Cyprus: Shadows of the Past Part 1 is born
How often do you get the chance to scratch something off the bucket list? For me, it happened this past week, when I got the opportunity to briefly work on and be a part of a big-budget film! I almost got that chance some years ago when during a trip to Malta I snuck onto the set of World War Z but was immediately found and unceremoniously thrown out.
Sidenote, security guys are not polite.
As you may already know, Stelana Kliris, the Cypriot/South African director who found international success with the film Find Me Falling on Netflix, is shooting her new feature film, a period drama set in South Africa in the 1970s. I wish I could say more. It’s not that I don’t want to, I wish I knew more but the people working on the movie – much like the security guys in Malta – take their jobs and NDAs pretty seriously. Anyway, back to my glorious adventures.
I got to briefly work as an extras coordinator and as an extra myself. It was fun, it was amazing and it’s always great to watch artists at the top of their game performing. What also warmed my cold, cold heart was seeing many people I knew working on the movie – and being very tight-lipped, I may add – doing the thing they studied and worked so hard for. Not being forced to take menial jobs but seeing how the shooting process really unfolds. It was a tiring but bright day.
On my way home I got to thinking: if big-budget movies are being made here, what’s stopping the giant production studios from coming to ol’ sunny Cyprus? We have the infrastructure now thanks to the film rebate programme, so why not? Is it time for an MCU movie to come to Cyprus? Is there a chance, however small, to see Ebon Moss-Bachrach in a mo-cap suit yelling “It’s clobberin’ time!” right in the middle of Eleftheria Square?
No, is the answer but a man can dream. And then it hit me. Want to see an MCU movie in Cyprus? Why not ask ChatGPT to write the treatment for one? So here today, Ι give you the MCU’s next big feature, Cyprus: Shadows of the Past, Part 1!
Logline: When the elusive Scarlet Scarab emerges on the divided island of Cyprus, S.H.I.E.L.D. operative Daisy Johnson, a.k.a. Quake, joins forces with local heroes and a reluctant archaeologist to prevent an ancient power from being unleashed – one that could tear the island, and the world, apart.
Wow, really? No Captain America, no Thor, no Loki, not even the %^*@$! Eternals?! I wasn’t gunning for the Avengers but come on! Not even AI thinks a problem based in Cyprus merits the MCU A-List! Scarlet Scarab?! I had to look that one up and I’ve been a Marvel fan since I can remember! And our protagonist is Quake? Scraping the ground below the bottom of the barrel there. What, was Hydra Bob otherwise engaged?
Opening Sequence:
A flashback to ancient Cyprus reveals a temple hidden beneath the mountains where a powerful relic, the Stone of Pygmalion, lies dormant. Legend holds that it can shape reality. Throughout history, various empires have sought the Stone, but none succeeded in wielding its full power.
Present Day:
In modern-day Cyprus, the island is starkly divided into the Greek Cypriot south and Turkish Cypriot north. When an unknown entity, known only as The Scarlet Scarab, begins staging attacks on military and civilian targets across the divide, tensions flare. Both sides are quick to suspect the other, and peace talks teeter on the brink of collapse.
Ok, I confess, the Stone of Pygmalion is a pretty cool name for a McGuffin. What may its mystical powers be? Can it shape reality and time? Make you immortal? Force government agencies to answer the bloody phone every now and then?
Also, right off the bat, a major plot hole. There is no chance that an ancient temple is unearthed in Cyprus and we don’t build upon it immediately. We got passports to sell and mansions to go along with it! A temple is prime real estate and before you know it Parliament will give permission to a developer to level the place and build villas on it.
Plus, even in a fantasy film written by a computer, even in these outskirts of reality and escapism, we still can’t escape the Cyprus problem. It would be funny if it wasn’t sad.
What will the Scarlet Scarab do? How will Quake stop her? In the spirit of a true MCU movie, you might find out next week!
This post was originally published on here
