SPEED RACER

by

Larry & Andy Wachowski

1st Draft
1- 4 - 07
IN~. ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM - DAY - PAST
A battered sneaker tattooed with doodl es of speeding cars
and checkered flags and the words "St art Your Engines!"
Beats up and down, a sewing machine needle of anxious,
restless, adolescent energy;
A pencil fills in the oval of a standardi zed test form,
then hesitates, twitching with t he speed of a humming
bird wing caught between two finge rs , t hen i s quickly
erased as a different answer is chosen.
The form sheet is filled wi th smudges of uncertainty.
A ten year old boy stares at the next question.
TEST QUESTION
Grace buys a bag of 240
jellybeans. There are 35 yellow
ones, 52 r ed ones, 63 green ones,
26 wh ite ones , 4 1 blue ones and 40
black ones . If Grace wants to eat
one of each while keeping her eyes
closed, what is the minimum number
she will have to eat?
His mouth tries to makes sense of the question but it's
not working.
He looks around at the other stude nts quietly, diligently
filling in their ovals while he fidgets, his leg beating,
his pencil fluttering, a pot j iggling its lid, about to
boil over.
He reads the question again. Greek. Chinese. Meaningless.
He l ooks up at the c l ock. The second hand sweeps towar ds
the 12. Then back at the t est.
Something suddenly c licks.
He stares at the clock, pe ncil poised, waiting until the
second hand hits the 12 and he's off-
Filli ng in the ovals .faster than i t seems he could
possi bly be reading the questions. ·

I NT. TEACHER 'S OFFICE - DAY - PAST

Mrs. Racer sits across the desk from Speed's teacher.

MOM
Distracted
 2.
CONTINUED:

TEACHER
No, t hat ' s not exactly right. Your
son seems to be interested in onl y
one thing.
Mom knows what's corning.
TEACHER (CONT'D)
All he t alks about, all he seems
capable of thinking about is
automobile r acing.
MOM
Well you know, his father des igns
rac ing cars.
TEACHER
And where is your husband?
MOM
He's ... working. He couldn' t make
i t.
TEACHER
Perhaps the apple hasn ' t falle n
very far from the tree.
Mom is uncomfortable with that truth while the Teacher
glances back t o her records .
TEACHER (CONT'D )
Is your husband's name Rex?
MOM
No, Rex is his older brother. Why?
TEACHER
This is the test he t urne d in last
week .
She holds up the Scantron test that Speed was working on.
The bottom half of the ovals are filled in to spell out:
"GO REX GO!"

INT. ELEMENTARl SCHOOL CLASSRQOM - DAY - PAST

Speed has fin ished filling in the test and is now drawing
pictures in the corner of t he test booklet.
·He is drawing little .race c ars . He f l ips a few of the
pages and we see a quick moment of hi s animation as two
cars collide.
 3.
CONTINUED:

He continues to d raw as t he background of t he c l assroom

fades to white behind him, becomi ng the bl ack corner that
he i s drawing on .
We watch the race going on in his head as hand-drawn cars
battle each other heading for a photo- fini sh. Speed
makes· the car noise himself including the jumping sound
as two cars try to block the Mach s , smashing into one
a nother a:s
The Mach 5 jumps over a nd t hrough the fier y crash,
crossing the fi nish l ine s t ill in the a ir .
Speed i s l ost i n slow-motion revelry, maki ng the s ound of
t he r oaring crowd.
The teacher hears him and l ooks up, frowning as she sees
him lost i n his fantasy world.
A l ittle girl with a pink barrette a l so hears hi~ t urni ng
to watch him, a s mile creeping across her face; there is
no one in the entire school like him.
The teacher is about to say something when t he bel l
rings .
Speed snaps out of his fantasy and leaps up , in motion
before anyone e lse. ·
TEACHER
Alrig~t, pencils down, bring your
tes ts--
Thwack! Speed slaps hi s down and is already heading for
the door.
TEACHER (CONT'D)
- - to my desk.
Barn! The door slams open and Speed shoots out .
TEACHER (CONTI D)
Speed Racer, slow downl

EXT . ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Speed s lides down the railing on his but t, a perpetual
motion machine as he scans the street, smil ing as he sees-
Across the street, l eaning against his hot rod, his big
brother, Rex Racer.
 4.
CONTINUED :

He pauses crossing t he s treet letting two impossibly c ool

cars pass by .
Here we begin t o see t he unique and i ndividualized nature
of the automobile in t he world of Spee d Racer . In this
world, the grocery s tore parking l ot looks like a car
collector show; vintage and concept cars a re a s
u biquitous as t he Camry is in our worl d .
Speed dashes a cross the street , a t ight parabo lic arc
around t he car, h is l ittle head sticki ng up like a shark
fin circl ing until--
The· car door pops open and snaps shut .
The s eat- belt clicks i nto place before Rex e ven has a
c hance to move . He leans over and looks in the window .
Speed smiles .
REX
.. . I t ake it you're r eady t o· go?
Speed nods . Rex climbs i n bes i de him .
REX (CONT ' D)
So , who was school?
YOUNG SPEED
Fine . Are you going to the track?
Mom said you were . You don 't have
to drop meoff , I could just go
with you .
REX
No way.
He starts the car and roadster growl s t o life .
YOUNG SPEED
Oh , come on , take me with you .
Come on , please .
REX
I can't, Speed . Pops would kill
me .
YOUNG SPEED
He doesn 't have to know . I won' t
say anything. Nobody wil l know.
Corrie on , please~ Rex, pleaseplease
p leasepleasepleeeease .
Rex sighs, knowing t here 's no way he can with this.
 5.
CONTINUED : ( 2 )

REX
Are you wearing the socks?
Lickety-split, Speed sticks his sneaker up against the
dash board and . pulls back his pant leg revealing--
. A bright red sock.
REX (CONT'D)
You roll us again and t his'l l be
t he last time? Deal?
A t en year old's grin spreads ear to ear.
YOUNG SPEED
Deal.

INT. THUNDERHEAD LOCKER ROOM - NIGHT - PRESENT

A lone figure s i ts on a bench away from us; his racing
suit is unzipped to the waist and he sits wit h his head
down as though he was praying.
He is wearing a pair of bright red socks .
After a moment, he pulls his boots on , zips up his suit
and stands looking into the l ocker.
Propped against this gloves is a photo of Rex .
. This is Speed ten years later. He takes the photo and
slides it into one of the zippered pockets of his suit.
He grabs his gloves and slams the locker shut .

EXT. THUNDERHEAD RACEWAY - NIGHT - PAST

The first gen T-180 screams along the metal raceway .

INT. CAR
Speed sits i n Rex's lap, wearing a too-big helmet,
giggling with a child 's mad glee as he s teers .

EXT. THUNDERHEAD RACEWAY - NIGHT

The car _banks up a wall and roars down, swooping past.
 6.

INT. CAR
Speed screeches as though riding a roller coaster.
REX
.F eel that shimmy? That's your hind
legs trying to outrun you're
front.
SPEED
What do I do?
REX
Stop steering and star~ driving.
Speed gets serious, his lips tightening the way a hand
knots into a fist .
REX (CONT'D)
This ain't no dead piece a metal .
A car ' s, a l i ving breathing thing.
She's alive. You can feel her
talki ng to you, telling you what
she wants, what she needs. You
j ust gotta listen .
Speed tries to listen.
REX (CONT'D)
Close your eyes and listen .

Speed does.
REX (CONT'D )
They say that Ben burns drove the
last lap of t he · 1 68 Vanderbilt Cup
with his eye closed.
SPEED
No wayt
REX
No? Well maybe you can 't hear it
then. Maybe. you ought to start
hitting those books--
SPEED
No! I hear it!
REX
That so? Okay Mr . Bur::ns, you t ell
me when to gas i t for the jump.
 7.
CONTINUED :

Speed concentrates .
REX (CONT ' D)
Now?
SPEED
Uh- uh .
The jump glides towar ds them as the tires seem to whi sper
to Speed. ·
SPEED (CONT'D)
Nowt
Rex smiles , hitting t he gas , l aunc hing the car int o the
air where it s eems to hang for·a moment before rushing
down at us as we cut--

EXT . THUNDERHEAD RACEWAY~ NIGHT~ PRESENT

The modern T-180's come flying overhead , s l ammi ng down
against t he metal track, scattering bright bursts of
shooting sparks in t heir wake . ·

INT . . MEDIA ROW

A long stretch of identical glass cubicles that look down

at the raceway, where announcer's f rom all over t he globe
provide color commentary for race fans .
Thunderhead is a relativel y smal l track and t he media- row
should reflect that while it's big enough to be covered
in several different languages , it i s not nearly as
important as the majors.
LOC~ ANNOUNCER
--local fan favor ite, Speed racer
i s just gobbling up this track ,
slipping car after car--
HAROLD LEDERMAN ANNOUNCER
--no one seems able to l ay a gl ove
. on this ki d--
AUSTRALIAN ANNOUNCER
- - clear l y a r i sing star, with
several big wins since turning
pro, though he remains without a
major sponsor--
 8.
CONTINUED:

CHI NESE ANNOUNCER

--a win tonight could put him
within range of qualifying for the
Grand Prix- -
FRENCH ANNOUNCER
--let us hope he does not make the
same mistakes that h i s older ·
brother made- -

INT . CAR

Ins i de t he cockpit of a racing car .that feels more like a

f i ghter jet, Speed does the thing he was born to do .
Though the vibrations are enough to rattl e molars loose,
there is a calmness, a preternatural ease in Speed's
manner t hat suggests this maelstrom of velocity is where
he belongs.
He hears a voice in his headset.
SPARKY
Head ' [Link] , Speed ! Seven o'clock . I
got Snake drafting. Pitter- pat.
Speed looks · into h i s mirror and sees a car with orange
and black markings , s tacked up t ight behind another car.
SPEED
I got him.

EXT. TECH PI T
It is smaller than a typical crew p i t since the cars
don 't really pit. Ther e is a panel l ike a sound mixing
board f illed wi t h needled gauges and green-barred light
meters.
Sparky is watching through binoculars .
SPMKY
I fi gure he' ll slingshot after you
in the next turn.
SPEED
I' m ready.
 9.

EXT . THUNDERHEAD RACEWAY - NIGHT

The car s explode into the next t urn when Snake uses the
draft to sli ngshot by t he car ahead of him--
Hurling like a bullet straight at Speed as--
Speed thumbs a button on his steering whe e l causing jacks
to shoot out o f the bottom o f the car and sending it up
i nto the air just as --
Snake flies under it, careening into the bottom of the
turn too tightly , bounc i ng of the rail, out of c ontrol ,
ricochetti ng back at Speed as - -
He turns his wheels, catching a part of Snake's car with
the grace of a bull-fighter , sending it spinning away
t owards the other cars while--
Speed rockets free- -
Eliciting a huge r oar from the crowd .

EXT . TECH PIT

Spar ky smiles .
SPARKY
Great move, Speed . Careful on the
butterfly coming up . You may wanna
ease up--
SPEED
Not this time , Sparky .

EXT . ~HUNDERHEAD RACEWAY - NIGHT

Speed careens through a b utter f l y turn like t here was a
s lot-gu i de in the track caus i ng another crowd roar .
They can feel that somethi ng special might be happening .

EXT . TECH PIT

Spar ky checks his stop watch .
SPARKY
Holy canol i , Speed , You know who
you ' re rac i ng?
 10 .
CONTINUED :

He can see him.

SPEED
Yeah ..•
Just ahead, the ghost of his b r other's car l aunches up
the sec ond jump and when ti comes dovm we are back i n the
past .

EXT . THUNDERHEAD RACEWAY - NIGHT - PAST

Rex dr ives t he older model T-180 , a man on a mission ,
dominati ng t he rac e exactly like Speed.

EXT . GRANDSTANDS

Pops stands watching t he race through binoculars Young

Sppe d is beside h im .
YOUNG SPEED
Rex's gonna win, a in't he , Pops ?
Pops c hecks hi s watch b ut almost can ' t believe it . He
goes back to hi s binoculars.
YOUNG SPEED (CONT'D)
He ' s gonna win i t . He' s gonna set
the course record . Nobody 's gonna
catch h im .
POPS
Quiet, Speed ! There ' s a lotta race
to run .
YOUNG SPPED
No way . It ' s over. My brother's
t he best racer in the world .
Everybody else i s runn ing for
second .
The c ars rocket through the twisted mobius o f steel .

EXT. CREW PIT

Blackjack Benelli grabs one of the c rew chief , knotting
his fists in the fabric of the path-covered cover alls .
BLACKJACK. BENELLI
I t old you to take him out !
 11.
CONTINUED :

CREW CHIEF #1
We ' r e trying, sir . He ' s just too
f ast .

EXT . THUNDERHEAD RACEWAY

Rex blazes by, the track rattl i ng like a metal roller-
coaster, opening an even bigger lead .
As we move around Rex' s car, we see sudde nly there is
someone right behind him , a ghost car-- ·
Spee d .
As Speed makes his move , he pul l s us back into t he
present .

INT . MEDI A ROW - PRESENT

The buzz i s palpabl e .
LOCAL ANNOUNCER
--it's unbelievable fo lks , no
one ' s seen moves like this , since
that remarkable night e i ght years
ago- -
HAROLD LEDERMAN ANNOUNCER
- - there's no doubt i n my mind ,
he's gunning for it- -
AUSTRALIAN ANNOUNCER
- -drivi ng l i ke a man possessed , a
man haunted by h is past--
CHINESE ANNOUNCER
- -a rec ord that has stood for
eight years set by. his .older--
FRENCH ANNOUNCER
- - he is not alone out there , he is
chasing someone , he is chasing the
ghost of Rex Racer--

EXT . GRANDSTANDS
In the g l ass of Pop's binos we can see the d im reflection
of the two brothers r acing .
 12 .
CONTINUED :

Pops stands beside Mom. He is still watching the race

wit h h is trus ty binos t hough he is now a littl e older,
plumper and balder . .
He clicks his stopwatch , checking it at the same time
[Link] Spritt le checks his . Spr1ttle stands on the chair
next to him .
SPRITTLE
Jeepers , he could do it , Pops . He
could really do it , couldn't he?
Pops goes back to his binos .

SPR!TTLE (CONT'D)
What if he does? What i f he does
it , Pops?
POPS
Sssh !

SPRITTLE
I don't know if I can watch
this ••.
He holds th~ b inos as though afraid to look when--
A hairy hand comes in and takes them away.
Chirn-chim, sitting on the chair next t o Sprittle , puts
the binos to his eyes .
Speed flies through a pi ece of tricky t r ack drawing
another cheer . ·
Sprittle grabs the . [Link] back just as the beautiful young
woman, standing on t he other side of Pops , lowers her .
Trixie chews a t her lip , feeling a knot twist into her
gut .

EXT . SUBURBAN STREET- DAY - PAST

The little girl wearing the pink barrette is walking with

a pack of girls, their little mouths as sha rp as razors.
In the distance we hear a high-pitche d motorized whine .
BLONDE PACK LEADER
My Daddy told me he used to work
for the Mishida Motorwerks but he
quit .
(MORE)
 13.
CONTINUED :
BLONDE PACK LEADER (CONT'D)
My daddy said that was a
completely crazy thing to do . He
says the whole family is crazy .
TRIXIE
Speed's not crazy.
BLONDE PACK LEADER
No, he's just dumb. Probably t he
dumbest ki d in class . Ms .
Waterstraat had me alphab etize the
IRB te s t s and you wouldn't believe
what t hat retard did--
Sock!
Trixie decks her t o the shock of the rest of the pack
just as t he whine grows_ very loud and--
Speed comes roundi ng the bend on a little go- cart ,
wearing his too-bi g helmet making his big head seem
ridiculously enormous.
Zipping past, he suddenly notices the girl in the pink
barrette standing over another girl ; t here is something
about her--
Maybe it's way she 's got her fists up , like a boy, or
maybe it'·s the way her jaw is set, ready to take on
anyone--
Whatever it is , when their eyes suddenly meet , he finds _
he is unable to look away--
Staring at her, as he drives off the road , crashing
through a hedge and tumbling down a hill.
TRI XIE
Speed!
She runs to help him .
He is laying sprawled out, hi s car on its side, wheels
still spinning~
TRIXIE (CONT 'D)
Are you alright? .
He's a bit groggy .
SPEED
.•• who are you?
TRIXIE
I'm Tr i xie. I'm in your class.
 14 .
CONTINUED : ( 2 )

SPEED
... oh . . . yeah .
He stares at her for a minute , powder-puffs of clouds
floating about her head •.
SPEED (CONT ' D)
He , would you like to see my car
collection
She smiles .
TRIXIE
I ' d love to .

INT . POP'S GARAGE

Pops· and Rex are working on the T-180 . Rex is in a w1 fe-
beater , up to his elbows i n axel grease .
The sound of an angry ·bee hive fills the room as Speed
drives up t hrough t he big open door .
SPEED
Hey , Rex. Hey Pops .
REX
Hey , Speedy .
POPS
Who ' s your f riend?
SPEED
He r name's Trix ie . She's in my
class . .
TRI XIE
Hi.
POPS
Pl easure to meet you, young lady .
SPEED
Hey pops, a guy· wanted me to give
this to you . He said he was a big
fan.
He hands him the package and Pops smiles .
POPS
A fan, is it? Not often we get
someone with such good taste
around here . Where is he?
 15 .
CONTINUED :

SPEED
He wa s in a hurr y . Driving a ' 68
Fenders i n . sweet set of whe els .
The c ar description r i ngs a bell fo r Rex .
REX
Let me see that .
He grabs the box, the n hol ds it t o his e ar .
I t ' s t i c k i ng .
He jams i t i nto t he go-ca r t , against the pedal and slaps
i t in ·r e verse .
The go-cart shoot s out of t he ga rage and down t he
driveway until- -
It explode s , an e normou s fi rebal l ba l l ooni ng up past t he
tree tops .
Tr i xie 's eyes fla sh wit h excitement .
TRIXI E
Cool beans f

EXT . THUNDERHEAD RACEWAY - NIGHT - PRE SENT

Fe e l ing the s t orm of emotions t hat s he knows Spee d must

be fe e ling , she takes a deep breat h and r a ises t he bi nos
back up .
Through t he magni fy ing l e nses we see Spe ed f l yi ng around
t he track .

I NT . MEDIA ROW ·
They are ridi ng the s tor y like Speed is drivi ng the
track .
LOCAL ANNOUNCER
- - no one f r om t hese parts will
f orget t he trag ic s tory of Rex
Race r- -
HAROLD LEDERMAN ANNOUNCER
- -he nearly rui ne d rac ing- -
AUSTRALI AN ANNOUNCER
- - s i ngle-handedly tried t o s a ve
racing- -
 16 .
CONTI NUED :

CHINESE ANNOUNCER
- - one of the greatest scanda ls in
the history of the sport--
FRENCH ANNOUNCER
--i t is always the brightest star
that burn out t he fas test- -·

EXT . THUNDERHEAD RACEWAY - NIGHT

Speed b l ister through the high- ban ked slal om and i t seems
at first that he i s all alone but then we see the t race
e ffect as we rea li ze t hat the two cars are maki ng
perfectly ident ical moves unti,1- -,-
They bank into a s traightaway , split ting apart , l ike a
shadow suddenly cut fr ee as both car s accelerate--
Neck and neck , the past a mirror of the present .
YOUNG SPEED (V . O. )
Can I go wi th you , Re

I NT . REX'S ROOM - NIGHT . - PAST

Young Speed watches as Rex packs his bags .
REX
Not this time , Speedy .
SPEED
When are you coming back?
REX
I don't know . I don't know .
He snaps the bag shut .
REX (CONT'D)
Look , Speed . .. one day people
might say thing s about me~ No
matter what they say , I hop ... I·
j ust hope you never believe t hem .
SPEED
I won't.
He hugs h i s little b rother , knowing it might be for the
last time.
 17 .

INT. RACER LIVING ROOM

Rex he ads f or t he door but Pops is waiting for him.

POPS
So , you ' re qui t ting?

REX
I have to.
POPS
No you don't. Thi s is a choice.
You' re selli ng out, walking away
fr om everything we ' ve built here .
RE X
. I 'm done arguing wi th you Pops .
He turns back towards the door .
POPS
Don't you walk away from me !
REX
You can't t ell me what to do . It ' s
my lif e to l ive .
He take s hol d of t he doorknob .
POPS .
If you walk out t hat do or, you
better not e ver come back!
The door s l ams i n response .

EXT . THUNDERHEAD RACEWAY - NIGHT - PRESENT

Speed and the ghost of his brother cross , switching
positions as the memories c ome faster and f aster .

I NT . RACER LIVING ROOM - NI GHT - PAST

Speed sit s on t he floor , glued t o the televi sion ,
watching a big r ace that Rex i s i n . Mom and Pops are on
t he couch behi nd him .
All of them sit in a s uspe nded state, a fis t of tension
squeezing the b rea t h out of them . one the screen , is a
cloud of smoke billowi ng from a tangle of met al.
 18 .
CONTINUED :

RALLY ANNOUNCER (V . O,)

Rex Racer rivi ng the black and red
Uniron car , got in a tangle with
Richenhbach, who had been favored
t o win--
COLOR ANNOUNCER (V . O. )
That was no t a ngle , he took·
Richenbach out--
RALLY ANNOUNCER .
We don't know that but I imagine
t he WRL will be r eviewi ng this
crash .
COLOR ANNOUNCER
That's t he third DNF ·c r a s h Racer 's
been involved i n ! Re view i t? Heck ,
the oughta just suspend h i m.
POPS
Turn it of f , Speed ! I d on't want
you watching this anymor e .

EXT. THUNDERHEAD RACEWAY - NI GHT - PRESENT

Speed tightens his grip on the wheel .

INT . YOUNG SPEED 'S BEDROOM

Speed is hidden beneath the blankets, the sound of a
smal l por table t elev i sion bar ely au d i ble .
RACE ANNOUNCER
Rex Race r almost took Yakima's
head off wit t hat jump !
RACE COMMENTATOR
There's absol u t ely no doubt i n my
mind that Rex Rac er i s the
d i rtiest driver in the wor ld .
Li t by the soft glow of the small tv , Speed blinks a nd
the f irs t tears slip silently down his cheeks .

EXT . THUNDERHEAD RACEWAY - NIGHT - PRESENT

His jaw locks, as he rema i ns t rapped bet ween two
different f orces .
 19 .

EXT . SCHOOL YARD - DAY - PAST

Young Speed is ciobbering a kid who is twice his size . A
teacher finall y pulls them apart .
BIG MOUTH
I just told him the truth ! His
crum- bum brother doesn't be l ong on
a racetrack-- he belongs i n jail !
Speed tears fre e and torpedoes Big Mouth agai n .

EXT . THUNDERHEAD RACEWAY - NIGHT - PRESENT

The two cars conti nue to dance around each other .

