Repertory Draft: Forty Second Fuse Thread

Forty Second Fuse

Written and directed by: Chris Olson
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr. as Danny “The Blond” Torres
Kurt Russell as Jeremiah “The Butcher” Swain
Catherine Keener as Isabella Abandonato
Aishwarya Rai as Jasmine Patel
Franka Potente as Sheila Marcus
Gael Garcia Bernal as Octavio Lopez
Robert Duvall as Nico Abandonato

Danny “The Blond” Torres is one of the best assassins in the business. On the streets, Danny has earned the nickname “Forty Second Fuse,” because if you piss him off, that’s about how long you have to live. For the last five years or so, Danny and his hot headed young partner, Octavio Lopez, have been employed by the Abandonato crime family, reporting directly to Don Nico Abandonato himself. In fact, Don Abandonato is quite fond of Danny, and looks on him as the son he never had. Meanwhile, the Don’s lovely daughter, Isabella, has been deeply in love with Danny since the day he first came to work for her father, but her love has gone unrequited, as Danny’s heart belongs to Jasmine Patel, a sexy young stripper who performs in one of Nico’s clubs.

One day, Danny is called into the Don’s office, and Danny assumes it’s to pick up orders on another hit. When he arrives, however, he finds that both the Don and Octavio have been shot to death. Isabella arrives with her entourage of bodyguards, and almost immediately blames Danny for her father’s murder. Danny tries to explain to her that he had nothing to do with it, but she won’t listen, and orders her men to kill him. Danny dispatches them with ease, and flees the scene.

Unbeknownst to Danny, it was actually Isabella who killed Don Abandonato and Octavio. She was angry that Danny had displaced her as the object of her father’s affection, not to mention insanely jealous that Danny loved a lowly stripper instead of her. So she killed her father with the intent of placing the blame on Danny. Unfortunately, Octavio entered the room just as she was committing her heinous act, so she had to kill him as well. Thinking quickly, she made it look as though the Don killed the young assassin, and Danny had retaliated in kind.

Danny is now a marked man, and Isabella dispatches every assassin in the city to take him down. Danny manages to kill each and every one of them, however, so Isabella turns to the one man who might have a shot at getting the job done; Jeremiah “The Butcher” Swain, an aging but nonetheless deadly mercenary who currently resides in South Africa, and is reputed to be the world’s deadliest assassin. Swain agrees to do the job, but only if Isabella can match his steep price tag. She reluctantly agrees, and the hunt is on.

Meanwhile Danny realizes that he needs help if he is going to get out of the city alive, and has turned to the only person he can trust; Shelia Marcus, an ex-cop who was dishonorably discharged from the force when it was revealed that she was taking bribes from the Abandonato crime syndicate. Danny explains the situation to her, and she eventually agrees to help him out. Before she can, however, the Butcher arrives, and kills her in cold blood. Danny manages to escape, but just barely, and Swain is now hot on his trail.

A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, with each man occasionally gaining the upper hand, only to lose it again almost immediately. Danny eventually manages to lose the Butcher, but he knows it is only for a short time. He risks a visit with Jasmine, and convinces her to leave the city. She is reluctant at first, but eventually acquiesces. They make love for the last time, and then Danny bids her good-bye. She watches with a tear in her eye as the man she loves goes off to die.

The moment Danny steps out onto the street, he sees Swain waiting for him. Danny leads him on a foot chase through the city, which eventually leads them to abandoned tenement building, where the two men engage in an epic shoot out that takes them from one floor to the next and back down again. The battle goes back and forth for a long time, with both men realizing that they are too evenly matched, and that neither of them is going to make it out alive. At last, they find themselves in a stand off, Danny with two .45s, and the Butcher clutching an Uzi. They remain that way for some time, sizing each other up, and after several agonizing moments, several shots finally ring out. Danny falls to his knees, blood oozing from the several bullet holes that now riddle his body. The Butcher grins for a moment, but then he staggers and falls to the ground, having succumbed to his own mortal wounds. Danny lets out a sigh, and then slumps forward as the life leaves his body. His last thought is of Jasmine, who is sitting on a train, and looking out the window, her eyes red from crying.

