PHARAOH - The Pitch

PHARAOH

'The Da Vinci Code' meets 'The Matrix'

Logline:

The discovery of an ancient Egyptian Artifact -- containing the Holy Blood of the first Pharaoh -- sets off a power struggle in the worlds oldest Secret Society, as one man must clone the blood and bring the Pharaoh back to stop Artificial Intelligence from taking over the world.

* * *

• A trilogy in the vein of Star Wars -- set right here in our very own galaxy, our world -- at it's core is a powerful empire (a Secret Society) and a generational power-struggle. It's a story built on ancient myth and legends of humanity.

• A story that connects Holy Blood, 2012, Nano-technology, Artificial Intelligence and the worlds oldest and most powerful secret society with the great Mysteries of Egypt...

• These are the subject-matter of many of the most successful films AND books ever produced. But no book or film has brought them together quite like PHARAOH.

• It draws on some of the most basic and fundamentals of Hollywood Blockbusters but spices and shakes them so well they taste totally fresh and new...

• It's controversial. It will get people talking. Much like “The Da Vinci Code” and “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” did… But it’s no more ‘out there’ than what is already shown on TV (the History Channel) and in other classic blockbusters.

•A classic hero's journey, similar to 'The Matrix' -- an outsider being brought in to save the world from the powers that be.

•An 'Indiana Jones' adventure that gradually unfolds. It uses and dives into popular cultures religious symbolism and conjecture.

PHARAOH is full of symbolism, but neither promotes nor denounces any religion or science. Rather, it incorporates both as part of the human experience and part of the story...

A story about secrets… Secrets we are all dying to know. Secrets that millions of people all over the world love to hear, see and talk about. Making this script:

"The most imaginative (potentially lucrative) un-produced Epic Trilogy since 'Star Wars' for whomever has the guts to make it!"
I know it will turn some people off; but it will also turn the right person on.

Someone -- with access to capital and a vision for the project -- will be turned on, because they will read the script and they'll realize it's true > PEOPLE WILL LOVE THE STORY.

This script has all the ingredients of a blockbuster film.

IT IS EXACTLY WHAT HOLLYWOOD IS LOOKING FOR.

Why?

Because it's what THE AUDIENCE is looking for.

How so?

Well... What defines the success of many films today is: CULT FOLLOWING

Whether it's Twilight, Comic-Books, Sex and the City, or The Da Vinci Code.

Success comes from tapping into and drawing out that base, that "cult following". By creating a product that appeals to them, and they will buy. They go/buy because it's something that they know a little about, and they want to see and weigh in on, or be a part of...

PHARAOH has just that. Stuff people are interested in and follow with cult like dedication and interest.

How so?

An inherently multi-prong approach. It deals with, and taps some of the largest and most lucrative cult-followings that are consuming media products today. Comic-book and Fantasy appeal in the youth. Intellectual controversy, speculation and religious symbolism appeal in the adults. It taps the more discerning >> the crowd that doesn't go out and see every movie, but they will when it's about something that interests them...

The subject matter of PHARAOH has been the interest of young, old, poor and royalty... for over a 1000 years. Global appeal today. It would play well in every world market, because it's subject matter is universal.

What subject matter?

Secrets • Hidden History • Humanity, mortality and Eternal Life...

And more recently:

-- What happens when computer intelligence becomes greater that human intelligence "the Singularity".

-- How does Artificial Intelligence come to be?

PHARAOH actually connects all these questions and answers into a thrill ride of 133 pages. As they say: You think you know... but you have no idea…

Okay fine. Huge cult following of those subjects. Lots of movies. Millions of books on those subjects are sold annually. Got it. But how does that translate into these 'cult-followings' buying into your script?

PHARAOH offers fascinating and fantastic answers to these questions. Questions people are paying money to read, hear and see answers too,

As a film it becomes a powerful new kind of entertainment, a kind of postmodern religious experience. Something people pay good money for...

PHARAOH creates a mythos out of our (neo) real world, in the way that Lord of the Rings is a mythos of pre-industrial Europe. It creates a world where fantasy is the reality...

It would be visually and intellectually stimulating --perfect to be made in and utilize 3-D -- which makes it stronger cinematically, and more moving / enjoyable.

'The Dark Knight' was deep and engrossing because it felt plausible, realistic -- intellectually stimulating.

With the rate the world is changing, we are confronted daily with concepts and ideas that seem crazy, but we are learning are actually becoming real. FAST. Things like AI, cloning, and Secret Societies... Hence a new reality.

Neo-realism > "new-realism" > new way of looking at and projecting reality

People want NEO-REAL and the neo-realism of today is... Fantasy.

Think AVATAR. It pretends to be the real world -- our actual future -- and it uses the story to take this "real world" or neo-real-world to a place of fantasy. The fantasy is the reality, the reality where we are exploring other realities... Get it? Doesn't matter, because the point is:

People love it.

Why do they love it? Because it's a deeper movie going experience when you connect to it. People feel they got more out of it when they connect -- like it was worth the money and they want to have the experience again... and also buy the DVD.

Some people say: "it was the cutting edge visual effects that got them in, not the subject matter."

True. But the effects are only as good as the story that employs them. Many films with the best visual effects but no story find little success. But the ones that can truly utilize and showcase cutting edge technology within the context of a great story find true Blockbuster "cult following" success. Think ‘The Matrix’ and the Renaissance in Super-hero movies it created in Hollywood.

When a great story, can utilize great effects, the combined effect magnifies the profitability/marketability. The impact and selling power of it is much stronger.

It takes a good story to begin with...

PHARAOH is a good story.

Once you read it, you understand why it's

"The most imaginative (potentially lucrative) un-produced Epic Trilogy since 'Star Wars' for whomever has the guts to make it!"

See also:
http://mr-postmodernistic.blogspot.com/2010/08/pharaoh-pitch-2.html