IN'l1 • MEDIA ROW

LOCAL ANNOUNCER
- - the t r ial of Rex Racer shook the
World Racing League to tis very
foundation --
HAROLD LEDERMAN ANNOUNCER
- - once a rat , a lways a rat and in
my book Rex Racer's nuthin ' but a
rat--
AUSTRALIAN ANNOUNCER
---the indictment brought down
perennial rac ing powe rhouse
Uniroyal- -
CHINESE ANNOUNCER
--Uniroyal was linked to the
notorious fixer Blackjack Bene lli- -
FRENCH ANNOUNCER
--sti ll in prison to t his day ,
Benelli was rumored to be behind
the Casa Cristo tragedy- -
The two cars swe rve, heading for a collision as we cut- -

INT . RACER LIVING ROOM - NIGHT - PAST

Morn, Pops, Sparky, Trixie and Speed are all watching the
race on the te l evision .
 20.
· CONTINUED :

Something happens and Mom drops her glass. It shatters

but no one seems to notice .
Young Speed is transfixed by the horror of what is
playing out , the images of fire and flashing lights,
refl ecting in h i s eyes .
CASA CRI STO ANNOUNCER
This has to be one of the wors t
crashes I have ever s een--
CASA CRIS'l'O COMMENTATOR
Terrible , just terrible--
CASA CRISTO ANNOUNCER
There is still no sign of the
driver , Re x Racer.

EXT . THUNDERHEAD RACEWAY - NI GHT - PRESENT

Speed pres ses down on the accelerator and starts to gain ,
fighting the emotion welling behind his eyes.

INT . YOUNG SPEED'S BEDROOM - PAST

Held by h i s mother, Speed sobs and sobs while Pops stands
helpless ly, at th_e door .

EXT . THUNDERHEAD RACEWAY - NIGHT - PRESENT

Speed again pul ls eve n with Rex as the fin ish line comes
into view .

INT . MEDIA ROW

LOCAL ANNOUNCER
--he's comin'hard , it's gonna be
close--
HAROLD LEDERMAN ANNOUNCER
- - forget the past , he's sayin',
this is my n i ght--
AUSTRALIAN ANNOUNCER
- -there' s a new Racer in town- -
CHINESE ANNOUNCER
--poised to wipe the slate clean--
 21.
CONTINUED :

FRENCH ANNOUNCER
- -escaping the d ark shadow of his
olde r brother--
The checkered flag goes up, ready as -the two cars come
s ~re aming towards t he fi nis h line--
The large digi tal clock seemingly synchronized wi th the
past as - - .
Speed looks over at the ghost car, t he faintest smile on
his lips as he sees his older brother a nd then--
Takes his foot off the accelerator , l e tting Rex' s car
surge ahe ad, crossing just before Spee d .
The time is j u s t over t he record caus i ng d isap pointment
t o ripple t hrough the crowd except f o r--
The Racer f amily who seem both rel i ved and happy .
SPRITTLE
Come on , Let ' s go ! Victory Lane!

INT . MEDI A ROW

They seem exhaus t ed .
FRENCH ANNOUNCER
Zut a lors! What a race !
CHINESE ANNOUNCER
- - by a cat's whisker - -
AUSTRALIAN ANNOUNCER
--the record s till stands - -
HAROLD LEDERMAN ANNOUNCER
-- looked like he pulled up to me--
LOCAL ANNOWCER
- - Folks, I knew Rex Racer and i f
he's u p t here somewhe re watching
thi s r ace , you can be t your ass ,
he's damn proud of his little
brother .

INT . RACER X'S P~NTHOUSE - NIGHT

Walls of glass overlooking a galaxy of twinkling

cityscape ; a pent hou s e created as a d iamond is c rea ted,
every fac e a perfect s troke o f precision.'
 22 . ·
CONTI NUED:

A beautiful woman wearing nerdy-glasses sits watc hing the

television from the leather banquette . She has a body
made of the same kind of line s that a s ports car or a
high-heel has, lines that make your head turn .
•rhi s is Minx .
Be side her is a brooding, muscled man , his attention
riveted a s Speed pulls into Victory Lane . Though we don ' t
s e e his face, t h is is Racer X.
MINX
He ' going to be very good .
RACER X
No . He's going to bs the best.
The crowd swarms around Speed 's car .
RACER X (CONT ' D)
If they don't destroy him f irst .

EXT. RACER HOUSE - MORNING

The phone is ringing .

INT . KITCHEN
Mom .is . cooking breakfast . Befor e she can get to the
phone , Sprittle grabs i t .
SPRITTLE
Racer residence .
CORPORATE AGENT
Good mor ning , I was hoping to
speak with Speed racer .
SPRITTLE
He 's not i nte rest ed .
He ha ngs up .

MOM
Sprit tle !
SPRITTLE
It 's true!
MOM
That 's not for you to say .
 23 .
CONTINUED :

SPRITTLE
Speed's gotta drive for Pops !
MOM
That's for Speeed to decide .
The phone rings again . Sprittle grabs it qui ckly .
SPRI TTLE
Hello?
CORPORATE AGENT #2
Is this the Rac er residence?
He glances at Mom.

SPRITTLE
Nope .
He hangs up . Shrugs .

SPRITTLE (CONT'D)
Wrong number .

INT . PARENTS BEDROOM

Pops is doing his exercises in his gray sweats .

INT . SPEED'S ROOM

Speed now- s l eeps in Rex's old room . The poster of Ben
Burns is still t acked to t he wall above t he bed .
Mom opens the door.
MOM
Come on, Champ . Rise and shine .
Breakfast's ready .
Speed ' s hair .seems to remain asleep , still molded to the
pill ow as he tries to p ush himself up .
SPEED
..• I'm up, I'm up .

INT . KITCHEN

Mom spatulas another short stack of pancakes from the

griddle and shovels t hem l i ke coal i nto the blazing maw
of a locomotive , dumpi ng them onto the plates of Spri ttle
and Chim-chim .
 24 .
CONTINUED :

They eat ravenously, · trying to secretly steal food from

eac h other's plates while Pops reads from the Racing
News .

POPS
"It was a v irtµoso display of
talent , the · likes of which has not
been seen at Thunderhead since
Racer the elder dropped jaws eight.
years ago . Now, as we once again ,
pull our collective jaws up from
the floor , we h ave to ask, will i t
be d ifferent t his time, or will
trage dy--

MOM
That's enough of that, Hon .

Pops puts down the paper and Sparky picks it up .

SPARKY
I just can' t believe there wasn ' t
one mention of Racer motors in
there .

POPS
Tha t ' s because the Sponsors run
the media , Sparky .
Tri xie enters t hrough the back door .

TRIXIE
Mornin' everyone . Is. Sp eed up yet?

Speed stumbles in the door .

SPEED
.•. in spirit anyway .

TRIXIE
Hey super~tar , did you see the
papers? They're all in love with
you .

SPEED
Really?
· He sits , grabbing the paper .

SPARKY ·
Yeah , ·but there sure is a lot of
speculati on about which team's
going to pick him up .
 25 .
CONTINUED: (2)

SPEED
.•. really?
Speed starts to read and suddenly the room begi ns to
rumble, glasses shaking , plates .. rattling.
POPS
What the--?
SPRITTLE
Earthquake !
He and Chim-chim begin wailing i n panic .
SPRITTLE (CONT'D)
Quick, under the t able ! Into the
door-frame !
POPS
Sprittle calm down !
SPEEED
Pops the kitchen's the most
dangerous room in a house during
an earthquake!
The whole table shivers and it seems the hangi ng ceiling
light might shake free when the tremor begins to subside .
Sprittle and Chim-chim, wearing a pot and a metal
colander for protection, look around, expecting something
bad to happen .
The house becomes pin-prick quiet when- -
The doorbell rings .

INT . LIVING ROOM

Pops opens the door to a face full of turbi ne exhaust
from the private K-Harrier jet parked on their fr ont
lawn .
On their doorstep i s an e xtreme ly well dressed older man
carryi~g a bouquet o f flowers and box of cigars .
His smile is as bright and shiny as a surgeon ' s scalpel .
He says, "Good morning, Mr . And Mrs . Racer" but no once
can hear him over the howl of the turbines .
He gestures, asking permission to come in . Pops lets him
by and closes the door , immedia te l y reducing the noise .
 26.
CONTINUED :

WELL DRESSED MAN

Mr . And Mrs . Racer, I hope you
will forgive this imposition .
He hands her the beautiful bouquet of flowers .
WELL DRESSED MAN (CONT ' D)
These are Blue-belles from EDEN
Inc . I'm told the will bloom at
least three t imes, each time a
d i fferent color .
.Mom "ohhhs" her a ppreciation, while he hands over the box
of cigars .
WELL DRESSED MAN (CONT'D)
And Mr . Racer the se are for you,
straight form the Isle of Kamut .
Hand-rolled. Premium blend .
They glance at each other, a bit takenaback .
POPS
Uh, thanks but . . . who are you?

He seems to r ise up an inch taller as he introduces

himself .
WELL DRESSED MAN
I am E . P . Arnold Remmingtonton
Esquire , President and Chairman of
Remmington Industries and it is my
honor to meet you both .
He reaches for Pops ' f r ee hand.
REMMINGTON
Mr. Racer, I have been an ardent
admirer of your work for years . I
remember the first t ime I saw the
prototype for the Mach-1 , I told
everyone that it didn ' t belong on
a race track , it belonged in an
art museum .
Pops chuckles .
POPS
Yeah, she was a beaut .
REMMINGTON
No, s ir . She was a revelation .
ge s uddenly smells the pancakes .
 27 .
CONTINUED : (2)

REMMINGTON (CONT ' D)

Oh, dear . I interrupted your
breakfast . Is that pancakes , I
smell?
MOM
Are you hungry , Mr . Rernmington?
REMMINGTON
A figure l i ke mine requires
constant attention , Mrs . Racer .
MOM
Do you like pa ncakes ?
REMMINGTON
When I was a child we used to s ay ,
"pankuken ziri liesben ."
Neither of them speak German .
REMMINGTON (CONT ' D)
Pancake s are love .

INT . KITCHEN

Remmington stuff another forkful i nto his mouth and moans

his appreciation .
Sprittle and Ch im-c him sit on eit her side of him, their
gunsel eyes train on his every move .
REMMINGTON
Gorgeous , Mrs . Racer . Superb
density . Hints o f vanilla .
Cinnamon . Absolutely gorgeous .
MOM
I ' m glad you like them.

REMMINGTON
Like them? I want to ' buy your
r ecipe .
He takes ou t his hand held comp uter and beings maki ng
notes .
MOM
I can give you the r ecipe , Mr .
Renunington .
 28 .
CONTINUED :

REMMINGTON
Nonsense . Cenestro Foods, a sub-
d i vision of Remmington Industries
is planning a new range of home-
cooked meals for travelers and
this is just the kind of magic
we're looking for . I'll have my
attorney draw up the paperwork .
Mom looks at Pops fe eling flattered but again a distinct
discomfort .
REMMINGTON (CONT'D)
Now, then . We all know the reason
I'm h ere is because of you, Speed.
I was watching last n i ght and I
have to tell you young man , you ·
gave me goosebumps . I know at
once , this was no mere driver I
was watching . This was a n a rti s t .
$peed's ear s go a bit r e d .
SPEED
Driver ' s only as good as the car .
REMMINGTON
I appreciate modesty, Speed but I
do not exaggerate when is ay that
you are a gen ius . Watching you
reminded me of why I love racing
and I am grateful f or that . Thank
you .
SPEED
You 're welcome , I guess .
REMMINGTON
I i magine the phone has been
ringing off the hook .
SPRITTLE
Speed's not interest in driving
for you or any other sponsor .
REMMINGTON
Is this your manager then?

MOM
He's our youngest . Spritt le .
REMMING~ON
Nice to meet you , youngster .
 29 .
CONTINUED : (2 )

Remmingt on offers his hand but Sprittle does n't take it .

SPRITTLE
We got out eye on you , Mi ster .
REMMINGTON
Excellent ~ The fir s t t hing I want
to make perfectly clear is that I
have no int ention whats oever of
trying to get Speed ·away from
Racer motors . What you have .here
is what teams s pend years and
mi llions of dollars tryi ng to
achieve : chemistry . Car de s igner,
me chanic and driver all comi ng
together i n perfect .harmony . I
wouldn't dare touch a thi ng .
SPEED
We ll , excuse me for asking , but
what do you want?
REMMINGTON
To hel p . I want to make sure you
.have access to whatever r esou~ces
you need to cont inu.e doing exactly
what you are doing .
POPS
I a s sume , Mr . Remmington t hat you
are not talk i ng about
philanthropy.
Remmington chuckles .
REMMINGTON
I like whe n my partners have a
sense of humor . And t hat's what
I'm talki ng about . A part ners hip.
An alliance between your amazing
family and mine . That ' s exactly
what Remmington Industrie s is t o
me, a family . Like yours . Just a
l ittle bi gger .
Pops isn't exactly buying it .
POPS
No offens e , Remmington but Racer
Motors runs as an independent .
REMMINGTON
None taken . I compl etely
understand . I sympathize .
(MORE)
CONTINUED : ( 3 )
REMMINGTON (CONT'D)
Strike that-- I s·ympathize . You
may think of R. I . As a huge
corporate conglomerate but I will
ha ve you know sire·, tha t I still
r emember working all night on a
Commodore 64 in the . basement of my
foster parents ' home . I build R . I .
From below t he ground up . So while
Remmington Industries may loo k
l i ke a Major Sponsor to you, it
remains in my heart as independent
to me as t he first day I quit my
j ob a t GloBocom to work for
myself .
They're ' r e s tunned i nto sile nce , while Remmi ngton ·
pre sses on .
REMM.I NGTON (CONT'D)
Now I ' ve had t his wonderfu l
opport unity to meet your family .
All I am asking is for you to
pleas e gi ve me the chance to
introduce you to mine .

EXT . COSMOPOLIS - DAY

The K-Harrier dri f t s through the polygonal mountai n range
where glittering minarets of steel and g l ass crown
towering cathedrals of commerce .
He licop ters s warm like polli nating be es in summer fi eld .
The vista is filled wi th the icons o f eve ry conceivabl e
business in very conceivable language . It i s a l a ndsc ape
that merges the pop-art sensibili ty of Warho l wit h t he
urba n sprawl of Blade Ru nner. ·

I NT . K-HARRIER .
Wood paneled e l egance surround the _f ami -ly who s i t in
overstuffed sea ts as soft and padde d as clouds .
They can ' t help but gawk out t he windows a s they float
through t he city.
MOM
I' ve never flown so low t hrough
the c i ty .
REMMINGTON
Special permit. Only six of t hem
are granted a year .
 31.
CONTI NUED :

Sprittle and Chim- chim are gawking at something else : the

vertical pull-out drawer l i ned with every kind candy in
the world .
FL IGHT ATTENDANT
Take whatever you like .
He looks at her f or a moment like .is i n l ove , t hen turns
back to the drawer where he and Chim- chim lunge for it ,
· pushing each other back .
POPS
Sprit tle !
SPRITTLE
She said we could!
Pop growls at him, his eyes telling t hem they'd better
not take more than one piece .
Hang- dogged heads , they e ach grab one piece of candy?
POPS
What do you say?
SPRITTLE
Thank you .
She closes the drawer , the i r eyes seen through t he racks,
watchi ng paradise dis appear as though a mirage .
SPARKY
Hey, there's the Grand Prix
Coli seum!
Sp rittle and ~hi m-chim rush to Sparky's window . They can
s ee the entire t r ack a nd even f rom this height i t seems
enormous .
Sprit tle turns t o Remmington.
SPRITTLE
My brother ' s going to win the
Grand Pr i x one day .
Remmington' s eyes glint .
.REMMINGTON
No doubt in my mind; young man.
Given the right circumstances , I
have no doubt whatsoever .
 32 .

EXT . REMMINGT_ON INDUSTRIES .

Power gleams off every surface and line of the strata-

scape .
The K- Harrier gl i des gracefully down to the priva te
landing pad .

INT . HANGER/FOYER
An entourage of assistants wait l i ke puppies at the door.
Among them is a gorgeous woman with the kind of smile
that put s people i mmediate_ly at ease.
REMMINGTON
This is Gennie . She 's our Talent
Manager . Ask for anyt h ing , her
job's to make i t come true .
GENNIE
Hi, Speed . Welcome to Rernmington .

He shakes her hand while she signals to another man who

immediately begins scanning s peed with an electronic
measuring device_.
SPEED
What's t his?
REMMINGTON
To make an informed decision
you ' ll need to understand how we
take care of our drivers .
The tailor finishes quickly as an electric cart, the kind
des i gned for a group tour pulls u p .
REMMI NGTON (CONT 'D)
All abroad .
SPRITTLE
Cool !
They climb on and the driver pulls into the tramway .

INT . TRAMWAY

These well lit hallways are extra wide with lots of

colored .guide lines on the f l oor like in a hospital .
 33 .
CONTINUED:

There a re a lot of signs, directional arid advertisements

hawking the widely vari ed Remmington products .
The red l ines lead to doors emblazoned with "Restricted
Access . "
There is a fair bit of hus tle and bustle , like a busy
street as golf carts , seg-ways and motorized scooter zip
to and f ro . No one walks .
REMMI NGTON
Rernmington Tower is the crown
jewel among the properties t hat I
control . It functiops as the
corporate headquarters for he top
twelve division s of our parent
corp . One big industries fami l y .
The turn a corner heading for a large set of doors with
the double "R" logo of Rernrnington Racecars .
REMMINGTON (CONT 'D )
Of all the 143 companies that I
control, none of them i s as dear
to my heart as the T-180 d i vision .
The door opens as they enter--

INT . REMMINGTON CAR MUSEUM

Cars from the golden Age through to the present surround
the pathway , dangling in midair or mount ed in situ-
dioramas , each carefully lit with spotlights like works
of art or precious gems .
REMMINGTON
I ' ve a l ways felt that it is
impossible to peer into the window
of Tomorrow without a clear vie w
of tne Past .
SPRITTLE
That's the Crystal Horse with the
Apache Sµper - Charger !
REMINGTON
Winner of the Grand Prix in '69,
'70 and '73 .
 34 .
CONTINUED :

SPRITTLE
No . Wrong. ' 72 . '71 was the
Vundervopper wi th the K- 2 twin
turbine and ' 73 was the Kenobe
Mot orstar re-built with a VC
. t riple chamber .
Rernmington considers arguing.
SPEED
Don' t bother . He's never wrong.
They pass out of the museum .

I NT . TRAMWAY
The hall widens a l lowing a spe cial lane that leads out
onto an ob~ervation deck that over looks the main T-180
factory .
The bank of windows over l ooks the enormous f acility . I t
is a s t ate o f the art ass embly line tha t rises
vertically, instead of horizontally . The chassis arr ives
at the bottom and is born up by a mechanical arm,
rotating as each platform assembles t h e next piece .
The far wall is noth i ng but g lass providing a s u n-
drappl ed _vista of Cosmopolis .
REMINGTON
Our vertically integrat ed plant is
the · fastest in the world . From
initia l c arbon bond to t'inished
car i n 36 hours . How long does i t
take at Racer Motors?
SPARKY
Several wee ks at l east .
Rernmington turns t o Pops .
REMINGTON
This kind o f product ion f acility
could be at your di sposal , Mr .
Racer .
The cart motor hums and s l ides back onto the tramway .
 35 .

INT . ENERGY-CELL THEATRE

The next viewing stage is a window into the vacuumed-
sealed l aboratory where t hey construct the "engi ne" that
powers the T- 180' s turbine.
It looks like an operating theat re with several robotic
a~ms and a cluster of auto-surgeons oper ating inside
sealed perspec chambers .
REMMINGTON
This is our operating theater
where our patented Refusion Energy
Distributor Network is i nstalled
in the turbine drive .
Sparky' s eye l ight up .
SPARKY
Is that a n inner-positi ve
transponder?
REMMING"rON
It is indeed .
Sparky shoots a look at Pops .
REMMI NGTON (CONT'D)
We control the only transponder
foundry in the world outside of
Mushi Motors in Taiobi .
The window suddenly turn s into a mi rror .
REMMINGTON (CONT'D)
Oops . Sor ry . Trade Secrets .

INT • 1'RAMWAY

The cart arrives at an elevat or station , and the driver

presses a signal control the doors· opening immediately .

I NT . ELEVATOR
The d river punche~ in a floor a nd. door direction code
(north , south, east , west ) a nd the elevator begins to
rise while the dai s in the floor begins to spin aligning
them with a different door .
 36 .
CONTINUED :

. REMMINGTON
Now, I'll take you up to t he Team
Re mrnington training facility.
The west door opens and the cart glides out into a new
tramway which is not as i ndustrial feel i ng as the f irst
one , dec orated with [Link] wainscotting and slightly up-
graded light s.
The higher you go in the Remmington Tower, t he nicer the ·
halls a re decorated .

INT. TRAI NING AQUARIUM

The cart glides by a series of windows that reveal the

rigorous training systems invented to test the drivers .
·The first is a multi- level, state-of-the- art fitness
facili ty in which the far wall again looks out i nto
.Cosmopolis . Beyond the standard health club fare , there
is a Martial Arts gymnastics grou p in a standing pyramid .
There is also a r ange of strange devices ranging from the
retro steamer boxes, medicine balls and vibrating belts
to the hyper-modern triple axis gyro h arness .·
REMMINGTON
As you know, a T-18O driver ' s got
to be in peak physical condition .
Across from the gym is a smaller window where the typical
anaerobi c test is be i ng conducted on a female driver. She
is running on a treadmill with lost of wires hooked up to
her while several doctors not their approval at the read-
outs.
REMMINGTON (CONT'D)
No expense is spared to make sure
that when our driver 's suit up
. they are as perfectly tuned as the
machines they are controlling .
The next wi ndow is a massive cen:trifuge; a huge
mechanical arm whippi ng around a small capsule that
blasts past the window .
REMMINGTON (CONT ' D)
The b est driver must be able to
withstand over 4-Gs of force in a
t ypical race .
 37 .
CONTINUED :

On the oppos i te wall is the v i bration chamber . A man is

strapped to a chair that is vibrating so hard you expect
his eyeballs to rattle out .
Th e next window i s an underwater tank where a man is
d riving ·in a moc k up cockpit, executing peddle maneuvers
and gear shifts .
REMMINGTON (CONT 'D)
The. wi ll to win i s nothing without
t he wil l to p repare and at Team
Remmington we prepare our dri vers
for any eve ntua lity a nd every
possibl e condition .
The final window is the we ather chamber wher e a d_r iver is
again in a mock cockpit, blue-lipped and shivering while
snow and wind buffet him .

INT . ELEVATOR

The doors open and t he craft gli des in .

REMMINGTON
I hope I didn ' t care you, Speed
with how hard we push our team . I
just wanted you to see how s e rious
we are committed to wi nni ng .
SPEED
I get that .
REMMINGTON
Good. But a lso understand that
R. I . Isn 't all work and no play .
The door opens revealing t he Drivers' Cl ub .

INT . DRIVERS ' CLUB

A s wanky Playboy- style cas ino club where, stylishly
dres sed male and female drivers are catered t o by
beauti f u l male and female " hostesses . "
Spr ittle's eyes a lmost pop out .
SPRITTLE
That's Cannonball Taylor !
Speed u r ns and sees the Captain of the Rernmi ngton Team .
 38 .
CONTINUED : .

