Pitch Your Movie! Kai’s “The Time Jumper”
Kaiderman from The List is pitching his movie today in our month long blogathon (Check the schedule) following the Hollywood Fantasy Draft we conducted recently. Please share your thoughts and any insights you have in the comments and don’t forget to visit her site!
Previous Pitches:
- Andrew Robinson’s “Untitled Joss Whedon Project“
- Anna’s “Truth and Lies”
- Novroz’s “Sunset Mystery“
- Next: Peter on Friday
Author: KAIDERMAN
Title: THE TIME JUMPER
Basic Idea
A man must race through time to save his wife, clear his name and bring down a corrupt corporation.
Pitch
It’s The Fugitive meets Back to the Future/ The Time Machine.
Cast
Matt Damon = James Church
Kate Winslet = Sara Church
JoGo = Kevin Church
Tilda Swinton = Olivia Powers
Jeremy Renner = Mark “Ghost” Graves
Chris Pine = Brian “Rascal” Tusker
Here’s the general idea…
KAI | ||
Round 1 | "Taking a director for first pick is like taking a kicker… there’s always a good one out there. [scoffs] Still, I can’t take my true number one… this one kinda picked me. I’m taking Jo-Go… or as Castor so lamely calls him: JGL." |  |
Round 2 | "Then to continue my march to the Oscars, what can I say other than I’m fucking MATT DAMON. Cuz he’s good at acting and I like him and I think he must smell nice and is nice to puppies!" |  |
Round 3 | "I wanna take an actress but am afraid this guy won’t be around next time we have a go at it so I’m taking: JAMES CAMERON. The fact is I am putting together a Sci-Fi, Action film so who better to have at the helm than the man that gave us Terminator and Aliens… and that whole Blue Cat People thing!" |  |
Round 4 | "I’ll take JEREMY RENNER for my 4th pick. I really don’t have to argue how good this guy is and he works for the story I’m dreaming up… slowly." |  |
Round 5 | Heather: "I’m taking Kate Winslet now, because someone else is going to snatch her up. I said “snatch”. That’s funny because she almost always shows full frontal nudity in her flicks. But that’s not why I am choosing her. She is a chameleon of an actress, and has that old school movie star feel about her, as though when steps onto a set magic happens. I’ll take Kate naked or clothed." |  |
Round_6 | "For my next pick, I selet Tilda Swinton. I need a ruthless female CEO type and I think she will be perfect for this." |  |
Round 7 | "Since I have a young cast, I’ll take Chris Pine, and stick with that theme. I pick him cuz he’s turned out to be more than just a pretty face and I dig him and want to use him and I do this part of the draft better than everyone! haha" |  |
BACKSTORY:
In the not so distant future, James Church (Damon) is pretty well known. He served as Commander in the U.S. Marines Space Rangers unit during the height of the war with China over mining rights for the outer colonies. His actions during the battle of Andion single handedly saved the lives of 239 people and earned him the military’s highest award for valor. Upon return to Earth, and after healing from his injuries, Church was personally selected by Oilivia Powers (Swinton), CEO of Gravitron Industries, to be their head of security. An honor as Gravitron is the richest and most powerful corporation in the galaxies, specializing in everything from Science and Weaponry to Recreation and Electronics.
THE SET UP:
As the film begins, James Church (Damon) has a pretty sweet life. His wife Sara (Winslet) is about to give birth to their first child and James has been chosen to be the test subject for Gravitron’s new Time Jumper. A hand held device that allows clients to visit the future for vacation purposes. Laws have been put in place to prohibit travel back in time so as not to mess with history.
On the day of his launch, Church is catapulted successfully 30 years into the future. When he arrives in the future, he can’t help himself so he goes to the local records hall and looks up the day his son was born. Instead of a happy story, he gets quite the opposite. The paper says that Sara Church was found shot dead in her home on the day of his jump. It goes on to say that they were able to save their child and that James is wanted for questioning in the murder of his wife. At that very instant, he is sucked back to present day.
At first, James says nothing. He heads to the board room to discuss his findings with Powers. In doing so, he over hears a conversation between Powers and military officials that reveals that the government has been developing it’s own Time Jumper. However, this Jumper has the ability to travel back in time. The goal? To use the device to make specifically pinpointed assassinations on China’s heads of state to prevent the mining war that rages on to this day.
Church uses his security clearance to break into the company’s R&D department and get his hands on a version of the military’s Time Jumper technology. An awesome chase scene follows as Church races to get out of the building and home to his wife.
At this point, Powers makes the military act. After all, she is the ruthless CEO with the power to do these sorts of things! Enter Ghost (Renner) and Rascal (Pine). Unbeknownst to the public, these military hitmen were actually the first to successfully travel through time… in preparation for the government’s assassination plans. However, due to the current situation, they are dispatched with terminating James Church and returning the stolen property.
