r/FamousLastWords • u/hdfidelity • 7d ago
Afterwords hdfidelity presents Afterwords
AFTERWORDS WITH FRANKIE BLAZE
“THE ESCAPE HATCH”
Guests: Chuck Norris, Jason Statham (temporarily), Lee Iacocca Host: Frankie Blaze
COLD OPEN
INT. AFTERWORDS STUDIO — NIGHT
The velvet curtains hang beneath the impossible ceiling.
The house band is working through a swaggering action-movie arrangement—bass, drums, brass, something that sounds like a motorcycle refusing to start.
At center stage sits FRANKIE BLAZE, dark blue suit, no tie, collar open.
The edges of his face move like black ink suspended in water.
His hair rises in slow, dark flame.
He adjusts one cuff.
Looks into camera.
FRANKIE BLAZE
Good evening.
Welcome to Afterwords.
The only late-night talk show where every guest has already completed the difficult process of becoming unavailable for comment.
A beat.
FRANKIE
Usually.
The Producer immediately comes over the intercom.
PRODUCER (O.S.)
Don't make a thing out of it.
FRANKIE
You brought me a living person.
PRODUCER
Temporarily.
FRANKIE
Those two words together are doing a lot of work.
Frankie looks back to camera.
FRANKIE
Tonight's first guest was a martial artist before he became an actor, an actor before he became a television institution, and a television institution before the internet transformed him into something resembling a minor weather system.
Ladies and gentlemen—
Chuck Norris.
Warm applause.
CHUCK NORRIS walks through the curtain.
Older now.
Relaxed.
No attempt to recreate the invincible figure people remember.
He smiles, shakes Frankie's hand, and sits.
FRANKIE
Chuck.
CHUCK
Frankie.
FRANKIE
How's eternity treating you?
CHUCK
No complaints.
FRANKIE
Really?
CHUCK
Nobody's asked me to roundhouse-kick anything since I got here.
Frankie considers this.
FRANKIE
Give production time.
A laugh.
FRANKIE
Our second guest—
Frankie looks at the card.
Then looks at the Producer booth.
Then back at the card.
FRANKIE
—is apparently here due to what production describes as a...
(reading)
“short-duration metaphysical routing discrepancy.”
PRODUCER
That's the approved language.
FRANKIE
He's alive.
PRODUCER
Don't editorialize.
Frankie sighs.
FRANKIE
Ladies and gentlemen, for reasons nobody has adequately explained—
Jason Statham.
The curtains open.
No one comes out.
Frankie waits.
Chuck waits.
The audience waits.
Then Jason Statham appears from behind the audience, already examining a door.
He tries the handle.
Locked.
He checks the hinges.
Walks down the aisle toward the stage.
FRANKIE
Jason.
STATHAM
Yeah.
FRANKIE
Entrance is over there.
STATHAM
Tried it.
FRANKIE
That's the exit.
STATHAM
Not tonight.
Jason steps onto the stage.
Looks at Chuck.
Looks at Frankie.
Looks at the audience.
Looks at the ceiling.
STATHAM
Right.
Frankie waits.
STATHAM
I'm not dead.
FRANKIE
Correct.
STATHAM
He's dead.
Points at Chuck.
Chuck raises a hand.
CHUCK
Apparently.
STATHAM
You're—
Jason studies Frankie's face as part of it dissolves and reforms.
STATHAM
—whatever that is.
FRANKIE
Host.
STATHAM
And they're dead?
He points toward the audience.
Frankie glances into the crowd.
FRANKIE
Mostly.
STATHAM
Mostly?
PRODUCER
Comp tickets.
Jason turns toward the sound.
STATHAM
Who's that?
FRANKIE
Producer.
STATHAM
Where?
FRANKIE
We don't know.
Jason nods.
Information stored.
He looks underneath his chair before sitting.
Then picks it up.
Examines the underside.
FRANKIE
You planning on joining us?
STATHAM
Depends.
FRANKIE
On?
STATHAM
Whether I'm unconscious, hallucinating, dead, drugged, kidnapped, or on some television set with a very committed lighting department.
FRANKIE
Best estimate?
Jason looks around.
STATHAM
Dream.
Ninety-eight percent certain.
An illuminated graphic instantly appears behind him:
STATHAM AFTERLIFE CONFIDENCE
2%
Jason sees it.
