Dark Knight Part 1

INT. OFFICE BUILDING
Two bank robbers break a window and use a line to go to the
rooftop of a bank. They wear masks with the faces of two of
the Seven Dwarves, Happy and Dopey.

INT. CAR
Three other bank robbers get into a car. They wear masks with the faces of Grumpy,
Chuckles, and Bozo.

GRUMPY
Three of a kind. Let's do this.

CHUCKLES
That's it? Three guys?

GRUMPY
Two guys on the roof. Every guy gets a share.
Five shares is plenty.

CHUCKLES
Six shares. Don't forget the guy who planned the job.

GRUMPY
He thinks he can sit it out and still take a slice?
I know why they call him the Joker.

EXT. ROOFTOP
Happy and Dopey are disconnecting the alarm on the rooftop.

HAPPY
So why do they call him the Joker?

DOPEY
I heard he wears makeup.

HAPPY
Makeup?

DOPEY
Yeah! to scare people.
You know, war paint?

INT.BANK
Grumpy, Chuckles, and Bozo go into the bank and shoot their guns.
The customers scream.

GRUMPY
Alright everybody, hands up heads down! I said, hands up, heads down!

Grumpy grabs a teller and throws him to the floor.

GRUMPY
Let's go pal! I'm making a withdrawal here. Put your hands up!

DOPEY
Here comes the silent alarm. There it goes.

GRUMPY
Heads down! Get down. I said stay down there!

EXT. ROOFTOP

DOPEY
That's funny it didn't dial out to 911.
I was trying to reach a private number.

HAPPY
Is it a problem?

DOPEY
No, I'm done here ...

Happy shoots Dopey and takes a bag.

INT.BANK
Grumpy makes a man grip a hand grenade.

GRUMPY
Obviously we don't want you doing anything with your
hands other than holding on for dear life.

Grumpy continues to shout orders.

GRUMPY
On the ground! Stay on the ground! Nobody make a move! Nobody!
Stay down!

The bank manager grabs a shotgun and shoots a robber.

MANAGER
Come here! Do you have any idea who you're stealing from?
You and your friends are dead!

GRUMPY
He's out, right?

The manager keeps shooting. Happy opens the bank vault.

GRUMPY:
What--? Where did you learn to count?

HAPPY
They wired this thing up with like 5000 Voltz.
What kind of bank does that?

GRUMPY
A mob bank. I guess the Joker is as crazy as they say.
Where is the alarm guy?

HAPPY
The boss told me when the guy was done, I should take him out.
One less share, right?

GRUMPY
Funny ... He told me something similar.

HAPPY
He what? No, no!

Grumpy kills Happy. Grumpy shoots the bank manager. Only Grumpy
and Bozo are left.

GRUMPY
That's a lot of money. If this Joker guy was so smart he'd had us
bring a bigger car. I'm betting the Joker told you to kill me as
soon as we loaded the cash.

Grumpy points a gun at Bozo.

BOZO
No, no, no, no ...I kill the bus driver.

GRUMPY
Bus driver? What bus driver?

A bus suddenly crashes into the bank and kills Grumpy.

DRIVER
School's out. Time to go. Cat's not getting up, is he?
That's a lot of money. What happened to the rest of the guys?

Bozo shoots the driver and walks toward the manager.

MANAGER
You think you're smart, huh? Well, the guy that hired you will
just do the same with you.

Bozo takes off his mask. He is the Joker.

MANAGER
Ah, criminals in this town used to believe in things.
Honor, respect! Look at you! What do you believe in?
Huh, what do you believe in?

The Joker puts a poison grenade into the manager's mouth.

JOKER
I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you...
stranger.

The Joker gets on the bus and leaves the bank. The poison kills
the manager.

EXT. PRESS CONFERENCE
Reporters talk about Batman at a press conference.

REPORTER
Mr. Mayor, you were elected in
the campaign to clean up the city.
When are you going to start?

MAYOR
Well, Mike, I believe I already have.

REPORTER
Like the so-called Batman? We're
hearing that he's doing some good.
That criminals are running scared.

MAYOR
But I say ...

EXT. ALLEY
Two criminals are talking.

CRIMINAL 1
Naw, man... I don't like it tonight.

