(MAN SPEAKING SPANISH)
Camera!
(ENGINE STARTS)
"Medellin," scene 25, take 14.
Mark!
VINCE: "Medellin" is the story of Pablo Escobar,
one of the greatest outlaws the world had ever known.
MAN: And what attracted you to this project?
What attracted me to this project?
(CHUCKLES) Everything.
It was the script for me. You know, the first time I read it,
I couldn't put it down. I knew it was a movie,
an exciting movie.
What attracted me to this project?
Well, that's easy.
It was the blood.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
(SPANISH RAP PLAYING)
MAN: On September the 3rd, 2006,
a completely independently financed movie crew
set out into the hills of Colombia
to make a movie about one of the most feared drug lords in history.
A young director, first-time producer,
and an up-and-coming movie star all had one goal...
To make something special.
People, people!
MAN: I was invited along to document the ride.
Gather around! Gather around!
Everyone take a moment. Breath in the air.
Focus on your surroundings. This is now your home.
Everything you left behind is behind you.
Whether it be your wife, your children,
or your fucking cocker spaniel named Lucy, none of them matters.
The only thing that matters is what you can see.
Thank you. Excuse me.
ERIC: I knew going into this that Billy was gonna be a handful.
It was my job to handle him and bring the movie in on budget.
MAN: But you have no experience.
No, none, actually.
In fact, four years ago, I was running a pizza place in New York.
And now they put you in charge of a $30-million budget?
Only in Hollywood, right?
MAN: So how do you know what to do?
I mean, you don't. You learn on the job. You have to.
And he has this book to help.
He reads it every night. He keeps it under his pillow.
I have read it about 60 times.
Okay, next scene up, scene 167...
The storming of Pablo's private prison.
Okay, how many extras will we have?
400, just like the script asked for.
It ain't enough.
It ain't enough? It's what the script says.
It ain't enough. It needs to be overwhelming.
We need to fill the whole frame.
I'd say another 1,000 will do it.
This is the real Colombian Army we're getting here, Billy.
- We're getting them cheap. - (PHONE RINGING)
Can't just throw another 1,000 in there even at that price.
Turn your motherfucking cell phones off.
Sorry, it's my bad. There hasn't been any service.
That is the last fucking cell phone
that I wanna hear in the next 45 days that we spend together.
I'm telling you all right now
that if another cell phone rings
while professional artists are trying to work,
the person responsible for that distraction
will be dragged into town and sold as a drug mule.
Does everyone understand what I'm saying?
It was my bad, okay?
But there really hasn't been any cell phone service.
I think the guy overreacted.
I mean, it's just a production meeting. Not like I blew a shot.
And it's Sunday. I got to get my football picks in.
I always try to steer my clients away
from working with inexperienced directors and producers,
because why take a chance?
Vinnie really wanted to do this movie and there was no stopping him.
But then, when he wanted to put up his own money,
I thought that was crazy,
because, look, most movies lose money.
It's my job as a talent representative
to make sure that even if a movie loses all of its money,
my client still sees all of his.
ERIC: I've never heard you mention this problem before.
Makes no difference whether you heard it before. I'm telling you now.
Make sure a crane can pull right through there. Got it?
- Have you heard it? - I haven't heard it.
- You don't disagree? - No, I don't. Do you?
I don't know, because I haven't heard exactly what the problem is.
The problem, Suit, is that we don't have an ending.
I'm sorry, let me correct that. We have a shitty ending.
An ending that will take a genius film that people are loving,
turn them on a dime against us,
and have them walking out of the theater
shaking their fucking heads in disgust.
ERIC: We're supposed to shoot in three days.
The guy suddenly tells us out of nowhere
that he hates the ending? So what do you do?
Shoot yourself in the head
with a large-caliber bullet.
- I say we shut down for a week. - No!
We work on the ending... It'll cost us a little money,
but if we start shooting and then we have to shut down it'll be disastrous.
- We'll have something to shoot. - Vince?
I'm ready to roll. I don't want to slow down.
- So we're in agreement. - It's up to E.
Don't worry, Suit.
I promise we'll have something to shoot.
I will write it and it will be brilliant. I promise, okay?
- Okay. - All right!
- Yeah! - Salud!
- Salud. - (SPEAKS SPANISH)
You don't get on a set, get ready to shoot,
and then ask for rewrites.
Studios do this crap all the time
and they wonder why they end up with a shit movie.
Movie? You know, I hate the word "movie."
I don't make movies. I make films.