Back at the Abandonato mansion, Isabella stands looking out the window of the office that once belonged to her father. She has assumed the mantle of head of the Abandonato family, and is ecstatic that she eliminated Danny without having to pay the Butcher his exorbitant fee. An underling enters bearing an envelope simply labeled TO ISABELLA FROM DANNY. Isabella takes the envelope, sits down and dismisses the underling. She then opens the envelope and discovers a letter that says “Look under your chair." She does and discovers a bomb…a bomb with a forty second fuse that was triggered the moment she sat down, and now it is too late for her to escape the explosion. Isabella lets out a frightened laugh, just as the bomb goes off, killing her, and effectively destroying the Abandonato crime syndicate.

Cast:

Jean-Claude Van Damme
The Rock
Monica Bellucci
Mos Def
'Beat' Takeshi Kitano
Danny Trejo
Carl Weathers

They just fucked with the wrong Belgian. When the Latin Kings and the Crips turn the streets of Chicago into a warzone, the twin brother of notoriously short-tempered, mixed martial arts sensation Luc "Rage" Vandevelde (JCVD) is caught in the crossfire. After his brother's widow, Isabelle (Bellucci) comes to Luc for help, he enlists the aid of fellow MMA star "Stone" Sagun (Johnson), and together they begin to leave a trail of broken bones and bodies on their way to both gang's leaders (Def & Trejo). Hot on their trail is Special Agent Lang (Weathers), head of the FBI's gang unit in the area, and a mysterious Yakuza hitman (Kitano), seemingly gunning down everyone in his path with brutal disregard. Fists fly, guns pop, and blood stains all.. will anyone survive the night and Luc's FORTY SECOND FUSE?

Forty Second Fuse

Sasquatches are invading Mexico! Only one man can stop them...

"A death row fugitive.
The bounty hunter on his trail.
A town in need.
Their partnership isn't the only thing that's sticky."

Second Glance Rep presents
Forty Second Fuse
Written by Brian Koppleman & David Levien
Story by Graham Yost
Based on characters created by James Gunn

Escaped death row inmate and Gulf War veteran Harrison Scott gets caught between funeral directors, pornographers, and land developers in a small town on the outskirts of San Diego.

Starring
Kyle Chandler as Harrison Scott, infamous death row inmate who gets caught up in the seedy underbelly of Stonewall, California
Russell Crowe as Orville McManus, the bounty hunter on Scott's trail, only to be arrested alongside him when the men arrive simutaniously in Stonewall, and whose personal tragedy spurs his "investigation" into the town's activities
Mary Louise Parker as Sheriff Louise Hale, a Quantico washout and drunk, bitter at her station in life and a fan of yelling.
Ed Harris as Tucker, chief of security and "filmmaker" for Sticky Productions, the "gonzo porn" company operating in Stonewall
Peter Dinklage as Icarus Dale, owner and operator of Icarus Funeral Services, motto "Hotter than the name suggests"
with Rachel McAdams as Britney, an autodidactic waitress with a photographic memory with a connection to Secord she doesn't talk about
and Patrick Wilson as Wallace Secord, Silicone Valley titan/Sticky Productions founder turned would-be real estate developer

Tagline: "The Big Apple is just about to go rotten"

40 Second Fuse....

New York City: 1977: A cop is brought face to face with a charismatic cult leader with plans to throw an already beleaguered city into full blown chaos.

Staring

Gary Cole as Det. Phil Cardona: A slick NYC detective whose made it past corruption hearings and layoffs and just wants to be good police and make his 20

William Pierce as Transit Officer Grover Blackmun: A man who worships the blaxplotation films as a point of pride and makes it his business to bring it in whenever possible

Ed O’Neill as Captain Jimmy Doyle: Phil’s boss who is aware of the pressure he’s under and makes it known to everyone

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Stevie Queen: A Bowie obsessed punker doing tricks to survive who ends up under a cult’s influence

Michael C. Hall as Rev. Tommy Moonbanks: A Jim-Jones-esque preacher with dangerous dreams

Amy Ryan as Abby Leftkowitz: A New York Post reporter who gets tipped off by Moonbanks’ plans and considers running the story despite the panic it might bring

Rosario Dawson as Georgia “George” Ruiz: A struggling SOHO artist/train tagger who inadvertently gets involved when she witnesses the bad guys at the train yard

With Isian Whitlock Jr. as Deputy Mayor Adams

New York City – 1977: A time when the city is truly on its knees. Crime and poverty are spiraling out of the control; the city is in the grips of a heat wave and a serial killer. Meanwhile desperate people are either trying to get out, numb the pain with drugs or booze, or just fall into the latest cure-all or dream to try and escape.