James Church returns home to find his wife being held at gun point by Rascal. Ghost quickly offers him his ultimatum in a very charming and sadistic way. Church makes a move but before he can save his wife Rascal shoots and kills Sara. Church uses the Time Jumper to flee the scene, jumping 30 years into the future.
In the future, Church looks up his son. He finds Kevin (JoGo) who is understandably confused and enraged. Confused because Time Traveling was never made public (in the future). Enraged because he has never known his father and always assumed James had killed his mother. He is quickly convinced otherwise as Ghost and Rascal arrive in the future and begin chasing them.
THE WRAP UP:
What happens next is a chase scene that takes place through various decades, centuries and locations. Ghost and Rascal chase the Father and son who bond as they race through time. The chase ends in the Dark Ages when Church’s Jumper device is damaged so that jumping forward is rendered impossible and the Church boys are forced to face their pursuers in order to get back to the modern day.
They are successful and set out on a mission to get back, save Sara’s life and bring down the Powers, the military and the government that tried to destroy their lives.
What do ya think?
46 Comments
This sir, is fully my kind of smoking barrels. With Cameron behind the helm the effects to go along with it would be mind boggling, and his care for his characters *Judo Chops those interjecting at this point* would allow real emotion to be attached to the science fiction and action involved. Some people aren’t fan of time travel or time continuance flicks, but they are possibly my favorite when you get down to specific genres. The question of what came first the chicken or the egg is always a constant and makes you consistency question whether the future is actually set or there is a possible way to change it. I like the idea of Matt Damon in the role of the Dad, and of course Jo-Go (Pfft at the L) as his son and them running through time together.
Tilda Swinton as the big bad is an excellent choice, but Cameron being Cameron would probably fight for some strong woman lead in there somewhere or he’d have a Titanic sized tantrum. Especially if you’re going to whack Kate off in the beginning.
So far this is the movie I want to see the most on the pitches. I’ll be leaving my thoughts on the others I’ve missed. I’ve been pretty ill the past few days so I’m playing catch up guys!
P.S. Jeremy Renner and Chris Pine are two HOT bad guys. If it were me I’d let them capture me.
Yeah, the SFX will be awesome with Cameron at the helm! And Pine would make a charming bad guy indeed. Ha..ha.. Heather, I don’t mind him capturing me either
I also imagine it like a multi genre film as each time nperiod would provide a different look and feel!
Whoa. That was awesome. I’d so pay to see this.
Thanks… I am a screenwriter!
Great pitch Kai! You should actually copyright the idea through a agency and let them help you develop it. Its such a great idea and this theme is so hot right now. If it had been produced in the 90′s Arnold would been the prime candidate!
Not only is the story great but you have a great cast and director attatched to it. This one will be hard to beat!
I agree. Kai, are you developing a script for this?
For serious dude. I know you have written a ton, but I want to see this made into a movie. It’s a cross between Cameron and Critchon to me. Techno-scifi-thriller. Fucking epic.
It’s an off shoot of one I wrote but I added the time travelling aspect.
Joel: If agencies would take my calls, I just might do that!
Kai: Seriously you need to get their attention, before Michael Bay or someone else stumbles upon this thread and decides to steal the idea.
I would be as blunt as to do the classical mail yourself the idea (your own proof its yours) and then send the link to this pitch to an agency or why not directly to a studio? They would be stupid if they don’t see the potential!!!
feel free to e-mail me and I’ll try giving you more hands on approach to it I am not that familiar with the studio system since I haven’t worked on it but I’d be glad to help you out with advice becuase this movie needs to be made!!!
joelburman@yahoo.se
I’ll consider it Joel. Thanks. I actually know the mailing of the idea to one’s self does not hold up in court anymore. Though the post is time stamped and dated on THE LIST and here so that’s good!
You are welcome! As I said earlier this kind of story should get the big guns to listen to you. What is good too is that you haven’t a finished script yet which will make them feel like they still have a chance to contribute.
Love it Kai, great pitch with all the details needed to make it harrowing and mysterious. It also helps that, just like Heather, I’m a huge fan of time traveling movies (where are they Hollywood??). It reminds me a little bit of The Adjustment Bureau (from the trailer). Since he is doing it for his wife, you might need to say a few things about their love and relationship so people know explicitly what is driving most of the plot (until she gets killed). I take it this is only the first 15 or 20 minutes of the movie so I would definitely love to see that movie!
Thanks, Buddy. I didn’t want to give all my ideas away!
At least if someone steals it, it’s time stamped on 2 web sites. haha
Good work, Kai. Even killing off Kate (WTF?) doesn’t bother me. It sounds like Minority Report meets Gattaca meets something else that’s evading me. Nice.
I wish I were more into conspiracy thrillers. But Tilda!
