The Royal Tenenbaums · written by Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson · 2001

Royal tells his children he wants to repair the family; Chas rejects him, and Royal invites them to visit his mother’s grave.

Scene 49 of 143 · ≈ 2 min on screen

Plot Point I
Royal
Margot
Richie
Chas

Find another scene in The Royal Tenenbaums

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 39 min into a 1:59 film

The story so farBefore scene 49

After losing his hotel room, Royal claims he has only weeks to live so he can move back in with his estranged family; as the truth unravels, he must find a way to be useful and earn a place in their lives.

Scenes 1–39
Royal is absent from the children’s adult lives, and their family remains shaped by his betrayals and abandonment.
Scenes 40–47
Royal wants a path back to Etheline and the children, and claims impending death will give him one.
Just before
Scene 46
Richie returns to the family home and is welcomed by Etheline, Pagoda, Henry and the children; Chas watches from above.
Scene 47
At dawn, Richie frees Mordecai from the rooftop coop and eats breakfast while reading Margot’s plays.
Scene 48
Royal arrives at the house in a bathrobe and greets Pagoda, preparing to face the family.
Scene 49
This scene

49INT. LIVING ROOM. EVENING.

Royal sits on a stool across from Richie and Margot on the couch. Chas stands at a table in the corner reading Richie’s Atlas of the World. Royal looks to Chas. Chas looks back at him but does not move. Royal looks back to Richie and Margot.

ROYAL

I’ve missed the hell out of you, my

darlings. You know that, don’t you?

MARGOT

I hear you’re dying.

ROYAL

So they tell me.

MARGOT

I’m sorry.

ROYAL

(shrugs)

I had a good run.

RICHIE

You don’t look so sick, Dad.

ROYAL

Thank you.

RICHIE

What’ve you got?

ROYAL

I’ve got a pretty bad case of cancer.

CHAS

(yawning)

How long are you going to last?

Royal looks across the room at Chas. Chas does not look up from his atlas.

ROYAL

Not long.

CHAS

A month? A year?

ROYAL

About six weeks.

Royal looks back to Richie and Margot.

ROYAL (CONT’D)

But let me get to the point here. The

three of you and your mother are all

I’ve got, and I love you more than

anything.

Chas laughs quietly.

ROYAL (CONT’D)

Let me finish. Now, I’ve got six weeks

to set things right with you, and I aim

to do it. Will you give me a chance?

CONTINUED: (2)

CHAS

No.

ROYAL

Do you speak for everyone?

CHAS