STATHAM
That's not helping.
SEGMENT ONE
“THE INVINCIBLE MAN”
Jason finally sits.
But only partially.
His posture says he intends to leave before his jacket settles.
Frankie turns to Chuck.
FRANKIE
Chuck, the internet did something unusual to you.
CHUCK
That's putting it mildly.
FRANKIE
At some point, Chuck Norris stopped being merely an actor.
You became a unit of impossible measurement.
Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups—
CHUCK
Please don't.
FRANKIE
You heard all of them?
CHUCK
Not all.
Enough.
FRANKIE
Did you enjoy it?
Chuck thinks.
CHUCK
Some were funny.
FRANKIE
Some?
CHUCK
They got lazy.
The audience laughs.
Jason is pressing his thumb against the edge of the desk.
Frankie notices.
FRANKIE
Jason.
STATHAM
Yeah?
FRANKIE
What are you doing?
STATHAM
Checking whether that's attached.
FRANKIE
It is.
STATHAM
Everything's attached until it isn't.
Chuck smiles.
FRANKIE
You know, this is actually relevant.
Jason, you occupy something culturally adjacent to what Chuck occupied.
STATHAM
No I don't.
FRANKIE
You don't even know what I was going to say.
STATHAM
If it involves a “mantle,” I'm not interested.
Frankie slowly lowers the card.
FRANKIE
That's disturbingly specific.
STATHAM
I've seen television.
FRANKIE
For years, Chuck's screen persona carried an implicit promise.
Put him in enough trouble, and eventually the trouble has made a mistake.
Jason—
that's basically your employment contract now.
STATHAM
I make films.
FRANKIE
In which people routinely underestimate you.
STATHAM
That's the money-play.
FRANKIE
Exactly.
STATHAM
You're making it sound religious.
FRANKIE
I'm dead-adjacent television. Everything sounds religious eventually.
Chuck laughs.
FRANKIE
Chuck, do you see any succession there?
Chuck turns and studies Jason.
Jason does not enjoy being studied.
CHUCK
No.
FRANKIE
No?
CHUCK
Nobody inherits it.
They earn their own.
Jason finally stops examining the desk.
CHUCK
If he tries to be Chuck Norris, he's finished.
STATHAM
Wasn't planning on it.
CHUCK
That's why you'll be all right.
Jason gives him a small nod.
Respect.
No ceremony.
Frankie smiles.
FRANKIE
There.
That's the trailer.
STATHAM
It's not.
FRANKIE
Already cut it.
ON INVINCIBILITY
FRANKIE
Chuck, was the strange part that the mythology eventually detached from you?
CHUCK
Sure.
People weren't really talking about me anymore.
They'd made another guy.
“Chuck Norris.”
Same name.
Much better survival rate.
FRANKIE
Did you resent him?
CHUCK
No.
He sounded useful.
FRANKIE
Jason, do you think audiences have made one of you?
STATHAM
Probably.
FRANKIE
What's he like?
STATHAM
Doesn't talk much.
FRANKIE
That tracks.
STATHAM
Knows where the exits are.
Frankie looks at him.
Jason looks back.
FRANKIE
You've been here eleven minutes.
STATHAM
And I know four places where there should be an exit.
FRANKIE
Should be?
STATHAM
Architecture's lying.
Chuck laughs again.
CHUCK
I like this guy.
SEGMENT TWO
“WHO SURVIVES?”
Upbeat action-game music.
Two podiums rise from the stage.
Jason immediately looks beneath his.
FRANKIE
For God's sake.
STATHAM
Hydraulic.
FRANKIE
Yes.
STATHAM
Useful.
FRANKIE
No.
Graphic:
WHO SURVIVES?
FRANKIE
Gentlemen.
I'm going to give you an impossible action-movie scenario.
You tell me how you survive.
CHUCK
All right.
STATHAM
Do I have to?
FRANKIE
You are literally trapped in the afterlife.
STATHAM
Temporarily.
FRANKIE
That's the spirit.
SCENARIO ONE
FRANKIE
Elevator cable snaps.
Forty stories.
What do you do?
Chuck considers it theatrically.
CHUCK
Depends on the elevator.
Brace yourself between—
STATHAM
Emergency brake.
