The Trillion Dollar Heist

Logline: When a band of smart thieves successfully steals a $1 trillion coin minted by the US government, they hold the country hostage in a daring game of cat-and-mouse.

Opening Scene: We see the interior of the US Treasury building in Washington D.C. – an ornate and imposing structure filled with busy bureaucrats and security personnel. The camera zooms in on a team of Mint employees working diligently to mint a massive $1 trillion coin. They discuss how the coin will be deposited at the Federal Reserve to help the government stave off a looming debt crisis. The scene ends with the coin being placed in a secure vault.

Act I: The setup – Introducing the thieves and the heist plan We meet our protagonist, Jack, a charming and charismatic thief who has just been released from prison. Jack is approached by his former partner in crime, Sam, who has a daring plan to steal the $1 trillion coin from the Treasury vault. Jack is initially reluctant, but the promise of a massive payday and the thrill of the challenge convinces him to join the team.

The rest of the act is spent introducing the other members of the team – a tech genius named Alex, a smooth-talking con artist named Lisa, and a muscle-bound enforcer named Tony. We see the team planning and preparing for the heist, which involves a complex series of heists and break-ins. They spend months studying the security systems of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve, and finally settle on a plan that involves breaking into the Treasury vault and replacing the coin with a convincing replica.

Act II: The heist – Stealing the coin and holding the country hostage The heist itself is a tense and thrilling sequence, as the team uses their various skills to bypass the security systems of the Treasury and steal the coin. There are close calls and unexpected setbacks, but ultimately the team succeeds in their mission and replaces the coin with the replica.

However, the team soon realizes that they are in over their heads. The US government is frantically searching for the missing coin, and the team is forced to go into hiding. They soon realize that they have the ultimate bargaining chip – they can use the coin to hold the country hostage and demand a massive ransom in exchange for its return.

Act III: The standoff – Negotiations and betrayal The rest of the movie is a tense game of cat-and-mouse between the team and the US government. The team demands a massive ransom in exchange for the coin, but the government is reluctant to negotiate with criminals. We see the team slowly losing their grip on the situation, as their hiding place is discovered and the government begins closing in on them.

In a final twist, it is revealed that one of the team members has been secretly working with the government all along. Lisa, the smooth-talking con artist, has been feeding information to the FBI in exchange for immunity from prosecution. The team is betrayed, and Lisa is forced to make a difficult choice – betray her former partners and turn over the coin, or go down with the sinking ship.

The movie ends with a dramatic standoff, as the team is cornered by the FBI and the government prepares to storm their hideout. In a final act of desperation, the team decides to destroy the coin rather than let it fall into the hands of the government. The movie ends with the team going down in a blaze of glory, as the coin is destroyed and the government is left to deal with the fallout of the crisis.

Closing Scene: The film ends with a news montage of the aftermath of the heist. We see news reporters covering the story of the trillion-dollar coin heist and the ensuing crisis. The government is facing severe criticism for allowing the coin to be stolen, and the country is on the brink of financial collapse.

We then see a shot of Jack, who has managed to escape from the authorities and is now on the run. He is sitting in a dimly lit room, counting his share of the stolen money. He is clearly conflicted about what he has done, and we see a sense of regret in his eyes.

The final shot is of Lisa, who has been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for her cooperation with the government. She is seen walking down a busy street, looking over her shoulder nervously. As she walks, she receives a text message from an unknown number. The message simply reads, “We know what you did.”

Lisa’s face fills with terror as she realizes that she may never be able to escape her past. The movie ends with a sense of uncertainty, as we are left to wonder what will become of the characters and the country in the aftermath of the heist.

Overall, “The Trillion Dollar Heist” is a thrilling and suspenseful movie that explores themes of greed, power, and betrayal. It is a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked ambition and the consequences that can result from taking extreme measures to achieve one’s goals.

I didn’t write this. ChatGPT did

The concept is mine. The rest is AI.

Here’s my prompt:

Write an 1000-word treatment for a screenplay. Here is the premise: The US government, facing a crisis brought on by the debt ceiling and gridlock in congress, mints a $1 trillion coin for deposit at the Federal Reserve. But a band of smart guys who plot heists — as in Ocean’s 11 — conceive a plot to steal the coin. They are successful — and then hold the US government hostage for the return of the coin.

I can’t claim copyright for the (admittedly flawed and formulaic) screenplay. According to the US Copyright Office, the output of AI programs is not copyrightable.

Should you choose to produce this, though, I’d like an executive producer credit, along with my coauthor, ChatGPT, and appropriate compensation.