Don't Look Up · written by Adam McKay · 2021

Oglethorpe and Kate decide to leak the impact evidence to the press as they leave Washington by train.

Scene 27 of 205 · ≈ 1 min on screen · First scene of act two

Plot Point I
Save the Cat: Break into Two
Randall
Dr. Oglethorpe
Kate

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 25 min into a 2:06 film

The story so farBefore scene 27

After PhD candidate Kate Dibiasky discovers a comet on a direct collision course with Earth, she and Professor Randall Mindy try to persuade a politically distracted President, a media-saturated public, and a powerful technology company to stop it before impact.

Scenes 1–7
Kate and Randall work within the familiar routine of astronomy and university research.
Scenes 8–26
They discover the impact deadline and need the government and public to respond, but Orlean refuses immediate action.
Just before
Scene 24
Kate and Phillip argue over his mother’s question about Kate and his proposed lunch timeline.
Scene 25
The screenplay marks the following afternoon outside the White House; no characters or action appear in this scene.
Scene 26
Randall and Kate tell Orlean the comet will devastate Earth, but she delays action until after the midterms.
Scene 27
This scene

27INT. WASHINGTON UNION STATION - 40 MINUTES LATER

Kate and Randall followed by Teddy speed through the DC train station pulling their bags towards their track. Kate finishes a call on her cell phone.

RANDALL

So you’re saying we’re just going

to leak it to the press? Isn’t that

illegal?

DR. OGLETHORPE

Hell yes, we’re going to leak it.

In case you didn’t notice, the

White House just blew us off.

KATE

My boyfriend Phillip says he knows

a reporter from the New York Herald

we can talk to. “Adul Grelio.”

DR. OGLETHORPE

Good. That guy’s a heavy hitter.

And I’ll reach out to more of the

scientific community on the down

low.

They’re getting on the train.

RANDALL

I just feel like this isn’t what I

do.

DR. OGLETHORPE

You’re just telling a story! Keep

it simple! And no math!

RANDALL

But it’s all math!

Train doors close.

CUT TO: