Creative Notes:
Just a quick fix on a couple of typos that got past my bleary eagle eyes.
A Fortune to Kill
A young woman seeks supernatural help to discover who murdered her rich, elderly husband. Soon she is forced to choose between inheriting a fortune, or getting revenge.
Project collaboration:
Open
Synopsis:
ESMERALDA (and old crone), enters a Bank with Jazz Music blasting from a boombox. She refuses to turn it down. The Security Guard overreacts, and a struggle ensues. MERCY (20s) steps in and defuses the situation, before joining DONALD (70s), her husband and the owner of the Bank.
Mercy then visits MR. CHANG (50s), the owner of the Cuban Voodoo Shop where Esmeralda works. He helps her conduct a ritual to stop the nasty rumors about her marriage, suturing names into a raw cow's tongue. Early the next morning she takes the tongue to the Everglades to cast it into the swamp, but gets a phone call. Her husband is dead. A heart attack. She gets the news just as an alligator snatches the cows tongue from her hand.
At the funeral, Mercy appears to be the only one actually grieving. She faints and falls onto her husband's coffin, and is eventually helped out by FRANK (20s), a Bank employee.
Desperate to talk to her husband one last time, Mercy returns to Mr. Chang's Cuban Voodoo Shop to hire Esmeralda to conduct a séance. Esmeralda refuses. She's too busy fighting off perpetual spirit possession with the help of loud Jazz. But Mercy tricks her and briefly communicates with her husband. She finds out that while he did die of a heart attack, he was also murdered. And most importantly, he wants revenge.
Because the police refuse to believe her, Mercy hires NADINE (40s), a fierce Psychic Detective. They exhume the body, which Nadine touches to receive a Vision. The Vision leads Mercy to her husband’s Bank, where they confront REY BARRIO (50s), the Acting President. The discovery of a a SKULL TOP PEN reveals that a clue to the murder lies in Mercy's childhood home, in New Orleans.
Mercy flies to New Orleans with Frank. The two of them encounter Mercy's weirdly dysfunctional parents, and discover a connection to her husband's murder. Mercy also leans that MARCELLO (40s) her father's friend and ex-business partner, might be her true father. So she and Frank violently obtain a DNA sample from Mercy's father to test his claim. They bring it to a local DNA testing laboratory.
They decide to stay the night at Harrah's Casino. Once there, Mercy gets drunk, steals Frank’s wallet, and wipes out his cash and credit. They eventually form a bond and make love, even though Mercy suspects Frank may have been involved in her husband’s murder.
Meanwhile, back in Miami, Nadine and DETECTIVE LACKER (40s) pursue the murder by questioning Rey Barrio and Marcello. While they don't have proof, they believe Marcello was responsible for the murder.
Virtually everyone ends up at the Bank for a final confrontation. The full extent of the conspiracy is revealed, and Mercy is forced to choose between riches, or revenge. Marcello is killed by Mercy’s father, and Ray Barrio is killed by Esmeralda, possessed by the spirit of Mercy’s husband.
Mercy then visits MR. CHANG (50s), the owner of the Cuban Voodoo Shop where Esmeralda works. He helps her conduct a ritual to stop the nasty rumors about her marriage, suturing names into a raw cow's tongue. Early the next morning she takes the tongue to the Everglades to cast it into the swamp, but gets a phone call. Her husband is dead. A heart attack. She gets the news just as an alligator snatches the cows tongue from her hand.
At the funeral, Mercy appears to be the only one actually grieving. She faints and falls onto her husband's coffin, and is eventually helped out by FRANK (20s), a Bank employee.
Desperate to talk to her husband one last time, Mercy returns to Mr. Chang's Cuban Voodoo Shop to hire Esmeralda to conduct a séance. Esmeralda refuses. She's too busy fighting off perpetual spirit possession with the help of loud Jazz. But Mercy tricks her and briefly communicates with her husband. She finds out that while he did die of a heart attack, he was also murdered. And most importantly, he wants revenge.
Because the police refuse to believe her, Mercy hires NADINE (40s), a fierce Psychic Detective. They exhume the body, which Nadine touches to receive a Vision. The Vision leads Mercy to her husband’s Bank, where they confront REY BARRIO (50s), the Acting President. The discovery of a a SKULL TOP PEN reveals that a clue to the murder lies in Mercy's childhood home, in New Orleans.
Mercy flies to New Orleans with Frank. The two of them encounter Mercy's weirdly dysfunctional parents, and discover a connection to her husband's murder. Mercy also leans that MARCELLO (40s) her father's friend and ex-business partner, might be her true father. So she and Frank violently obtain a DNA sample from Mercy's father to test his claim. They bring it to a local DNA testing laboratory.
They decide to stay the night at Harrah's Casino. Once there, Mercy gets drunk, steals Frank’s wallet, and wipes out his cash and credit. They eventually form a bond and make love, even though Mercy suspects Frank may have been involved in her husband’s murder.
Meanwhile, back in Miami, Nadine and DETECTIVE LACKER (40s) pursue the murder by questioning Rey Barrio and Marcello. While they don't have proof, they believe Marcello was responsible for the murder.
Virtually everyone ends up at the Bank for a final confrontation. The full extent of the conspiracy is revealed, and Mercy is forced to choose between riches, or revenge. Marcello is killed by Mercy’s father, and Ray Barrio is killed by Esmeralda, possessed by the spirit of Mercy’s husband.
Latest Work
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Script 2 - Doug's 2nd Draft05/18/11
All Work
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Script 1 - Doug's Original Draft05/14/11
Creative Notes:I spent $1000.00 to travel to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to conduct research for this script, and the entire experience found its way into half a page. Half a page!