REMMINGTON
Stop the cart . Jack ! Jack, come
here . There 's someone I want you
to meet .
Cannonball saunters over, wearing his t wo goi ter- size d,
diamond- encrusted champion rings .
REMMINGTON (CONT'D)
Speed Racer allow me to introduce
two-time Grand Prix Winner, f ive
time WRL Champion and f uture Hall
of · Farner, J·ack Cannonball Taylor .
SPEED
Honor to meet you .
. CANONBALL
Caught that Thunderhead replay.
Ni ce piece of work .
SPEED
Wow , thanks .
CANONBALL
There was a rumor you might be
visiting .
SPEED
It's pretty impressi ve.

CANONBALL
Only t hing I cared about was that
wall over there .
He gestures to a s pecial wall fitte d with the trophies
and medals won by team Remmington through the years.
CANONBALL (CONT'D)
That' what sold me. You want to
win in this league~ you're tal king
to the right guy .
Remmington beams .
REMMINGTON
Thanks, . Jack .
Jack nods and the cart pulls away but not before Jack
shoots a };)ackward glance at Speed t hat feels l ike a shank
in a prison yard .
 39 .

I NT . PENTHOUSE

The doors op~n and Remmi ngton leads t he family into t he

pe nthouse suite leaving the cart be hind . Standard jaw-
dropping view~ decorated in an upscale masculine
aesthetic.
Sparky whistles and whispers to Speed .
SPARKY
Long way from Nob Hill, eh?
RBMMINGTON
We tre at our thoroughbreds t he way
they deserve to be treated .
He guides them into t he room gesturi ng or demonstrating
all of the amenities .
REMMINGTON (CONT'D)
There's full maid service of
cours e wit h a personal chef and a
masseuse available 24/7 .
The staff arri ves, wheeling i n several racks of clothes :
daywear, sportswear, racing uni forms and s tyli sh evening
wear .
Gennie holds up one of the su i t to Speed .
GENNIE
Should be perfect . Try it on .
TRIXIE
Mmm hmm!

SPEED
•.. okay.
He heads to the bathroom .
Taking Mom by the elbow, Rernmi ngton gestures to the
s i tting area over-looking Cosmopolis .
REMMINGTON
So Mrs . Rac er , what do you think
about my family? Impressed?
MOM
You could say that .
 40 .
CONTINUED :

REMMINGTON
Good : I want you to understand the
possibilities that exist for your
son right now .
Pops furrows his b row.
REMMINGTON (CONT'D)
What's wrong Mr . Racer?
POPS
To be honest , Remmington, I'm
feeling more intimidated than
impressed . This kind of company
scares me . People like you have
way too much money and when
someone has this kind of money ,
they start thinking that the rules
everyone else is playing by don't
mean s quat to them .
Remmington remains skillfully unfazed .
POPS ( CONT ' D)
However, my sons a re the most
important thing I've ever done in
my life , besides marrying my best
friend and if Speed wants us to
figure out some kind of ...
"alliance" then you can bet your
ass we ' ll be in bus i ness .
Speed steps out of the bathroom . His boyishness has faded
away as he suddenly seems very much a man . Gennie smile
approvingly .
TRIXIE
Hubba hubba .
He walks over to the s i tting area .
MOM
Oh honey , you looks so handsome .
SPEED
Yeah?
REMMINGTON
Very sharp, Speed . Suits · you
perfectly.· Regardless of what
happens , I want you to have all of
it . A gift .
 41.
CONTINUED : ( 2 )

SPEED
Thank s , Mr . Remmington .
REMMINGTON
So , how are you feeling Speed?
Speed isn' t sure . He looks at Trixie and Sparky and then
at his parents .
SPEED
I t 's very •.. impres sive .
Remmirigton smiles .
REMMINGTON
You think t hat maybe there 's
s ome t hing that could work out
here?
Everyone waits , staring at him .
SPEED
I guess I ,·d like to think a bout
it , if I .could .
Remrnington's a f isherman not sure if the hook has really
been set .
REMMINGTON
This isn' t t h e kind of offer I go
around making ever day , s on .
SPEED
I understand that , sir ~..
He looks to Pops t hen takes a deep breath as though
trying to find his r esolve .
SPEED (CONT'D )
So if I had to give a n answer now
the n, to be hones t- -
REMMINGTON
Stop . Right the re . You're r i ght .
You should think about it . I ' m
sure you ' re fe e ling a b it
.overwhelmed . You should t a ke a
lit tle time . Think about what you
s aw and heard here and we' l l get
together ear l y next week . De a l?
He reaches his hand out and Speed takes it wit h some
obvious relief .
 42 . ·
CONTINUED : ( 3 )

SPEED ·
Deal .

INT . CRUNCHER BLOCK'S OFFICE

WHACK ! WHACK! WHACK! A thug soundly slaps the face of a
handsome Japanese man.
When the beating is over , :the Japanes e man s lumps
f orward, his arms behind his b ack .
CRUNCHER
I thought we had a deal . • .
When he hears the voice , he lifts his head and we see a
h uge man with a body like a cement-lined safe , sitting
behind ·a desk, lighting a cigar .
This well-dressed fixer is Cruncher Block .
CRUNCHER (CONT'D)
I thought we were frie nds .
He b l ows a c l oud of smoke and watches it float up to t he
chandelier which is jiggli ng steadily .
CRUNCHER (CONT 'D)
Maybe where you come from , thi s is
how you treat your friends, but
'round here we don 't take to
kindly to this kind of thing, do
we fellas?
Thug #1 steps in- and wails away on him again .
THUG #1
You hurt our feelings !
CRUNCHER
Problem is, I like you Kat su.
Cruncher grins , his teeth l i ke s tacked dice .
CRUNCHER (CONT 'D)
And I got a real soft spot i n my
hea rt f or t hat s is t er o f yours .
He begins opening a large package wrapped with butcher
paper . -Inside is a bloody rack of ribs .
 43 .
CONTINUED:

CRUNCHER (CONT'D)
Normally in a situation such as
this we would be pouring you a
nice comfy pai r of cement s hoes ,
but .•.
He stands and goes to the large g lowing fi sh tank that i s
behind the desk .
CRUNCHER (CONT'D)
I think I got another solution .·
He dips t he bloody meat into the tank fil led with
piranha . The water foams as the carnivorous fish shred
fl esh fr om bone .
CRUNCHER (CONT'D)
How're my babies doing? Huh?
Hungry? Ready for seconds? Boys !
They grab Katsu and hau l him to the fishta nk .
KATSU
No!
THUG #2
Hope dem fishe s l i ke Japanese .
KATSU
No , please!
THUG #1
Gonna be h ard to dr i ve with
skellie hands .
Cruncher takes hold of Katsu's jaw .
CRUNCHER
You even think about turning rat
and next time it's your sis ter
going in there .
They begi n forcing his hand into the .tank when suddenly a
red light begins flashing.
Everyone freezes .
Cruncher grabs the phone on his desk .

CRUNCHER (CONT' D)
What?!
 44 .

INT . · TRUCK CAB

We realize that Cruncher's office is in the trailer of a
· semi-truck which is cruising down an empty rural highway .
TRUCK DRIVER
Someone 's tailing us .

INT . CRUNCHER BLOCK'S OFFICE

Cruncher signals to the man at the far end of the room
who is guarding the door. The guard slides open a peek- a -
boo slot and s ees a pair of headlights .
CRUNCHER
Is it him?
DOOR GUARD
It could be .
Cruncher goes to the phone .
CRUNCHER
Can you see him yet?
TRUCK DRI VER
Here he comes--
The car pulls up even with the cab and t he driver f eels
his gut clench as he recognizes the infamous car of Racer
x.
TRUCK DRIVER (CONT'D)
Oh God ••.

CRUNCHER
Get him!
Everyone leaps into action , · shoving Katsu back into a
chair . Filling t heir f ists with guns , sliding open murder
holes slots at a variety of heights . Crunche r barks i nto
the phone .
CRUNCHER (CONT'D)
Crush him !

INT. TRUCK CAB

· The driver screws hi_s j aw tight and throws the wheel to
smash into the smaller car--
 45 • .
CONTINUED :

But the little black tinted bug fl i ts away with

e ffortless ease , danc i ng out in front of th~ truck.

INT . CRUNCHER BLOCK'S OFFICE

Cr uncher f l ips over the top of his desk revealing the
controls for a mi ni-machine gun located on the bottom of
t he truck .
He grab s the controls which are linked to an infrared
s~ghting camera .
CRUNCHER
Where is he?

INT. TRUCK CAB

The driver watches the red tail - l ights glowing like demon
eyes .
TRUCK DRIVER
He's out front .

INT . CRUNCHER BLOCK' S OFFICE

Cruncher , hits another button and he front grill of the
truck opens, droppi ng the lower half l i ke the double -
hinged jaw of a snake .
An Apache helicopter- style r ocket launcher thrusts out of
the darkness .
Cruncher sights the car .
CRUNCHER
Gotcha .
He fires a mini-rocket straight at the manta-finned car--
But with a quick feint l eft the rocket skims by ,
e xploding further down the highway .
Something flashes on the back car as hidden tube s iris
open and the barrels of several weapons extend out .
TRUCK DRIVER
Here he comes !
Cruncher fires again, the red rocket just missing ,
· rending open the tree line with a f i reball .
 46.
CONTI NUED :

The little car drops back a l ongside t he truck a nd fires,

bullets bursting tires and punct uring through t he walls
of the truck . The truck lurches as the thugs f i re wildly
a t t he b l ack car .
Cruncher tries t o site the machi ne gun but just as he
opens fire - -
The black car slows, drawing the chasing gun f ire unti l
Cruncher shoots his own tires . .
CRUNCHER
Aww, I thought you fixed that!
The black car fire s again , bul lets ricocheting inside ,
puncturing a hole in the f ish tank .
THUG # 1
Boss !
CRUNCHER
My babies!
He runs to the fish tank a nd tries to stop the water
pouring out of the hole . He sticks his finger in and t he
fish immediately attack .
He shrieks wi t hdrawing his finger .
CRUNCHER (CONT'D)
Vinny put your finger in there !
Vinny doesn 't want to .
CRUNCHER (CONT ' D)
Do it!

INT . TRUCK CAB

The truck swerve s as the driver s t ruggles to control the
behemoth wobbl ing on i ts blown t ires .
TRUCK DRIVER
We can't take another hit boss !

I NT. CRUNCHER BLOCK'S OFFICE

Cruncher thi nks fast over Vinny's s cr eams . He looks at
Katsu and immediately .knows what he ha s to do .
 47 .
CONTINUED :

CRUNCHER
Pull over but don ' t stop .

EXT . LONELY HIGHWAY

The truck slows·, easing onto t he s houlder as t he b lack
car f9llows .
The back of the truck slides up and t he gangst ers toss
Katsu out, l eaving him behi nd with a spray of gravel .
Katsu l ooks up into t he glaring light s of t he black car .
A car door opens . Boots crunch grave l as some one walks
toward us silhouetted by car lights . It is the masked
racer himself--
Racer x .

INT . RACER X' S CAR

Katsu is in the passenger seat as the car hums quietly
down the empty hi ghway .
KATSU
Thank you . You saved my life .
RACER X
I didn't save anyt hing worth
saving unless you get . smart . Real
f ast.
Racer .talks wit hout looking at him .
RACER X (CONT ' D)
You thought you coul d take on the
Cartel . You can't . Not wi thout
help.
KATSU
r · cton't know what' you're talking
about .
RACER X
You won the Cortex -Invi t ational
a nd you weren ' t supposed t9 . You
did it to save Okamot o
Eng ineeri ng.
KATSU
It has belo nged to my family for
five generations .
 48 .
CONTINUED :

RACER X
And now someone e lse wants it . The
only way you can s top it from
happening is to ta l k to the
authorities .
KATSU
There i s nothing to talk about .
RACER X
You have been on cruncher Block's
leas h for .s o long maybe you f orgot
how it feels to stand up and be a
man . The only way you' ll ever stop
t hese people is t o bring them t o
justice .
KATSU
J ustice / That's a c ommodity I
don ' t was te money on .
Racer X i mme diate ly pul l s his car over .
RACER X
Get out .
Wearing h is smirk l i ke a cheap s uit , Katsu gets out .
KATSU
I' ll see you a t Fuj i .
RACER X
You won 't f inish . When you l ose ,
i f you can s til l dia l a phone ,
cal l thi s number .
He hands him a card. The card reads ; CHIEF I NSPECTOR
DETECTOR .

INT . ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM

Sprittle is wor ki ng hard on a t est when he hea rs the kid
behind him whisper .
DANNY
Hey monkey- lover , show me your
test or I'll kick your as s after
school . ·
SPRITTLE
Sorry . Cheaters never prosper .
The kid t o the left chimes in .
 49 .
CONTI NUED:

MALCOM
Spriiiitle , when Chim- chim's bad ,
do you spank the monkey ?
SPRITTLE
No , your moth er does it for me .
Malcom almost swallows hi s tongue as several other kids
a.n icker ..

TEACHER
All right ! Mal com! Danny !
Sprittle ! To the Principal's
office . March!
There is a chorus of , "I d i dn ' t do it , awwww , not fair . "
TEACHER (CONT'D)
Now!

EXT . ELEMENTARY SCHOOL .

The same school that Speed attended but now where Rex
used to_wait, Speed is l eaning against t he Mach- 5 . Chim-
chim is s itting next to him .
The bell rings and the students begirt p i ling out . When
the last few tumble down the s tairs, Chim- chim emits a
small, sad whine .

SPEED
Looks like someone's in trouble
again .

I NT . MACH 5

It's later and they ' re driving home . Sprittle stares out
the window , mumbling , identifying make, model , and
engines of pass i ng cars .

·SPEED
Want t o tal k about it?
Sprittle shakes his he a d.

SPRITTLE
K- W Integral 4 -door with twin-cam
t urbine . ~. C-foster-K 1200 ,
modified split-rail and
supershocks .••
CONTINUED :

SPEED
Was it that Stanton kid again? Did
he say something_? If you want to
kick his butt--?
He shakes his head agai n .
SPRI TTLE
... i t doesn't seem fair that I g~t
in trouble when t hey always start
it .
SPEED
It's not fair . But t ha.t ' s what
bullies do . They make the world
unfair.
SPRITTLE
That sucks .
SPEED
Yes , i t does .
SPRITTLE
What can I do about i t ?
SPEED
You ignore ' em whe n you can , fight
'em when you can't .

SPRITTLE
Those choices suck too .
SPEED
Yeah , but just try to keep one
thing in mind .
SPRITTLE
What?
SPEED
Bullies come and go but a family
can torture you forever .
Chim-chim gives Sprittle a wet-willy .
SPRITTLE
Heeeeeey !
Speed laughs as Chim- chim howls and then puts his arm
around Sprittle .
 -Sl.
CONTINUED : ( 2 )

SPEED
But no joke , you just s ay the
word, l ittle brother and we got
your back, right Chim- chim?
Chim-chim grunts .
SPRITTLE
Thanks guys .

I NT . REMMINGTON I NDUSTRIES T- 18 0 FACTORY

Remmington wat ches a GRX rolling off the assembly line .
With him is Mr. Mushi , a businessman with eyes · as sharp
a s broken g lass .
REMMINGTON
The new GRX has a super charged
inner- positive transporter and
will be capable of speeds i n
excess off 800 kilometers a n hour .
Mushi nods .
MUSHI
If such a car were to win the
Grand Prix this year, one would
expect the demand for transponders
to increa se dramatically .
REMMING'l'ON
One would e xpect .
MUSH!
And if a single company gained
control of all the transponder
f oundries in the world , one might
expect t hat company to do very
well for itself .
REMMINGTON
You know what I want and I know
that for the last few years you
have been trying to buy out your
mai n rival Tetsua Okamoto . The
question is , can we make a deal?
The car rotates , rising up on its mechanical a rm, a
cybernetic giant , exercising i ts might .
 52 .
CONTINUED :

MUSHI
Deliver Okamoto at that price and
t he Taiobi Transponder fou ndry is
yours .
REMMI NG'l'ON
Done .
Remi n gton smiles as they shake hands .

INT . MACH 5
Speed a nd Trix ie lie with· sea ts al l the way back ,
watching the sinking sun tye-dye the sky behind the car-
scape of freeways .
TRIXIE
You ' re really considering signing
with Rernrnington .
SPEED
I just said i t was tempting .
TRIXIE
Why?
SPEED
We ll , t hey got a really good t eam .
Cannonball Tay lor , Markie
Manifold ; They win a lot of
Majors .
TRIXIE
Since when did winnin g become so
important ?
SPEED
It i s _i mportant . You gotta win if
you want to keep driving and that's
what I want to do . It's the only
thing I r eally know how to do . When
I ' m d r iving , I feel like that's the
only time my .life makes sense .
She moves closer t o him .
TRIXIE
You mean , this doesn' t make sense
to you ?

SPEED
Okay , besides being with you .
 53 .
CONTINUED :

TRI XIE
So you like bei ng with me?
SPEED
You know I do .
TRI XIE
Sometimes I do , sometimes I ' m not
so s ure .
SPEED
What?
TRIXIE
Some t i mes a round your family, you
seem distant , not like t his and I
wonde r why .
SPEED
Come on , you know how I ' ve fe lt
about you s i nce I was ten years
[Link] .
TRIXIE
I guess so , I just wish you
wer en ' t so shy about it .
SPEED
What do you want me to do? Kis.s
you in front of everyone at the
e nd of a big race ?
TRIXIE
Would that be so terrible ?
SPEED
I don ' t know . Maybe ·we should
practice first .
TRIXIE
Maybe we should .
They s t art to kiss whe n t hey hear a muted voice .
SPRITTLE
Oh God ! I 'm gonna hurl ! Huuuurrrl!
TR;I:XIE
Sprittle?
SPEED
No !
 54 .
CONTINUED : (2)

Speed jumps out of the car.

SPEED (CONT'D)
He did not !
He t hrows open the trunk , revealing Sprittle and Chi m-chim
who shrieks .
SPEED (CONT'D )
Sprittl e l
SPRITTLE
It wasn't my idea l
SPEED
Oh no?
SPRITTLE
I t was his !
He points at Chim-c him who shakes hi s head wi l dly, poi nting
back at Sprittle .
TRIXIE
Wait ti ll we tell Pops .

.. SPRITTLE
No ! Don't do that ! We're sorry . We
couldn' t sleep. We just wanted to
hang out . We didn' t know you were
going to In- spew- ration Point. By
the way, Cootie- shot s.
Sprittle and Chim-chim immediately cover o ne shoulder
giving themselves a cootie-shot.
SPEED
I'm taking you home .
SPRITTLE
Wait, wait , wait--
Speed s lams .the trunk shut so we hear Sprittle voice muffled .
SPRITTLE (CONT'D)
Can we s top for i ce c r eam fir st?

INT . RACER GARAGE

Close on a curving piece of bodywor k that Pops is
sanding . When he l ooks up, Speed is in the room.
 55' .
CONTINUED :

He is c arrying a brown paper sack.

POPS
Morning, Speed .
SPEED
Pops .
POPS
So , today's the big day .
Speed nods . Pops puts down his tools .
POPS (CONT'D)
I know this is a t remendous
opportunity for you .
SPEED
It c ould be fo r you too .
POPS
Could be , coul d be . But,
regardless, this is really all
about you . I t ' your d e cision and I
want you to know, no matter what
you decide , I ' m beh ind you .
SPEED
Thank s , Pops .
The room begins to sha ke .
POPS
I t hink your ride ' s here .

INT . K- HARRIER
Speed stares out t he window , chewing on his decision like
a dog worrying a bone .

I NT . REMMINGTON I NDUSTRIES LANDING DOCK

Gennie greets Speed as he debarks fr om the plane . He is
carrying his brown sack .
 56 .
CONTINUED :

GENNIE
Speed , so nice to see you again .
Her _eyes and t_he softness of-her touch eJ,.evate flirting
to s omething that is e qual parts art and science .
GENNIE (CONT'D )
Mr . Remmington i s so exc ited about
t his meeti ng . He ha sn't t a lke d
about anything else all week .
Speed sighs .

INT . K-HARRIER
The cabin is dark and still . Slowly , almost supe rna t ural l y ,
a drawer begins to slide open.
Two heads pop up . Sprittle and Chim- chim are wearing cat-
burglar clothes wi t h matching ski-masks .
The coast is clear , so they sneak over .to the galley .
•rhey stare at the d rawer like a safe-cracker eyeing the
dial of a combination lock .
Spri ttle carefull y pulls bac k the latch springing the drawe r .
It slides open , l it internally , candy gleaming l i ke jewels .
•rhe breath rus hes out of them.

I NT . REMMINGTON'S OFFICE

The office sits atop the strata- scraper , surrounded by

commandi ng vi ews o f Cosmopolis .
Speed arrives via the elevator and Remmington breaks into
· a beaming. s mile .
REMMINGTON
Speed !
Gennie leaves Speed , returning to the elevator, as
Remmington c rosses to him . ·
He hugs him ·

REMMINGTON (CONT'D)
. Welcome back! Come . Sit . Sit .
 57 .
CO:N"TINUED :

In the. center o·f the room is a small cluster of extremely

comfortable chairs in which they sit .
Above them a multifaceted skylight gl i tters like a cut
gem under the streaming rays o f sunlight . In the center
of the sky light is the R. I . Logo casting a great shadow
ori the floor .
REMMINGTON (CONT'D)
Can I get you something to drink?
Water ? Bubbly? A shot of rye?
Speed smiles sheepishly .
SPEED
No ••• I 'm okay .
REMMINGTON
So , I can s ee you have given some
serious thought to this thing .
SPEED
I have , yes sir .
REMMINGTON
Good . That means t hat you
understand t hat we are talking
about not just your future , but
your f amily's future .
SPEED
... my fami l y means a lot to me .
REMMINGTON
I know . I can tell . That's why
this i s so important . Because you
can help t hem. All you have to say
is yes . That is all I need to hear
and I can make so many things
happen for you, and your fami ly .
Are you ready for that? Are you·
ready to say yes , Speed?

INT . K-HARRIER

Candy wrappers are scat tered everywhere a s they lay

motionless in an overdose coma .
When t hey hear someone coming Sprittle manages to lift
hi s head and crawl to the window.
 58 .
CONTINUEP :

A cleaning man i s rising up on a cherry picker with a

cart f ull of cleaning suppl ies .
SPRITTLE
Uh- oh .
He looks back at their mess .
SPRITTLE (CONT ' D)
Jig's up.
A mome nt later t he door ope ns and the cleaning man enters ..

CLEANING MAN
Holy moly !
He grabs for his radio .
CLEANING MAN (CONT 'D)
Hey , t h i s is Marvin down at the
landing pad . I think we got mice
agai n .
As he tal ks , t wo s h adows slip qu iet ly out t he door behind
h i m.

I NT . REMMINGTON ' S OFFICE

Speed r ealizes that t his i s the t hre s hold .