CRIMINAL 2
What!, are you superstitious?
You got more chance of winning
the powerball than running into him.

EXT. PRESS CONFERENCE

MAYOR
That simply is not true.I'm told that our men in the major crimes unit
are close to ...

Gordon and Ramirez are talking.

RAMIREZ
Mayor says you're closing in on the Batman.

GORDON
The investigation is ongoing.

RAMIREZ
Ever intending to see your wife again, lieutenant?

GORDON
I thought you had to go look after your mother, detective?

RAMIREZ
Checked her back into the hospital.

GORDON
Sorry.

RAMIREZ
So he hasn't shown up?

GORDON
I hope he doesn't. I like reminding everybody that he's out there.

RAMIREZ
Why wouldn't he come?

GORDON
Hopefully because he is busy.

INT. PARKING GARAGE
Some criminals are meeting in a parking garage to sell some illegal drugs.

SELLER A
That's why we bring dogs.

SCARECROW
Hey, my filhotinhos.

Look what your drugs did to my customers.

SCARECROW
Buyer beware. I told you my compound would take you places.
I never said they'd be places you wanted to go.

SELLER A
My business repeat customers.

SCARECROW
If you don't like what I have to offer you can buy from someone else.
Assuming Batman left anyone to buy from...

Suddenly, a fake batman appears. He starts fighting the criminals.

SELLER A
My dogs are hungry! Pity there is only one of you.

SCARECROW
That's not him.

The real Batman shows up in the batmobile. He beats up some of the criminals.

SCARECROW
That's more like it.

Scarecrow tries to escape, but Batman captures him. He starts talking to
the fake Batman.

BATMAN
Don't let me find you out here again.

FAKE BATMAN
We are trying to help you.

BATMAN
I don't need help!

SCARECROW
Not my diagnosis.

FAKE BATMAN
What gives you the right? What's the difference between you and me?

BATMAN
I am not wearing hockey pads.

INT. POLICE STATION

POLICEMAN
He can't resist showing us his face.

GORDON
What's he hiding under that makeup?

Suddenly, Batman appears.

GORDON
Can we get a minute, people, please?

BATMAN
Him again? Where are the others?

GORDON
Another bunch of smalltimers.

Batman checks some of the stolen money.

BATMAN
Some of the marked notes I gave you.

GORDON
My detectives have been making drug busts with them for weeks.
This bank was another draft of the mob. That makes five.
We found a bulk of the dirty cash.

BATMAN
Time to move in.

GORDON
We would have to hit all banks simultaneously. Swat teams, backup.
What about this Joker guy?

BATMAN
One man or the entire mob? He can wait.

GORDON
When the new DA hears about this he'll want in.

BATMAN
Do you trust him?

GORDON
It'd be hard to keep him out. I hear he is as stubborn as you are.

Batman is gone.

INT. BATMAN'S HEADQUARTERS
Alfred visits Bruce. Bruce is stitching a wound on his arm.

ALFRED
It would be nice when Wayne manor is rebuilt. You can swap not sleeping in a penthouse
for not sleeping in a mansion. Whenever you stich yourself up you do make a bloody mess.

BRUCE
Yeah. It makes me learn from my mistakes.

ALFRED
You ought to be pretty knowledgeable by now.

BRUCE
My armor. Carrying too much weight. I need to be faster.

ALFRED
I'm sure Mr. Fox can oblige. Did you get mauled by a tiger?

BRUCE
It was a dog.

ALFRED
Ah?

BRUCE
It was a big dog. More copycats last night, Alfred. With guns.

ALFRED
Why don't you hire them and take a weekend off?

BRUCE
That wasn't ... exactly what I had in mind
when I said I wanted to inspire people.

ALFRED
I know. But things have improved. Look at the new district attorney.

Bruce looks at some pictures of Harvey together with Rachel.

BRUCE
I am. Closely.
I need to know if he can be trusted.

ALFRED
Are you interested in his character
or ... his social circle?

BRUCE
Who Rachel spends her time
with is her business.

ALFRED
I trust you don't have me followed on my day off.

BRUCE
If you ever took one I might.

ALFRED
Know your limits, Master Wayne.

BRUCE
The Batman has no limits.

ALFRED
But you do, sir.

BRUCE
Well, I can't afford to know them.