ACTOR: You think you're invincible.
Nobody's invincible.
Nothing is forever, Mr. Escobar.
I appreciate your position, Señor de Quintas.
I know you have a job and a family to provide for.
- Three boys, no? - Are you threatening me?
Nobody is threatening nobody.
Well, actually, I'm not in the movie.
I'm just sitting in on the table read as a favor
until they find the real actor.
You see, I'm not available. I'm on a TV show...
"Five Towns."
We had a very successful first season.
And even though I'm on hiatus,
I can't be in the movie. Contractually I'm not available.
Plus Billy didn't really offer me anything.
The Cali Cartel is a figment of your imagination, Pablo.
They are ghosts.
When's the next casting session?
Because if I have to listen to anymore amateurs
I'm gonna slash my wrists.
Hey, you want me to try that with an accent, Billy?
(SPEAKS SPANISH)
Hola, muchachos. Mucho gusto.
- What I would do to that. - Be professional.
- Okay. - (CLEARS THROAT)
Okay, let's read through this once.
DRAMA: I can read with.
We can leave the kiss out. Or not.
Why are they in here? Get them out.
ERIC: You guys got to go.
Good luck.
- (DOOR OPENS) - Bueno suerte.
Sorry about that.
Okay, let's do this.
- I'm a little bit nervous. - BILLY: No, don't be.
Todo bien.
- So, what do you think? - She's fantastic.
- Yeah, E? - I loved her,
but we're talking about the village girl.
And?
- Well, it's just not how I saw her. - No? How did you see her?
Kind of like Linda Hunt in "The Year of Living Dangerously."
- Really? - What, you saw Salma Hayek?
I didn't see Salma Hayek when that girl just read.
Have some fucking imagination, Suit.
Makeup, wardrobe. She can be more plain as you say,
but her essence is something special.
- Agreed, Vince? - Yeah, agreed. E?
Okay, makeup.
Any shot she'll have a nude scene in the film, Bill?
Well, I didn't see it personally,
but the one thing I did believe
was that Billy knew exactly what he wanted.
So it's my job to support him as long as he got it all done.
MAN: And the ending, has he got that done?
- Not yet. - MAN: So what do you do?
I support him for now.
Atencion! Atencion!
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
MAN: October the 27th. The first day of production had arrived.
The sets were all up.
Why is that door red?
- I thought it popped. - You thought it popped.
How am I going to see blood splatter on a red door?
Fuckwad. Change it.
MAN: The actors were all cast.
Show some fucking fire! Fuego! Pasion! Go!
- (YELLING IN SPANISH) - Muy bien!
Muy bien. Muy bien, si!
Si, si, si, si!
As soon as I get this on, Vinnie,
we'll put that other eye in for you and it'll be perfect.
MAN: The makeup tests were all done.
- Hey, Billy! - Holy shit.
That can't be Vincent Chase. Don't hurt me, Don Pablo! Don't hurt me.
- (ALL LAUGHING) - Beautiful job. Beautiful job.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
The nose needs to be more thick.
No, that's a very accurate rendering, Billy, look.
He looks just like Pablo.
Thicken it or I'll find someone who can.
And don't put too much on her.
She's perfect as is.
- Atencion! - MAN: They're ready to shoot.
A. D: I need quiet on the set, please.
Of course I'm nervous. I mean, it's only natural.
Who wouldn't be nervous?
- I don't really get nervous. - Only pussies get nervous.
I'm freaking out a little bit. It's all on the line on this one
and I have no control. I don't like that.
Well, whenever you're about to shoot
you get butterflies.
But if you've prepared and taken care of your instrument,
what can go wrong?
Tony Danza taught me that when I did a little guest spot.
MAN: We're about to roll out of film.
- Huh? - MAN: We're gonna roll out of film.
Can I finish my story here?
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
Scene 16, take one.
Action!
(CAR APPROACHES)
Salgan!
- Salg... - (CHILDREN SPEAKING SPANISH)
Hola, hermano.
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
(LAUGHS)
Hola!
(SPEAKS SPANISH)
Vamos.
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
Goal!
(GUNSHOT)
Papi, Papi!
Papi, Papi.
(SOBBING) Papi.
(ENGINE REVS)
- (GUNSHOTS) - (PEOPLE SCREAMING)
(LAUGHS)
No! No!
(AUTOMATIC GUNFIRE)
Come on, will you ever doubt the guy again?
ERIC: No.
That shit looked unbelievable.