SPEED
Th i s isn ' t an easy decision for
me, Mr . Rernmington . For my family,
racing i s everything . We e at ,
drink , think and breat he r acing .
There is not hing more perfe ct t han
a picnic at Thunderhead . I mean , I
was taught to drive before I could
walk . But when my brother d i ed,
all that went away. I can' t t e ll
you how painful t hat was . It
nearly ki lled al l of us .
Especially Pops . He didn' t set
foot in hi s shop for over a year .
As the memory comes t o life , we see the ima ges in flashback .
 59 .
CONTINUED :

SPEED (CONT'D)
But one night when I was still
pretty young . I couldn ' t s leep and
I went into the living r oom and
there was Pops , in hi s beat up
robe , watching some old race
recordings .
The blue tv l ight of Speed's memory fills hi s e yes .
SPEED (CONT'D)
So I sat with h im watching ol' Ben
Burns c oming round the last turn
of he ' 43 Prix and al l of a sudde n
Pops star ted screaming, and then I
started scre aming, and as Burns
and Dugazi duked i t out, he ading
fo r the finish , we were che ering
our heads off and the second the
black and white came down , we .
l ooked at each ot her and right
t here we r ealize d the naked trut h;
r acing is in our blood .
Flashback ends .
SPEED (CONT' D)
But for Pops , i t isn't just a
sport. It' s way more important
t han that . It ' s like a re ligion
and in our house, the Major
Sponsors are kinda like t he d evil .
'l'he coldness in Remmi ngton' s eyes belies . his smi le .
SPEED (CONT'D)
I don't mean to offend you sir and
I do appreciate your offer, it's
just , I gue ss I unders t and his
·point of view and after al l we've
been through , I don't t hi nk this
kind of deal is for me .
Remmi ngton c huckles .
REMMINGTON
You poor, naive, c hump .
He chuckles again .
 60 .
CONTINUED : (2)

REMMINGTON (CONT 'D )

I ' m going to pretend I didn't hear
that l oad of sickening schmalt z
and I am going to give you a b i t
of an educati on . At the end of it
i f you 're smart , you'll thank me
and hen you'll sign that contract .

I NT . TRAMWAY
Sprittle and Chim- chim are joy riding i n the maintenance
cart, weavi ng back an fort h , wiping people out .
Chim-chim screams with glee.

INT. REMMINGTON'S OFFICE

They stand before an enlarged black and white p hotograph
of five tycoons , smoking cigars , dressed in tur n o f t he
century tycoon fine r y, the ir we l l-fed faces bright with
f atuou~, s elf~satisfied smiles.
REMMINGTON
Look. There is t he true spirit of
the golden age of racing . Benj amin
Braddack, Diamond Dave Tweksbury ,
Reginald White , Oliver Potter , and
George Wheel er . The f ive most
powerful men in the world at the
turn of the las t century .
As he talks we flash back to jittery o l d footage and
photographs of the golden era .
REMMINGTON (CONT 'D)
For a l l intensive purposes they
created the modern automotive
indus t ry . But the true stroke of
their genius was the inve ntion o f
the WRL , the world ' s fir st r ac i ng
league .
Remrni ngton leads Speed past several personal mementos
inc l uding t he f i r st motor of his firs t car , the firs t
milk bottle from victory lane , . a black and white from an
important race.
In front of an enlarged picture of Ben Burn s from the
i nfamou s '43 Prix is a twisted and scorched piece of
metal set on a pedestal like a gorgeous piece of art .
 61.
CONTINUED :

REMMI NGTON (CONT'D)

Interesting that you and your
father were so moved by the· '43
Prix . One of the great finishes in
the history of racing, r ight?
Everyone remembers Burns and
Dugazi s l ugging it ou t , but who
remembers Carl Potts? Dri ving a
rebuilt Wittigan for Iodyne .
Industries , Potts spun out in the
second lap and went down as a DNF .
A forgettable and pathetic finish .
So bad, that afterwards Iodyne
stock dropped six po i nts .
Again we see the history told in flashback .
REMMINGTON (CONT'D)
Meanwhile , Ben Burns sat guzzling
cold fresh milk in victory lane , a
thousand cameras taking his
picture, Sirrus Aeronautics saw
almost a twelve point gain which
immediately block Penninsula Power
Cell f rom being able to af f ord the
price of a complete take - over .
This put Joel Goldman , the CEO of
Iodyne Inc . in the exact position
he wanted to be in . By firs t
buying controlli ng interest in his
own company at a devalued price ,
he then broke red a merger with
Sirru_s that immediately sent
Iodyne into the gains record book- -
the only record book that matters .
Look out that window , there isn't
a stngle p l ane or helicopter or K-
Harrier that isn't powered by
Iodyne f uel cells. That's what
racing is about ~ It has nothing to
do with cars, or drivers. All that
matters is power and the
unassailable might of money .
His greed is a_s tangible as any . drug . .

INT. TRAMWAY

A securi ty guard glides out of one of the red secured

area d oors on a segway .
 62 .
CONTI NUED :

His r adi o buzzes "perps l ast seen tramway four , driving a

maint enance c art ."
The door s sta rt t o close when Spritt le and Chim-c him jump
out and s neak inside .

INT. REMMINGTON ' S OFFICE

Spee d doe s n' t want to hear any more of this , but .
Remmington is f ar from done .
REMMINGTON
Do you understand? Burns knew he
was going to win . It wa s already
d e cide d. A week be fore the Pri x,
Go ldman a nd Sirrus met with
s e veral other major players a t t he
Carlyle Hotel. They met there a s
the y had f or years, just a s the ir
fathers had met, and as t heir sons
and he irs wi ll still meet. They
met t o negotiat e t he fini sh order
of the Gra nd Prix . No r ace is more
important a nd no race is more
contrqlled. That year Gol dman was
supposed to win , but he kne w i f he
sold his win to Si rrus , whateve r
that win mi ght be worth , was
nothing c ompared to ·.what could · be
ga i ned .
He t urns bac k t o the twisted piece of crash metal .
REMMI NGTON (CONT'D)
That ' s why I pa id three mil lion
dollars f or this burnt and twisted
piece of metal . Because i t reminds
me of what r eal ly mat ters . This i s
. the t rue heart of racing boy! Thi s
is my religi on !
Speed i s agha st .
REMMI NGTON (CONT 'D)
You don 't know how many times I
have seen t hat same c ow-eye d "say
i t isn't so" look o f disbelief .
Every bumpki n who c omes in from
the s ticks l ooks exactly like you
d o now . I won' t bother proving it
t o you .
 63.
CONTINUED :

REMMINGTON (CONT'D)
If you walk away from me, if you
walk out of . this deal, you'l l know
how true i t is soon enough . So ,
last chance . What's it going to
be, Speed? Your f ather 's little
fantasy bubble? Or a re you going
to join the r est of us adults,
here in reality?

INT . TRAMWAY
Several technici an carts and trollies carrying auto parts
pass b y a single lab tech nic i an who s taggers , drunkenly
up to a red restricted area window .
Sprittle peaks out of the l ower half of the lab coat,
Chim-chim wearing the helmet, balance s on his shoulder .
I n the window they see a lab where they are testing a
"spear-hook ; " a s ecret a t tacking device that shoots out
f rom one car and grabs hold of the undercarriage of
a nother car .
As they realize what they are looking at, a security goon
comes gliding up behind them on his seg-way.

INT . REMMINGTON'S OFFICE

Speed hands him the brown paper ba1,
REMMINGTON
What' s thi s?
He looks and sees the shoes a nd suit .

SPEED
If t pat 's your idea of racing , you
c·a n ·keep it .
REMMINGTON
Listen to me and listen good kid ,
because I'm going to gi ve you one
more history lesson . Y-ou're going
·to go to Fuj i --

I n guickr ·collage cuts we see - -

 .
64 •

EXT . FUJI HELEXICON

A gorgeous blimp s hot of .t he race t rack whic h. takes up an
entire island of Hawaii-like archipelago .
The trac k weaves in and out o f t he l ush t ropical
landscape set aga i nst the ocean shimmering with sequins
o f sunlight.

EX'r . STARTING LINE

Speed grips the steering wheel , r evving the engine which
rattles the car like t hunder shak i ng the sky as - - The
countdown finishes . and as the cars explode forward , we
cut back--

IN'l'. · REMMINGTON' S OFFICE

REMMINGTON
But you won't win . You won ' t
place .
More collage cuts--

INT . FUJI ANNOUNCER' S BOOTH

FUJI ANNOUNCER
Speed Racer ' s making his move ,
gunning fo r the lead- -

EXT . HELEXICON TRACK

The Ghos t s ees Speed ru shing up behind him.

GRAY GHOST
We got ourselves a re a l race here !
The two cars start dancing around each other ; l i ke . two
boxers sizing each other up .
GRAY GHOST (CONT' D)
Here we go, here we go .
Wham. Ghost throws the first punch which Speed tries to
s lip but, the Ghost anticipates hi s move and slams Speed
hard .
 65 .
CONTINUED:

GRAY GHOST (CONT'D)

Come on! Show me something ! Show
me what you got !

Speed ducks down the bank , wor king each wheel into a
hyper dr ift, reve rsing their position--
Locking the Ghost up and sending both cars spinni ng .
GRAY GHOST (CONT'D)
Ohhhh yeah! Yeeeeeahhhhh!

INT . FUJI ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

FUJI .ANNOUNCER
The Gray Ghost un loads a round-
h ouse , Speed c ounte rs, smashing,
b a ngi ng , bumping-

EXT . HELEXICON TRACK

· weaving back and fourt h behind Speed, the Gra y Ghost
attacks ·with phantom punches that come out of nowhere .
GRAY GHOST
He re I c ome , kid! Watch out . Here .
I am! Nope- -I'm ove r here!
Wham! Wham! Speed tri e s to c ounter punch and the Ghost
s lips under .
GRAY GHOST (CONT'D)
You can ' t .tou c h me l I ' m here ! I ;m
gone!
Spe ed is thrown b a ck i nto the pack of c ar s that quickly
swallow him up where he is~-
Crunched i n to the wall by t h e Zoke o Communic ations car ,
p i nned until- -
Racer X slams into t h e Zokeo· c ar, f r e eing Speed but
causing sev eral cars tp swerve wil dly at which point--

The Three Roses car torpedoes Kat su's car--

Bursting into a blizzard of metal snowfla kes while--
 66.

INT . LUXURY BOOTH

Horuko jumps up , terrified f or her brother as- -

EXT . HELEXICON TRACK

Racer X roars past the d ebr i s and the bouncing r ubbe r
cocoons .

EXT . UPPER BOX GRAND STANDS

Cr uncher accepts the congratulati ons o.f t he goon besi de
h im .

INT. REMMINGTON' S OFFICE

REMMINGTON DRIVER
I guarantee you r i ght now, you
won 't e ven fin ish the race.

EXT . HELEXICON TRACK

Another molar-cracking hit as Speed avoids the concrete.
pylon but is t hen s lammed by the Zokeo car--
Underneath both c ars, a spe ar - hook s hoots out f rom a
hidden sle eve , harpooning the under-carriage of the Mach
5_.:...

SPARKY
Speed , get out of t here!
SPEED
I can' t l I can 't move !
The two car~ head toward the fi nal jump , locked in some
strange embrace--
They l u nge awkwar dly, crashing on top of one another as --
Inside Speed's car , hi s face plate seals and the kwik~ave-
foam explode s, swallowing him , as t he car tumbles--
Disintegrat ing into a cloud -of smoke and glitteri ng
debris .
 67 ,

EXT . GRANDSTANDS
The Racer f ami ly i s f rozen . Their f aces awash wi t h f ear
and disappointment while--

I NT . HELEXI CON PENTHOUSE

Remmington e ases back, a fatuous, self-satisfied smile
spreading with a crocodile's grace .

I NT . REMMINGTON ' S OFFICE

REMMINGTON
Soon after that there wil l be
litigation against some of your
father's d es igns .

EXT . RACER HOUSE

It is pouring rai n as a l arge cab pulls up to drop o ff

the entire Race r family sti l l wearing their i sland
c l othes .
A dour- faced man beneath an umbrella is waiti ng for them.
DOUR FACE
Are you Pops Race r of Racer Motors-
POPS .
Ye ah , but I 'm s t i ll on vacation-

DOUR FACE
You a re hereby served a summons .
POPS
What?
DOUR FACE
You are be i ng sue d for IP
infringement by Janus Automakers .
SPEED
That ' s rid iculous !
DOUR FACE
That ' s for a jury to decide .
 68 .

I NT . REMMINGTON 'S OFFICE

REMt"'1INGTON
The legitimacy of the lawsuits
won ' t matter. The y wi l l be enough
to discredit h i s company . Whatever
. contracts he has , he'll lose .
Within a year he wil l be f i l i ng
for bankruptcy . After that , you
and the rest of your pathetic
fami ly wil l be history .
The threat hangs in the air like a loaded gun between
them.
SPEED
Pops was right . You are the devil .
The elevator suddenly opens with the security goon
carrying Sprittle and Chim-chim _by the scruff of t heir
necks .
SPRITTLE
Speed !
SPEED
Spritt le?
SECURITY GOON
Mr . Remmington I caught these two
snooping in a r estricted area .
REMMINGTON DRIVER
Get t his Racer trash out of my
building .
SPEED
I 'll see you at Fuji .
Speed tur ns and head s for t he elevator .
REMMINGTON DRIVER
Yes and the n yo·u' 11 realize that
you just made t he biggest mistake
of your life !

I NT. RACER KI TCHEN -MORNING

Close up on The Racing News that Sparky is reading from .
The main headline: ANOTHER DIRTY RACER?
 69.
CONTINUED:

SPARKY
" ••. controversy · surrounds Racer
Motors now embroiled in IP
litigati on and while evide nce
remains inconclusive whether or
not Speed used an illegal devi ce ,
the Fuji Helexicon seems desti ned
to become a nother mar k of shame
added to the notor ious Racer
famil y l egacy , a l egacy that has
forever tainted the integrity of
this beloved sport . "
MOM
Sparky. That 's enough .
SPARKY
Sorry ma'am.
SPRITTLE
I'm going to send that guy some
Chim-chim cookies.
Chim-chim guffaws .
POPS
You'll do no such thing .
SPRITTLE
We gotta do something, Pops.
Speed steps int o t he doorway.
SPEED
This is e xactl y what he sai d would
happen if I di dn't drive for him.
SPARKY
You mean Rernmington?
SPEED
He said it'd get worse and worse
and by t he end of t he year you'd
be f i ling [Link] , Pops .

SPRITTLE
Okay, he 's def initely gettin ' some
monkey cookies .
MOM
Sprittle !
 70 ..
CONTI NUED : (2)

POPS
He wa s just trying to scare you ,
son. They tri ed t h e same thing
with Rex . If i t ' s a fight they
want , i t's a fight they 'll get .

SPEED
How? What can we do? How can we
fight t h i s?

He tosses the newspaper .

POPS
The truth will come out .

SPEED
The· trut h ? Don't be naive, Pops .

He leaves .

INT . SPEED'S ROOM

The Ben Burns poster i s ripped from the wall . Speed wads
its up and throws it into the garbage .

He sin ks down to his bed , a sense of powerlessness

crushing the life out ·of him.

Mom taps and then cracks the door .

MOM
Speed? Are you okay?

SPEED
... I don't know .
She c omes in and sits b e side him , putting her arm around
him.

MOM
It'll be okay . We'll get through
it.

SPEED
I don't know, mom . I might have
really mess ed things up .

MOM
How?

SPEED
By not joining Remmington .
 71.
CONTINUED :

MOM
Don ' t be silly . You'd have never
been happy driving for that
t errible man .
SPEED
But maybe _racing isn ,·t about being
happy . Maybe Remmington's r ight
and it 's all about bus iness and
anyone who doesn't understand t hat
is just a chump .
MOM
Now you listen . to me , young man .
What you do behind the wheel of a
racecar ha s nothing to do with
. business . Before you could even
talk, you were making noi ses that
sounded like a car engine. We
used to tell people you were
speaking car-ese . We used to try
to take you t o the park but you
never wanted to get out of the
car .
SPEED
•.• I loved that -old wagon .
MOM
And do you remernk:)er t he time Rex
took you out to Thunderhead and
let you drive--
Spee<;i smiles .
SPEED
And I t urned it over.
MOM
My heart still pounds just
thinki ng about it .
SPEED
Rex told me the only reason we .
survived was because I was weari ng
red socks .
MOM
I thought your f ather was going to
have a stroke when you walked in
the door with t hat crazy smile .
 72 .

INT . RACER LIVING ROOM - PAST

Ten year old Speed comes i n the door , l eading Rex,
wearing a small bandage on his forehead , smili ng, a big
· black gap where his two front teeth should be.
MOM
I don't think I ever saw you as
happy as you were t ell ing anybody
who asked , how you lost your two
front teeth in your first crash .

INT. SPEED' S ROOM - PRESENT

MOM
Speed , when I wat ch you do some of
the things you do, I feel like I ' m
watching someone paint or play
mus i c . When I go to the races, I
· go to watch you make art and it 's
beautiful a nd inspir ing a nd
ever ything t hat art should be,
even though there are times when I
have to close my. eyes . But then
there are other times, when you
just t ake my breath away and it's
at those moments , when I feel your
father's che st swell and I know
he's smili ng, trying to pretend he
doesn't have tears in h i s eyes, I
just go to pieces .
SPEED
Why?
MOM
Because I am so impossibly proud
to be your mother. And even
t hough your father doesn·' t say it,
he i s t oo .
She puts her arms around him.
MOM (CONT ' D)
Don' t worry. We'll figure this
out . We just have to s tick
toget he r . Something good wi ll
happen . You'll see .
Ding dong . The f ront doorbe ll chimes .
 ,73 .

INT . RACER LIVING ROOM - DAY

Sprittle opens the door revealing Inspector Detector of
the Corporate Investigation Bureau who looks o l der and
harder than when we saw h im in t he flashbacks
Behind him is Racer X.
Sprittle sees the masked racer and screams .
Chim-Chim screams . They look at each other screaming a nd
t hen slam t he door .
They begin running around, flailing like Chicken Little ,
waving their arms i n panic .
SPRITTLE
RACER HEX ! THE HARBINGER OF BOOM!
RUN FOR YOUR LIVES !
Pops storms into the room .
POPS
What are you two squawking about?
They dive behind the couch but peek out a s Pops heads for
the door .
SPRITTLE
Pops, whatever you do, don't open
the door!

EXT . RACER HOUSE

Racer X does n't like i t .

RACER X
This is a bad idea .
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
If i t was any other dr iver, you'd
be here .
Pops opens t he door and Racer X set s his jaw .
POPS
Inspect or Detector?
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
Good morning , Mr .. Racer . I know
i t 's been a long time - -
 74 .
CONTINUED :

He extends his hand and Pop shakes ·i t .

POPS
Ten years .
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
Yes . I ' m sorry for this
intrusion , but I was hoping to
have a word with y ou and Speed .
Pops eyes the maske d rac er .
INSPECTOR DETECTOR (CONT 'D)
I t 's important .

I NT . RACER LIVING ROOM - DAY

Mom serves coffee and cookies .
, INSPECTOR DETECTOR
We've been after Remmington for
years for do zens of capital
corporate crimes including WRL
f i x ing but we haven ' t had the
evidence we need t o convict him.
Until now .
Sprittle and Chim- chim peek up from behind the couch as
Mom offers t h e masked racer a cup of c offee .
MOM
Here you a re , Mr. X.
Sprittle points at Racer X.
SPRITTLE
What 's he doing here?
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
Racer X works .c losely with ou~ WRL
corporate crimes division , helping
us r ecr u it drivers like you,
Speed . Mos t of the media, whic h
you are now seeing is contro l led
· by the Maj or Sponsors and t he y
have done t heir best to pai nt him
as a menace to the sport . The
truth is he's our most valuable
weapon against these villai ns .
SPEEED
Why does he a lways wear t hat mask?
 75 .
CONTINUED:

INSPECTOR DETECTOR
If any of, you actually knew his
identity, you would become targets
for his enemies which include some
of the most vicious Fixers in the
world .
Gulp . They both sink back down behind the couch .
SPEED
What do you want with me?
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
You ' re familiar with the driver
Katsu Okamoto ?
Sl;'EED
Of course .
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
For . years he has be en contrac ted
by a Fixer named Cruncher Block
who we know works for Remmington .
Recently, Katsu has been forced to
lose races that have l ed to a
droop in the stock pri ce of
Okamoto Engineering . We believe
t h i s f s a part o f a corporate
strategy to allow Mushi motors to
buy control of Okamoto . Katsu
doesn't want t h i s to happen and he
began · resisting, thinking that he
could do it on h i s own . • After
Fuji , he reali zed he needed help .
POPS
.Why help him?
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
Because h e has a f i le with enough
i nformation to connect Bl ock to
Remmington which c ould put both of
them behind bars for t he rest of
t heir l ives . The problem i s , h e
won ' t give us t he file unless we
help him stop the take over of his
family's company .
SPEED
How?
 76 .
CONTINUED : ( 2 )

INSPECTOR DETECTOR
There i s an up- coming race that
Katsu believes if he can w.i.n , i t
wil l catapu l t Okamoto Engineering
back into the spotlight and double
t he cost of the buy out whi ch
should kil l it .
SPEED
But there aren' t any more races
l e f t except fo~ t he Grand Prix and
·we both fail ed to qual ify .
Inspe c tor takes a big breath .
INSPECTOR DE'rECTOR
Ther e aren't any track races .
This is a cross- c ountry rally .
SPARKY
You mean The Crucible?
POPS
What? !
I NSPECTOR DETECTOR
I know i t seems cruel of me to
ask, but _Katsu made it clear that
he had to h ave Speed an X on h i s
team or t here would be no deal .
POPS
Absolutely out of the question .
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
You' ll have the s u pport of the
e ntire C. I . B--
. POPS
No ! Ral ly r acing is a back all ey
spor t full of jackals , head-
hunters and t hugs ! I'm sorr y,
I nspector but I lost one s o n to
that death-t rap . I won't l ose
another .
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
I understand . If you c hange y our
mind--
He starts to take ·out his card.
POPS
Keep your card , Chief Ins pector .
 77 .
CONTINUED : (3)

Spe ed looks at Pops , then realizes that Racer Xis

staring straight at him .

EXT . I NSPIRATION POINT - NIGHT

It is raining , t he cockpit bubble smeared with the
distant traffic lights.
SPEED
And the way he was looking at me,
I don't know ... I j ust gotta do
something .
TRIXIE
But Pops wi l l never let you go .
SPEED
He won ' t if I ask him .
TRIXIE
Speed Racer what are you thinking ?
SPEED
You weren ' t in Remmington ' s
office, Trix . You don 't know what
it was like . It f elt as t hough he
had his hand ins i de my chest and
he was trying t o c ru·s h everything
in my life that mattered t o me .
TRIXIE
I hate him. I ' m picturing his
heart clogging with cholesterol
right now .
SPEED
No joke, Trix . If you c ould ha ve
been i n that room , you'd wa~t to
do anything you could t o take t his
guy down.
She l ooks straight into his eyes and he doesn't have to
say anythi ng else .
1'RIXIE
All right . Let's do it . You 're
going to need a n alibi . We'll say
we're going skiing .
SPEED
What? No way !
 78.
CONTINUED :

TRIXI E
You're going to need my help .
Casa Cristo is a rally . I can
spot from a 'copter .
SPEED
Trixi e , t h is isn't a game . These
people play rough .
TRIXIE
I know . That' s why I'm coming with
you . And i f you even try to argue
with me, I'll tell Pops right now
and he won't let you out of .his
. h
Sl.g t .
I

SPEED
You would, wouldn't you?
He looks into her eyes and knows the answer .
SPEED (CONT'D)
Well ... I guess we're going skiing .
She smiles .