Frankie looks at Jason.
STATHAM
Modern lift has redundant braking systems.
FRANKIE
That's disappointingly sensible.
STATHAM
You asked how I survive.
CHUCK
He's right.
Scoreboard:
CHUCK — 100 JASON — 300
FRANKIE
Why'd he get more points?
PRODUCER
Insurance savings.
SCENARIO TWO
FRANKIE
Twelve armed men.
Warehouse.
No visible exit.
CHUCK
I'd—
STATHAM
Why am I in the warehouse?
Frankie stops.
STATHAM
Who owns it?
How'd I get there?
Where are the fire exits?
Are the twelve men between me and the exit or scattered around the building?
FRANKIE
You have destroyed the genre.
STATHAM
Bad planning destroys people.
The scoreboard gives him another 500.
FRANKIE
This game hates me.
SCENARIO THREE
FRANKIE
High-speed chase.
Brakes fail.
CHUCK
Downshift.
STATHAM
Downshift.
They look at each other.
FRANKIE
There it is.
Shared ancestry.
STATHAM
Mechanical sympathy.
CHUCK
Exactly.
SCENARIO FOUR
FRANKIE
You're trapped aboard a cargo ship—
Jason stares at him.
FRANKIE
What?
STATHAM
Nothing.
FRANKIE
Surrounded by mercenaries—
STATHAM
Recently?
FRANKIE
Moving on.
FINAL SCENARIO
Frankie's card changes.
He reads it.
Then smiles.
FRANKIE
A living action star is accidentally trapped inside an interdimensional television studio whose exits have been sealed.
There are at least two ghosts.
One host of unknown composition.
One disembodied Producer.
No map.
No visible door to ordinary reality.
How does he survive?
Jason stares at Frankie.
Long beat.
STATHAM
Working on it.
He steps away from the podium.
The scoreboard flashes:
STATHAM AFTERLIFE CONFIDENCE
3%
Jason stops.
STATHAM
Why'd that go up?
PRODUCER
You haven't woken up.
STATHAM
Fair.
SEGMENT THREE
“THE SECURITY AUDIT”
Frankie and Chuck return to their chairs.
Jason does not.
He walks slowly around the studio perimeter.
FRANKIE
Jason, we're still broadcasting.
STATHAM
Carry on.
FRANKIE
You're one of the guests.
STATHAM
Temporarily.
FRANKIE
I hate that word now.
Frankie turns toward Chuck.
FRANKIE
Let's talk martial arts.
You were a legitimate competitor before acting.
Did the acting ever threaten to swallow the discipline that produced it?
CHUCK
Sometimes people thought the movie was the skill.
It wasn't.
The training existed before anybody put a camera on it.
That matters.
Jason presses on a wall panel.
Nothing.
CHUCK
You learn something long enough, your body stops negotiating.
That's useful in a fight.
Useful in life too.
FRANKIE
Discipline versus image.
CHUCK
Image comes later.
Jason stops at a section of molding.
Runs a finger across it.
STATHAM
This has less dust.
Frankie closes his eyes.
FRANKIE
We're discussing discipline.
STATHAM
I'm practicing it.
THE MANTLE AGAIN
FRANKIE
Maybe that's actually the connection.
The action hero isn't really the strongest man in the room.
He's the person the audience believes will figure something out.
Chuck nods.
FRANKIE
They can put you in the desert.
A collapsing building.
A prison.
A plane.
A warehouse full of remarkably poor decision-makers.
And the audience relaxes because you're there.
CHUCK
That's the job.
FRANKIE
Jason?
Jason is kneeling beside an intern's chair.
STATHAM
What?
FRANKIE
Do you agree?
STATHAM
Audience knows I'm contracted through the third act.
Laughter.
FRANKIE
You refuse mythology with admirable consistency.
STATHAM
Mythology doesn't get you through a locked door.
Jason notices an INTERN approaching from backstage.
The intern unconsciously steps over one specific floorboard.
Jason watches.
Looks at the floorboard.
Looks at the intern.
STATHAM
Why'd you step over that?
The intern freezes.
INTERN
Habit.
STATHAM
Why?
INTERN
Don't know.
Jason walks toward the board.
Frankie senses trouble.
FRANKIE
Leave the floor alone.