- Is this kid a movie star or what? - Did you like it, Johnny?
If I don't get a little something in this movie, I'm gonna kill myself.
(CHUCKLES) I guess he likes.
There he is!
The auteur extraordinaire. Awesome, Billy.
DRAMA: Bravo, Billy. Bravo.
What's wrong?
- I hate it. - You hate it?
- I hate it. - Why? It looks great.
It looks like shit. Like a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie.
Hey, I did a couple good Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.
Over lit, man. Dripping in shit.
You jammed that D.P. Down my throat,
and this is what happens when I get jammed.
- You picked the D.P. - Off your list, Suit.
Your budget fucking list.
You go budget, you get a budget-ass look.
- Billy, I swear it looks great. - Vince, I love you,
but I swear it don't. It looks like shit.
I feel like crying, I hate it so much. I hate it!
- Billy, here comes Sven. Chill out. - I hate it, I hate it.
- Hey! - Enough.
We loving life, huh?
I hate it! I hate it! I fucking hate it!
- Whoa whoa whoa! - Billy, Billy, Billy!
Your filters make it look like someone came on the lens.
- Billy, get off of him. - You big fucking Scandinavian pussy!
I thought it looked great, but I'm not a cinematographer.
If Billy thought that it could look better, I believed him.
I believed him too. But still, we have a budget
and I wouldn't have let him fire the guy. But I had no say.
See, after Billy humiliated him he quit.
Oh, that's always a good sign, right?
When the director starts offing people.
Yeah, big fucking deal.
I decided to shoot the thing myself, save us some money.
BILLY: You're fearful.
Like this is the most feared man in Colombia, right?
But you know that he lusts after you.
But I'm only selling bananas.
- Why aren't we shooting? - I just act, kid.
What the fuck is going on?
I think your director's got a crush.
Don't burst his bubble, but she's been eyeing me for days.
(SIGHS)
Why aren't we shooting, Billy?
- The light's not right. - When's it going to be right?
When the clouds move.
When's that going to be?
I'm a filmmaker, Suit, not a fucking weather man.
I'll let you guys talk.
No, wait...
So what do you want to do?
What I've been doing...
Waiting.
We literally wait two days for the guy to shoot.
And when he finally does,
suddenly he says, "No one sees any more dailies."
Nobody comes in here!
You know, I'm not going to be judged on my work.
Not by fucking novices.
We may have snuck a peek.
(WHISPERS) Come on.
(PROJECTOR WHIRRING)
When Billy's right, he's right.
It looked sick.
Someone just in here?
MAN: So is Billy doubting himself?
Nah, Billy never doubts himself.
But something was wrong.
I only have a couple of scenes in the movie... Film.
So I don't understand why the director
wants to eat all his meals with me.
And cut!
(GROANS)
Oh, that is beautiful. That is beautiful. Print it!
And everyone else... Everyone else,
learn from it.
Oh, I am so pleased that you're doing my film.
I see real star quality in you.
You're very Sophia Loren, except not Italian.
You comprende?
Vince, guys, come join us.
- Okay. - You mind?
Why would I mind?
Hi there. How you doing?
So, Billy, any word on the new ending?
No.
When a director falls for an actor on set, all bets are off.
When he doesn't get her, bet you have a problem.
When someone else gets her, bet the house.
I nailed one of my directors on "Melrose Place."
That was the year they threw me off, actually.
MAN: You think that might've been the reason?
I don't know. I never really thought about that.
(LATIN MUSIC PLAYING)
(PEOPLE SPEAKING SPANISH)
Why are you hovering around down there, Suit?
We got to talk about the ending, Billy.
- We do? - Yeah, we do.
How would you and me talking about the ending help?
Because time is running short, Billy.
I don't have anything yet, Suit, but stuff is percolating.
I don't have time for percolating, Billy.
I need pages to produce. You promised.
Is something else wrong?
Does it look like something's wrong?
Everyone listen up, I have something very important to say.
Sex kills.
It kills creativity, it kills artistry.
It kills a film set.
There will be no sex here... Not on my film set.
I hope that I've made myself clear.
- The ending, Billy. - Percolating, Suit.
Percolating.
I am not having sex with her.
- You sure? - Pretty sure.
If I don't get a part in this movie
I can have sex with her, technically,
without offending Billy, right?
Yeah, but you may offend all the Colombians
who would be sickened by the thought.
- Walsh is getting obsessed. - You think?
Yeah, and I don't care, but he's not writing.