INT . REMMINGTON'S OFFICE

Remmington sits surround ed by the legal equivalent of
knights , bishops and r ooks while Mr. Mushi sits across
from him supported by hi s own r etinue .
Behind them, Cannonball Taylor blasts through the test
course f ast enough to coax a low rumble from the sound
barrier .
REMMINGTON
As I'm sure you're aware , the
Okamoto stock fell another four
points yesterday . In the next few
days it wil l hit bottom and they
will have to sell .
The car roars through its elliptical path like a circling
electron binding the two tycoons together .
MUSHI
This could be a most profitable
year for Remmington .

Remmi~gton can ' t hide the g low.

 79 .•
CONTINUED :

REMMINGTON
Mushi won' t do too badly either .
Mushi n ods .
Cannonball circles , everything in apparent harmony unti l
Gennie leans in and whispers .
GENNIE .
I know this is terrib le timing
sir~ but I' ve just received
confirmation of several last
minute entries to the Casa Cristo
5000 .

REMMINGTON
Who?
GENNIE
You're not goin g to l ike it .

IN'r . CASA CRISTO BLIMP

The two announcers beam into the camera.

,ANNOUNCER
We;re j ust minutes away from the
start of the 82rid annual Casa
Cristo Classic , the grand dame of
cross-country , the second oldest
rall y race in the world , spanning
two continents , three climate
changes and five thousand
kilometers of the most winding and
treacherous roads ever raced .
He turns to his coll eague .
ANNOUNCER (CONT'D)
With me a gain is five time Casa
Cristo champion, Johnny "Goodboy"
Jones .
JOHNNY
.Always great to be here . Such a
b eauti ful city .
ANNOUNCER
One of the most romant ic cities in
.t he world.
 80 .

INT . HOTEL
A be ll man carefully unloads a cart . On top of t h e stack
of s uitcases i s a go l d fish bowl wi t h a single ugly
p i r anha .
Cruncher stands at the window balcony looking out ove r
t h e white-washed city .
BELLMAN
Is there anything else I can do
~or you, sir?
CRUNCHER
Yeah .•. I wanna send s omeone a
pre sent .

INT . CASA CRI STO BLIMP

ANNOUNCER
Safety has been the primary
concern for Casa Cr i sto o fficials~
especially t he last f ew years .
JOHNNY
That' s right Bob. Ther e were a
number of f atalities s ev e ral years
a go . It really h ad a bad
reputation for a while .
ANNOUNCER
Fans star ted c alli ng i t " The
Crucible . "
JOHNNY
Mo s t of t he T-180 drivers wouldn't
come near it .
ANNOUNCER
But you look t oday , we've got some
ma j or names l ike Mil lie "the
mouse" Manno , · Snake Oiler and
Katsu Okamoto as well a s the young
rising s t ar Speed Racer . Not to
mention , t he shadow that seems to
hang over every major race these
days , t he masked r acer that some
f ans call the Harbinger of. Boom .
What ' s your t ak e on Racer X?
 8 1.
CONTINUED :

JOHNNY
Obviously he is an extremely
talented and d iscipl ined driver .
ANNOUNCER
But i s he a head hu nter?
JOHNNY
I think he drives l ike he . i s not
always i nterest ed in wi nning .
ANNOUNCER
Nuff' said .
JOHNNY
But r emember Colton, t hese are
standar d road cars , not T-180s . I
know a lot of T- 18 0 drivers who I
r [Link] a gainst who expected to win
b~t fou nd out r ac ing a few laps on
a track i s a totally di f ferent
anima l t han a cross-country rally .
ANNOUNCER
The marathon as opposed to t he
sprint?
J OHNNY
Exact l y . Th is i sn't just about
going f a st . I t 's about e ndurance .
More than anything., winni ng Casa
Cristo is a test of will .

INT . MACH 5

Speed grips his steering wheel l i ke it was the handle of

a weapon .

INT . INSPECTOR'S OFFICE

Inspector e xtends his hand which Speed grips tightly .
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
Speed , I want you to unders tand
how much the C. I . B. appreci ates
your he lp on this .
SPEED
I'm not doing this to helv C. I . B.
I don ' t know anything about
corporate crimes and honestly , if
I did, · i t wouldn't really matter .
(MORE)
 82 .
CONTINUED :
SPEED (CONT'D)
I 'm doing t his because someone i s
trying to hurt my family and I 'm
going to do e verything I can to
hurt him back.
The masked racer is unable t o mask his smile .

I NT . CASA CRISTO BLIMP

ANNOUNCER
The reason .T- 180 d rivers have
always come to Cas a Cristo is
because the winner is
automatically offere d an
invitation to ·the Gr and Prix next
week . A hold over from t he days
when rally racing was far more
popular the n track racing .
JOHNNY
Gosh how things hav e changed .

I NT . KATSU'S CAR
The leather of his gloves c reak as he · wrings his steering
wheel .

"INT . HOTEL SUI TE

The doorbell rings and Katsu goes to it.
A hotel bellman surrounded by Katsu's bodyguards is
smiling .
SECURITY GUARD
He says it's for Horuko , from an
admirer .
Kats u looks a t the r ibboned box as the guard runs his
metal detector over it .
HORUKO
You s ee how we have to live?
He ignor es her , turning away as she s tarts to open it .
She s creams.
I nside the goldfis·h bowl the piranha shreds a p iece of
meat that could be a finge r, stai [Link] wate r red.
 83 .

- INT . CASA CRISTO BLIMP

JOHNNY
To compete in thi s race, you
really have to have a killer
insti nct. Any sign of weakness or
timidness is like blood in the
water and you'll see how f ast this
race turns into a feeding frenzy.

INT . RACER X'S CAR

Racer X calmly checks his car ' s vitals as he revs his
engjne .

INT . c·. I . B • . DESIGN LAB

Racer X leads Speed and Inspect6r Detector t hrough the

lab to where Minx is working .
RACER X
We' re going to need some insurance
for this race .
Minx clicks away at a keyboard while a digital Mach 5
rotates on a screen .
RACER X (CONT'D)
Mi nx builds my cars .
SPEED
Nice to meet ya .
She purrs in response .
Racer X nods and she uses the compu ter to illustrate her
modifications .
MINX
'l'heir cars will probably be
e quipped with- s ecret weapons so we
have modified your car to try to
counter their attacks . The II A''
button will operate your normal
jump-jacks .
The Mach 5 flips over on the screen highl i ghting the
newl y installed jump- jacks .
 84 .
CONTINUED :

. MINX ( CONT ·, D )
"B" will seal your cockpit , which
we ' ve fort i fied with a bu l let proof
polymer .
Gun-bots fire digita l bullets at the Mach 5 which
ricochet off the blueprint glass .
MINX (CONT'D)
"C" will i nflate an emergency
hexadyno spare after any blowout .
Avatar vanda ls slash the Mach S's tires, wh ich e xplode
t hen re - inflate .
MINX (CONT'D)
"D" will activate these zircon
tipped saw blades that wi l l cut
through anything t hat tries to
attach i tsel f to you .
The Mach 5 opens l ike a Swiss army kni :Ee .
MINX (CONT ' D)
"E" will projec ~ t he tire
crampons .
The image zooms in on t he newly equipped cat-claw tire s .
MINX (CONT ' D)
And "F" will launch a r emote
control homing b i rd that is
capab le of transmitting QTVR
footage anywhere you are .
A fina l click d emonstrates the capabilit ies of the Mach
S's homing b i rd .

INT . CASA CRISTO · BLIMP

ANNOUNCER
Every race fan has heard t he
rumors of spearhooks, tire shanks
and battery boosters .
JOHNNY
The league has done a tremendo·u s
job t o clean ra l ly racing up .
While it 's true there have been a
few bad apples , on the' whole most
teams stay within league rul es .

He wi nks into t he camera .

 85 .
CONTINUED :

JOHNNY (CONT ' D)

Or at least try not to get c aught .

EXT . STARTING LINE

We glide through the lines of race cars with x - ray [Link]
cam, r evealing hidden weapons; spri ng loaded Ben-Hur tir e
shredders, a l l manner of grabbers and grapplers as we ll
as bladders fille d with o i l or grease .

INT . RACER DEN

Sprittle and Chim- chim are settl ing in on the c ouch; a

big bag of potato chi ps and ·ice filled glasses of coke .
The Casa Cristo is about to be gin .
POPS
Sprit tle !
Faster than a blink Sprittle grabs t he remote and changes
t he channel to "Unser Charly ," a German sitcom starring a
monkey .
POPS .( CONT 'D)
What are you doi ng?
SPRITTLE
Just wa tching a little TV , Pops .
Pops looks at the TV suspiciously, t hen back at his son.
SPRITTLE ( CONT ·, D)
It ' s his f~vorite show .
POPS
It 's in Germanl
-SPRITTLE
Not t he monkey part s .
Chi m-coim smi les .
POPS
Oh no you don ' t . You are not
watchi n g that race . · Out you go .
Outside . Get . s ome exerc ise . You ' re
t oo pale .
 86 .

I NT . CASA. CRISTO BLIMP

ANNOUNCER
The moment the Queen of Casa
Cristo sees the sun, she ' ll signal
t he start of the race .

EXT . DESERT VI STA

The horizon glows brighter, whispy clouds slowly soaking
up the blood-ora nge light .

INT . HOTEL SUITE

They speak i n Japanese .

HORUKO
•rhis is wrong . what you are trying
to do.

KATSU
I have no choice . Their price is
an insul t to four gene rations of
our family.
HORUKO
And if you die? Will then the
price be h{gh enough?

EXT . RAMPART ·

The Queen sees the sun about to break .

INT . MACH 5
Speed revs his engine , a bomb ready to blow.

EXT . CASA CRISTO MEMORIAL

A l arge memorial commemorates all t he drive rs who d ied
during this rac e : " In memory of those who gave
everything for t heir love of this sport . "
Trixi e stands beside Speed, both of t hem staring at t he
name carved into the bronze p laque ; Rex Racer .
 87.
CONTINUED :

SPEED
I understand it now, Trix . I know
why he left us .
She looks at him.
. SPEED (CONT'D)
He was trying to change this
rotten business and they killed
him for i t .

EXT . RAMPART
The Queen raises a starter's p i stol .

INT . CRUNCHER'S HOTEL ROOM

Snake Oiler and his t wo HydroCell team-mates meet [Link].
Cruncher and his gang , inc luding Vinny "Three - Fingers,"
h is hand s till bandaged .
SNAKE
This is supposed to be my race !
I'm suppose d to win ! I got t he
green light ! They promised I 'd
get t o go to the Grand Pri x( For
eight years I've played by the
rules ! ~his is supposed to be my
race !

CRUNCHER
Enough l I can't stand the.
whining!

VINNY
Like a baby needing its diaper
changed .
Snake works his jaw looking for the right comeback .

CRUNCHER
It's simple . We have a t eam of
wi ld cards . The problem is these
wild cards are better dri vers than
you .

SNAKE
Like hell they are!
CRUNCHER
Prove it . Take out Katsu . The
ot her two will quit .
 88 .
CONTINUED :

Snake seeth es .

SNAKE
You just watch me . Come on !
He and his boys storm out, slamming the door behind them .

EXT . RAMPART
The sun cracks the horizon and the Queen fire s the gun .
Al l at once tires explode into a wai l of rubber burning
agony, s moke billowing from the sound of their screams .

The cars shoot down through the corridor of t he small

streets like shot gun pellets through a barrel .

EXT . CASA CRISTO

The cars ro a r through the streets t o the cheers of the
locals , whi le above, team he l icopters circ le with t he
indu s triousness of bees .

I NT . HELICPOTER
Trixie speaks i nto her heads et .
TRIXIE
Katsu, HydroCel l's coming up on
your left .
The HydroCell cars jostle their way towards Katsu , Speed
and Racer X.

INT . RACER X'S CAR

RACER X
I got him .

INT . HOTEL SUITE

Racer X and Speed are escorted by Okamoto s ecurity into

the room .
Speed notices Horuko standing on the b alcony and is
struck by her beauty.

Katsu bows .
 89 .
CONTINUED :

KATSU
It is such an extraordinary honor
to have such tale nt on my team .

RACER X
Let's skip the nicetie s and cut to
t he chase.
Katsu arches an eyebrow.
RACER X (CONT 'D)
The only r eason we 're here i s
because you needed two outsiders
· and b ecau se the Chief I nspector
·believes you ' l l tur n over your
fi le on Remmingto~ and Block.
Racer X eyes him .
RACER X (CONT ' D)
I don't beli eve it . I don't trust
anyone who needs this kind o f deal
befor e t hey'll bring a criminal to
justice .
The accusation hangs in the air .

RACER X (CONT'D)
But I 'm wi lling t o t ake a chance
that you'll prove me wrong.

KATSU
You won' t regr et your decis ion .
RACER X
We 'll see . Unt i l t hen you have my
word that I will do everyt h ing, I
can to make sure you checke r at
Bartimaeus .
Katsu smile s .

EXT . CASA CRISTO

Racer X smashes into one of the HydroCell team, knocki ng
him into a ser ies of b i llboard s .
Katsu again smiles .

KATSU
Arri gato , X. Arrigato .
 90 .'

INT . HOTEL SUITE

They stand around a GPS map of t he r ace .

SPEED
I f t hey 're so desperate, why not
just use s ome k i nd of sniper?
There's a mi l l ion plac es someone
could hide if they were r eall y
try ing t o kill you .
RACER X
Any obvious c r ime would allow the
Chief Inspector t o shut t h e r ace
down . That kind of scrutiny would
only hurt the business . They' l l
do as much as they can to make it
appear legit .
Speed nods .
RACER X (CONT'D)
The real problem we ' ll have is
after the· first l e g. Cortega i s
going to be e xtreme ly dangerous.
Take my advice, keep your fami ly
away from Cortega .
Speed again looks out at Moruko on the b alcony.

EXT . CASA CRISTO

Katsu roars ou t of the city onto the desert roa d .

INT . CASA CRISTO BLIMP

. . ANNOUNCER
They ' r e out of the c i ty and
head ing into the zunubi an Desert .

EXT . ZUNUBIAN DESERT

The chai n of cars weave along t h e ribbon of concrete
while t he desert dunes rai se up aro und t hem .

A red bearded driver named Billy Steel -belted , h i s team

cover e d in the Ma necks ' logo , b egins sliding up next to
Speed .
 91.

EXT . SQUARE
A cobra peeks his head out of a basket , charmed by a
gorgeous woman playing her fl ute .
. r n the audience , Cruncher moves up behind Bill y .
He hands him a small black velvet bag .
Billy pours out a f istful of star- dust ; the glint of
diamonds glitt er in the greed of his s mile .

EXT . ZUNUBIAN DESERT

Billy smiles revealing his d iamond studded teet h then
swerves at Speed .

I NT . HELICOPTER

Trixie sees the attack coming .

TRIXIE
Speed, jump !

INT . MACH 5
Speed does , just as Billy' s car plows through, passing
under him .
RACER X
He's not a lone .

EXT . ZUNUBIAN DESERT

The Manecks team attacks, thei r cars flying at Katsu even

as a second team, the Atomic In jectables l ed by Tyrus
Tropp also attacks .
RACER X
This surprises me .
SPEED
Why?

RACER X
Tyrus is a good man . I wouldn't
expect him to turn head-hunter .
They aren't pulling any punches .
 92 .

INT. BASEMENT
Cruncher sits, shadows drawn around him like the fol ded
wings of a bat , across from a stoic looking Tyrus .
Cruncher slides an envelope across the tabl e .
Tyrus looks at the goons surrounding him, then p i cks it
up .
I nside are the photographs of a beauti ful girl playing in
a park . The hard edge in Tyrus' expression immediately
softens turning to fear .
·c runcher smiles like a snake that has just found an egg .

INT. CASA CRISTO BLIMP

ANNOUNCER
'T hings have start ed heat ing up , as
the cars head out across the
desert flats .

EXT. DESERT FLATS

The swerving, weaving chain of cars churns up a massive
cloud of dust in their wake .
Attacking cars are c aught and spun out by Racer X and
Speed.
A hurri cane of sand and dirt swirl a round Katsu who sits
calmly i n t he eye of the s t orm while--
His guardian ange ls go i nto over drive .
Racer X and Speed seem l ike they have been drivi ng
together all their lives .
RACER X
Lead him--
SPEED
Here ya go!
Speed leads an attack straight into Racer X's counter .
RACER X
Wing left .
SPEED
Flying in !
 93.
CONTINUED :

He jumps one car and blocks the attack pn X.

As their cars merge in .and out from one another ,
something seems perf ectly clear t o Speed--
He is back at Thunderhead with the ghos t of hi s brother,
dancing around each other until- -
TRI XIE
Speed!
Wharnl Billy slams up against him- -
Throwing a lever , a grappler locks on to the Mach 5 .
SPEED
He 's got me ! I'm locked up !
Another lever is pumped l i ke a tire pump and a ~heaved
blade begins stabbing at Spe ed's tires .
Racer X watches unable to leave Katsu unprotected .
Speed hits t he D button and the zircon saw blade s start
glidi ng t hrough t he grappler .
RACER X
Get out of there !

SPEED
I'm trying!

The knife slashes the tire whi ch e xplodes just as the

grappler is cut- -
Speed flips away free, hitting the " C" button causing a
new tir~ to inflate while he ' s upside down- -
Landing on a [Link] tire , wit hout missing a be at .
Tyrus rushes into the opening, but thi s t i me it's Katsue
who works a hidde n l e ver and--
A Kat ana-like blade f lashes, a samurai slash across t he
f ront tire --
Bowing it out, fl ippi ng the entire car , wh ich t umble s
back straight at Speed, for cing him to try a split- jack
jump--
Fir i ng only the rear jump-j acks , launching the back e nd
-of t he car while --
 94 .
CONTINUED : (2)

The front end of the Mach 5 clips against the Atomic

:Injectibles car--
Sending Speed flipping end over end but landing with
strange ly beautiful grace .

I NT . CASA CRISTO BLIMP

JOHNNY
Oh my god! Did I just see thatl?
ANNOUNCER
A rear single set jump i nto a
forward f l ip!
JOHNNY
I know he b l ew up at Fugi, but
t his kid is flat out magic !

EXT . RACER BACKYARD

Sprittle and Chim-chim are laying in lounge cha i rs
wearing bathing suits and tanning goggles, holdi ng
tanning mirrors under t heir chins .
Pops walks up .
POPS
I've got to go into town for some
parts . I ' l l be back for lunch .
SPRITTLE
Sure thing Pops.
Pops l ooks at them, shakes his head and walks off .
Sp r ittle slowl y .lowers his tanning goggles to watch him
go .
SPRITTLE (CONT ' D)
Let's go !
They drop their mirrors and bolt for the house .

I NT . RACER DEN

They' re back wit h chips- a nd cokes c licking on the tv a s

the cars storm across t he desert .
They s tart crunching away, oblivi ous to the sound of t he
front door opening .
 95 .
CONTINUED :

POPS
Honey, I can't find my wallet- -

Pops enters the room expecting to f ind Mom but catches

them red- handed.

POPS (CONT'D)
Sprit tle !

He see s the race on tv .

POPS (CONT'D)
You two are in--

SPRITTLE
Wai t ! Pops, before you get mad at
us --Look !

Sprittle points at the tv eyes wide .

·POPS
I'm not fal ling for that--

SPRITTLE
It 's Speed !

POPS
Speed's skiing.

SPRITTLE
Then who's driving the Mac h 5?

Pops turns and indeed, t h ere's the Mach 5 barrelling

across the red baked e arth · of Zunubia .

POPS
Oh no .

INT . CASA CRISTO BLIM~

ANNOUNCER
We're nearing the end of the f irs t
leg of the Casa Cristo as Snake
Oiler, lead driver for the
HydroCell team , roars through the
streets of Cortega , h e ading for
the finish .
 96 .

EXT . CORTEGA
The HydroCell team rear through the cobble stone streets
of the medieval city crossing the f inish l ine to a
cheering crowd .

I NT . CASA CRISTO BLIMP

ANNOUNCER
The HydroCell team jumped on the
lead early and would not give i t
up .
JOHNNY
They made excellent time . Okamoto
is still a couple of minut e s
behind them .

ANNOUNCER
They have their work cut out for
them tomorrow.

I NT . LUXURY CORTEGAN HOTEL

A medieval:estate renovated int o a hotel .

Katsu smashes a buffet l aid out f or the Okamoto team .

KATSU
If we drive t omor row l ike we drove
t oday we will lose !
He points at t h e masked racer .
KATSU (CONT'D)
You will get n othing! All of thi s
wi ll b e meaningles s !
· sPEED
Rel ax . Snake's weak on turn s .
We 'll c atch him in the mountains .

KATSU
We might if you stop s howing off .

SPEED
Hey , a l l I was doing. was saving
your as s .

Katsu raises a f i st , but Racer X catches it .

 97 .
CONTINUED :

RACER X
Don ' t fall apart yet . There ' s
still a lot of race to run .
Katsu jerks free of Racer X and storms towards the door
immediatel y enveloped by his securi ty t eam .
Speed looks at Racer X as though he can suddenly see
t hrough the mask .
RACER X (CONT'D)
A C. I . B. Man will be posted
outsi de your door . We got their
attention today . You and Trix ie
should be very careful tonight .
Speed nods as Ra cer X heads for t he door .
SPEED
Racer X--
He stops .
SPEED (CONT' D)
I thought we made a good team
today . It felt like we'd been
doing it fo r a long time .
He hesit ates .
RACER X
If you say so .
He turns away leaving Speed alone .

I NT . REMMINGTON ' S OFFICE

Remmington wrings the p hone as i f i t were a chicken's
neck .
REMMINGTON
Ineptitude? I s this . what I pay
you for?
CRUNCHER
They ain't checkered yet .
REMMINGTON
If they do, I assure you it will
be a very costly mistake for
everyone .
He · h angs up .
 98 .
CONTINUED :

ASSISTANT
Mr . Remrnington, you have Mr . Mush i
on line two .
Remrnington was dreading this cal l . He hits the button .
REMMINGTON
Mr . Mushi---

MUSHI
So , is this what guarantee means
to you , Mr . Remrnington? Perhaps
your dictionary has a dif f erent
definition .
REMMINGTON
I understand there is a problem,
but I assure you t here is no need
to pani c . ·
MUSHI .
I am not calling to panic . I am
calli ng to inform y ou that we will
be addressing the problem
ourselves , as your · assurances and
guarantees leaves much to be
desired .
He h angs up leaving Remrnington to stew in his juice .

