Philip K. Dick's "Flow My Tears" To Be Filmed

bowman9991 writes "Philip K. Dick's 1974 novel Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said is being adapted for the big screen. A tale of altered reality, drug use, and the meaning of identity, the novel tells the story of TV celebrity Jason Taverner, who wakes up one morning to find that his very existence has been wiped from everyone's memories. Halcyon, the company behind the upcoming Terminator Salvation movie, decided the novel would be the first adaptation under a rights agreement with Philip K. Dick's estate. Hollywood has certainly taken a shine to Dick's work: Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, Impostor, Screamers and Next have all been based on his short stories or novels. Ubik is in development too. In some cases, as with Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic Blade Runner, the adaptations are loose to say the least."

Comments

More Information on Philip K. Dick Movies

[eldavojohn]

Hollywood has certainly taken a shine to Dick's work: Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, Impostor, Screamers and Next have all been based on his short stories or novels.

Don't forget Paycheck and Confessions d'un Barjo ("Confessions of a Crap Artist"). As a longtime Dick fan it humors me to see his works start to explode into movies post-2000. Adding to the truth that an artist is never appreciated until he/she is dead.

The same producer (John Alan Simon) that made the purchase of "Flow My Tears" also purchased the rights to "VALIS" & "Radio Free Albemuth." These last two books are strangely related to The Man in the High Castle (kinda sequel-ish) and he may be thinking of merging the two stories into one movie?

It's also worth mentioning that "Time Out of Joint" rights have been purchased by Warner Bros.

Unfortunately for me, these movies are not really my cup of tea. Total Recall was pretty good when I was 12 ... never going to rewatch that again though. I didn't even find Blade Runner that great and honestly haven't bothered to watch Minority Report, Next or Paycheck. I got Scanner Darkly but just because it was more independent than the others. I just have an opposite opinion from the get-all-excited-it's-gonna-be-great folks I guess.

Re:More Information on Philip K. Dick Movies

[Spazztastic]

I didn't even find Blade Runner that great and honestly haven't bothered to watch Minority Report, Next or Paycheck.

HEATHEN! EVERYBODY, GET YOUR PITCHFORKS AND TORCHES!

Re:More Information on Philip K. Dick Movies

[Incredible Elmo]

Total Recall is still relatively good when watching it when you're older. Not many people I know who saw this movie recognized that at the end, you still don't know if it is the virtual vacation you are watching and if he needs to be lobotomized after this, or not; everything that happens in the story is exactly what he wanted from his vacation. With that in mind, the red pill scene is pretty interesting, where the rekall team tries to give him a way out without damaging his brain, but he chooses to remain in his dreams instead.

The good thing of that movie is that it is filmed such that you don't have to think about it and enjoy it as an above average action film, but you _can_, and it makes it a bit more interesting.

I think that there is a hint of PKD's depth in that film if you bother to look for it. I didn't really notice this in Paycheck, for instance.

It's probably for the best.

[gnarlyhotep]

In some cases, as with Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic Blade Runner, the adaptations are loose to say the least.

Given the nature of most of Dick's work, a direct 1:1 film adaptation of his writing would be at best nonsensical. Adapting the theme of the work, and leaving leeway with the details is generally the best approach.

Hell, even with other author's works it's the best approach. They are completely different media after all, and require completely different approaches to storytelling.

Re:It's probably for the best.

[goombah99]

Blade runner I suspect was really a merger of the plot line of "do androids dream of electic sheep" with the thematic asian dominated backdrop of the man in the high castle.

I regard blade runner as one of the few movies that is substantially better than the book ("androids dream" ) it is based on.

Most of Philip Dicks' work seems to me to be wonderfully inspired plots and concepts that get at the nature of perception but executed with cardboard characters and loads of quirky descriptive artifacts. I note that for it's period, sci-fi in general tended to lack real characterization and larded in lots of gee-whiz artifcats. PKD endures because of those timeless themes and questions. Hence they make great sources for movies cause after you distill all the dated parts of his work, the stories really are pretty short and snappy.

Also one other comment: could there be a better production company name than Halcyon given that the drug names that promotes the dream state.

Re:It's probably for the best.

[Mister Whirly]

I have the same opinion. I hate Keanu and Ryder but love Robert Downey Jr, and thought the stuff between him and Woody Harrelson was priceless. They gave a much needed comic aspect to the pretty dark material. Overall I thought the film was done well, and stayed relatively faithful to the story - especially considering some of the other "adaptations" of his work on film.

You know it'll happen...

[hal2814]

I'm just waiting for the average moviegoer to start complaining about how these upcoming Dick movies ripped off ideas from films like the Matrix, Truman Show, The Net, etc.

Great, call me when it's done

[orkybash]

Adaptations of Philip K Dick books are notorious for being put in development hell. Scanner Darkly, IIRC, went through several attempted treatments before we got the rotoscoped version. And there's been attempts off and on to bring us Ubik on the big screen, though the last I heard of that was a few years ago and it was just being written.

...not to say that I'm not still cautiously excited!

Re:Is anyone else tired of PKD's drivel?

[plover]

Do you really think Neal Stephenson's books would do well on the big screen? Part of me would expect the movie to be about six hours long, with the entire plot wrapped up in a hasty, four-minute expository lump at the end. I can almost hear the cameraman whispering to the director "I've only got 100 feet of film left, can you get this done?"

Another part of me thinks it would be completely awesome to see Snow Crash on the big screen. But my brain has already filled in what I think the metaverse looks like, what the rat-things look like, smart spokes, all those ultra-cool ideas; and then I think of what other filmmakers have shat out trying to portray cool sci-fi toys. The wrong director could easily destroy a great story.

TANSTAAFL

[camperdave]

Personally, I'd like to see The Moon is a Harsh Mistress done up as a film.

Re:Adaptations are loose

[cblack]

You forgot the pink laser beams.