ALFRED
What's going to happen on the day that you find out?

BRUCE
We all know how much you like to say: "I told you so"

ALFRED
On that day, Master Wayne, even
I won't want to. Probably.

INT. COURTHOUSE
Harvey comes into the courthouse for a trial against Maroni, a mob boss.
Everyone is waiting for him.

HARVEY
Sorry I'm late, folks.

RACHEL
Where were you?

HARVEY
Worried you'd have to step up?

RACHEL
Harvey, I know these briefs backwards.

HARVEY
Fair's fair. Heads, I'll take it. Tails, he's all yours.

RACHEL
Oh yeah? You want to flip a coin to see who leads?

HARVEY
It's my father's lucky coin. As I recall, it got me my
first date with you.

RACHEL
You wouldn't leave something
like that up to chance.

HARVEY
I don't. I make my own luck.

BAILIFF
All rise! The Honorable Judge Surrillo presiding.

MARONI
I thought the DA just plays
golf with the mayor or things like that.

HARVEY
Tee-off is 1:30. More than enough time
to put you away for life, Salli.

Harvey talks to the witness.

HARVEY
With Carmine Falcone in Arkham, someone must have
stepped up to run this so-called family.
Is that man in this courtroom today?
Could you identify him for us please?

WITNESS
You win counselor. It was me!

HARVEY
I have a sworn statement from you, that this man, Salvatore Maroni,
is the new head of the Falcone crime family.

WITNESS
Maroni? He is a fallguy! I'm the brains of the organization.

Everyone laughs.

JUDGE
Order, order!

HARVEY
Permission to treat the witness as hostile.

JUDGE
Granted.

WITNESS
Hostile? I'll show you hostile!

The witness takes out a gun and tries to shoot Harvey. The gun jams.
Harvey punches him and takes the gun.

HARVEY
Carbon fiber .28 caliber, made in China. If you want to kill a public
servant, Mr. Maroni, I recommend you buy American..

JUDGE
Get him out of here!

HARVEY
But, your honor, I'm not done!

INT. COURT HALL
Harvey and Rachel are talking in the hall as they walk out of the trial
room.

RACHEL
We will never be able to link the gun to Maroni,
so we won't be able to charge him, but the fact
they are trying to kill you, means we are getting to them.

HARVEY
Well I'm glad you're so pleased Rachel.
And I'm fine, by the way.

RACHEL
Come on Harvey, you are Gotham's DA!
If you are not getting shot at
you're not doing your job right.

Rachel kisses Harvey.

RACHEL
You know, if you said you were rattled
you could take the rest of the day off.

HARVEY
I can't, I dragged the Head of the major crimes unit down here.

RACHEL
Jim Gordon? He's a friend actually, try to be nice!

INT. HARVEY'S OFFICE
Gordon is visiting Harvey.

GORDON
I hear you got a hell of a right cross.
It's a shame that
Salvatore's gonna walk.

HARVEY
Yeah, well good thing about the mob is
They keep giving you second chances.

Harvey shows Gordon some bills.

HARVEY
Lightly radiated bills. Fancy stuff for a city cop.
Have help?

GORDON
We have links with various agents ...

HARVEY
Save it Gordon, I want to meet him.

GORDON
Official policy is to arrest the
vigilante known as Batman on site.

HARVEY
Uhum ... And what about that floodlight
on the top of MCU?

GORDON
If you've got problems with malfunctioning equipment,
I suggest you take them up with maintenance, counselor.

HARVEY
I put every known money launderer in Gotham, behind bars,
but the Mob is still getting its money. I think you and your friend,
have found the last game in town and are trying to hit them where it hurts:
their wallets. That's bold. You gonna count me in?

GORDON
In this town the fewer people know something, the safer the operation.

HARVEY
Gordon, I don't like that you've got your own special unit and
I don't like that is full of cops I investigated at internal affairs.

GORDON
I had to work with cops you investigated while you were making your
name at IA working alone. I don't get political points
for being an idealist. I have to do the best I can
with what I have.

HARVEY
You want me to back warrants for search and seizure
on five banks without telling me what we're after?

GORDON
Well, I can give you the names of the banks.

HARVEY
Well, that's a start ...I'll get you your warrants, but I want your trust.