INT . RACER HOTEL ROOM

Speed and Trixie are eating a room service d inner .
SPEED
I t was v e ry weird , Trix . I knew
every move he was going to make
and he knew mine . It was so
familiar. Maybe I 'm crazy but
Racer X fir,s t showe d up two years
after Rex' s death .
TRI XI E
But Speed, Rex was cremated .
SPEED
A body was cremated . Remember it
had already been badly burned in
t he crash . Even if it was Rex, no
one could have rec ognize d him .
 99 .
CONTI NUED:

TRI XIE
So you think he f aked the crash
with a different body in t he
driver's seat?
SPEED
Somehow the kwik- save was
disconnected . Inspector Detector
suspected f oul ·play but not hing
could be proved .
TRIXIE
Okay, let's say it' s all t r ue .
Why would we do it?
SPEED
I don't know . Maybe the same
reason I'm here ;
Ding dong .
Spee d goes to the door .
C. I . B. SECURITY MAN
I'm sorry to disturb you sir , but
do you know these peopl e ?
Speed s ticks hi s head out and there they are --

INT . HALLWAY
His family , Pops in front l i ke a kett le ready to boi l .
SPEED
Yeah ...

INT . RACER HOTEL ROOM

Pops rages whi le Sprittle and Chim-chim pick through
t heir dinner.
POPS
I s this the kind of _d river I have?
Someone who disobeys? Someone who
lies to me? Is t his the kind of
son I have raised? And you,
Tri xie, you know what t h is race
did to this family . Did eithe r of
you stop to think about us? Huh?
Speed, did you think about your
mother? Or your b rother?
(MORE )
 100 .
CONTINUED :
POPS (CONT'D)
·what it would do if something
happened to you?
SPEED
That's all I 've been thinki ng
about , Pops . You , Mom , Sprittle ,
Sparky .
Chim-chim shouts .
SPEED (CONT'D)
Yeah , you too , Chim-chirn . We are
in serious trouble , Pops, and i t's
all my fault .
POPS
This is not the place or the race
to do anything about that.
SPEED
Why not?
POPS
Because it won' t do any good?
SPEED
You don ' t know t hat .
POPS
You think you can drive a car and
change the world? ! It doesn't
work like that !
SPEED
Maybe not . But it ' s the only
thing I know how to do and I got ta
do something .
POPS
That ' s unacceptable! This is
over . Pack your things . We're
going home .
Speed has never directly disobeyed his father .
SPEED
I can't . I'm sorry, Pops .
POPS
What? l
SPEED
I 'm staying .
 101.
CONTINUED : (2 )

TRIXIE
So am I .
POPS
No you're not ! You' re coming
home , r i ght now!
SPEED
IJm not a chil d , Pops . You can't
tell me how to live my life . If
you want to fire me as your
driver , then fine , do i t . But it
won' t change the fact t hat I am
going to. f inish this race .
Pops looks ready to have an aneurism .
POPS
God , you sound l ike Rex . Do you
want to die like him too? Wil l
t hat make you happy?
SPEED
Don't take it out on me because
you feel guilty for what happened
to Rex .
MOM
Okay , you two . That's enough .
Pops, if t hey're staying , then
we ' re staying .
SPRITTLE
All right , room service !
MOM
I suggest we try to do everything
we can to make sure we go h ome
together .
Pops fumes working his jaw, standing toe to toe with
Speed ,
POPS
Where 's the Mach-5?
SPEED
Logged with security .
POPS
You added [Link] to it?

SPEED
Some defensive modifications .
 102 .
CONTINUED : (3)

POPS
'l'he whole thing's _out of balance,
isn't it?
SPEED
It pulls left, rides a little
stiff .
POPS
Sparky.
Pops and Sparky leave to do their work .
Speed feels terrible . He looks at his Mom.
SPEED
I'm sorry , Mom .
MOM
Your father loves you Speed . He's
just afraid that --
SPEED
I know . I t 's gonna be okay .
MOM
You wouldn' t lie to your mother
would you?
SPEED
Never again .
She hugs him • .

INT . HALLWAY
It is l ater .
A burly c . I.B . Man stands guarding a door when he feels a
bee sting on his neck .
The dar t 's poison acts qui ckly dropping the agent to the
floor as a ni nja emerges [Link] shadows .

INT . HOTEL SUITE

Katsu sleeps soundly .
Above him , in the shadows of the vaulted ceiling there is
a flash, as a pie ce of metal glints against the
moonlight .
 103 .

EXT. HOTEL
Another ninja crawls l i ke a spider down to an open
window .

INT. RACER HOTEL ROOM

The sheer cur tains undulate . in t he open window of Speed 's
room as a masked face l owers into view.
The men of the Racer family lay s catt ered about t he room
in cots and on the couches . Mom and Trixie are i n the
connect ing room .

INT. HOTEL SUITE

A liquid travels down a . wire t h at hangs poised about
Katsu's l ips .

INT . HOTEL ROOM

A ninja e nte rs Racer X's bedroom and s e es him a sleep in
his bed.

INT . RACER HOTEL ROOM

The ninja creeps past the sleep i ng me n to Speed's bed .

INT . HOTEL SUITE

The o il drips onto Ka tsu's lips .

I NT . HOTEL ROOM
A blowgun is raised .

I NT . RACER HOTEL ROOM

Standing over Speed , the ninja withdr aws a syringe fr om
his hidde n chest pocket .

INT . HOTEL SUITE

Katsu licks his lips as~-
 104 .

I NT. HOTEL ROOM

The blowgun is fired , burying itself into the mound of
piilows .
Racer X, his face shrouded in shadows , emerges from the
darkness whe re a ll marked men sleep , behind the couch .

~he ninja realizes he's been tricked and spins just as

Racer X attacks.

INT. RACER HOTEL ROOM

The syringe moves towards Speed's neck when--
Sprittle rolls over, knocking chim- chim with his arm ,
waki ng him up. and as soon as he sees the ninja- ~
He screams .
Sprittle screams .
The nin ja attacks stabbing at Speed who j ust barely
datches the needle. The ninja tries to wing- c hun the
hypodermic free but--
Speed is too quick and he f orces the needle into the
headboard as--
Sparky j umps onto t he ninja 's back .
SPARKY
I got himl I got hiiiyow--
The ninja throws Sparky across the room and tries to bolt
but Speed is up and throwing a quick combo .

The ninja stumbles, but a manages a spin- kick that knocks

Speed back as --
Pops grabs the nin ja from behind .
POPS
You attack my fami l y? ! You t ry to
hurt my son? !

Pops twists t h e squirming ninja through a series of

wrestling moves - -
Finishing the ninja in a spinning over head helicopter--
 .105.
CONTINUED:

Launching him out the window. ·

Trixie and Mom burst i n from the adjoining room .
TRIXIE
Oh my god?· Was that a ninja?
Pops cracks his knuckles .
POPS
More l ike a non-ja . Terrible what
passes for a ninja the se days .
She l ooks out the window and smiles ; this fami ly 's s til l
got it .
TRIXIE
Coo l beans .
There i s a hurried knock at t he d oor .
POPS
I' l l get it .
It is Horuko, surrounded b y security .
HORUKO
Oh, I am sorry. I was looking for
Speed Racer .
Speed moves to the door .
SPEED
Horuko? Are you all right?
HORUKO
No . Something terrible has
happened .

INT . HOTEL SUI TE

Katsu can barely sit up , hi s a r m drape d over Horuko, his
head lolling from s·i de to s i de .
The family is ga thered a round them and Racer X, who is
again wearing the mask .
Racer X tas tes the n eedle of the blow dart .
RACER X
Na rco l yte Benzamine . A highly
e ffec tive and debilit ating drug .
(MORE)
 106 . . .
CONTINUED:
RACER X (CONT' D)
Stays in the system for hours, but
leaves with no trace . .

KATSU
I 'll be ... fine • .• by morni ng .•.

RACER X
No you won't . You can't drive a
car . You can barely stand up .

Katsu leaps to his feet .

KATSU
You do riot tell me what I can do--
He suddenly collapses to the flooi .
HORUKO
Katsu !
She tries to help him, but he is unconscious .
SPEED
What are we going to do?
They all look to each other for an answer, bu t no one
s eems to have one .

INT . MR . MUSHI'S BEDROOM

The phone wakes him and he grunts into the phone in
i ndiscernible Japanese .
MUSHI
... I have been assured that our
problem has been solved .
REMMINGTON
Per h aps your de fin ition of
"solve d" i s dif f erent from mine .

EXT . CORTEGA
In the distance , the med ieva l walled city sinks behind a
hill as the sun rise s , the sound of ro l l ing thunder
swelling as--
The r ace cars come flying over t he hil l, expl odi ng pa st
us .
 107.

INT. CASA CRISTQ BLIMP

ANNOUNCER
The second leg of the Casa Cristo
is under way . And the s tage is
set for what might be one of the
most ferocious rallies we've seen
in years.

EXT . HIGHWAY
Crowds lining the road cheer as the cars scream past .
Already starting to nudge and b uck, trying to force a n
e arly mistake , _Speed and Racer X are immediately for ced
into their aggressively defensive driving~
Speed seems particularly wire d .
SPEED
Watch your line!
Okamoto ad justs .
SPEED (CONT'D)
Cut left!' Now!
Speed. fl ies i nto block for Okamoto, but Okamoto doesn't
create enough space .

SPEED (CONT'D)
Watch it !
They kiss with the shriek of crashing metal .

INT . HELI COPTER

Pops and Trixie ride i n the hel icopter with Sparky

spotting .
SPARKY
Packs leani ng left, i ook for a
· slingshot on the right !

EXT . MOUNTAI N ROAD

Almost on cue, the Medius .Rez team launches at Okamoto ,

who f eints left a nd jumps , allowing Speed to smas h-block
t o t he inside .
 108 .
CONTINUED :

RACER X
Speed , you're too tight !
The cars bounce and ·speed takes a hit , spinning fQr
moment before he regai ns control .
Speed mumbles to himself .
. SPEED
This is completely- -

INT . HELICOPTER ·
And Pops mumbles fi nishing Speed's thought .
POPS
Absolu tely crazy.

INT . HOTEL HALL

The security guard receives confirmation .
GUARD
The chopper is ready ma'am .
Horuko i s escorte d out, surrounded by her security
detail .

EXT . HOTEL

Cruncher's thug watches through binoculars as Horuko

e xits the hotel, then ~eports through his Bluetooth .
THUG
She ' s leavin ' da hotel now .

INT . HELICOPTER
Sparky scouts the upcoming terrain .
SPARKY
Wicked sidewinder coming up .
Watch the i nside-out . Could get
ugly.

·EXT . HELIPAD

Horuko is escorted to her ~aiting helicopter .

 109 .

INT. THUGMOBILE

The c r ew of t h ugs negotiates the winding c r owded streets .

THUG
Yeah , boss . Signal's loud and
c lear .

On the dash is a GPS map with a blinking signal .

EXT . SWITCHBACK

The c h ain o f jostling cars we ave up t he switc hbac k with

the viol ence of c lattering pachinko balls .

INT . POLICE CAR

INSPECTOR DETECTOR
They're airborne? You're sure?
Good . Double the guard for her
arrival in Bartimaeus . I gave my
word nothing would happen to his
sister and I mean to keep it .

The Inspector gets another call .

INSPECTOR DETECTOR (CONT'D)

Inspector Detector •. ·.Mrs . Racer?
What kind o f emergen cy?

INT . HORUKO'S HELICOPTER

The heli~opter races across the scenic l andscap e . Inside

t he cockpit , the p ilot s e ts the a uto - pilot on and
re l eases the stick.

He stands and pulls out a gun . I t is Cruncher Block.

EXT . SWITCHBACK

Speed is driving like a maniac.

SPEED
Left ! Drift tight ! Tight !

Okamoto looks like he's a bout to go over the edge .

 1 10 .
CONTINUED :

SPEED (CONT' D)
No !

INT. HORUKO'S HELICOPTER

The pilot opens the door to the posh passenger cabin .
The two security men go for their guns but Cruncher has
the drop .
CRUNCHER
Don't do i t !
The y raise their hands .
CRUNCHER .( CONT 'D)
On the ground ! Now!
They ge t on the floor .
Horuko stands and Cruncher whips his gun around to h e r.
CRUNCHER (CONT' D)
Gotcha- -
But suddenly , something is wrong , his eyes going wide as
he realizes - -
Horuko is not Horuko.
Horuko is Ka tsu .
CRUNCHER (CONT ' D)
What the--
Katsu snatches Cruncher ' s gun and t he Fixer is too
stunned to do anything to stop it .
CRUNCHER (CONT'D)
You ... cheater .
The security team seizes hold of him .
CRUNCHER ( CONT 'D)
But if you're here, who ' s --?

EXT . SIDEWI NDER -ROAD

Katsu's car ·swerves wi l dly back int o the middle of the

road .
 111.

INT. KATSU'S CAR

Tri?(ie has had e nough . She yanks up the dark visor on
th.e he lmet .
TRI XIE
That's better . c ouldn 't see
anything .
She gains control and eases the car into the . slot .
SPARKY
That's it . Nice line , Trix .

INT . HELICOPTER
Horuko sits beside Sparky, wearing Trixi e's clothes .
SPARKY
Top of the hill 's coming . Snake 's
got at least a quarter mile ' on ya .
TRI°XIE
Well , let's go get him.
SPEED
If you'd been a little more
careful , he wouldn't be ahead of
us .
TRIXI E
I told you I couldn ' t see outta
thi s dang helmet . It 's .t oo big .
SPEED
I can't believe you talk ed us into
this ridiculous i dea.
TRIXIE
What's ridiculous about it?
You' re the on·e always te l ling me
I'm a better driver than most of
the WRL .
SPEED
Now ' s not the time to p rove it !
TRIXIE
Why not?
SPEED
It's too dangerous !
 112.
CONTINUED :

TRIXIE
Too dangerou s for me but not for
you?

RACER X
Children , focus l If we 're going
t o have a chance we're going to
h ave to pass Snake before the
rendezvous .

TRIXIE
I'm r eady . Let's roll .

She f loors it , pulling out , leav i ng Speed shaking h is

head and trying t o keep up.

They smear through a hairpin turn and a s t h ey clo se on

the nearest cars i t is immediately apparent that they are
no longer d riving protectively or defensive ly- -

They a r e attacki ng .

Racer X leaps a t the bumper o f one car, corner-checking

him into the rail while--
Trixie hits like a cue ball on the break , s cattering
several c a rs--

L~avi ng Speed little to c lean up.

I NT . HELI COPTER

Sparky cheers .

SPARKY
Wahoo! Go get 'em, g irl!

INT . SNAKES'S CAR

He sees them in the r ear view mirror .

SNAKE
Here they c ome! Pick i t up !

I NT. BLI MP
C . C . ANNOUNCER
Here comes the Okamoto team,
making their move .
 113 .

EXT . MOUNTAIN ROAD

Every winding turn is another click on a fishing rod as

they slowly reel the HydroCell team in .
The Okamoto team moves with synchronized grace while
Snake and his t e am struggle to hold their line .
SNAKE
Watch i t ! What ' re you doin '? !
The mountai ns undulate , the cars dip and rise caught i n
the current of this concrete river--
Flowing one way t hen another , the cars sawing across the
belly of one bend , drifting into the curve of another
unti l --
The Hydrocell emerges over the crest of· a hi·1 1 with the
Okamoto team t igpt to their bumpers .
SNAKE (CONT ' D)
Just try it ! Try to pass ! Just
try it !
Racer X knows they ' re ready .
RACER X
Take 'em .
SPEED
With pleasure .
Speed s l i ngshots from the back position , hurling
alongside the HydroCeJ.l team until-- ·
Snake blocks him, setting up an attack by one of his team
but t his just allows Racer X a hole to punch through .
The cars continue to slug it out still weaving up the
mountain road, climbing it seems to helicopter or blimp
height .

INT . BLI MP

ANNOUNCER
Now the gloves are off and they
are pounding one another, bumper
to bumper , rail to rail!
 1 14 .

EXT . MOUNTAIN ROAD

I t remai ns at one level of i ntensity until--
Snakes bashes Trixie hard into t he rail; driving her
almost over the edge, causing her to shriek from the
force of the blow--
And Speed loses it .
His jaw clenches , s hif ting into a whole new leve l of
i ntensity .
He becomes a cyclone, a whirling der vish , e nveloping the
HydroCell team in a cloud of chaos--
Throwing, rending , . r i pping through them unt il only Snake
is left .
Speed is not kind ; battering him until he 's not s ure if
he 's going forward or backward .
In a panic , [Link] f or a hidden l e ver but be f ore
he can take hold of it , Spe ed clobbers h im agai n , causing
him t o shriek louder thap Trixie and then --
Recede quickly away like a dog· with its tai l tightly
t ucked .

I NT . HELICOPTER
SPRITTLE
Oh yeah !
Pops can' t hel p a f l ash of delight .
POPS
.• . that 's my boy .

I NT . BLIMP
C. C. ANNOUNCER.
The Okamoto Te am roars intci ·the
l ead behind some v~ry aggress i ve
driving by Speed Racer .
JOHNNY
You kiddin' me? He just tore
Snake a new tailpipe !
 115 .

INT . KATSU'S CAR

SPEED
Trix? Yo.u a ll right ?
She 's obviously shaken up .
TRIXIE
Ye ah , sure . 10-4 and r eady for
more .
Speed shakes his head, wanting this to be over .
RACER X
The n let ' s move it . We got s ome
time to eat up.

INT . HORUKO'S HELICOPTER

Crunc her is buckled i nto a s eat with his arms tie d behind
h im. He glares at Katsu who•is c hang ing i nto his r acing
leathers .
CRUNCHER
Haven't ya heard? Cheaters never
prosper .
SECURITY GUARD
Sir , we 've got the l ead ! They 're
heading for the r endezvous , now!
Katsu looks back at Cruncher and smil e s.
KATSU
Excelle nt .

INT . THUGM'OBILE
No answer . The thug hangs up .
THUG
Somethin' ain ' t right .

INT . HELI COPTER

They head d own towards the rendezvous which is a hidden
a lpi n e nook , surrounded by mountains .
 116 .
CONTINUED :

HORUKO ·
You're sure , no cameras here ?
POPS
Checked it this morning . Quite a
few dead spots in these mountains .

EXT. RENDEZVOUS

The Okamoto team roars up to where everyone is waiting .

Speed climbs out of the Mach-5 a nd heads straight for
Trixie .
SPEED
I told you--
She t urns ready to fight , if that's what he wants .
SPEED (CONT'D)
You are one helluva driver .
She smiles .
TRIXIE
You're not so bad yourself .
Sparky a nd Pops go to work , changing fue l c e l l s and
starting to pound out some o f the serious dents .
Racer X sees Cruncher guarded by the security t eam .
RACER X
What's he doing here ?
KATSU
Stowaway . Weren't sure what to do
wi t h him .
. RACER X
· Do what he 'd do ; bre ak his l e gs
and l et him walk back .
Horuko bows t o Trixie .
HORUKO
Thank you so much .
TRIXIE
It was a blast .

SPARKY
Cells reloaded!
 117 .
CON'l'INUED :

SPEED
Let' s go!
They start to turn until mac hine gun f ires obj e cts .
THUG
Nobody move !
The thugs emerge from the surrounding wood.
POPS
What is this? !
He strides towards the nearest goon but bullets spi t up
the earth and snow at his fe et causing h i m to fr eeze in
place .
CRUNCHER
This is called a change of plan .
Now f ree d , one o f the thugs tosses him a gun .
THUG
Yeah , that 's right . We ' re
chang ing your plan that cha nged
our plan to change your
plan •.. right boss ?
Crunc her decides to ignore that .
CRUNCHER
The new plan-- what was it , again?
Break your legs , make you walk
back? I like that .
He stands smiling i n front of Racer X.
CRUNCHER (CONT ' D)
Bu t first , I t hink i t' s t ime to .
play a lit t le peek- a - boo , I - see-
you .

I NT. BLIMP
C. C. ANNOUNCER
We a r e stil l waiting for the
Okamoto t eam to come out o f the
pass .
J·oHNNY
Those r oads can really ice up .
Ve ry danger~:ms .
 118 .

EXT. RENDEZVOUS
One of the thugs pins Racer X's a r ms back as Cruncher
goes for the mas~ while--
Unnoticed by anyone , t he trunk of the Mach-5 pops open
and four eyes peek out . ·
Cruncher s tarts to peel back the mask when a rock clips
him on the side of his head .
CRUNCHER
Owl

SPRITTLE
.Monkey cookie !
He t urns j ust as--
Whap ! A monkey cookie i n t he kisser .
SPRITTLE (CONT'D)
Nice shot !
Chim- chim howls as Sprittle reloads his sling-shot .
POPS
Sprittle?!
CRUNCHER
Get that monkey!
The goons a re confused , d istract ed , and before they can
cont rol it , the fight is on- -
-Racer X throws the t hug holdi ng him-~
Speed and Trixie dish out equa l measures of chop- socky
and good ol ' American slug-fu as--
Pops grapples and wrestles hi s goon into a head-lock .
Racer X hammers Cruncher to t he ground where he sees hi s
gun, scrambling for it but just as he reaches for it--
Katsu steps on his hand .
It's a s hort quick turn around and--
RACER X
Looks l i ke another change of plan .
 119 .
CONTINUED:

The security guards herd up Cruncher and the thugs while

Pops turns his attention to--
POPS
Sprittle! Get over here!
SPRITTLE
Ahhhh!
He and Chim- chim run behind Speed .
SPEED
Sprittle this isn't a game . You
could've been killed in there .
. SPRI'rTLE
I .know i t was bad! I know we
shouldn ' t have done it . But Chim-
chim was really really scared.
SPEED
Chim-chim?
SPRITTLE
Okay , I was a l ittle scared to_o .
TRIXI E
Scared of what?
Sprittle clings to his b i g brother .
SPRITTLE
I didn't want what happened to Rex
to happen to you .
. Racer X and Pops fee l a hidden wound open .
SPRITTLE (CONT'D)
We just thought if you got into
trouble, maybe we could help and
i t's a good thing we did .
Speed looks at Pops as if Sprittle i s making a good
point .
POPS
Oh no, you're not getting off that
easy . If your mother hasn't had a
heart attack a].ready, I'm sure
she ' ll know what to do with you
two .
The last of Pops line is los t to the squeal of tires and
roar of engines as the HydroCe ll team f l ies by .
 1 20 .
CONTINUED : (2)

KATSU
Go! Go ! Go!

They rush to the ir cars, Speed l e aping into t he Mach - 5 .

Engines growl, tires spi n and gravel spits a s t h e three

c ars shoot back into t h e r ace .

INT . BLIMP

C . C . ANNOUNCER
First out of the pass i s ... the
HydroCell t eam?

JOHNNY
Uh- oh . They better send t h e
emergency trailer--

c .c . ANNOUNCER
Wait! Is that- -

Lik e e a g l e s dropping from the sky , the Okamoto ream soars

out of t h e mouth of the p as s .

I NT . BLIMP

JOHNNY
Here we go again .

C.C . ANNOUNCER
Whateve r happened in that pass has
lef t Okamoto b ack where the y
started but now onl y o n e obstacle
stands between Snake Oi ler and
victory--
J OHNNY
The Maltese Ice Caves .

I NT. HELICOPTER

Trixie n o t ice s as Pops begins to b ite h is lip . She

whispers to Sparky.

TRIXIE
This is whe re Rex ...

Spa r ky nods .
 121.