This is a cool premise, Kai, I would pay this one for sure!
“The chase ends in the Dark Ages when Church’s Jumper device is damaged so that jumping forward is rendered impossible and the Church boys are forced to face their pursuers in order to get back to the modern day.” — I’d love to see this on screen, it has the potential to be suspenseful as well gorgeous to look at.
Gotta keep backing your characters into a corner (especially in Sci-Fi and Action) to keep the story compelling!
You had me at time-travel! With James Cameron on board this has record breaking box office written all over it. Great stuff!
Ok potential plot hole: Why don’t Ghost and Rascal simply travel back in time and kill an unsuspecting Church there since they are the only ones able to do it?
Why doesn’t Church do the same. It would all be covered in the script.
Not to mention, even after they are offed, they have to face them again to save Sara!
This here is one of the reasons why I don’t really get into time travel movies. It all turns into a big mess. This sounds like a great movie, and definitely something I would watch, but I jumping back and forth in time gets pretty crazy.
Even some of the better time travel films (like Terminator) have serious holes in their logic but simple conventions can be used to make the story believable enough to get the viewer to buy in.
There are holes in every movie, the trick is making it entertaining enough to ignore logic and remember that it’s fiction for a reason. For fucks sake I believe Spielberg used real dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, I don’t care what science says.
I’m not a fan of Cameron at all, but this pitch is very well written and very well thought out. Everything falls into place quite nicely. The casting is also on the mark, as I can see Damon fit seamlessly into this. Winslet as the wife, of course, but she will need much to do and to challenge her talents. Swinton is great as the CEO, but I would like to see her do something different for a change. Not my genre at all, but I would surely be interested in seeing this, just in the way it is written. Nice job on this, sir!
Thanks, Peter!
I get the Back to the Future/Fugitive thing. Am I crazy or did I get a lot of Terminator as well?
I didn’t think so. Minority Report might be more fitting. It’s just the time travelling… it’s basically a chase film. I probably coulda referenced Bourne as well.
I think Peter’s probably thinking of Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
yeah, you felt it too, Anna? Yes, it’s the time travel thing but the reasons for doing so as well that caught my attention
True, but that is the plot in T2 whereas it’s mainly the reason they build the technology in mine. If you’re talking about the whole going back to kill a leader thing. It’s more of a Father/ Son bonding film… like The Road to a certain extent with more getting to know you stuff.
WOW! I loved it. I would pay to see this movie. James Cameron is the perfect choice of a director too. Powerful global corporations, an unjust murder accusation and two cute guys being chased through different time periods by two other cute guys. Very well done.
I still love the fact Jeremy Renner is in a James Cameron movie. That fact just drips with irony.
Ironic…why? …oh, is it the Bigelow link?
Yep.
I didn’t catch that at first either! haha
…it surprises me that James Cameron was still available in Round 3!
I know, right? I was gonna take Quentin and woulda been an entirely different film.
Kai, I am really impressed! I thought it was a great concept and as mentioned above, you should definitely go and write that script and copyright it, before someone else does:)
Olive: You are just a sweetie peetie! Thank you! I’ll see what I can do.
Nice one! Love a time-travel movie. No doubt, with Cameron at the helm, this will probably be the world’s first holographic movie. Or something.
Good pitch, Kai!
Thank you, sir!
Renner and Pine as perusing agents kind of remind me of Barry Pepper and Jake Busey in Enemy of the State. I love the various chases you’ve got planned. Not sure how a father and son would bond through consistent time jumps. But I can see this being very fast paced and exciting. Great choice for Cameron to helm it.
Like I’ve said, I left out a lot of the story. The characters would bond like any featured in a chase or Road movie (Kingpin, Father’s Day, that upcoming Todd Phillips movie, etc.)… only the topic they bond over is the life they never shared. JoGo learns about his parents and their relationship and Damon gets to know his son!
I may be the only person on the planet who is weary of James Cameron, however much I’ve enjoyed (most) of his films. As long as he keeps his excessive directing under control and turns in a True Lies-esque product (albeit a bit more succinct) I can definitely get on board with this film.
Though I love everyone in the cast, I think that some of the cast deludes the impact of some of their talents. I enjoy the idea of Pine and Renner together, in theory, but I think if they were rolled into one character it’d be a bit more compelling of a character. Either of those actors would be great in the role, though I’d lean more toward Renner.
What I wouldn’t look forward to is the mind-numbing hype machine that would come with the marketing of this film. But when you’re James Cameron, you can’t quite get around it, nor should it matter when it brings you quadrillions of dollars.
I like the story. Despite the critical bashing and poor execution of The Time Machine, I think that’s a captivating story and I like this slant on it. I’d be in attendance in the theater… but I’d wait for the audiences to die down a bit. Perhaps a third weekend matinee
Thanks… question mark? haha
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