GORDON
You don't have to sell me Dent. We all
know you're Gotham's white knight.

HARVEY
I heard they have a different name for me down at MCU.

GORDON
I wouldn't know about that.

INT. WAYNE ENTERPRISES
Lau is making a presentation for his company.

LAU
In China, Lau Security Investments stands for dynamic new growth.
The joint Chinese venture with Wayne Enterprises will be a
powerhouse.

LUCIUS
Well, Mr Lau I speak for the rest of the board ...

Bruce is sleeping in his chair.

LUCIUS
And Mr. Wayne, in expressing our own excitement.

INT. HALL
An accountant, Reese, speaks with Lucius.

REESE
Sir, I know that Mr. Wayne is curious
about how his trust fund gets replenished
But frankly ...This is embarrasing!

LUCIUS
You worry about the diligence, Mr. Reese.

LUCIUS
I'll worry about Bruce Wayne.

REESE
It's done. The numbers are solid.

LUCIUS
Do them again. Wouldn't want the
trust fund to run out, now would we?

INT. BRUCE'S OFFICE

LUCIUS
Another long night? This joint venture
was your idea and the consultants love it.
But I am not convinced. Lau's company
has grown by 8% anually like clockwork.
His revenue stream must be
off the books. It may be even illegal.

BRUCE
OK, cancel the deal.

LUCIUS
You already knew?

BRUCE
I just needed a closer look at their books.

LUCIUS
Anything else you can trouble me for?

BRUCE
I need a new suit.

LUCIUS
Yeah ... 3 buttons is a little 90's, Mr. Wayne.

BRUCE
I am not talking fashion Mr Fox, so much as function.

LUCIUS
Want to be able to turn your head?

BRUCE
Sure would make backing out of the driveway easier.

LUCIUS
I will see what I can do.

INT. RESTAURANT
Harvey is having dinner with Rachel in an upscale restaurant.

HARVEY
It took me 3 weeks to get a reservation here.
And I had to tell them I work for the government.

RACHEL
Really?

HARVEY
This city health inspector is not afraid to pull strings.

Suddenly, Bruce appears. He is with a woman.

BRUCE
Rachel! Fancy that!

RACHEL
Yeah Bruce, fancy that.

BRUCE
Rachel, Natasha. Natasha, Rachel.

RACHEL
Natasha, are you the. ..

NATASHA
The prima ballerina from the Moscow ballet.

RACHEL
Wow, Harvey's taking me next week.

BRUCE
Really? So you're into ballet?

RACHEL
Bruce, this is Harvey Dent.

HARVEY
The famous Bruce Wayne.
Rachel's told me everything about you.

BRUCE
Well, I certainly hope not.
So, let's put a couple of tables together.

HARVEY
I'm not sure that they'll let us.

BRUCE
Oh they should. I own the place.

Some time passes. The four are chatting.

NATASHA
How could you want to raise children
in a city like this?

BRUCE
Well, I was raised here. I turned out OK.

HARVEY
Is Wayne manor in the city limits?

BRUCE
The Palisades. You know as our new DA,
you might want to figure out where your jurisdiction ends.

NATASHA
I'm talking about the kind of city
that idolizes a masked vigilante.

HARVEY
Gotham City is proud of an ordinary
citizen standing up for what's right.

NATASHA
Gotham needs heroes like you, elected officials.
And not a man who thinks he's above the law.

BRUCE
Exactly. Who appointed the Batman?

HARVEY
We did. All of us who stood by
and let scum take control of our city.

RACHEL
But this is a democracy, Harvey.

HARVEY
When their enemies were at the gates,
the Romans would suspend democracy
and appoint one man to protect the city.
It wasn't considered an honor,
it was considered a public service.

RACHEL
Harvey, the last man that they appointed
to protect the republic was named Caesar,
and he never gave up his power.

HARVEY
OK, fine. You either die a hero ...or you live long enough to see
yourself become the villain. Look whoever the Batman is, he doesn't
want to do this for the rest of his life. Batman is looking for someone
to take up his mantle.

NATASHA
Someone like you, Mr. Dent?

HARVEY
Maybe. If I'm up to it.

Natasha holds up a napkin to cover the top part of Harvey's face.