EXT. MALTESE ICE .CAVES

Moon- white sheaves mottled against coke- bottle colored
ice f l oes r ise up , a glistening wall of glacial plates
surroundi ng the thin ribbon of road. ·
Speed enters the first series of caves bored through
earth and ice , a stroboscopic oscillati on of light and
dark, ads and no ads as - -
The memory of watch_ing Rex disappear down the throat of
one of t hese [Link] haunts him.
KATSU
Speed ? ! What are you doing?
SPEED
Sorry .
.. RACER X
Are you all right?
SPEED
I'm fine .
Ahead, the HydroCell team grows fr9m small ·silhouette s
flashing in a nd out of s ight , c loser and closer, larger
and larger unti l - -
Once more the t hree chase cars lock onto their rear
bumper .

INT . RACER X' S CAR

RACER X
The next cave's a rattler .
KATSU
What is that ?
SPEED .
Double s .
RACER X
We'll make our move in there .

EXT . MALTESE ICE CAVES

The open maw swallows the segmented train of cars , each
one slipping down into an underworld--
 122 .
CONTINUED:

Where there is no purchase for adve rtisement s--

On l y the cold, wet darkness where white lights chase
after red ones .
Speed tr ies to shake his fear when X calls for the
attack .
RACER X
Now .
The cars split apart , Racer X leading the charge . as- -
Sparks f l ash as with the cross o f swords, met al striking
metal an<;:i--
The ice- crusted walls sparkle with star-burst s of
violence--
The cacophony r inging through the first bending curve .
It i s obvious that the conditions are much more
dif ficult , a sword fight on a frozen lake--
Each o f t he drivers , skiddi ng , wobbling , dri f t ing fart her
then they anticipated , b ut--
The Okamoto t eam are just too good , eli minating one and
then the other HydroCell c ars unti l --
Speed again has Snake i n his sights .
Thj_s time , though , Snake i s ready .
SNAKE
Not this time, punk !
He throws the lever and be neath his car--
A violent spray of freezing gas i mmediately skim coats
.the road with a fresh s·himmering glaze of ice that --
Speed hits going ful l throttle, i mmedi ately spinning
wildly out of control.
He screams t rying to hold on as he spits out the end of
the cave --
Smashing t hrough the rai l , s eparati ng from the earth--
Hanging for a moment against the soundlessness of the
open sky--
Bef ore dropping like a stone .
 123 .
CONTINUED : ( 2)

RACER X
Speed!

INT . BLIMP

JOHNNY
Oh .n o !

C . C. ANNOUNCER
Speed Racer ' s gone over the edge!

INT . HELICOPTER

Everyone feels the same stomach-lurching terror a s Pops'

eyes go wide with the terror that he is about to lose
another son.

EXT. GLACIER CLIFF

Speed falls a nd from i nside the cockpit it looks

impossibly far to the bottom but--
The wall of the cliff is not complete ly vertical and the
Mach- 5 begins to rub against t he ice .

Speed reacts immediateJ.y , hitti ng one of the control

buttons and--
Crampons shoot out of his t i re s, giving h i m just enough
of a hol d to try--

A split- jack jump, the front jacks firing, t h rowi ng the

car i nto a somersault across the open ravine--

Slamming against the f ar sid e which has slightly more

slope , allowing the crampons to dig in as- -

He drive straight up t h e wall of ice.

INT . BLIMP .

JOHNNY
He did not! He did not just do
that !

C. C. ANNOUNCER
Speed Racer is driving straight up
a cliff face --are we getti ng t h is ?
 124 .
CONTINUED :

JOHNNY
This kid i s u nbelievable !

INT . HELICOPTER
They all c heer .
SPRITTLE
Go , Speed , go!

EX'I' . MOUNTAIN ROAD

Speed jumps a gain, vaulti ng v iolent l y back .int o t he

winding road just be hind a disbelieving Snake .
SPEED
Hi . Remember me?
Speed roars up after h i m and Sna ke grabs for his leve r
again but now i t's Speed that 's r eady--
J umping over the ·ice , he body slams Snake , sending him
hard into the rail as Speed s h oot s i nto t h e lead .
SNAKE
Not a ga in ! Not again !
He grabs at an ankle hols ter , ya nking out a gun.

I NT . BLI MP
Their c ameras . zoom in as Snak e aims .
JOHNNY
Oh my god, he's got a gun!

EXT . MOUNTAIN ROAD

Speed d oe·sn' t notic e until it seems his entir e fami l y
s creams into his ear --
FAMILY
GUN!

Snake s f ires just as- -

Speed hits the cockpit bubble and the bullets smack
a gainst i t like a s ledge hammer i nto a brick wall .
 125 .
CONTINUED :

He swerves knowing he won't be able to tak e many hits as

Sna ke chases after h i m, fi r ing as - -
Speed hits the crampons again and runs up the side of the
mountain the n--
Fli ps off the wall just as the cliff face drops off ,
switching sides a s - -
Snake now finds hims e lf on the outside a s Speed bashe s
him out through the guard rail .
Snake tries a similar move t o Speed but Snake i s no Speed-

And his car burs ts apar t a s he miss-times the f lip,

sending a bounc ing cocoon to the d i s tant snows below .

INT . BLIMP
C . C . [Link]
Snake Oiler complet e ly going out
of his mind- -
J OHNNY
Could have been alt i tud e sickness,
it gets crazy up there--

CASA CRISTO ANNOUNCER

Whateve r it was, Speed h a ndle d i t
·beautif u l ly and with less than 250
kilometers to go , nothing s eems to
s tand between Okamoto--

EXT . _FINISH LINE

The cars weave t hrough the Byzantine stree ts of S~n

Bartimeaus.
C . C . ANNOUNCER
And victory !
The checkered f lag comes down, hundreds of flashbulbs
capturing the moment as Kats u lea~s Speed and Racer X
acr oss the finish line.

INT . REMMINGTON'S OFFICE-

Remmingt on s moulder s like the cigar worries between his
f i ngers -a s he watches the effect of the race happen
a l mo~t immediately .
 126 .
CONTINUED :

The stock of Okamoto engineering climbs two points .

REMMINGTON
Get me •.. Tetsuya Okamoto .

EXT . VICTORY LANE

Katsu poses with Speed and Racer X for photographers .
Racer Xis clearly not interested .
KATSU
We make a good team .
RACER X
We did our part . Make sure you do
yours .
Racer X stares at Katsu whose face is as expressionless
as a mask but it feels a s though Racer X can see right
t hr ough i t .
KATSU
Of course .

I NT. REMMINGTON'S ·OFFICE

REMMINGTON
Congr atulations Mr . Okamoto . Very
impress ive race .

INT . OKAMOTO 'S OFFICE

OKAMOTO
Yes , t hank you. You . are very
generous , Mr . Rernrnington .

EXT . VICTORY LANE

REPORTER 2
Speed , does this mean you've
signed with Okamoto?

SPEED
Uh , no .
This was ..• a mutu ally
beneficial opportunity .
KATSU
Yes , well put .
 127 .
CONTINUED :

REPORTER 3
Katsu, does this mean you will be .
running in the Grand Prix this
weekend?
KATSU
We'll see . Ri ght now I'm just
going to en joy this victory .

INT . REMMINGTON 'S OFFICE

OKAMOTO
The price is 78 a share .
REMMINGTON
That 's outrageous! The price is
barely above 5 0 ! This is·
extortion! Blackmail! I' ll sue
y ou ! Tie up every asset you own
up for the next 20 years!
OKAMOTO
As you wish Mr . Rernmington . Have
a nice day .
REMMING'l'ON
Wait !
He grinds his molars unti l they are s mooth .

REMMINGTON (CONT'D)
Se venty-ei ght a · share. I'll have
the papers drawn up .
OKAMOTO
A pleasure doing b us i ness with
you .

INT. OKAMOTO'S OFFICE

Okamoto hangs up the phone . Katsu and Horuko sit across
from him . He smiles .
OKAMOTO
You have done very wel l for us , my
son .
Katsu smiles the same smile as his father . The on ly
person not smiling in the room is Horuko . ·
 128 .

. INT . RACER FAMILY GARAGE

Speed k ick s over a tool box giving voice to his rage with
a cacophony of clattering metal ,
He jumps into the Mach 5 . The engine guns the wheels
scr eech as he peels out and away leaving- -
I nspector Detector standing with this hat in hand , his
frown mirrored by Pops .
SPARKY
I don't get it . What just
happened?
POPS .
Okamoto played u s for c humps . All
he wanted was our hel p to d rive up
the stock on his family's company .
Even if there was a file , he had
no intention of turning it over .
SPARKY
You mean t hat whole r ac e was for
nothing?

INT . MACH 5
Speed s creams as loud as he can strangii ng the steering
wheel as he r ockets throu gh a serie~ of familia r with
curves .

EXT . THUNDERHEAD
Without the lights or ba n ners or crowds, the race track
echoes with the same quiet portance as a cathe dral . It
i s here that Speed has always found himse lf.
Bu t a s he sails through neck snapping t urns wi th r e ckless
abandon , it becomes clear that he is chasin g something
that he h as l ost .
He seems ready to cry f or all t he frustration and anger ,
wanting so badly to undo the l a st few wee ks of his l ife .
Suddenly in his rearview mirror there is an answer to his
prayer , a miracle- -
His brother .
 129 .
CONTI NUED :

For a moment he believes that he is a gain dri v ing be side

the ghost of his brother but when t he two car s ki ss up
against each othe r , Speed r e alize s this is no ghost--
I t' s Racer X.
The masked Rac er suddenly be come s the foc us o f all his
a nge r a nd Speed swings his c ar , wielding i t like a c l ub ,
t rying t o clobber him .
Racer X dodges the first blow and swi ngs back, the two have
a t one another, banging , shoving one anot her into the wal l--
Until Spee d c an't take it anymore a nd he goe s at X as
f erocious l y as he can , throwing him i nto a t ai lspin- -
Crashing him into one of the grand stands . _
Silence embraces t he track .
Speed climbs out of the Mach 5 .
SPEED
X? Racer X?
There is a small movement in the c ar, a shudder ing as
though i _n pain and Speed realiz es he may have gone t oo
far .
SPEED (CONT'D)
Racer X? ! !

He runs to the car but immed i ately stops when he realizes

the masked man is not i n pan ; he is laughing . He
practic a lly falls out of his car .
RACER X
Jeezus , kid . You can dr ive . I
haven't been thrown like t hat i n
year s.
SPEED
What a re you doing here?
RACER X
The i nspector told me what
happened . I came looking for you .
SPEED
Why?
RACER X
Thought you'd t ake it hard and
maybe do something stupid.
 130 .
CONTINUED : ( 2 )

SPEED
Why would you. care?

RACER X
Because you're a fi ghter . And a
friend .

SPEED
Why don ' t you just tell me t he
t rut h?

Racer X stares at him hard .

SPEED (CONT'D)
You're Rex , aren ' t you?·

RACER X
You mean your brother?

SPEED
You first appeared two years after
Re x died . You d rive jus t like
hiin . You knew I'd be here beca use
this is where he always used to
take me . J ust te l l me the truth .

Afte r a long hard moment, Racer X pulls off his mask.

He is not Re x. Speed is stunned .

SPEED (CONT'D)
You ' re ... not Rex .

RACER X
No . I ' m sorry Speed but your
brother is dead .

He pulls his mask back on . -

SPEED
I'm sorry .

RACER X
Don't b e . I'm sure where ever
your .bro ther is , he i s immensely
p roud of you .

SPEED
For . what? Making the same
mistakes h e d id ?
 131.
CONTINUED : ( 3 )

RACER X
For trying to make a difference .
From what I've read , tha t 's all he
tried to do .
SPEED
And what good did it do? He got
ki lled for nothing . Racing hasn't
changed and i t never willl
RACER X
It doesn't matter if racing never
changes . What matters is if we
let racing change us . Everyone of
us has to find the reason to do
this . You don ' t cli mb into a T-
180 -to be a driver . You do it
because you're d riven .
SPEED
I don ' t know why I'm doing it
anymore .
RACER X
That' s obvious . At Fuj i, you were
trying to prove somethi ng . At
Cr isto, you were looking for
justice. Neither are the reason
you be long behind a steering
wheel.
SPEED
If you know so much , why don ' t you
tell me why I should keep driving?
RACER X
Sorr y . That's for you to figur e
out .
He climbs back into his car .
RACER X (CONT ' D)
I just hope when you do, I'm there.
to see it .
He roars away l eaving Speed alone . ·

INT. SPEED'S ROOM

Speed is furiously packing. There is a knock on the door
but he i gnores it .
Sprittle opens the door, Chim- chim following him in .
 132 .
CON'rINUED :

SPRITTLE
Hey watcha doin?
SPEED
What's i t look like ?
SPRITTLE
Where ya goin?
SPEED
I don't know . · ! just gotta ge t
away f rom here .
SPRITTLE
Why?
SPEED
Because .
SPRI'I'TLE
Because why?
SPEED
Because I have to .
SPRITTLE
Can we come with you?

Speed is struck b y an odd sense of de ja vu .

SPEED
What?
SPRITTLE
Can we come with you?

SPEED
No .
SPRI TTLE
Why?
SPEED
You'll understand when it's your
turn .
He shoulders his bag and shoves out the door.

INT. RACER FAMILY LIVING ROOM

Speed crosse~ to the door but Pops is already there ,
sitting, waiting, a heaviness i n his limbs.
 133 .
CONTINUED :

POPS
Speed , before you go , I 'd like to
say a few t hings . Will you sit
.with your old man for a minute?
Speed chafes a bit but drops his bag .
SPEED
Don 't try to stop me .
POPS
I won't. I made a mist ake trying
to tell you what to do at Cortega .
You were right . I was wrong . I
won't make that mistake again .
Speed sits .
POPS (CONT'D)
I want you to know that I acted
rashly . I said things I wish I
hadn't . Your mother usually
protects me from making an ass out
of my s elf but I was determined to
do it thi s time and I guess I d id
a pretty good job of it . I wa nted
to make sure you understood how
sorry I was .
SPEED
Thanks .
POPS
The . truth was , I couldn't have
been more proud of you son . Not
because you· won, but be cause you
s tood up, you weren 't afraid and
you d id what you thought was
right .
SPEED
So? It didn' t amount to anything .
It was completely meaningless.
POPS
How could it be meaningless? I
saw my s·o n become a man . I
watched him a c t with coura ge and
i ntegrity and drive the pants off
o f every driver on the road. This
is not meaningless . This is the
reason for a father's life.
Pop's eye s · begin to twinkle with tears .
 134 .
. CONTINUED : ( 2 )

POPS (CONT'D)
I . admit r · went to Cortega because
I was afraid that what happened to
Rex was going to happen to you.
And I just couldn't take that . I
co uldn't loose another one of my
boys ]~ike t hat again . But what I
r e alize in Cortega was that I
d i dn't lose Rex when he c rashed, I
lost him here . I lost him when he
wa lked out of t his house and I l e t
h i m go without telling him how
proud I was of him and how much I
loved him. I let him thi nk t hat a
stupid motor company meant more to
me than he did . You'll never know
how much I regret that mi stake,
but it's enough that I'll never
make it ·again.

He puts h i s big bear arms around h i m and hugs h im .

POPS (CONT'D)
I l ove you Speed . I under stand that
every chi ld leaves home but I want
you to know that door is always
open and you can always come back .

SPEED
I love you Pops . I'm just so
confused right now . I don't what
I'm doi ng or why I'm doing it . I'm
l ocked up i n some k i nda tailspin
and no direction makes -sense .

POPS
t know what that's like. When Rex
d i ed I didn 't even. know if I
wanted salt on my eggs , let alone
i .f I wanted to keep building cars .
Then , do you remember when we sat
here , t hat night , watching old Ben
Burn s and Dugazi? You r e member
that ?

Speed nods vaguely .

POPS (CONT'D)
Sitti n' here , cheeri ng with you ,
something just c licked , like a
light bei ng switched on i nside o f
me and after that , I never had
trouble remembering how I l iked me
eggs .
 1 35.
CONT INUED : (3)

SPEED
J e ez Pop.s . Th a t's just it .
That's part of my problem .

POPS
What?

· SPEED
That rac e . The ' 43 Pri x. Burns
and Dugaz i ? It was fixed .
Rewmington tol d me the who le
s t ory . I t was a ll about some DNF
names Rotts . They've known the
winn er of e very Grand Prix for the
past 50 year s . It's always fixed .

That's a tough pill for Pops to swallow .

POPS
I don' t b elieve that .
Remmington's a crook . You can't
b e lieve a c rook.

SPEED
I don't think he was l ying, Pops .
POPS
The Grand Prix? A s ham?

Ding dong.

POPS (CONT'D)
Who ·could t hat be?

Speed opens the door . She seems to g low, radiating with

her own incandescenc e .

SPEED
Horuko? !

HORUKO
Forgive me for i ntruding but I had
to come b e fore i t was too l ate .

Speed e ye s her for a moment wondering i f this is anot her

set-up.

HORUKO (CONT'D)
This is n ot a trick . I swe ar to
you . I am not my brother .

POPS
You going t o ask the l ovely lady
in?
 CONTINUED : ( 4)

SPEED
Yeah, sure . Come on in .
She steps in , looking somewhat out of place i n the
s uburban livi ng room .
POPS
Can I get you something to drink?
HORUKO
No . My security man be l i eves I am
still at the opera , so I only have
a moment .

She turns to Speed . ·

HORUKO (CONT'D)
I am very sorry for what happe ned .
What my father and brother di d was
not right [Link] I am ashamed .
SPEED
It ' s fine . Just another lesson
learned .
HORUKO
No . It is they who are in need of
a lesson .
She pulls an envelope out of her bag and gives it to
Speed.
HORUKO (CONT ' D)
This rightf ully bel ongs to you .
. He opens the e nvelope and his eyes immediate ly l ight up .
SPEED
An invi [Link] to compete i n t he
91st annual Gra nd Prix?
HORUKO
My brother was planning to dec line ·
anyway but I studied the rules
very c are ful ly a nd as a member of
the Okamoto team , i f you present
this invitation ori the day of the
race, t hey must al low you to ·
compete .
Pops bursts into a smile and slaps Speed on the back.
 137 .
CONTINUED : { 5 ) .

POPS
Whaddya think of that, Mr . Its-
Always - Fixed?
SPEED
I ...

HORUKO
You do not have t o say anything .
I on l y hope you drive as you did
in Casa Cristo and you wipe the
smiles from their faces .
POPS
We don't have a car . Sparky !
SPARKY
Ri ght ):[Link] Pops .
Sparky s t eps out of t he k itchen doorway .
POPS
What're you doing i n the kitchen?
SPARKY
Same as everyone else .
Behind him the entire family peeks out .
SPEED
I don't believe it . You were
listening the who le time?
Trixie goes to him.
TRIXIE
We were worr ied about yqu .
HORUKO
I would say good luck Saturday but
you do not need it . You are
already very lucky to have such a
fami ly .
SPEED
Goodbye and thank you .
He closes the door .
POPS
Come on ! We got work to do .
 138 .
CONTINUED : (6)

SPARKY
But Pops , t h e race is les s than 36
h ours away .

POPS
Isn't that h ow fast Remmington
said he could build that tin can
with all his fanc y machines?

SPARKY
Yeah .

POPS
Then we'll do it i n 32 . Let 's go!
He heads for the garage , _Spr i ttle l eaping after him.
SPRITTLE
I want to he lp .
POPS
Well come on .
SPRI TTLE
Chim- chim too?
POPS
We need everyone .

INT . RACER FAMILY GARAGE

The family gets t o work , bol ting, welding , dri l ling ,
cutt ing , and gri nding .
· The framework o f a car .begins to materialize , as sembled
i t seems out o f thin air, human will made manifest a s --

I NT . REMMINGTON I NDUSTRIES LABORATORY

A car is covered i n a sheet bearing t he RI l ogo .
Remmington speaks before Mushi and his cadr e of lawyers
and ass i stants .
REMMINGTON
I swear to you Mr , Mushi when t he
GRX is revealed at t he Grand Prix
and then captures the black and
white checkers the demand fo r our
transponder engines will go
through the roof .

Mushi _smiles .
 139.

INT. RACER FAMILY GARAGE

The Racers continue to work, Sparky beginning to fall
asleep just as Mom brings him a big, steaming cup of
coffee .
The car ·is further along , but s till a l ong way from
· f ini shed .

INT . REMMINGTON'S OFFICE

Papers are signed • . Hands are shaken. Pictures posed
for. The harmony of the corpratocracy complet e as--

INT. RACER FAMILY GARAGE

The entire family, covered in sweat, blood, and grease,
refusing to quit even as the sun rises on--

EXT. THE GRAND PRIX

Nothi ng we've seen compares to the staggering scope of
thi s track. I t feels l ike an enti re city; grand stands
rising up like can-opened sky scrapers surrounded by
clover leafs of t rack that seem like origami folded
highways. ·
Preparations are well under way, a d s being positioned,
lights bei ng checked, make-up being applied to Ben Burns
and his announcing partner, Cass Jones .

INT. RACER FAMILY GARAGE

. The Racers gobble handful of potato chips, stuffing
quarters of P ,B, & J sandwiches into their mouths,
rushing to finish while--

INT. GRAND PRIX PENTHOUSE

Caviar , shrimp and lobster are being set out on trays of
ice beneath a glistening ice scul pture of . the GRX .

INT . RACER FAMILY GARAGE

The car is nearly finished,Pops spraying on the pai nt as--

 140.

EXT . GRAND PRI X GRANDSTANDS

The crowds have already begun to arrive .
At the players entrance , fans swarm a fter Cannonball
Tayl or who arrives in his gorgeous sports car .

INT. RACER FAMI LY GARAGE .

Sparky slams the access panel shut .

SPARKY
Alright , fire it up!
Everyone holds their breath as Speed hit s the ignition .
The car makes a sick baying rattle and smoke · begins
pouring out of t he engine .
SPARKY (CONT'D)
Kill it ! Kill i t l .

EXT . GRAND PRIX

Remrningto n stands r eady to revea l the GRX .
REMMI NGTON
Ladies and ge ntlemen , behold t he
f u t ure .
It's black, shiny , and beautifu l i n a mal efic way .

INT . RACER FAMILY GARAGE

The cloc k continues to tick, everyone watching anxi ously
over his s houlder as Sparky works ,
SPEED
Sparks , i t's getti ng late .
SPARKY
I know, I kn9w . Okay . Give it a
try .
Everyone braces as Speed h i ts the i gnition .
I t is the sound of an e xplosion held in the pa lm of your
hand .
 141 .
CONTINUED :

SPEED
Sounds beefy Pops .

POPS
It g i ves you · a little something
extra .
SPEED
Let's get i t loaded!

INT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
This year marks a new record as
the Grand Prix will be broadcast
i n eighty-four diff ere nt
languages . ·

The camera pans over the multitude of ethnic

broadcasters .
CASS JONES (CONT'D)
Jus t gets bigger every year ,
doesn' t it Ben?
BEN BURNS
Seems like it .

INT . GRAND PRIX PENTHOUSE

The elite hobnob, champagne flutes flashing between
f eathered hats and waxy smiles .
The Okamotos raise their g lasses to Mushi .

