Buried (Guión De La Película Enterrado)

BURIED by Chris Sparling

Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment 10202 West Washington Blvd. Astaire Bldg. 3rd Floor Culver City, CA 90232 (310)244-6681 United Talent Agency 9560 Wilshire Blvd. Ste. 500 Beverly Hills, CA 90212 (310)273-6700 PRODUCTION DRAFT July 25, 2009

“BURIED”

FADE IN: INT. UNKNOWN ROOM - NIGHT Darkness. Silence. After a long beat, we hear movement, confined and contained. Wethen hear the sound of a man, PAUL CONROY, groaning, making confused attempts at words. We hear his movement; short, abrupt shifting, ending almost immediately with the sound of his body banging against wood. He screams, though it’s clear from the sound that his mouth is covered by something. After attempting to sit up, he immediately bangs his head against something. It's terribly warm and hisbreaths are labored. He attempts to move to his left and right, only to find that he is confined on those sides, as well. He frantically shifts about, only to discover, by touch, that he is encased in something. Something is very wrong, and he doesn’t need to see to know that. Finally, we see him, lit by the flame of the Zippo he holds in his hands, which are bound together in front of him with rope.A rolled-up, dirty rag is tied tightly around his head, stretched across his mouth. Dried blood stains his hair and forehead. We see that he is lying in an old fashioned, wooden coffin. Nothing more than a few rotted-out planks of wood nailed together. Realizing the same, Paul is struck by an overwhelming, instant panic. With great difficulty, and while still holding the lit Zippo, Paul removesthe muzzle from his mouth. What...? PAUL What is this?

His words become almost unintelligible as he flails about, though fear is understood in his every utterance. He screams aloud, but his voice is captured by the coffin walls.

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Oh my God!

PAUL Help me!!

Help me!!

He kicks and slams his hands against the top and sides of the coffin, all to no avail. His violent movements causesmall grains of sand to trickle in through the space between the sides and top of the coffin, as well as a small gap that exists between one of the coffin’s broken wooden planks. Sweat cascades down the side of his neck, dripping from his dampened brow. The heat inside the extremely close confines of the coffin is stifling. PAUL (CONT’D) Somebody help me! Please!! Paul continues with his futileefforts to pry off the top of the coffin. The sides, the top, the bottom -- all are too thoroughly reinforced by the force of what surrounds the coffin. Sand. It becomes clear to him that he is buried. He tries his best to calm himself, though he has trouble catching his breath. It takes him some time, but he eventually achieves some semblance of calm. Getting a good look at him for the first time,we see that Paul is somewhere around 37 years old. Unshaven and physically unremarkable, he embodies the blue-collar American everyman. He coughs. The minimal amount of oxygen in the coffin makes it hard for him to breathe. His eyes widen a bit upon seeing an exposed, rusty nail. He tries desperately to use the nail to cut through the old, frayed ropes that bind his hands. Doing so is no easytask. The incredibly tight quarters makes his every action nearly impossible. After a lengthy struggle, the rope snaps. his hands. A small victory. Very small. Paul quickly frees

The heat is unbearable. Paul takes off his button-down shirt, leaving him in a T-shirt. His body battles against the walls and the ceiling of the coffin with every move he makes. He tosses his button-down shirt down byhis feet. undershirt is drenched through with sweat. His

Still trying to calm himself, but having little success in doing so, Paul looks around the coffin. His feet, though only his body-length away, seem miles from him.

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He looks at the top of the coffin, and then back at his feet. With great difficulty, he shifts his body so that his feet are pressed against the top of the coffin. He...