INT. DINER - DAY
DANNY Blues sits in a diner booth oozing charm, whipping French fries into his mouth. He is joined by JOHNNY Brothers, a nervous man who constantly fiddles with crap.
JOHNNY
Alright, I'm here, Danny. Against my better judgement, I might add.
DANNY
You're a saint, Johnny.
JOHNNY
You've got until I finish my coffee to tell me what this is all about.
Johnny takes a big sip of coffee.
DANNY
I'm getting the band back together.
Johnny spits his coffee everywhere.
JOHNNY
Are you nuts? It'll never work, not after what you pulled.
DANNY
You didn't let me finish. I'm getting the band back together for one last heist.
JOHNNY
What?
Johnny takes another big gulp of coffee.
DANNY
We're robbing the Bellagio.
Johnny sprays his coffee everywhere, choking.
JOHNNY
Are you out of your mind? That really will never work. I'll be honest with you, with the first band back together thing, I was ready to be convinced. But us robbing hotels? That. Will. Never. Work.
DANNY
Give me one good reason.
JOHNNY
We're musicians!
DANNY
It's just one last time.
JOHNNY
It's the first time!
DANNY
We'll improvise.
JOHNNY
How?
DANNY
Jazz.
JOHNNY
That's music! We know transposing notes, variation, modulation, riffing on a theme, but like I said, that's music! That's nothing like stealing from a hospitality institution! I mean, that's like, three major felonies.
Johnny takes yet another drink of coffee.
DANNY
Three majors, a major third, what's the difference?
Johnny spews his coffee everywhere.
JOHNNY
A lot! Do you even have a plan?
DANNY
It's airtight.
INT. CLUB - NIGHT
A man laying down a nasty bass groove in a smoky club, really feeling the music.
DANNY (V.O.)
First, we get our old friend and jazz bass virtuoso Stanley Clarke. Has some of the most interesting yet soulful grooves of any bass player out there. A real student of the form.
Danny walks on stage, whispers in Stanley's ear. Stanley's eyes, which had been closed, pop open in terror as he listens to Danny.
DANNY (V.O.)
He's our getaway driver.
INT. CAR - DAY
Stanley is behind the wheel of a moving car. He still has his bass on. He frantically tries to drive but just plays bass instead. The car careens off the road and into a ditch.
Long bass note.
DANNY (V.O.)
Next we have Steve Lukather, ace session guitarist.
INT. STUDIO - DAY
Steve tracks guitar in the studio, big headphones over his ears.
DANNY (V.O.)
He's played on half the hits of the last 40 years.
Danny pulls up one side of Steve's headphones and whispers in his ear. Steve's eyes pop, and he whips his head around.
DANNY (V.O.)
He's our safe cracker.
INT. SAFE ROOM - DAY
Steve's turn transitions to him in front of a safe. He stares at it for a moment, then half-heartedly spins the dial. He looks around for help.
JOHNNY (V.O.)
I'm about to have a heart attack.
We see a shot of each thing as Johnny lists them.
JOHNNY (V.O.)
The Bellagio is swarming with security guards, has cameras everywhere, fingerprint scanner checkpoints, silent alarms, you name it. How are you even going to get in?
DANNY (V.O.)
That's where drumming legend Bernard Purdie comes in.
EXT. AUDITORIUM - NIGHT
Bernard Purdie drumming intensely.
DANNY (V.O.)
This guy is so influential he's got a shuffle named after him. His triplets are second to none. He's our distraction.
INT. CASINO - NIGHT
Bernard in the middle of the casino floor, scared, the center of security guards attention. He slowly slips behind a slot machine.
JOHNNY (V.O.)
And what happens when something inevitably goes wrong?
DANNY (V.O.)
Not a problem, because we have master saxophonist Wayne Shorter as our lookout.
INT. CLUB - NIGHT
Wayne blasting a sweaty sax solo, eyes squished shut. Danny whispers in his ear and his eyes bug out, blasting more sax.
EXT. THE BELLAGIO - DAY
Wayne, in the exact same position, in front of the Bellagio, clearly terrified. A crush of cops rush past him into the hotel. As he watches his sax blowing and eyes get bigger until he finally throws his sax and runs the opposite way.
INT. DINER - DAY
JOHNNY
Time's up, I'm out of coffee.
He turns his coffee cup upside down.
DANNY
Almost there. Finally, we have Rita Jackson, a tambourine player I met at Richmond fifth baptist.
Johnny spits coffee everywhere.
JOHNNY
That was so surprising I spontaneously generated coffee just to spit it! Since when do you go to church?
DANNY
I figured with a big endeavour like this I better get right with God before hand.
JOHNNY
And what job does Rita Jackson have?
INT. CHURCH - DAY
Rita Jackson, an elderly woman, sitting in a pew. Danny leans over, whispers in her ear. She is utterly scandalized, and whacks him with her tambourine.
INT. DINER - DAY
DANNY
Rita's out.
JOHNNY
That doesn't that seem like a good sign, spiritually.
DANNY
Nothing's perfect.
INT. CHURCH - DAY
Rita Jackson is totally kicking the crap out of Danny with her tambourine.
INT. DINER - DAY
DANNY
With your five octave range, and a group of killers like us, all you need to do is walk out with the money.
JOHNNY
We're studio killers, not actual killers.
DANNY
I don't discriminate like that.
JOHNNY
And where are you in all of this?
DANNY
I'm the manager, so I just take 10% off the top.
JOHNNY
Unbelievable.
DANNY
So, what do you say?
JOHNNY
Alright, I'm in.
Danny spits coffee everywhere.