THE COLLECTORS
$50 MILLION. ONE MAP. A HELL OF A PROBLEM.
FEATURE SCREENPLAY • CRIME / ACTION / THRILLER / DARK COMEDY
WRITTEN BY CRAIG HARNER
THE STORY
Cooper Pierce and Bass Vargo are debt collectors who make a living doing the jobs nobody else wants. When a routine collection in Mexico puts them on the trail of a map tied to $50 million in buried cartel money, their job suddenly becomes a race for survival.
With the money hidden somewhere in the desert, Cooper and Bass must decipher the map and find it before the people who buried it—or the criminals who have learned it exists—can get to them first. What begins as a simple score quickly turns into a deadly collision between organized crime, a ruthless cartel, and the FBI.
As alliances collapse and everyone closes in on the same destination, Cooper must decide what the money is really worth—and how much he's willing to lose to get it.
THE COLLECTORS
COOPER PIERCE
Cooper Pierce is the veteran of the pair—quiet, physical, and guided by a code Bass doesn't always understand. He's spent years collecting debts for people more dangerous than himself. But $50 million changes the equation, and Cooper quickly discovers that the hardest thing to collect isn't money. It's survival.
BASS VARGO
Bass Vargo is Cooper's partner, best friend, and constant pain in the ass. Where Cooper thinks first, Bass talks first—and usually acts before either of them can stop him. His humor keeps the job bearable, but when the stakes suddenly become $50 million, Bass's ambition may be the thing that puts them both in the crosshairs.
THE PLAYERS
MIGUEL
MIGUEL ZAPATA
THE CARTEL
LUNA
LUNA MENDOZA
THE SURVIVOR
EVERYONE WANTS THE MONEY.
EVERYONE HAS A REASON.
JOHNNY
JOHNNY ROSSI
THE MOB BOSS
BRIAN
BRIAN FITZGERALD
THE FBI
BIG J
JESUS “BIG J” HERNANDEZ
THE WILDCARD
JOSE
JOSE ZAPATA
THE THEIF
THE WORLD
A WORLD WHERE DEBT IS PERSONAL.
EVERY DEBT GETS COLLECTED.
Cooper Pierce and Bass Vargo operate in a world where debts aren't settled with phone calls or paperwork. They're settled face-to-face.
They collect for people who don't ask twice. They know the streets, the players, and the consequences of crossing the wrong person.
Texas. Mexico. The border. The desert.
Different cities. Different players. Same rule.
Everybody owes somebody.
And when a map worth $50 million falls into the wrong hands, the collectors become the collection.
THE HOOK
THEY KNOW HOW TO COLLECT A DEBT.
THEY DON'T KNOW HOW TO COLLECT $50 MILLION.
Cooper Pierce and Bass Vargo have spent years collecting debts for people who don't want their hands dirty.
They're good at it.
They're better at it together.
But when a routine collection puts a map worth $50 million in their hands, they become targets themselves.
The cartel wants the map.
The mob wants the money.
The FBI wants everyone involved.
And somewhere in the middle are two debt collectors who have to decide whether the biggest score of their lives is worth becoming the biggest targets of theirs.
EVERYBODY WANTS THE MONEY.
NOBODY WANTS TO PAY THE PRICE.
THE SCREENPLAY
The Collectors is a completed feature screenplay written by Craig Harner.
A high-stakes crime thriller built around two professional debt collectors, a $50 million score, and a growing list of people willing to kill for it.
FEATURE SCREENPLAY
CRIME / ACTION / THRILLER / DARK COMEDY
134 PAGES COMPLETED • SUBMISSION READY
WHY THIS MOVIE
The Collectors starts with a simple premise: two professionals are sent to collect a debt.
Then the job gets bigger.
The money gets bigger.
And the number of people willing to kill for it gets bigger.
At its center are Cooper Pierce and Bass Vargo — two characters whose partnership gives the story its attitude, humor, and tension while the world around them becomes increasingly dangerous.
It's a crime story built around characters first — with $50 million sitting right in the middle of it.
TWO COLLECTORS. FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS. EVERYBODY WANTS A PIECE