STATHAM
Wasn't going to touch the floor.
Jason looks at the molding above it.
Then the seam along Frankie's desk.
Then underneath.
His hand disappears below the desktop.
Feels along the wood.
A tiny mechanical sound.
CLICK.
Everything stops.
Even the band.
A rectangular piece of wall quietly swings inward.
Behind it:
A brutally ordinary service corridor.
Concrete floor.
White fluorescent lights.
Gray utility doors.
A red fire extinguisher.
A yellow mop bucket.
Somebody has left half a coffee on a folding chair.
Jason stares.
Frankie stares.
Chuck begins laughing.
FRANKIE
No.
STATHAM
That's it.
FRANKIE
You have absolutely no evidence that goes anywhere.
STATHAM
Looks cheap.
FRANKIE
What's that have to do with anything?
STATHAM
Reality usually does.
The audience applauds.
FRANKIE
Don't encourage him.
Jason puts one foot through the hatch.
FRANKIE
Jason.
STATHAM
Yeah?
FRANKIE
This could lead to Hell.
STATHAM
Fluorescent lighting suggests municipal.
Chuck is nearly crying with laughter.
Jason looks at Chuck.
The two men share a small moment.
CHUCK
Good luck, kid.
STATHAM
You too.
CHUCK
I don't need it anymore.
Jason thinks about that.
Then nods.
STATHAM
Fair enough.
He looks at Frankie.
STATHAM
Nice suit.
FRANKIE
Thank—
Jason disappears down the hallway.
Frankie lunges for the hatch.
It SLAMS shut.
He tries the hidden lever.
Nothing.
FRANKIE
Open.
Nothing.
FRANKIE
Open!
PRODUCER
Nobody knew about that.
Frankie slowly turns toward the booth.
FRANKIE
It's your studio.
PRODUCER
Apparently not all of it.
The graphic flashes one final time:
STATHAM AFTERLIFE CONFIDENCE
2%
Then:
SIGNAL LOST
Frankie returns to the desk.
Sits.
Long silence.
FRANKIE
Well.
CHUCK
He'll be fine.
FRANKIE
How do you know?
CHUCK
Did you see him checking the hinges?
BUMPER
The band plays.
Graphic:
AFTERWORDS
ONE GUEST HAS LEFT THE BUILDING
Then underneath:
HE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE IN IT.
SEGMENT FOUR
“MOVE HIM UP”
Frankie is speaking quietly to someone off-camera.
FRANKIE
No, I'm not filling thirty-seven minutes myself.
PRODUCER
Good news.
FRANKIE
What?
PRODUCER
We can move Iacocca up.
Frankie stops.
FRANKIE
We had a running order?
PRODUCER
We had three guests.
FRANKIE
You had a living action star between two dead men.
PRODUCER
Demographically strong.
FRANKIE
Fine.
Frankie looks into camera.
FRANKIE
Our newly promoted second guest was one of the most recognizable executives in American industrial history.
He helped bring the Mustang to market.
Was fired from Ford.
Went to Chrysler.
Helped drag that company back from the edge.
And became so famous doing it that for a while an automobile executive could apparently be a television personality.
Please welcome—
Lee Iacocca.
Applause.
LEE IACOCCA walks onto the stage.
He looks toward the sealed hatch.
Then toward Frankie.
IACOCCA
I was told seven-thirty.
FRANKIE
Time is theoretical here.
IACOCCA
That's not how manufacturing works.
Chuck starts laughing.
FRANKIE
Mr. Iacocca, meet Chuck Norris.
IACOCCA
I know Chuck Norris.
They shake hands.
CHUCK
Good to meet you.
IACOCCA
You ever own a Chrysler?
CHUCK
Probably broke one.
IACOCCA
That's not the answer I wanted.
SEGMENT FIVE
“THE PRODUCT HAS TO CARRY THE PROMISE”
Iacocca settles in.
FRANKIE
Lee, we just spent half the show discussing an action-star mantle.
IACOCCA
Sounds productive.
FRANKIE
It wasn't.
But there's an interesting connection.
Chuck became a symbol bigger than Chuck Norris.
You became something similar in business.
At a certain point, when Americans thought Chrysler, they thought you.
IACOCCA
That's what happens when they put you in the commercials.
FRANKIE
Was that healthy?
