANS (Adam’s) accelerate. Then, ORGASM (O.C.) It’s

loud, violent. A lamp SHATTERS (O.C.)

INSERT: SHOT OF NAKED PEOPLE IN ANIMAL MASKS from the party.

ADRIANA (TEXT MESSAGE)

ADAM WTF WHERE ARE YOU?

PULL BACK to reveal: Adam suspended from a ceiling rig, with

a belt tied around his neck, comes to, GASPING.

CUT TO:

9 INT. GUADALAJARA FILM FESTIVAL PARTY - NIGHT 9

Amidst a dazzling ICE SCULPTURE and LIGHT SHOW, about 50

industry partygoers mingle & booze it up. They are all
dressed to kill, of course, given that:
 4.

UNIVISION HOSTESS (V.O.)

This is the Cannes of the Latin
American world -- and it’s one of
Mexico’s most prestigious cultural
events.

CAMERA FINDS: Adriana, Chen and Álvarez, after many

cocktails, laughing and flirting.

ADRIANA
Yes, as a matter of fact, we have a
new film project we’re shopping.

CHEN
Really -- where is Adam? He should
join us for a drink.

ÁLVAREZ
Yes! I would love to introduce him
to some of my friends -- who are
also patrons of the arts.

ADRIANA
(sensing $$$)
Absolutely. Okay. Listen, he’s
upstairs writing.

CHEN
Oh, we don’t want to interrupt --

ADRIANA
-- Not at all! Excuse me while I
try to reach him.

Adriana EXITS frame.

CUT TO:

10 INT. ADAM & ADRIANA’S HOTEL SUITE - NIGHT (SAME) 10

CU on Adam’s FACE: His EYES pop OPEN -- he’s alive. His EYES
find his PHONE. It VIBRATES: An incoming CALL from Adriana.

He GURGLES, frantically tries to undo the belt and free

himself. ON HIS PHONE, vibrating again:

BACK TO:

11 INT. GUADALAJARA FILM FESTIVAL PARTY - NIGHT 11

As Chen and Álvarez watch Adriana fumble with her phone

across the room, they speak in Spanish to each other:
 5.

CHEN
Álvarez, the Minister of Star
Fucking.

ÁLVAREZ
I can’t help it. I even liked that
terrible superhero pre-boot that he
directed.

ON ADRIANA, ACROSS THE ROOM:

Her hands SHAKE. She dials Adam. RING. RING...

DISSOLVE TO:

12 EXT./INT. LIMBO “EYES WIDE SHUT” SEQUENCE - NIGHT 12

[Since we don’t have the resources to shoot this big Kahuna

right now, we will use some style & good old-fashioned
PRACTICAL VFX [think F.F. Coppola’s Dracula.]

... RING... DRONE FOOTAGE/PRACTICAL VFX: The Mansion

Courtyard, boxed in like the irregular outline of a tall
garden wall, almost like a pit. PRIMAL, INDIGENOUS MUSIC
PLAYS. We are close enough to see WRITHING, DANCING SHADOWS -
- but in the moonlight, it could be snakes, or human bodies.
Over this:

NARRATOR
At night, the Sun God becomes the
Night Jaguar, who in turn becomes
the Sun God again at dawn. So it
is with the human soul. All the
capacity for evil. All have the
capacity for good. There is no
absolute without intent. To judge
the mask without looking behind it
is to be blind.

DISSOLVE TO:

13 INT. LIMBO MAYAN THRONE ROOM - NIGHT 13

...an obsidian Mayan ARTIFACT, as it ROTATES, Indiana Jones-

style, depicting the SUN GOD and JAGUAR of the Underworld as
two sides to the same FACE.

DISSOLVE TO:
 6.

14 INT. FANCY HOTEL BAR (GUADALAJARA) - NIGHT 14

Adriana shares drinks with a prematurely bald 20-something

film exec, RUDY. She’s wrapped up an animated pitch:

RUDY
Adriana. You are the sexiest
producer I know. But... the board
is not going to risk ten mil on a
script about a jaguar, okay?

ADRIANA
Rudy, the jaguar is a metaphor.

RUDY
Oh. Well, I’m passing on the
project. But I’m green-lighting
you coming up to my room.

ADRIANA
Excuse me? Would you speak to a
male producer like this?

RUDY
Absolutely. I mean, if he was hot.

ADRIANA
“Were,” Rudy. If he “were” hot.