I NT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
We've got an i ncr edible lineup
this year . Some major
competition . We got a few fan
favorites like the Gray Ghost ,
Sonic "Boom- boom" ·Renaldi and
Prince Kabala . We got perenial
powerhouses like Nitro Venderhoss ,
Gary "Gearbox" Kalinkov , and Mori
Minimot o .
BEN BURNS
Not to ment ion C ball .
 142 .
CONTINUED :

FUJI ANNOUNCER
Cannonball Taylor , fastest Grand
Prix seed i n history , driving the
new ORX from Rernmington ·Racecars .

BEN BURNS
She looks mighty tight .
FUJI ANNOUNCER,
There is an odd numbered fie ld
today, nirieteen , one shy of a f ul l
boat a s Katsu Okamoto declined his
a utomatic invitation after winning
the Casa Cristo .
BEN BURNS
Hey there ' s something going on
down there .

CASS JONES
We're seei ng some k ind of
commotion down at the t railer
entrance .

EXT . TRAI LER. ENTRANCE

A large group of security offici als are gathered , star ing
at the invitation in Speed's hand.
One of them starts ·to shake h is head when he hears--
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
Is there a problem here, officer?

INT . GRAND PRIX PENTHOUSE

Remmington is in his element, everything seeming to go

e xactly as planned until Gennie comes up behind him a nd
whispers i n his ear .
GENNI E
Sir, we have a problem .

INT . RACE OFFICIAL ' S ROOM

The doors burs t open as Remmington charges i n . His eyes
flash as though seeing ghost s when confron~ed by t he
entire Racer clan .

REMMINGTON
What madness is going on here?
 143.
CONTINUED:

SENIOR RACE OFFICIAL

Mr. Remmington, this is a
legitimate i nvitation . We have
verified it .
REMMINGTON
Where did you get that?
SPEED
I was on the Okamoto team
r emember? I won it fair and
square.
REMMINGTON
Thi s is preposterous! He can't be
all owed to race . It's too late.
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
The ruling on this is quite clear.
Try to stop i t and you'll be in
blatant violation of the WRL
charter , leaving me no opt ion but
to shut this years Prix down until
a f ull investigation can be
completed .
REMMINGTON
What?! Do you have any idea what
that would cost? Are you insane?
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
Try me.
Remmington stews then spits a threat at Speed.
REMMINGTON
You'll regret this.
SPEED
Doubt it~

INT. GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
Something big is goi ng on because
every race official has been--
wait , wait. An announcement is
being made. A new driver is being
added to the field.
BEN BURNS
. Holy sh--
 144 .
CONTINUED :

BLEEP .
Ben Burns gets b l eepe d by the net work c e nsors .

EXT . BIG BOARD

A n ame f lashes on as · t he driver is added .
FEMALE ANNOUNCER VOICE
Now driving in the twentieth a nd
final positi on , Speed Racer .
The roar from the crowd shake s t he windows of--

INT . GRAND PRIX PENTHOUSE

Concerned , knitted brows search t he room in quiet pa ni c
while i n private--
Hor uko allows herself t he fa i ntes t smile .

INT . PRIVATE OFFICE

Remmington meets in secret with Cannonba ll Taylor .
REMMINGTON
A mil lion dqllars t o the drive r
t hat takes Racer out .

CANNONBALL
He won ' t get out of the blocks .
REMMINGTON
I prefer him to not even make it
out of the locker room.
cannonball smi l es as Remmington starts to tu:rn .
REMMINGTON (CONT ' D)
We're i nstalling a. spear hook on
the GRX.
CANNONBALL
I don' t need one . to beat that
punk .
REMMINGTON
A precaution .
 145 .

INT . LOCKER ROOM

Speed begins laying out al l of his things while the other

drivers move around him, wolves stalking prey .
In a mirror , a Yakuza. tat tooed driver eyes Speed while
drawing a strai ght razor up his ne ck .
Speed tries to ignore him, digging through his bag ,
getting more -and more fluster ed until he r e a lizes--
He forgot the r ed socks .
SPEED
Oh no ..•

.EXT . GRAND PRIX GRANDSTANDS

The Racer fami ly finds their · seat s .

INT . LOCKER ROOM

The Yukuza man moves up behind a despai ring Speed,
straight razor flashing as - -
The Gray Ghost cuts him off .
GRAY GHOST
Hey ki d--
•
SPEED.
The Gra y Ghost ...
GRAY GHOST
Just wanted to say good luck .
He reaches out · to shake ,· then whispers .
GRAY GHOS'r ( CONT ' P )
There's a mil lion do llar bounty on
your head. ·
SPEED
A milli on dollars? Wow . Maybe I
should take myself out .
GRAY GHOST
Watch your self . Your ruffling
some pretty major f e a t he rs he re .
 146 .
CONTINUED:

SPEED
Why aren't y ou after the bounty?
GRAY GHOST
Our l ittle dance at Fuji--tha t's
how it should always be .

I NT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
As the cars take to the f ield you
can f eel the antici pation mounting
in the audience . Somet hing is
differe nt . The re is an
electrici ty in the air . The
presence of Speed Racer has
completely changed the equation .

INT . LOCKER ROOM

Speed is sitting, still not dres sed . The broken ritual
has him confused , not sure how to begin .
A dressed and he lmeted driver heads straight at him but
is. d i verted by·--
RACER X
Speed Racer?
Speed t urns, taking a moment to realize the handsome
millionaire playboy in the tux is unmasked Racer x. He
glances down at Speed 's belongings and sees a picture of
Rex .
SPEED
Oh , yeah .
PLAYBOY/RACER X
I'm qu i te a fan of yours and just
wanted to say how glad I am to see
you here .
As they shake hands, Racer X realiz es that somet h ing is
wrong .
PLAYBOY/RACER X (CONT'D)
Is s omething wrong?

SPEED
I just .•. I got this t hing ... its
stupid , I know, a •superstition,
but I guess all of us got one .
 14 7.
CONTINUED :

PLAYBOY/RACER X
Can I help?

Speed suddenly notices the red trim of his tuxedo and hi s

red tie . He looks down and heaves a sigh of r elief .
Red socks .

INT . PLAYER'S TUNNEL

Speed rushes out of the da r kness of the tunnel into the
brightly colored, awe- inspiri n g venue t hat is the Grand
Priz Coliseum.
There is a di zzying onslaught of giant a dvertisement s and
jumbotrons while the enor mous crowd r oars in lapping
waves like the surrounding ocean .

I NT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER 'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
There he is now , Speed Race r ,
perhaps the biggest wild card in
Grand Prix h istory .

EXT . GRAND PRIX STARTING LINE

Floating came ra bl i mps seem to hover everywhere including
right next to Speed--
Catching h im unawares with a gaper's mout h .
The image of Speed looking overwhelmed i s imrnediately
broadcast onto the j umbotrons eliciting a l a ugh from the
crowds.

EXT . GRAND PRI X GRANDSTANDS

Trixi e s ees Speed on the big screens.

TRIXI E
Look! There's Speed !

INT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
Speed Racer gets his first eyeful
of the Coliseum.
 148.
CONTINUED:

BEN
This ain't Kansas baby!

EXT . STARTING LINE

The gorgeous Prince Kabala struts for the crowd whi le a
te am of beautiful female mechanics push his jewel
encrusted car into place .
He sees Speed helping Sparky push the Mach 5 into place .

PRI NCE
Hey , mouth- breather , get used to
this--
He shows Speed h i s ass .
PRINCE (CONT'D)
'Cause that's what you're going to
be looking at a ll day!
Speed tries to ignore him and the other driver 's s taring
at him l i ke a fox staring at a chicken .
SPARKY
Howya feelin'?
Speed takes a breath as he dares to look around again .
SPEED
... it's big .
SPARKY
Hey, t his cockpit is the exact
same size it wa s at Thunderhead .

SPEED
Right .
SPARKY
Just wan ted t o say, .thanks , for
what could be the most exci ting
moment of my l i fe .
SPEED
Couldn't have gotten here without
you.
He hugs him .
 149 .
CONTINUED :

SPARKY
I ' m l ooking forward to that cold
milk .
SPEED
Me too .
Speed climbs in as the speaker system blares--
FEMALE ANNOUNCER VOICE
Ladies and gentlemen, star t your
e ngines .
The engines erupt , crashing against the waves of the
roaring crowd but- ~
Ins i de the Mach 5 everything goes completely s ilent.
Nothing exi sts now for Speed except the track as he loses
all separation between himsel f and his car .
He t a kes a deep breath and clos es his eyes as the
count down begins .

INT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOO'rH

CASS JONES
The final countdown has begun and
a stillness has fallen over thi s
stadium as a l l e yes t urn to one
car .
BEN BURNS
This ain't a race . It ' s a
showdown .

EXT . GRAND PRIX

Again we cut to the many varied e xpre ssions of
anticipation : Trixie, Mushi, Okamoto, Sprittle , and Chim-
chim, Katsu and Horuko , Mom and Pops , Remmington and
Racer X who no longer has any sock s , until--
The gun sounds--
The cars become bullets hurdled forward, except for the
car in front of Speed which barely moves blocking his
pat h--
He tries to avoid it but can ' t , rear- ending him whi le the
car behind him slams into the back of the Mach 5 .
 150 .

INT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
Trouble at the start, a misfire
traps Speed Rac er , causing a
collision--
BEN BURNS
Uh-oh . Look out l

EXT . GRAND PRIX STARTING LINE

A car to the side swerves aiming strai ght at Speed who
manages at t he last second a slip-jack jump- -
Flip ping over the car as it slams into the pile-up while - -
Speed guns his engine in the air so that when he hits the
track t here is a scream of burni ng rubber and the Mach 5
r ockets out of the start to the cheering crowd .

INT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
I don't know how he got out of
that one- -
BEN BURNS
That' kid's wiley .

EXT . GRAND PRIX TRACK

The first lap of the Grand Prix i s Ben Hur brutal as car
after car takes a shot at Speed but--
He uses their aggressiveness throwing them into each other--
Littering the track with f laming d ebris and bouncing
cocoons.

INT. GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

They try t o keep up but Speed is even too fast for them .
CASS JONES
Speed fakes left , jumps right--
BEN BURNS
Nice , nice- -
 151.
CONTINUED:

CASS JONES
He s lips in behind Gearbox--
BEN BURNS
Here comes over under- -

EXT . GRAND PRIX TRACK

Speed execut es another beautiful maneuve r sending Gearbox
c rashing i nto Boom-Boom- -
Both cars going boom-boom, their rubber c ocoons bouncing
free .

INT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

Ben Burns is g i ddy wi t h glee .
BEN BURNS
I told you ! I told you!
CASS JONES
Speed Race r seems uns t oppable ,
moving up from dead last, nearing
the l eaders as they head i nto t he
slalom with the Gray Ghost
batt l i ng Prince Kabal a and
Cannonball Taylor for the lead.

EXT . GRAND PRIX TRACK

The Pr ince t r ies to sight the Ghost i n his mirrors but
the Gray Ghost s eems t o vani sh .
GRAY GHOST
Where am I ? Where am I? I ' m
h ere . I am over there . I ' m
Savior Fair e!
The Prince trie s to block the Ghost but he can' t seem to
locate him.
GRAY GHOST (CONT 'D)
I 'm ever ywhere , baby!
Wham! The Ghos t is on him , pouncing, slipping into what
feels l i ke a shoulder throw t hat s ends the Prince
spinning out of c ontrol onto the onrushing Nitr o - -
Shat tering the Prince 's car like a mis-struck diamond
reduced in one haITLmer s t roke to twinkl ing dust .
 152 .
CONTINUED :

The two more cocoons bounce onto the road as the other
cars roar past .

INT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
A s pecta cular crash as the
Prince 's jewel-covered Gigerbon
worth an estimated 22 million
dollars i-s scattered over a
quarter mi le o f track .
BEN BURNS
I 'd like to work clean up on that
crash .
They chuckle .
CASS JONES
But look out , as they approach the
Big Drop , here c omes Speed Racer!

EXT . THE BIG DROP

The cars head over as though falling off the end of
Niagara and while other drivers cling to their steering
wheels just trying to hang on--
Speed presses the accelerator, making hi s move--
~anking higher than anyone up the big wall and when he
dives back down there are only t hree c ars left ahead of
him--
The green Mushi motors car , the Gray Ghost , a nd the Black
GRX .

I NT. GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
Speed Rac er is knocking on the
door of the new GRX driven by
Cannonball Taylor .
BEN BURNS
You hoo l Anybody home?
 1 53 .

I NT . MACH 5
SPEED
Ok Mr . Two [Link] Prix, Five
time WRL, futu re Hall of Fame ,
teach me something.

EXT . GRAND PRIX TRACK

Speed makes a move and Cannonball blocks , but it is

clumsy and Speed quick ly counters--
Bounc ing Cannonball i nto the wall .
SPEED
Come on ! Is that .it?
He swerves back and the two cars begin to battle but it
is immediately clear who is t he b etter driver, as --
Speed throws Cannonball from one side of the track to the
other .

INT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER' S BOOTH

CASS J ONES
Cannonball Taylor is in trouble .
BEN BURNS
Tear 'em up k i d !

INT . GRAND PRIX PENTHOUSE

The knuck les of Remmington's fist crackle as he wrings
t he tension .
REMMINGTON
Do it . Stop him. Stop him now .

IN'l' • MACH 5

SPEED
Lesson 's ove r . See you at the
fin i sh line .
Speed slides into Cannonball to throw him but as he does- -
 154 .
CONTINUED :

Cannonball throws a hidden switc h and unde r the two c a rs

a spear hook shoot s out and l ocks onto the Mach 5
undercarriage .
Speed fe e ls it and knows what happened immedia tel y.
SPEED (CONT 'D)
No!
SPARKY
What i s it?
SPEED
Spear hook ! He's got me l
cannonball s l ows driving bot h c ar s into the wall,
gr i nding against the Mach 5 while the t railing car s shoot
post .

INT. GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
Cannonball has Speed pinned a s
they grind through t he butterfly
turn .

INT . GRAND PRIX PENTHOUSE

Rernmington relaxes a s Speed falls further off the l eader
pace .

EXT . GRAND PRIX GRANDS'l'ANDS

Spr i ttle under stands immediatel y what is going on .
SPRI'rTLE
That cheat er ! He ' s using a spear
hook ! SPEAR HOOK! SPEAR HOOK!
The surrounding crowd becomes uncomfortable .
POPS
Spritt le, we don't know that .
SPRITTLE
I do ! Cannonball Taylor is
nothi ng but a b i g cheater !
 155 .

EXT . GRAND PRIX TRACK

They exit the butterfl y turn and head into the slalom,
both drivers fighting hard to force the other into t he
onrushing concrete pylons .
The paint i s scraped first f rom the outside of the Mach 5
and then the GRX as they barely avoid one pylon and then
anot her, neither car gaini ng an advantage until--
The Mach 5 begins to rattle, the s tronger GRX taking
advantage as they head for the fi nal pyl on- -
Where the camera that is broadcasting the two cars onto
the jumbo-tron is positioned~

INT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER ' S BOOTH

BEN BURNS
This is going to be ugly .

EXT . GRAND PRIX TRACK

At t he last second, Speed hits the .two outside jacks

causing both cars to rise up onto the two outside wheels
of the GRX--
Revealing the undercarriage and the hidden spear hook to
the camera .
The crowd gasps .
SPRITTLE
Tol d you so l
Chirn-chim high fives him .
SPRITTLE (CONT'D)
Cheaters never prosper !

EXT . GRAND PRIX TRACK

The Mach 5 flips down, pancaking t he GRX , while the Mach

5 crashe s free, leaving the exposed spear hook to hang
l imply from the front of the GRX.
 156 .

INT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
Cannonball clearly using a spear
hook .
BEN BURNS
That could cost him t he Hall o f
Fame .
CASS JONES
Not to mention ~hat i t might do to
Remrni ngton Industries .
BEN BURNS
Shame on them .

INT . GRAND PRIX PENTHOUSE

People begin drifting away from Rernmington as he feels

the walls close in around him .

EXT . GRAND PRIX TRACK

Speed tries to start the Mach 5 . He hits the s witch but
the starter on l y grinds .

EXT . PIT STOP

SPARKY
Oh no, come on , don't do this .

EXT . GRAND PRIX GRANDSTANDS

Pops watches through his binoculars .
POPS
Don ' t quit on us now baby .

INT . GRAND PRIX LUXURY BOXES

Racer X is watching with Minx .
RACER X
Careful . Listen to it . Don't
kill the starter .
 157.

EXT . GRAND PRIX TRACK

Speed takes a deep breath a nd it seems t h e entire s t adium
takes it with him. He closes his eyes and tries to
listen to the car .
SPEED
What d o you need?
Something makes h im put the car in second gear . He steps
on the accel erator, t hen hits the starter a nd- -
And t he Mach 5 roars to life .
The crowd screams to the wail of burning r ubber .

INT. GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
He's back in it , b ut less t han a
l ap and a half, I don't know what
k i nd of chance he has .
BEN BURNS
Come on k i d! Move it!

EXT . GRAND PRIX TRACK

The red socks flash as Speed stomps on it , jamming the
acce ler ator to the floor .
He's a hal f-lap beh ind t he entire field but every eye i n
the stadium is on the wh i t e and red streak of ligh tening
as it--
Thunders by, rattling the e l aborate lace work of c oncrete
and steel--
Gai ning , inch by inch , f oot by foot .

INT . GRAND PRIX PENTHOUSE

People abandon the tel evised images , wanting t o watch
t his miracle, to see it wi th their own eyes.
 158 .

INT . GRAND PRI X ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
Look at the s plit ! He ' s shattering
the lap record .
BEN BURNS
Don' t mean a thing without those
checkers .

EXT . GRAND PRIX 'TRACK

Speed comes out of the spiral , glimpsing t he back of the
trailers as they go over t he Big Drop .
Where they ease over the edge , Speed hurls out, going
airborne , free- falling past two trailers , as--
,,
Th e grade of the slbpe reaches up and gently eases the
Mach 5 back onto the track , to t he deli ght of the crowd.
The Mach 5 surfs up t he big bank, weaving through another
pair that try to stop him with spectacularly d i sastrous
results .
Outsi de the Mach 5 a mae lstrom of vio l ent chaos churns
while--
Inside , Speed is perfectly at pease .

INT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
No hesitati on, nothing f azes him,
no one seems capable of stopping
him .
BEN BURNS
This kid ain 't just driving--he's
on a mission.

I NT. GRAND PRIX PENTHOUSE

Remmington can't take it, losing al l pretense of decorum .
REMMINGTON
Stop him ! Stop him!
 159 .

EXT. GRAND PRIX TRACK

Speed weaves through the butterfly cloverl eaf , taking

each turn a t such intense speeds that the cars h e passes
seem to be movi ng in slow mot l on .
By the end of t he slalom, he is b ack where he left off ,
with two cars l eft ahead of him--
Mushi Motors and the Gray Ghost .
GRAY GHOST
Welcome b ack kid . Been lonely up
her e without you .

INT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONES
With a quarter lap to go Speed
Racer is back , two cars beneath
h im and desti ny.

INT . MACH 5

Speed suddenly fee l s the weight o f everything that has

brought him to this point .
He. sees images and hears voices , fla shing thr ough h i s
head , as t hough at his own death .
The montage finishe s wit h the image of Speed as a ten
year old boy , drawing pictur es o f race cars , making all
t he no i ses , lost in a dreamworld that has become r e a l ity .
He sees the finish line and makes his move .
The Gray Ghost sees i t coming fir s t .
GRAY GHOST
Oh yeah , here we go , here we go .
Spee d fla shes one way , then another, moving in ghost ~like
feigns , here there , and everywhere .
GRAY GHOST (CONT'D)
What ' s this? What's t his? Hey
now! That's my move !

Before Ghost knows where to go , Speed ducks past--

 160.
CONTINUED :

Sling-shotting down alongs i de the Mushi motors car . The

Yukuza driver tries t o b lock but- -
Speed jumps , dodging t he hit, caus ing the Mushi car to
swerve and then wildly correct--
Swi nging back as Speed hop-scotches over him again, just
as--

The Ghost flies in , t a king a broadside hit from the Mushi

car, both of them exploding just feet from the finish
line , as - -
Speed launches up and t hrough the c l oud of smoke and
' fire , crossing into history with the flashing wave of t he
checkered black and white--
Fluttering softly in the silence as the c rowd begins to
rise to their feet.
The Mach 5 slides to a stop and for a moment Speed
catches his breath, then, slowl y pulling off his helmet
he begins to let it al l i n--
The thunder of t he crowd c a n be felt through his chest
straight to h i s heart .

INT. GRAND PRI X PENTHOUSE

Remmington screams, overturning a table of caviar and

l obster, crashing the elaborate ice sculpture of t he GRX
at t he feet of Mushi who tur ns and walks away in disgust.

EXT . GRAND PRIX GRANDSTANDS

Pops' chest is out, tears runni ng down to his moustache

as he wraps his arms around Mom, who goes to pieces as
Chim- chim and Spritt l e l eap up and down , hugging Trixie
as - -

INT. GRAND PRI X PENTHOUSE

The smiles of Katsu and his fathe r are gone giving Horuko
no end of secret joy.

EXT. FINISH LINE

The crowd s torms over t he barriers , swarming Speed and

the Mach 5.
 161.

INT . GRAND PRIX ANNOUNCER'S BOOTH

CASS JONE S
It' s a pandemonium! Peopl e h ave
gone completely crazy ! I n
fourteen years we 've never s een
anything like this !
BEN BURNS
It' s a whole new world baby , a
whole new world .

EXT . FI NISH LINE

The crowd l ifts Speed up onto their shoulders as we
col lage-pan to- -

INT . LUXURY BOXES GRAND PRIX

Racer X watching his brother , a smile on his lips .
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
He did it.
Racer X lowers h i s binos and t urns to the inspector .
RACER X
Yes , he d i d .
I NSPECTOR DETECTOR
This could change everything .
RACER X
It already has.
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
My me n are bring ing the family
down . Do you want t o go with
t hem?
RACER X
. .. no .
He turns and takes Minx by the a r m.
INSPECTOR DETECTOR
Can I ask you a q uestion? Do you
ever t hink you made a mi s take ,
hidin·g the truth f ram tnem?
 162 .
CONTINUED :

There i s a flash of images as we glimpse the t ruth ;

images of Rex watching his car e xplode in the ice caves,
his funeral , then the facia l surgery, the n t he mask o f
bandage s as one face is l ost in a mirror and another is
revealed .
RACER X
I f I d id , then i t's a mistake I
have to live wit h .
He wal ks away whi le--

EXT . VICTORY LANE

Several o f t he other driver 's l e d by the Gray Ghost
applaud and sal ute Speed as --
The Racer family is l ed t hrough the swa rm of
photographers and fa ns .
TRIXIE
Speed !
She pushes towards hi m and he s weeps her up into h is arms
and kisses her , surrou nded by the sparkle of camer a flash
as- -
Sprittle covers Ch im-ch i m's eyes .
SPRITTLE
Danger . May cause cookie s .
Mom and Pops bot h hug Spee d, their eyes bright with joy
as--
We rise up, up, and away .
Roll s nazzy cred i ts.