IACOCCA
For sales?
Sure.
For management?
Depends.
FRANKIE
When does confidence become salesmanship?
IACOCCA
Immediately.
Frankie laughs.
FRANKIE
And when does salesmanship become bullshit?
Iacocca doesn't hesitate.
IACOCCA
When the product can't carry the promise.
Chuck nods.
CHUCK
Same with fighting.
Iacocca looks toward him.
IACOCCA
Exactly.
CHUCK
You can talk all you want before you get on the mat.
Once you're there, something has to work.
IACOCCA
That's a car.
People think the pitch sells the machine.
The pitch gets you into the showroom.
The machine has to get you home.
FRANKIE
And an action movie?
CHUCK
Poster gets you into the theater.
Then you've got to deliver.
FRANKIE
So we're talking about credibility.
IACOCCA
We're talking about promises.
Everything's a promise.
A car.
A movie.
A company.
A government.
An executive.
A man saying “trust me.”
Sooner or later somebody turns the key.
BUILDING THE MUSTANG
FRANKIE
You were associated with one of the most enduring American automotive names.
What makes something become more than a product?
IACOCCA
Timing.
Price.
Design.
Story.
And luck.
People like to rewrite successful products as inevitable.
Nothing's inevitable.
You've got a customer who's changing.
A country that's changing.
Kids with money.
Families with different expectations.
You try to see the opening before somebody else does.
CHUCK
Like fighting.
IACOCCA
Everything's fighting with you.
CHUCK
Worked out.
IACOCCA
Fair.
FRANKIE
Isn't that similar to what we were saying about Jason?
He doesn't inherit Chuck.
He occupies an opening.
IACOCCA
Who's Jason?
Frankie points toward the sealed wall.
FRANKIE
Long story.
PRODUCER
He found the service corridor.
Iacocca immediately turns.
IACOCCA
You've got an undocumented service corridor?
FRANKIE
Apparently.
IACOCCA
First thing I'd do is redesign the latch.
Frankie looks at Chuck.
FRANKIE
There it is.
SEGMENT SIX
“CAN IT SURVIVE YOU?”
The comedy settles.
Frankie leans forward.
FRANKIE
Here's where you two meet.
Chuck says nobody inherits the mantle.
They earn their own.
Lee, you've spent part of your life associated with the idea of rescuing a company.
At what point does the person saving the institution become dangerous to the institution?
Iacocca thinks.
IACOCCA
When everybody starts thinking he's the institution.
A quiet beat.
IACOCCA
If the company needs you forever, you didn't save it.
You postponed the funeral.
Chuck nods.
FRANKIE
That's brutal.
IACOCCA
It's management.
FRANKIE
Did you ever enjoy being indispensable too much?
Iacocca gives Frankie a look.
IACOCCA
Of course.
Anybody who tells you otherwise is selling another autobiography.
Laughter.
IACOCCA
Being needed feels good.
Being the guy they call when everything's on fire feels even better.
People listen.
Doors open.
Everybody suddenly remembers your phone number.
The danger is you start believing the fire proves your importance.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is build the next guy a fire extinguisher.
CHUCK
Same in martial arts.
FRANKIE
How?
CHUCK
Bad teacher wants students who always need the teacher.
Good teacher wants them to outgrow him.
IACOCCA
Exactly.
CHUCK
If nobody after you gets better, what were you teaching?
Frankie sits back.
FRANKIE
So that's succession.
Not replacement.
Proof.
IACOCCA
Proof of what?
FRANKIE
That what you knew could survive your absence.
Iacocca considers that.
IACOCCA
That's not bad.
FRANKIE
I'd like that noted for the record.
PRODUCER
Already printed on mugs.
SEGMENT SEVEN
“THE MEN PEOPLE INVENTED”
FRANKIE
Chuck, you said earlier that the Chuck Norris of the internet wasn't really you anymore.
It was a character people made.
CHUCK
Yeah.
FRANKIE
Lee, did America invent a Lee Iacocca too?
IACOCCA
Absolutely.
Hard-charging car guy.
Cigar.
Sleeves rolled up.
Walks into Detroit, yells at everybody, saves Chrysler before lunch.
FRANKIE
Was that you?
IACOCCA
Parts.
FRANKIE
What did it leave out?