RUDY
God, it’s so sexy when you correct
my grammar.

ADRIANA
Can you be serious for five goddamn
seconds?

RUDY
Yes. Do you want to come upstairs
or not?

CUT TO:

15 EXT./INT. ADAM & ADRIANA’S HOTEL SUITE - NIGHT 15

From outside, through the window, we see Adam break the news
to Adriana that she has been fired as producer of The Night
Jaguar.

HANDHELD / M.O.S.: She has never been this angry. They

argue. Things get very close to violent.

DISSOLVE TO:
 7.

15A LIMBO INSERT CU: GUNS BEING LOADED. 15A

15B LIMBO INSERT CU: THE SUV’S SWERVE AROUND THE BLOCK DURING 15B
THE
ASSASSINATION.

16 INT. ÁLVAREZ’ GOVERNMENT OFFICE - DAY 16

On Álvarez’ meticulously uncluttered desk, EXTREME C/U: a

MONT BLANC PEN presses its ink on a paper contract. SFX:
Fountain Pen writing on paper, and a hand (Adam’s) rising.

MATCH CUT TO:

17 INT. ÁLVAREZ’ GOVERNMENT OFFICE - DAY (DIFFERENT SCENE) 17

Alvarez open a SMALL ORNATE BOX on his desk, then sits in a

CHAIR in front of the desk.

Inside, a horror show: the disgorged heterochromatic EYES of

the poor WAITER/CREEPY MAN. Álvarez tries not to react.

Álvarez stands and PICKS UP his PISTOL.

MAN
You wouldn’t kill me in a
government office.

Álvarez FIRES his pistol, narrowly missing the man and

destroying a LAMP behind him.

ÁLVAREZ
Now who’s overconfident?

CUT TO:

18 EXT. LUXURY TULUM HOTEL (TO ESTABLISH) - SUNSET 18

At sunset here, the clouds perfectly reflect in the pristine

ocean, creating a visual symmetry of mythical beauty.

We follow SILLOUHETTES of Roth and Álvarez as the walk along

the shore together.

ÁLVAREZ (V.O.)
I’ll never get tired of this view.

ROTH (V.O.)
That’s your ambition talking. Time
to let go.
 8.

19 INT. LUXURY TULUM HOTEL - ÁLVAREZ’ HOTEL SUITE - SUNSET 19

In dueling vanity mirrors, Chen and Álvarez put the finishing

touches on their respective COCKTAIL ATTIRE.

CHEN
You have a choice to make --
between me, and your addiction to
the “resort business,” or whatever
bullshit it is that you do. What
the fuck is a minister of tourism,
anyway --

Álvarez HITS her.

She HITS him, just as hard.

CHEN (CONT'D)
Touch me again and I’ll kill you.

ÁLVAREZ
You act entitled, as if you were
still a celebrity.

CHEN
Whatever I am now, Álvarez, is more
than you ever will be.

ÁLVAREZ
Clean yourself up. Important
people are waiting.

He EXITS.

CHEN
Important to you. Not to me.

Alone, Chen examines herself in the MIRROR. What has she

become?

CUT TO:

20 EXT. TULUM BEACH - NIGHT 20

The full MOON illuminates Chen as she discards her heels, and
walks barefoot down the ocean front. She walks into the
OCEAN, waist deep, then submerges, cleansing herself.

DISSOLVE TO:
 9.

21 INT. LIMBO "EYES WIDE SHUT" SEQUENCE - NIGHT 21

STYLIZED: Adriana and Chen DANCE. SHOT in C/U’s -- the

womens’ body parts, WRITHING.

C/U: ADAM REMOVES HIS MASK.

ÁLVAREZ
There are many videos. From
tonight -- but also other nights.

SFX: HAILSTORM OF BULLETS. ISABELLA SCREAMING.

Adriana and Chen kiss. A dirty SYNTH BASSLINE BEAT drops as

we --

22 INT. LIMBO MAYAN THRONE ROOM - NIGHT 22

...an obsidian Mayan ARTIFACT, as it ROTATES, Indiana Jones-

style, depicting the SUN GOD and JAGUAR of the Underworld as
two sides to the same FACE.

FADE TO BLACK:

TITLE “THE NIGHT JAGUAR” arises FROM THE BLACK.

The only outline is a MIDNIGHT NAVY-BLUE SHADOW suggesting

the letters. A beat, then a glowing RED OUTLINE delineates
the letters.

THE END