NATASHA
What if Harvey Dent is the caped crusader?

HARVEY
If I were sneaking out every night,
someone would have noticed by now.

BRUCE
Well ... I'm sold. I'm going
to throw you a fundraiser.

HARVEY
That's nice of you Bruce, but
I'm not up for reelection for 3 years.

BRUCE
No, you don't understand. One fundraiser with my pals,
you'll never need another cent.

INT. RESTAURANT
A group of mobsters are having a meeting at a restaurant. Someone brings
a television showing Lau.

MARONI
What the hell is this?

LAU
As you all are aware, one of our deposits was stolen.
A relatively small amount. 68 million.

GAMBLE
Who is stupid enough to steal from us?

MARONI
2-bit wackjob, wears a cheap purple suit and makeup.

GAMBLE
He's not the problem. He's a nobody.

MARONI
The problem is our money being tracked by the cops.

LAU
Thanks to Mr. Maroni's well placed sources, we know that police have
indeed identified our banks using marked bills and are planning
to seize your funds today. And since the enthusiastic new DA has
put all my competitors out of business, I'm your only option.

MARONI
So what do you propose?

LAU
Moving all deposits to one secure location. Not a bank.

MARONI
Where then?

LAU
Nobody can know, but me. If the police were to gain leverage over one
of you, everyone's money would be at stake.

RUSSIAN MOBSTER
What stop them getting to you?

LAU
I go to Hong Kong. Far from Dent's jurisdiction And the Chinese will not
extradite one of their own.

MARONI
How soon can we move the money?

LAU
I already have. For obvious reasons, I couldn't wait for your permission.
Rest assured your money is safe.

The Joker comes in. He starts laughing.

JOKER
And I thought my jokes were bad.

GAMBLE
Give me one reason why I shouldn't
have my boy here pull your head off.

JOKER
How about a magic trick?

The Joker pushes a pencil into the table.

JOKER
I'm going to make this pencil disappear.

The Joker grabs Gamble's man and pushes his eye into the pencil.

JOKER
Tahdah! It's Gone! Oh, and by the way, the suit, it wasn't cheap.
You ought to know, you bought it!

Gamble gets up.

RUSSIAN MOBSTER
Easy. I want to hear the proposition.

JOKER
Let's wind the clock back a year. These cops and lawyers wouldn't dare
cross any of you. What happened? Did your balls drop off?

JOKER
You see a guy like me ...

GAMBLE
A freak!

JOKER
A guy like me ..I know why you choose to have group therapy sessions
in broad daylight. I know why you're afraid to go out at night.
The Batman. Batman has shown Gotham your true colors, unfortunately.
Dent, he's just the beginning. And as for the television's
so-called plan. The Batman has no jurisdiction. He'll find him and make
him squeal. I know the squealers when I see them.

Lau turns off the TV.

RUSSIAN MOBSTER
What do you propose?

JOKER
It's simple. We kill the Batman.

MARONI
If it is so simple why haven't you done it already?

JOKER
If you are good thing at something, never do it for free.

RUSSIAN MOBSTER
And what you want?

JOKER
Hm ... Half.

MARONI
Are you crazy!

JOKER
No I'm not ... No, I'm not. If we don't deal with this now,
soon little Gamble here won't be able to get a nickel for his
grandma.

GAMBLE
Enough from the clown!

The Joker opens his suit. He has lots of grenades inside.

JOKER
Let's not blow this out of proportion.

GAMBLE
Do you think you can steal from us and just walk away?
I'm putting a word out: 500 grand for this clown dead.
A million alive, so I can teach him some manners first.

JOKER
Alright, so listen. Why don't you give me a call when
you wanna start taking things a little more seriously?
Here's my card.

He puts down a Joker.

EXT. ROOFTOP
Batman, Harvey and Gordon are talking.

HARVEY
You're a hard man to reach.

GORDON
Lau is halfway to Hong Kong.

HARVEY
If he had asked, I could have taken his passport.
I told you to keep me in the loop.

GORDON
All that was left in the vaults were
marked bills. They knew we were coming.
As soon as your office got involved ...

HARVEY
My office? You're sitting down there with scum like
Wuertz and Ramirez and you're talking ...
Oh yeah Gordon, I almost had your rookie
cold on a racketeering beef.

