You're a Getty, Paul. A Getty isspecial. A Getty has a destiny. A Getty is nobody's fool.
The boy gazes up at his grandfather reverently.
PAUL (V.O.) You see, my grandpa wasn't just therichest man in the world. He was the richest man in the history of the world.
EXT. SAUDI DESERT -- DAY SAND DUNES undulate endlessly unto the horizon. We SOAR
OVER THEM until we find a singular figure standing amidstthe shifting sands:
J Paul Getty. PAUL (V.O.) My grandpa was the one who broughtthe oil out of the Saudi desert.
Everybody knew it was there, theyjust thought it couldn't be done.
We CRANE over the dunes to REVEAL a great city of refineriesand pumping oil derricks belching flame, a mirage seeminglysummoned forth by Getty's will alone.
PAUL (V.O.) (CONT'D) But Grandpa found a way. He made a deal with the Bedouin tribes. But there was so much oil there was no ship big enough to carry it all.
EXT. SHIPYARD -- DAY Getty supervises construction of a SUPERTANKER, a behemoththe size of a skyscraper lying on its side.
5.
PAUL (V.O.) So my grandfather invented one. He called it the supertanker.
EXT. AMERICAN LANDSCAPE -- DAY As we soar over the American intercontinental highway, SERVICESTATIONS materialize out of nowhere, dotting the landscape, all bearing the Getty name.
PAUL (V.O.) Then he built a chain of service stations across America with his name on them. Grandpa controlledevery drop of oil, from beneath theearth to the customer's gas tank.
(a beat) And he was famous.
CUT TO:
PLAYBOY MAGAZINE In a series of B&W still images accompanying the pages ofTHE PLAYBOY INTERVIEW --click click click -- Getty holdsforth on his great wealth.
PLAYBOY:
Mr. Getty, rumor has it that you arethe first man in history with afortune in excess of one billion dollars. How much money do you have?
GETTY:
I have no idea. If you can countyour money, you're not a billionaire.
EXT. AUTOSTRADA -- NIGHT The little Fiat 600 winds along the serpentine Italianhighway, its headlights blazing.
PAUL (V.O.) I'm telling you this so you canunderstand the things you're about to see. And maybe you can forgive us.
We PULL BACK as the Fiat winds along the autostrada, awayfrom the glowing city, until it vanishes into the dark.
PAUL (V.O.) (CONT'D) It's like we're from another planetwhere the force of gravity is sostrong it bends the light. It bends people too. We look like you, butwe're not like you.
(MORE) 6.
PAUL (V.O.) (CONT'D) (a beat) But we were, once.
CUT TO:
ABIGAIL HARRIS GETTY lies sleeping in a beauty mask as her three children, PAUL(9), MARK (4), and ARIADNE (2) bounce on the bed, clamoringfor breakfast. Her husband lies beside her. Gail GROANS: