Pitch Your Movie! Nicholas’ “Pendragon – The Merchant of Death”

Today, Nicholas from the blog Sputnik Reviews is pitching his movie in continuation of 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 rate the pitch at the bottom!

Previous Pitches:

• Heather “Ambassador 51“
• Travis’ “Facedown Angels“
• Andrew K. “Putting it Together“
• Ripley’s “Untitled Project“
• Joel’s “Jagged Alliance“
• Corey’s “Rendezvous of Strangers“
• Dan’s “Jaws 5“
• Clara’s “An Unexpected Song“
• Next: This Guy on Thursday

Pendragon – The Merchant of Death

A while back, Anomalous Material held a Hollywood Fantasy Draft, where people signed up and basically drafted a cast just as you would an NFL team and the point of this cast was to pitch a movie. I personally did not participate in the draft but I am still able to pitch my movie. The advantage of not participating in the draft is that I get to use whoever I want. (Hehehe) And so we go.

The Logline

In an adaptation of D.J. MacHale’s Pendragon series, 14-year old Bobby Pendragon, a popular basketball player at his school, has just found out that he is a Traveller and is swept from his home by his uncle Press Tilton to battle Saint Dane in a classic war between good and evil across the territories of Halla.

The Characters

Josh Hutcherson plays Bobby Pendragon, a 14-year old middle school basketball star who, after finally getting together with Courtney Chetwynde, has just found out that he is a Traveller who has to battle the forces of evil (namely Saint Dane) across the territories of Halla along with his fellow Travellers.

Alexander Gould plays Mark Dimond, Bobby’s best friend. He is a complete nerd who is constantly bullied by Andy Mitchell and becomes best friends with Courtney after he becomes the keeper of Bobby’s journals.

Mia Wasikowska plays Courtney Chetwynde, Bobby’s new girlfriend. She is extremely athletic and tall for her age and has had a crush on Bobby since the 4th grade.

Nathan Fillion plays Press Tilton, Bobby’s uncle. He is the one who informs Bobby that he is a Traveller and shows him the ropes on their first adventure to a territory called Denduron.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Saint Dane, the evil being. He is the mastermind behind all the crisis that is coming to Halla. He is also a Traveller, but of the evil variety. He also has special abilities that allow him to transform his physical appearance and seem immortal.

Shareeka Epps plays Loor, one of the Travellers from Zadaa. She is a Batu warrior from the territory, Zadaa. She is fearless, strong and could kick most of our asses.

Zoe Saldana plays Osa, Loor’s mother. Osa is the second Traveller from Zadaa and what goes for Loor goes double for Osa with one exception. Osa has the wisdom that Loor does not.

Tom Felton plays Alder, the Traveller from Denduron. He is a Bedoowan knight who disagrees with the way that his tribe treats the Milago.

Chris Massoglia plays Andy Mitchell, a bully at Stony Brook Middle School who constantly bullies Mark.

Helena Bonham Carter plays Kagan, the evil queen of the Bedoowan. She is extremely fat and is responsible for the poor living conditions of the Milago.

Matthew Fox plays Rellin, the head miner of the Milago. He basically is the spokesperson for the Milago while also helping them mine a precious mineral called glaze.

Sir Ben Kingsley plays Mallos, Queen Kagan’s advisor. He is Saint Dane in disguise.

Sharlto Copley plays Figgis, a merchant. He is a crazy, dirty merchant who constantly tries to sell a mysterious substance called Tak.

This epic adventure will be directed by David Yates who has thoroughly proved himself with the last two Harry Potter movies and I think he would be a great director for this series.

The Outline

Prologue: Bobby sinks the winning shot at his school’s basketball game. He is introduced to the audience as one of the most popular children in school. One day, Bobby leaves school to go home and get ready for that night’s playoff game. That is the day Bobby Pendragon went missing.

Act One: That same night, Mark is woken up in the middle of the night by a strange woman with dark skin. The woman hands him a ring and tells him it is from Bobby. Mark wakes up the next morning with the ring on his finger and goes to school trying to figure out what the ring is. In the middle of the hallway, the ring starts glowing and music is coming from it. Mark immediately runs to the male restroom clutching his hand. Once in the restroom, the lights get brighter, and a hole appears where the stone in the ring was. When the light and music stops, along with the ring, Mark notices a roll of papers beside the ring. As he reads it, he realizes that it is Bobby’s first journal detailing his adventures starting from the night of the playoff game.

Uncle Press walks in on Bobby and Courtney making out in Bobby’s house and takes Bobby on a motorcycle ride to the Bronx, New York. On the way, he informs Bobby that he is a Traveller meant to fight the evil forces trying to rule Halla, namely Saint Dane. Press proceeds to lead Bobby into an old subway station that is no longer in use. When they reach the bottom of the stairs, they run into a cop who turns out to be Saint Dane in disguise. A gunfight then ensues between Saint Dane and Uncle Press. Uncle Press tells Bobby to go to the gate, which allows the Travellers to move between territories. Bobby runs towards the door leading to the gate and after an encounter with some quigs, beasts sent by Saint Dane to guard the gates, he gets to the gate and shouts “Denduron” initiating the transportation process.
Mark stops reading and then runs and tells Courtney. After school, they walk to Bobby’s house, and it’s gone, as if it never existed. This is the concrete proof that Bobby is gone. They then sit down and read Bobby’s journal together. Bobby and Uncle Press arrive in Denduron safely. They encounter some quigs as they move down the mountain where the gate is situated and Bobby ends up being knocked out cold while Uncle Press is taken captive by the Bedoowan.

Mark and Courtney make their way to Mark’s house where they begin an investigation into where the Pendragons went. Their search is futile. It is as if they never existed. After Mark hangs up the phone for the last time, the ring comes alive again and the second journal appears. Bobby wakes up and meets Osa and Loor, the travellers from Zadaa. They explain the situation on Denduron and take Bobby to witness a transfer, which on Denduron is the presentation of glaze to Kagan. Bobby finds out that he is there to help the Milago.

Act Two: Mark and Courtney talk to the police about the disappearance of the Pendragons and find out that there is absolutely no record of the Pendragons ever existing, yet they all have vivid memories of them. They make their way to Courtney’s house and continue to read Journal #2. Bobby and Loor sit down and write their journals. Afterwards Bobby takes a walk through the village and is pestered by Figgis, who tries to sell him tak. He then walks through the nearby forest and spots Loor washing clothes. He then feels a Bedoowan’s hand on his shoulder and thinks he’s being attacked. He throws himself and Loor into the water and swims far away from the site of attack. The Bedoowan knight turns out to be Alder, the Traveller from Denduron.

After the meeting with Alder, Loor takes Bobby back to the village and along with Osa, shows Bobby the mines that the Milago get glaze from. In the mines, they are attacked by Bedoowan knights. In the fray, Osa is killed by arrows shot from a distance. Loor and Bobby escape the mines and go to the village. Bobby decides to go after Uncle Press. Mark received a separate piece of parchment with a journal. A list of things to gather and bring to the flume for Bobby. They gathered them and took a series of trains to the Bronx. They made their way to the decrepit train station and down the stairs and onto the tracks and through the door to the gate. After a while, the flume powers up and Bobby comes out of it. Bobby takes the things with him back to Denduron and tells Mark and Courtney to get home safe. Almost immediately, Journal # 3 arrives.

Loor and Bobby discuss the death of Osa and the rescue of Press. They then make their way to a meeting with the Milago in coordinating the resistance. Loor, Bobby and Alder convince Rellin to fight the Bedoowan and rescue Uncle Press before he was to be executed. Loor and Bobby make their way to the second flume on Denduron and make their way to Earth where Bobby gets the supplies from Mark and Courtney. The next day, the Milago are getting armed for the big fight against the Bedoowanand Figgis is pestering Bobby again to buy this strange item called tak. Bobby returns to his room to find Loor and Alder rummaging through the items he brought from Second Earth (Bobby’s home territory). He shows them the technology and explains it to them. Alder gave them clothes to blend in in the castle and the three of them sneack into the castle using a secret passage. Using various items from Second Earth, Bobby distracts guards from all over the castle so he can get to the cell where Uncle Press is being held. He wasn’t there. He had already been transported to the site of execution.