For Det. Phil Cardona (Gary Cole), he’s lucky. He’s gone through the corruption hearings and the layoffs untouched. He’s just living the dream he’s had since he was kid and that was to be a NYPD detective. That’s all he cares about and despite the decay and destruction around him, he just can’t get enough of the work being a police at Manhattan 21st precinct house.

All the while, the Revrened Tommy Moonbanks (Michael C. Hall) with his “Common Shrine” organization continues to exercise growing influence to his congregation/cult as people try to escape the mind-numbing decay with promises of peace and harmony. Just as Moonbanks’ right hand man Marcus (TBD) is working to put together Moonbanks dream of terror into place.

Funding their operations by robbing drug dealers and banks, the Common Shrine escalates their plans with bombs at various sites including the trains which ultimately leading to a plan to bomb Yankee Stadium during the World Series.

Is Cardona able to stop the plan in its tracks before it’s too late? Or will this lead to the death knell of The Big Apple?

Forty Second Fuse - The Bomb squad faces it's biggest challenge yet. It's former leader terrorizes the city of Las Vegas.

Capt McClane : Ran the Bomb Squad department for 30 years. Mentored John Slater. Invented many of the team's standard Practices. - Ciaran Hinds
Lt. John Slater: Spent 15 years as the team leader of the Bomb Squad until his family got murdered in a blast. Now seeks revenge against the department by using their old tricks against them. - Chiwetel Ejifor
Sgt. Dillon : Our Hero. Second in command on the team. Has the respect of all his peers and the wit to outplay Slater. - Nathan Fillion
Detective Plisken : Detective assigned to the case. Works closely with the squad to bring down Slater. Investigates the victims and their relation with the crimes. - David Strathairn
Officer Callahan : A real bookworm with looks to kill. Provides most of the exposition with the technical stuff. - Carla Gugino
Officer Castle : Newest member of the team. Rookie who loves being in the midst of the action. He's young and impulsive, but cross him and he'll take you down. - Chris Evans
Maria Anderson : Dillon's wife. She's a district attorney working closely with detective Plisken to find the killer. Gets threatened often. It's personal. - Maria Bello

The city of Las Vegas is home of one of the best and more advanced police departments in the entire country. It's pride is the elite Bomb Squad. A team that has no rival. Trained by Capt. McLane and Led by Lt. John Slater, it has been one of the most successful units in the department.
One terrorist organization seeks revenge on Lt. Slater and plants a bomb in his wife's car. Killing her and his two daughters. This drives Slater crazy and he quits the department.
A year later, the team is starting to get back in shape after it's leader left when on a single day, 13 different bombs go off in several landmarks of Las Vegas. It's the biggest bombing on record and it leaves the Bomb squad puzzled. There were no warnings, no intelligence reports that might suggest an attack. The investigation finds that several of the bombs were constructed and triggered using materials and techniques used by the department.
Detective Plisken is assigned to the case. A grizzled detective who has a love/hate relationship with the Squad. He was once a victim of an attack that left him scarred (Think Shadow in Backdraft). Captain McClane doesn't quite trust him, but is convince to cooperate with him by Sgt. Dillon, whose wife works with Plisken regularly in the state's attorney's office.
What follows is one of the most intense cat and mouse chases throughout the City of Las Vegas, once the team learns that it's their former mentor and leader behind the attacks they try to outsmart him and be ahead of his mind every step of the way. The closest they get to Slater the more dangerous it will get, and personal. Captain McClane will feel responsible for the monster he created and take matters into his own hands. Suffering the consequences for that choice. Plisken may or may not be working along Slater all along and Dillon's wife will be seriously threatened by the attackers.

Will they be able outwit Slater and his unquenchable thirst for revenge? Who will survive? Find out in this big budget action packed effects extravaganza that's being described as a cross between Speed, Backdraft, Swat and Blown Away!