Dialogue: Casting Call – Robotech
INT. PRIVATE MEETING ROOM – MGM LOT – DAY
Joe Jukic sits at the head of a long table. Scripts and concept art of Zentraedi battlecruisers are spread out. Jude Law and Angelina Jolie sit across from him.
JOE JUKIC
Alright. I’m not going to waste your time with the usual speech. I’ve been fighting for this Robotech series for years. MGM finally greenlit the full slate. And I need the two of you.
JUDE LAW
(leaning back, half-smiling)
I’ve read the sides. Khyron. The one who treats war like a personal theater production.
JOE JUKIC
Exactly. He’s not just a villain. He’s a rock star with a fleet. Arrogant, theatrical, dangerously charming, and completely unhinged when the protoculture runs low. I need someone who can make genocide look stylish.
JUDE LAW
(soft laugh)
Flattery noted. What’s the catch?
JOE JUKIC
The catch is her.
He nods toward Angelina.
ANGELINA JOLIE
Azonia.
JOE JUKIC
Commander of the fleet. Ambitious. Brilliant. She sees Khyron as both a useful weapon and a liability. She wants power more than she wants him… most days. The tension between the two of you has to crackle every time you’re in the same frame.
ANGELINA JOLIE
(calm, assessing)
So she doesn’t just bark orders. She calculates. She uses him.
JOE JUKIC
And he lets her… until he doesn’t. That’s the engine of the first two films. Your rivalry, your attraction, your mutual contempt. The audience has to believe that either one of you could kill the other at any moment and still miss them afterward.
JUDE LAW
(looking at Angelina)
We’ve never worked together.
ANGELINA JOLIE
First time for everything.
JOE JUKIC
I’m not asking for safe. I’m asking for dangerous. Jude — I need Khyron to feel like he could walk into a room full of warlords and make them all feel underdressed. Angelina — Azonia has to feel like the smartest person in any room, including the one with Khyron in it.
A beat.
JUDE LAW
When do we start?
ANGELINA JOLIE
(smiling slightly for the first time)
I’ll need the full character breakdown. Especially the scenes where she questions his loyalty.
JOE JUKIC
You’ll have them tonight. Welcome to the war.
He slides two thick scripts across the table.
One lands in front of Jude.
One in front of Angelina.
They both reach for them at the same time.