What do you want me to do?
Don't fuck her, for one.
Seriously. I can still fuck her, right?
Yeah. Drama, if you can get her, go for it.
Oh, a challenge. I love it.
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
BILLY: Cut!
VINCE: What's the problem this time, Billy?
It sucked.
15 takes? I don't get it.
- Suit. - Yeah?
Would you please tell Mr. Chase
that I want some fucking passion out of him?
- You don't want to tell him? - I'd rather not.
(SIGHS)
He wants some passion out of you.
- He's not talking to me now? - I guess not.
(SIGHS)
Hey. Let's walk.
- What's the problem? - There's no problem.
Billy, I'm not fucking her.
Swear on it, Vince. Swear on your mother's life.
I just told you I'm not.
- Then who is? - I have no idea if anyone is.
Vinnie, man, she told me she wanted to be friends.
Yeah?
Show me the girl who wants to be friends,
I'll show you the guy who's fucking her.
Well, it ain't me. So can we go back to work?
Yeah, Vin, go back to work.
And will you write the ending?
Yes, I will.
He hasn't written shit. And when we're not shooting
all he does is sit in the bar and sulk.
By Thursday, we will have shot everything that's been written,
my greatest fear will be realized and we're gonna have to shut down.
- So, you're starting to panic? - I'm way past panic.
- Get me Stephen Gaghan. - Stephen Gaghan?
Yeah, Suit. You heard of him? He wrote "Traffic."
- I know who he is. - He's a good writer.
- It's a two-week job, tops. - Why can't you write it?
Rumors already started about D.P.'s being fired,
production delays, et cetera.
But now they want an Academy Award winner to do the rewrites?
Ridiculous. I told him he'd never do it.
Yeah, I know Stephen...
From the Brentwood Country Mart.
Guy loves me. He'll do it.
Stephen Gaghan's going to cost us over 200 grand a week.
- So? - So we can't afford it.
What we can't afford is not to have an ending.
Figure it out, Suit.
I'm telling you right now
this guy's going to call me Suit one too many times,
I'm going to knock his fucking teeth out of his mouth.
I called Ari personally and asked him
if he'd call our financier and try and get us a little more money.
I told Vince, "Ha ha ha."
Our financier already had enough problems, you know what I'm saying?
Well, what happened was
I was on my way to the airport in Los Angeles
when I was pulled over
and the officer found some cocaine.
Well, it was a lot of cocaine...
(CHUCKLES) actually.
You're probably asking yourself
why on earth was I bringing cocaine to Colombia.
Well, truthfully, I wasn't.
As it turns out it was an old bag
that had been lying in my trunk for years.
I had just completely forgotten about it.
So, yeah.
In either case, the judge didn't really buy that.
Meanwhile, my passport has been taken away while I await trial.
- My bank accounts were frozen. - Fuck you, man.
And there's no more money just now.
So I can only pray that the 30 mil I sunk into this thing
isn't going down some Colombian drain. Right?
'Cause there's, you know, no suicide watch here.
You know what I mean?
Vince, we can't afford Gaghan.
We've got to get a list of cheaper writers.
He'll have to go for it.
Don't use the word cheap.
I'm heading to makeup, see you on set. Hey, be firm.
Have I not been? Have I not been firm?
What's going on?
He's interrogating the crew to find out who's been with his girl.
- Fuck you. - No, fuck you.
I'm going to ask you one time, chochito.
And if I find out you're lying to me, I'm not going to be happy.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
I do, Billy, I do.
And I'm not lying. I swear.
I never touched her. Never.
Next.
- Billy. - What's up, Suit?
- We need to talk, now. - No, I'm busy.
Get your ass up and walk with me right now, or as God as my witness,
I will send you packing today and I will finish this movie without you.
Who's going to direct, Turtle?
I directed a couple shorts.
Yo, I don't know what you're making such a big deal about.
You don't know what I'm making such a big deal about?
You convince us all we need a new ending,
and while I'm trying to make that happen,
you're out interrogating the crew about this girl?
I need to know who's fucking her.
- We need an ending. - And I need Gaghan.
You can't have him, but I've got a list of other writers you can look over.
What, some cheap piece-of-shit hacks?
Billy.
Suit, I know in my heart that Gaghan is the one guy
who can get us to where we need to be.
You're supposed to be the guy that gets us where we need to be.
We have no more money and no way of getting any more. That's it.
- I'll get rid of the extra army guys. - That's not enough.
And lose the Bogata Central Library massacre.