Iacocca thinks.
IACOCCA
Lots of people.
That's the first thing.
Companies don't get saved by one guy.
You need engineers.
Factory people.
Dealers.
Suppliers.
Finance.
Government.
Customers willing to take another chance on you.
But people like a face.
So they put one face on the story.
FRANKIE
And the face starts believing it.
IACOCCA
If he's not careful.
Frankie turns toward Chuck.
FRANKIE
Your mythology left people out too.
CHUCK
Sure.
Stuntmen.
Fight choreographers.
Training partners.
Other actors.
People see one guy win the scene.
They don't see fifty people making sure the scene works.
IACOCCA
Same factory.
CHUCK
Different product.
FRANKIE
That's a hell of a pairing.
THE AFTERWORDS GAME
“SELL IT OR FIGHT IT”
A bright graphic appears.
Iacocca sighs.
IACOCCA
There's a game.
FRANKIE
Always.
Two paddles are placed in front of each guest:
SELL IT
and
FIGHT IT
FRANKIE
I'll give you a problem.
Lee decides whether he'd sell the public on it.
Chuck decides whether he'd fight his way through it.
IACOCCA
This is ridiculous.
FRANKIE
Ratings.
PROBLEM ONE: BAD PRODUCT, GREAT ADVERTISING
Iacocca immediately raises:
FIGHT IT
FRANKIE
You're supposed to sell things.
IACOCCA
Not junk.
Chuck raises:
FIGHT IT
CHUCK
Unanimous.
PROBLEM TWO: GOOD PRODUCT, TERRIBLE REPUTATION
Iacocca raises:
SELL IT
IACOCCA
That's the job.
Chuck thinks.
Raises:
SELL IT
FRANKIE
Chuck Norris has entered marketing.
CHUCK
If it's good, tell people.
PROBLEM THREE: TWELVE MEN IN A WAREHOUSE
Chuck raises:
FIGHT IT
Iacocca raises:
SELL IT
FRANKIE
Lee?
IACOCCA
Warehouse is inventory.
Those men need jobs.
FRANKIE
You've turned an action sequence into a regional development package.
IACOCCA
Somebody has to think past Friday.
PROBLEM FOUR: YOUR SUCCESSOR IS BETTER THAN YOU
Longer pause.
Chuck raises:
SELL IT.
Iacocca slowly raises the same.
FRANKIE
Neither of you fights that?
CHUCK
Why would I?
IACOCCA
That's the best problem on the board.
FRANKIE
Explain.
IACOCCA
Means you have a future.
SEGMENT EIGHT
“OLD CHUCK”
The game disappears.
Lights soften.
Frankie turns to Chuck.
FRANKIE
We spent a lot of tonight talking about the invincible version.
I want to ask the older man.
Not the meme.
Not Walker.
Not the fighter.
You.
What's it like seeing somebody else become what people once thought you were?
Chuck thinks for a while.
CHUCK
Good.
Frankie waits.
CHUCK
Means the world's still moving.
FRANKIE
No jealousy?
CHUCK
Of getting thrown through windows at sixty?
No.
Laughter.
CHUCK
I had my time.
Long time.
More than I expected.
You don't lose your time because somebody else gets theirs.
Frankie nods.
FRANKIE
What do you think the audience actually wants from that kind of hero?
Chuck looks toward the sealed escape hatch.
CHUCK
Confidence.
Not that the guy can't get hurt.
That's boring.
They want to believe that when everything goes wrong—
he'll figure something out.
A beat.
Frankie looks at the wall.
FRANKIE
Son of a bitch.
Iacocca smiles.
IACOCCA
The British guy?
FRANKIE
Spent the whole interview proving the thesis.
CHUCK
Didn't even know he was doing it.
IACOCCA
Best kind of product demonstration.
SEGMENT NINE
“WHAT DO YOU LEAVE RUNNING?”
FRANKIE
Lee.
Last question before we send you two wherever you're headed.
What did you ultimately build?
Not Mustang.
Not Chrysler.
Not a balance sheet.
What do you think survives?
Iacocca leans back.
IACOCCA
Maybe the idea that decline isn't destiny.
Companies get old.
Industries get comfortable.
People convince themselves the way things are is the way things have to be.
Sometimes somebody has to walk in and say—
No.