Alder is coerced to leading Pendragon into a trap. The three Travellers are then brought in front of Kagan who after a lengthy conversation with them sentences them to death. During the conversation, Mallos influences Kagan’s decisions effortlessly while the three of them watch. The three of them are brought to a “waiting area” where they wait to be thrust into what lookes like a sports arean to fight one of the Denduron quigs to the death. They are thrown into the arena along with Uncle Press and a fight between the quig and the group of Travellers ensues. The battle was won by a simple thing, a whistle. I distracted the quig for a long enough time that they could escape. They then make their way through the quig pens and through the castle until they reach a ventilation shaft that exits onto the cliff. Uncle Press berates Bobby for bringing technology from Second Earth to Denduron and orders him to throw it in the sea.

When Uncle Press reached the top of the cliff, the quig was waiting for him. A fight ensued and Press was the ultimate victor. They were safe. The four of them walked in on the Milago training with a substance which Figgis provided that was apparently tak. It is an explosive. Uncle Press tries to convince Rellin that it is wrong to use the tak but Rellin won’t listen and shows Press his plan to blow up the Bedoowan castle with the tak. All that Bobby knows is that they have to stop him.

Act 3: Mark and Courtney had just finished reading Bobby’s journal when the doorbell rang. It was Bobby. He comes in the house looking extremely tired. As he is about to crash on Mark’s bed, Bobby hands him Journal #4. Uncle Press, Loor, Alder and Bobby all have a discussion about being Travellers and what it all means. Press seems to be giving very vague answers about it and only deals in specifics when it comes to rules. He also explains how evil Saint Dane actually is. Rellin then calls Bobby into his hut where he explains the plan for him to attack the Bedoowan the next day. He also tries to get Bobby to help him make tak bombs using regular batteries. Bobby tries to convince him otherwise. Because of this, Rellin has them locked in a cell.

The next day, all four of them escape from their cell thanks to Loor. Uncle Press sends Alder to the Milago village to try and warn everyone whie Bobby, Loor and himself make their way to the arena so that they can try and stop Rellin. Bobby formulates a plan and explains it to Uncle Press and Loor. He then executes the plan of course without a hitch. He released a quig to distract Rellin while Uncle Press went for the detonator. However, the signal was still given as Uncle Press blew up a quig with the dtonator and the miners were attacking. Uncle Press then went to the Milago village to help Alder while Bobby had to stay to try and get rid of the tak. Using Chemistry 101, he dissolved the tak in water and let it run out onto the field. Figgis then appears out of nowhere and leads them to where he got the tak. When they get there, he reveals himself to be Saint Dane after a cave-in leaves them trapped in the tak vein. Meanwhile the battle raged on betweeen the Milago and the Bedoowan. Saint Dane starts monologing like a true villain and explains his plan to them right then and there. At the end of his monologue, Pendragon took up a piece of tak from his pocket and threw it on the floor. This explosion caused a chain reaction which ignited the tak vein. Saint Dane escaped through the nearby secondary flume and before Loor and Bobby could do the same, he sent a shark back
through the flume to attack them.

Loor got knocked out by the force of the oncoming water so Bobby carried her to the ore care and pushed her out into the tunnel. He realized that the tunnel was parallel to the same one that led into the Bedoowan castle so he pushed hard such that they flew out into the open air and fell a far way down into the ocean and safe from the blast. The force of the explosion destroyed the Bedoowan castle. Bobby swam Loor to the beach and eventually she woke up. They then made their way up to the Milago village to see the damage. Uncle Press and Alder were successful in getting the Milago to hide in the mines once the explosions started and the Bedoowans were out of a home so it looked like the turning point for Denduron went in the right direction. Uncle Press was proud.

Now, Bobby was back on Second Earth and awake. Bobby, Mark and Courtney made their way to Bobby’s old house and Bobby finally found out what had happened. Mark and Courtney comforted him. Just then Loor and Uncle Press appeared, ready to go on their next adventure and Bobby goes along. Soon after Bobby leaves, Mark’s ring activates and Journal #5 appears…