- You love that scene. - I'm compromising, Suit.
Since when? You're letting this girl mess up your mind.
- It's not about the girl. - Then what's your fucking problem?
Living in this jungle for the past five months.
- What, we haven't? - You're just moving numbers around.
I'm dealing with sets and extras
and fucking explosions... Big explosions, man.
My last movie had 12 people in it. 12 total.
Billy, it's going great. You're killing it.
No, it's killing me, Suit. I'm melting down.
It's this humidity. I can't think in this humidity.
- And I need to think. - You got to finish.
- I can't. - Yes, Billy, you can, all right?
And we can't without you, so snap out of it.
I'm here. I'll do whatever you need me to do.
You really care, huh, Suit?
Yeah, I do.
You know, you've never given me a compliment before.
I never knew you needed one.
I do.
And I need help with the ending.
Please.
It was a nice moment. I mean, who would have thought
Billy Walsh would be so insecure? So I took care of it.
I personally think it was about the girl.
But either way, E got him to step out of it.
Well, I was the guy with her.
I only got a hand job.
But don't tell Billy.
I'm still hoping to get into the last scene.
(LAUGHING) Drama? No shot.
No shot, but please bust out a polygraph machine.
So we're all set?
Oh, that's great. That's great, thank you very much.
(BEEPS)
Everyone, Billy,
we got Stephen Gaghan to rewrite our ending.
- Stephen fucking Gaghan. - Yes!
(ALL CHEERING)
They got Steve fucking Gaghan?
Stephen Gaghan? Awesome.
Gaghan...
Damn, I'd love to hear his words coming out of my mouth.
So we FedExed Stephen a check and a plane ticket.
I was excited. The guys seemed really passionate.
I couldn't stop thinking about what I was gonna tell Stephen
about what I was thinking. All night I couldn't sleep.
I started writing some ideas down.
And I wrote and wrote and wrote.
I was into it, you know?
On the plane, my ideas were flowing.
Let's just say
you never know if you're going to match up with a director.
BILLY: I woke up this morning sitting at my typewriter.
I had written all night.
He rewrote the whole fucking script.
Billy! Billy!
- Billy, I love it. - Yeah?
It's perfect.
Hey boys, I'm excited to get into this.
Did we pay this guy yet?
Vincent Chase, Stephen Gaghan.
- Billy Walsh, our director. - Steve.
ERIC: $275,000 down the drain.
But I have to admit, the script is good.
- No, it's great. - It is great.
And Stephen Gaghan was kind enough to read it and agree
before he headed back home.
- Thank you so much. - Hey, no problem.
GAGHAN: I've had people read my work and not like it,
but I've never had anybody pay me not to work.
It was nice, actually.
(SALSA MUSIC PLAYING)
ERIC: All right, this is our last shot,
and probably the most complicated of the whole shoot.
And I'm not in it, which is nice.
Which is why we're both a little toasty right now.
- What? - You're gonna have to edit that out.
MAN: So, Eric, what's this scene?
Okay, the army storms Pablo's hideout.
Explosions go off in the south, east and west.
We have nine cameras pointed at everything Billy wants.
We've been prepping this for three months. It has to work.
- We can't do it twice. - Okay, are you ready for this?
Are we fucking ready?!
Nobody sounds fucking ready.
Hey, get that fucking camera off me. I'll throw it in the water.
He's nervous.
- Looks like he has it under control. - Billy!
You freaking?
A little bit.
- It's all good, Billy. - Everything is prepared.
If we get this shot, guys, we got the whole movie in the can.
- VINCE: Let's do it. - BILLY: Let's do it.
Let's do it! Let's do it!
- Roll cameras! - (SPEAKING SPANISH)
Set! We're ready.
Action!
(MEN SPEAKING SPANISH)
(SCREAMING)
- (GUNFIRE) - (CHUCKLES)
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
Cut!
The start was off, Suit. I'm gonna need another one.
I'm fucking with you. It was perfect!
- (ALL LAUGHING) - Yeah, baby!
(PEOPLE CHEERING)
- Guys, we did it. - Yes, we did.
Who would have thought
a couple kids from Queens could have pulled this off?
But we did, and it's going to be fucking amazing.
I've never felt so good about a movie after it was done than this one.
I know it.
MAN: Billy, you think you made a good film?
I'll tell you this:
It's either going to be genius or it's going to fucking suck.
Until I see the first cut, I have no idea.
But you know what? Neither does anybody else.
(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)