GORDON
Don't try and cloud the fact that clearly
Maroni's got people in your office, Dent.

BATMAN
We need Lau back.

GORDON
But the Chinese won't extradite
a National under any circumstances.

BATMAN
If I get him to you, can you get him to talk?

GORDON
I'll get him to sing. We're going after the mob's life savings.
Things will get ugly ...

HARVEY
I knew the risk when I took this job, lieutenant.
How will you get him back ...

Batman is gone.

GORDON
He does that.

INT. WAYNE ENTERPRISES
Bruce and Lucius are talking.

LUCIUS
Our Chinese friends left town before I
could tell them the deal was off.

BRUCE
Well I'm sure you've always
wanted to go to Hong Kong.

LUCIUS
What's wrong with a phone call?

BRUCE
I think Mr. Lau deserves a more ... personal touch.

LUCIUS
Now for high altitude jumps, you're
gonna need oxygen and stabilizers.

BRUCE
But what about getting back into the plane?

LUCIUS
I'd recommend a good travel agent.

BRUCE
Without it landing.

LUCIUS
Now that's more like it, Mr. Wayne. The ClA had a program back in the 60's for getting
their people out of hot spots called Skyhook. We could look into that.

Okay, now.

Lucius opens a drawer and shows Bruce some gear .

LUCIUS
Hardened Kevlar plates over titanium-tipped triweaved fibers for flexibility.

Bruce picks up a part of the gear .

LUCIUS
You'll be lighter, faster, more agile.

Bruce shoots a dart by mistake .

LUCIUS
Perhaps you should read the instructions first. Now there is a tradeoff.
Separation of the plates makes you more vulnerable to knives and gunfire.

BRUCE
We wouldn't want to make things too easy now, would we?
How will it hold up against dogs?

LUCIUS
We talking Rotweilers or Chiuauas?

Lucius turns it into a joke. Bruce makes a serious face .

LUCIUS
It should do fine against cats.

INT.BASE

Alfred opens a map .

ALFRED
I found one in Arizona.
A very nice man said he could have it up
and running in a week and he'd take the cash.

BRUCE
What about a flight crew?

ALFRED
South Korean smugglers; they run flights
into Pyongyang below radar the whole way.

BRUCE
Did you think of an alibi?

ALFRED
Oh, yes.

EXT.THEATER

In front of the theater , Harvey and Rachel find
a notification .

CAPTION
Presentation cancelled

The notification is saying that Bruce who is the owner of
the show has gone on a cruise with his show's cast .
Harvey and Rachel are amazed he broke his promise to invite them .

EXT. CRUISER

A plane lands on a water near the cruiser .

ALFRED
I believe this is your plane, sir!

Bruce gets ready for diving .

BRUCE
You look tired, Alfred.
Will you be all right without me?

Alfred looks back , and surveys bathing beauties .

ALFRED
If you can tell me the Russian for:
Apply your own bloody suntan lotion.

Bruce dives into a river .

INT.GAMBLE'S HOUSE

Man enters the room .

MAN
Yo Gamble, somebody here for you.
They say they've just killed the Joker.
And they brought the body.

Men enter the room with Joker's body .
Gamble takes the Joker's pulse .

GAMBLE
Dead, that's 500 ...

JOKER
How about alive?

Joker suddenly gets up and sticks a knife into Gamble's mouth .
Men subdue Gamble's subordinates .

JOKER
You want to know how I got these scars?
My father was a drinker and a fiend. One night he goes off
crazier than usual Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend
herself. He does not like that. Not one bit. So, me watching,
he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it.
He turns to me and he says: Why so serious, son?
He comes at me with the knife ... Why so serious, son? He sticks
the blade in my mouth: Let's put a smile on that face!

The Joker kills Gamble.

JOKER
Why so serious?

The Joker turns to the other criminals.

JOKER
Now, our operation is small but there is a lot of potential for
aggressive expansion. So, which of you fine gentlemen
would like to join our team? There's only one spot open right now.

The Joker throws them two sticks.

JOKER
So we're going to have tryouts. Make it fast.

Questions
1.  Why does Harvey want to work with Gordon?
2.  Why does Lau move the money?
3.  Why does Joker kill Gamble?