There have been a great many terrible and/or forgettable film adaptations of stories by speculative fiction master Philip K. Dick. One of the few PKD films that became a legend in its own right — even if it isn’t a very faithful adaptation, or perhaps because of that fact — is Ridley Scott‘s Blade Runner. So the news that Mr. Scott is producing a 4-hour BBC miniseries based on Philip K. Dick’s novel The Man in the High Castle is one of the few occasions where the possibility of seeing another of Mr. Dick’s books onscreen seems more promising than not. Read More »
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There are a few Disney project updates today. First up, the release of Monsters Inc. 2 has been pulled up by two weeks to avoid competition with the final film in the Twilight series. The new date for the Pixar sequel is November 2, 2012. That’ll give it two weeks before Twilight opens, but Pixar should be able to hold its own after having a couple weeks to establish a beachhead.
After the break, slightly meatier updates on Beauty and the Beast 3D and King of the Elves. Read More »
Universal Pictures has released the first two photos from George Nolfi’s The Adjustment Bureau. The movie is a sci-fi romance based on the Philip K Dick short story The Adjustment Team. The movie follows an affair between a politician and a ballerina, which is “affected by mysterious forces keeping the lovers apart.”
The film stars Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Michael Kelly and Terence Stamp. Take a look at the first two photos after the jump, and you too, can discover what Damon and Blunt are looking at. The movie hits theaters in late July, so we should expect to see a trailer sooner than later. Possibly attached to Universal/Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood? But that is just a guess…
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Google have decided to call their new cellphone the Nexus One which suggests it’s a full five… er… Nexuses not as good as those naughty Replicants that gave Rick Deckard such trouble in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, filmed as Blade Runner. This comparison has not been lost on the estate of author Philip K. Dick who have launched a law suit against the company.
There are a great many other products and companies called Nexus this and Nexus that, from a Tyne and Wear subway system to a manufacturer of “custom designed plugs, jacks and switches”. The difference here is that Google have gone for Nexus ‘Number’ and, according to The Wall Street Journal, “the association between the phone and the book are cemented by the fact that the Nexus One runs Google’s Android operating system”. Yes – Android. I think that word is in the book too. Tsk.
Okay, so Google probably are trying to foster associations to Sheep but, really, isn’t this just a vague nod, never likely to confuse consumers into assuming an official endorsement? Should they really be forced to stump up heaps of cash for it? It’s not like a clothing manufacturer hawking Substance D branded “scramble” suits.
Nakatomi has released “The White Dragon”, a new print inspired by Ridley Scott‘s Blade Runner. This print is a collaboration by artist Tim Doyle and colorist Nick Derington, the lead animator on Richard Linklater’s adaptation of another Philip K. Dick adaptation, A Scanner, Darkly.
“He Say you a BRADE RUNNAH!” Measuring 12×24, this 4 color print is printed with color overlays and silver metallic rain in an edition of 120. Each print is hand numbered and signed by both artists. Hand printed by Doyle at the Nakatomi Print Labs for $30. The art print is also available in a glow-in-the-dark variant. Measuring 12×24, this 5 color print is printed with color overlays and silver metallic rain in an edition of 30. All the white areas glow, as well as faintly on the blue. Each print is hand numbered and signed by both artists, available for $50.
The reason why I love this print is that Doyle was able to accurately capture the famous scene from Scott’s sci-fi classic, even though much of the city production design doesn’t appear within the film frame, and possibly doesn’t even exist. After the jump I’ve included freeze frames from Blade Runner showing you what Doyle had to work with, which should make you appreciate this art print even more. Check out the full print design after the jump.
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Despite there still being no public announcement of a US distribution deal for The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, Terry Gilliam is still very busy with publicity for the film as well as planning for next year’s second attempt at The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. I’m in hog heaven reading, watching and listening to all of the interviews that are piling up and only hope I can see The Imaginarium sooner rather than later.
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Earlier today, /Film’s Brendon Connelly reported on a new Matt Damon movie based loosely on a short story by one of the most important and precocious authors of all time, Philip K. Dick, and now, well, THIS. Columbia Pictures and producer Neal H. Moritz (I Am Legend, The Green Hornet, The Skulls III) have tossed Paul Verhoeven‘s Total Recall on the remake block under the pretense that today’s leaps in special effects will make it worthwhile. What, no 3D bait? No news on a director or writer. The original 1990 film starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone and is regarded as an above-par and faithfully bonkers adaptation of the late sci-fi writer’s short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale.” We can still remember it pretty well via Netflix or Wikipedia, thanks anyway.
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Who would have ever thought that singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette would become a film actress? Sure, she did do a stint on the Nickelodeon television show You Can’t Do That On Television (you know, the one with the green slime that falls from the ceiling?). And she also made a brief, but fun appearance as GOD in Kevin Smith’s Dogma. And now Alanis is going to become a character in a Philip K. Dick’s life.
Morissette has been cast as Sylvia in Philip K. Dick’s semiautobiograhical feature adaptation “Radio Free Albemuth.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sylvia is…
“…a woman who shows up in the vision of a record label executive named Nick (Jonathan Scarfe) as a glamorous singer. In reality, she’s an ordinary woman in unexpected remission from lymphoma who, after appearing in Nick’s visions, gets a job as his secretary. She becomes his soul mate thanks to the pair’s shared spirituality and visions.”
Dick’s 1976 novel Radio Free Albemuth (originally titled VALISystem A), is loosely based on his own experience with visions in the mid-’70s. When the publishers, Bantam, requested extensive rewrites he canned the project. The book was later released to the public in 1985. Radio Free Albemuth is now filming in Los Angeles.
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