SCENE 54
EXT. CENTRAL PARK ZOO—NIGHT
Newt and Jacob run up to the now half-empty zoo, the outer walls of which have been demolished in places. A large pile of rubble lies at the entrance.
Another bellowing roar echoes around the brick building. Newt produces a body protector.
NEWT
Okay, if you just, uh, pop this on.
Newt stands behind Jacob, fastening the breastplate over him.
JACOB
Okay.
NEWT
Now, there’s absolutely nothing for you to worry about.
JACOB
Tell me—has anyone ever believed you when you told them not to worry?
NEWT
My philosophy is that worrying means you suffer twice.
Jacob digests Newt’s “wisdom.”
Newt picks up his case and Jacob follows him, stumbling over rubble and debris.
They stand at the entrance to the zoo. A loud snort comes from within.
NEWT
She’s in season. She needs to mate.
ANGLE ON THE ERUMPENT—a large, rotund, rhino-like creature with a massive horn protruding from her forehead. Five times his size, she is nuzzling up against the enclosure of a terrified hippo.
Newt takes out a tiny vial of liquid—he pulls the stopper out with his teeth and spits it to the side before dabbing a spot of the liquid onto each wrist. Jacob looks at him—the smell is pungent.
NEWT
Erumpent musk—she is mad for it.
Newt passes Jacob the open bottle and heads into the zoo.
TIME CUT:
Newt places his case down on the ground near the Erumpent and slowly, seductively, opens it.
He begins to perform a “mating ritual”—a series of grunts, wiggles, rolls, and groans—to gain the Erumpent’s attention.
Finally the Erumpent turns away from the hippo—she is interested in Newt. They face each other, circle round, undulating weirdly. The Erumpent’s demeanor is puppy-like, her horn glowing orange.
Newt rolls along the floor—the Erumpent copies, moving nearer and nearer to the open case.
NEWT
Good girl—come on—into the case . . .
Jacob takes a sniff of the Erumpent musk. As he does so, a fish flies through the air and jolts him, spilling the musk.
The wind changes. Trees rustle. The Erumpent takes a deep breath in—she can smell the new, more powerful aroma coming from Jacob.
Jacob looks around. A seal sits behind him looking guilty, before cheekily running away.
When Jacob turns back, he sees the Erumpent is now on her feet, staring at him.
ANGLE ON NEWT AND JACOB, realizing what is about to happen.
BACK TO SCENE:
The Erumpent charges toward the source of the smell, bellowing madly. Jacob wails, running as fast as he can in the opposite direction. The Erumpent gives chase—they crash through rubble and ice ponds before charging across the snow-covered park.
Newt draws his wand—
NEWT
Repar—
Before he can finish, his wand is whipped out of his hand by a baboon, which runs off, clutching its prize.
NEWT
Merlin’s beard!
ANGLE ON JACOB, tanking along, the Erumpent close behind him.
ANGLE ON NEWT, face-to-face with the curious baboon, which examines his wand.
Newt breaks a bit of twig off from a branch and holds it out, trying to persuade the baboon to trade with him.
NEWT
They’re exactly the same . . . Same thing.
BACK TO JACOB: In trying to climb a tree, Jacob has ended up hanging precariously upside down from a branch.
JACOB
(bellowing, terrified)
Newt!
We see the Erumpent below him. She lies on her back, wiggling her legs in the air invitingly.
ANGLE BACK ON NEWT: The baboon shakes Newt’s wand.
NEWT
No, no, no, don’t!
Newt looks worried—BANG—the wand “goes off,” the spell knocking the baboon backward. The wand flies back to Newt.
NEWT
I’m so sorry—
ANGLE ON JACOB: The Erumpent is now on her feet. She charges toward the tree, digging her horn deep into the trunk. The tree bubbles with glowing liquid before exploding and crashing to the ground.
Jacob is thrown off, rolling down a steep, snowy hill, and onto the frozen lake below.
The Erumpent charges after him, hits the ice, and skids. Newt comes careering down the hill, also hitting the ice. He performs an athletic slide, his case open—the Erumpent is mere feet from Jacob when the case swallows her.
NEWT
Good show, Mr. Kowalski!
Jacob holds out his hand to shake.
JACOB
Call me Jacob.
They shake hands.
THIRD-PERSON POV—Someone watches as Newt hauls Jacob up and they slip and slide across the frozen lake as fast as they can.
NEWT
Well, two down—one to go.
HOLD ON TINA as she hides on the bridge above them, peeking down.
NEWT (O.S.)
(to Jacob)
In you hop.
We see the case sitting alone below the bridge.
Tina quickly appears around the corner and hurriedly sits on the case. She closes the catches, looking shocked but determined.
ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
Ladies and gentlemen . . .
SCENE 55
INT. CITY HALL—NIGHT
A large, ornately decorated hall, covered in patriotic emblems. Hundreds of glamorously dressed people sit at round tables, looking toward a stage at the far end. Over this stage hangs a large poster of Senator Shaw with a slogan reading AMERICA’S FUTURE.
An announcer stands behind the microphone.
ANNOUNCER
. . . now, tonight’s keynote speaker needs no introduction from me. He’s been mentioned as a future president—and if you don’t believe me, just read his daddy’s newspapers—
Indulgent laughter from the crowd. We see Shaw Sr. and Langdon seated at a table surrounded by the crème de la crème of New York society.
ANNOUNCER
—ladies and gentlemen, I give you the senator for New York, Henry Shaw!
Tumultuous applause. Senator Shaw bounds forward, acknowledging the cheers, pointing and winking at intimates in the crowd, and mounts the steps.
SCENE 56
EXT. DARK STREET—NIGHT
Something is streaking through the streets, too large and fast for a human. Strange, labored breathing and snarling—it is inhuman, beast-like.
SCENE 57
EXT. STREET NEAR CITY HALL—NIGHT
Tina is hurrying along, clutching the case. Streetlights start going out around her. She stops, feels something pass in the darkness—turns, staring, scared.
SCENE 58
INT. CITY HALL—NIGHT
SENATOR SHAW
. . . and it’s true we have made some progress, but there is no reward for idleness. So just as the odious saloons have been banished . . .
A strange, haunting noise comes from the organ pipes at the back of the room. Everyone turns to look, the senator pauses.
SENATOR SHAW
. . . so now the pool halls, and these private parlors . . .
The strange noise gets louder.
Guests turn to look again. The senator seems anxious. People mutter.
Suddenly something explodes forth from underneath the organ. Something huge and bestial, although invisible, is soaring down the hall—tables fly, people are thrown, lights smash, and people scream as it carves a line toward the stage.
Senator Shaw is thrown backward against his own poster, raised up high, suspended for a moment in midair, before being brought down with a violent crash—dead.
The “beast” rips at his poster—a frenzied slashing with harsh, noisy breathing—before swarming back out from where it came.
Sounds of anguish and panic from the crowd as Shaw Sr. fights through the debris toward his son’s torn and bleeding body.
ANGLE ON SENATOR SHAW’S BODY, his face brutally scarred. Shaw Sr. looks devastated as he crouches beside his son.
ANGLE ON LANGDON, now on his feet, slightly drunk. Determined, perhaps triumphant:
LANGDON
WITCHES!