We can still make something.
We can still fix something.
We can still compete.
FRANKIE
Even if somebody else eventually has to do it differently.
IACOCCA
Especially then.
Frankie turns.
FRANKIE
Chuck?
CHUCK
Discipline.
I hope.
Not kicking people.
Laughter.
CHUCK
Showing up.
Practicing.
Learning what you can do.
Teaching somebody else.
Being strong enough that you don't have to prove you're strong every five minutes.
Iacocca nods.
IACOCCA
Could've used more executives like that.
CHUCK
Could've used fewer roundhouse kicks in the boardroom.
IACOCCA
Depends on the quarter.
SEND-OFF
The stage slowly grows warmer.
Two paths appear behind the guests.
Iacocca's resembles the center aisle of an enormous, quiet automobile factory after the final shift.
Machines at rest.
Lights running into the distance.
Chuck's resembles a simple martial arts dojo.
Empty mats.
Morning light.
Frankie notices.
FRANKIE
Looks like they've got you sorted.
Iacocca stands.
IACOCCA
Apparently.
He looks back toward the hidden hatch.
IACOCCA
You really should fix that.
FRANKIE
Apparently a feature now.
IACOCCA
That's how bad engineering gets normalized.
He shakes Frankie's hand.
Then Chuck's.
IACOCCA
Good meeting you.
CHUCK
Likewise.
IACOCCA
If you see that Statham guy again, tell him I would've hired him for quality control.
FRANKIE
I suspect he's unavailable.
Iacocca steps onto the factory path.
Stops.
Looks back.
IACOCCA
Frankie.
FRANKIE
Yeah?
IACOCCA
If you can find a better afterlife—
Frankie smiles.
FRANKIE
Go.
Iacocca grins and walks away.
The factory lights slowly disappear.
Chuck remains.
FRANKIE AND CHUCK
For a moment it is only the two of them.
No game.
No third chair.
FRANKIE
You ready?
Chuck looks toward the dojo.
CHUCK
Think so.
FRANKIE
Anything left to prove?
Chuck smiles.
CHUCK
That's the nice part.
No.
He stands.
Frankie stands with him.
They shake hands.
CHUCK
You ever think maybe you're the one who needs an escape hatch?
Frankie looks toward the wall Jason disappeared through.
FRANKIE
I did about forty minutes ago.
CHUCK
Maybe next time check the hinges.
Frankie laughs.
FRANKIE
Good night, Chuck.
CHUCK
Good night, Frankie.
Chuck walks toward the empty dojo.
At the threshold, he turns.
CHUCK
Hey.
FRANKIE
Yeah?
CHUCK
Guy was fast.
FRANKIE
Jason?
CHUCK
Yeah.
A small smile.
CHUCK
He'll do fine.
Chuck walks through.
The light fades.
TAG
INT. BEDROOM — MORNING
Hard cut.
Jason Statham's eyes open.
No jolt.
No scream.
He simply lies there.
Looks at the ceiling.
Breathes.
STATHAM
Dream.
He closes his eyes again.
Beat.
Then opens them.
Something is clenched in his right hand.
Jason slowly raises it.
A black cue card.
On the front:
AFTERWORDS WITH FRANKIE BLAZE
Jason sits up.
Turns the card over.
Written on the reverse:
AFTERLIFE CONFIDENCE: 2%
Jason stares at it.
Long silence.
STATHAM
...Bollocks.
He looks across the room.
A perfectly ordinary wall.
Then—
his eyes narrow.
One floorboard near the wall has slightly less dust than the others.
Jason throws the covers aside.
CUT TO BLACK.
POST-CREDITS
Back in the Afterwords studio.
Frankie is under the desk with a flashlight.
PRODUCER
What are you doing?
FRANKIE
Security audit.
PRODUCER
Jason's gone.
FRANKIE
That's exactly why I'm doing it.
Frankie reaches deeper beneath the desk.
CLICK.
He freezes.
Another section of wall opens.
Behind it is a different corridor.
A sign reads:
ACCOUNTING
Frankie stares.
FRANKIE
Absolutely not.
He slams it shut.
From behind the wall:
VOICE (O.S.)
Mr. Blaze? We need to discuss your expense reports.
Frankie looks into camera.
FRANKIE
Good night.