There are over 350 cruise ships on this planet carrying more than 16.6 million passengers every year, to around 2,000 destinations.
So there’s a good chance that at least one passenger will be a major film producer, influential Hollywood icon, or screenwriters’ agent.
Hopefully he or she is reading this:
Picture the scene.
This story is set in the near future.
Part of the La Palma volcano shears off into the sea and creates a Mega-Tsunami that threatens America’s eastern seaboard before it rebounds back across the Atlantic to take out Western Europe’s coast.
There’s a large brand new cruise ship in Southampton that has just emptied its passengers onto the dock and is about to take on another load. The ship’s captain decides to turn his liner into a lifeboat and heads across the ocean, surfing the Tsunami, to save thousands of people who would otherwise drown.
Meanwhile, a beautiful terrorist has stowed away on board. Witnessing all the destruction and death – and reluctantly lending a hand because the crew need all the help they can get – she suggests that the captain put out a Mayday to every other cruise ship in the Atlantic to help rescue the survivors of the Tsunami. For there are too many for one ship to deal with.
Eventually, after several hair-raising episodes, the cruise ship gets almost all of the survivors it has taken on board to safety.
But the world has changed, Google Earth is now out of date, and a new day dawns for what’s left of humanity.
The terrorist has abandoned her wicked ways and she and the Captain have fallen in love while the world fell apart.
They decide to turn the ship into an Ark filled with animals and fauna that would otherwise become extinct. What’s left of the crew volunteer for a different type of world cruise.
Fadeout…
After the credits, a trailer for a sequel appears: Cruising on the Ark 2.
Final fadeout.
Hopefully, none of this will ever happen. But what a film it could be. Think of the merchandising, and franchising. And the cruise ship operators who will be fighting to get their brand on the film’s star vehicle: the cruise ship.
All rights reserved by James Leavey. 2009.
All enquiries to me c/o Virgin.
PS Sean, if you can swing it, you’re on a percentage.
3 Comments
Aug 28 2009
9:33
James Great Story – I’m definately on board!! All we need is to unearth the origional Ark which actually must have been pretty big, given all the animals, food, staff etc. Then you got an historical site, museum and all the trappings as well as post European Union Grants. Roll on the sequel.
Aug 28 2009
23:22
Last year I wrote the screenplay for the educational film, “Counting Made Easy”. Now I’m working on the sequel, “Counting Made Easy 3”
Sep 02 2009
10:02
A friend who has just read this blog asked if I know my flora from my fauna. I replied that like Cleopatra I was fully aware of the difference between my asp and my elbow but that the word fauna had leapt in ahead of the actual word I was looking for, i.e. flora. So there.
Meanwhile another very good friend is now in LA and I have asked him to keep a close lookout for any film producers who come his way and to encourage them to point their PC to this blog.
According to the PR person who sent me a link with the following words, “With heart-stopping music and breath-taking aerial acrobatics,” it takes an impressive repertoire to join the cast for “Come Fly With Me” on Oasis of the Seas.
You can even watch online as hundreds audition for the roles and see how they prepare for this musical spectacular. Check out the new webisode on http://www.oasisoftheseas.com
I reckon if they ‘re gonna stage a musical about flying, on a cruise ship, it’s not much of a stretch for a plane to show a film about the cruise ship which turns into a lifeboat and Noah’s Ark.
My pen is primed and ready. Just send me the contract, Hollywood, and we’re good to go.