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Ridley Scott to Produce Philip K Dick's The Man In the High Castle
hawkinspeter (831501) writes Amazon has given the green light to produce the Hugo award-winning "The Man in the High Castle". This is after the four-hour mini-series was rejected by Syfy and afterwards by the BBC.
Philip K Dick's novel takes place in an alternate universe where the Axis Powers won the Second World War. It's one of his most successful works, probably due to him actually spending the time to do some editing on it (most of his fiction was produced rapidly in order to get some money). Ridley Scott has previously adapted PKD's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" as the film Blade Runner, so it will be interesting to see how close he keeps to the source material this time. This news has been picked up by a few sites: International Business Times; The Register and Deadline.
Can't remember if I got it from a used book store or old public library stock; unlike some of his other stuff, I found this a lot more approachable (maybe because of that editing?). I can see why the BBC might reject it, dealing with Nazis running everything, but syfy? Must require too much thought for them.
Blade Runner is my favorite movie of all time--it and the original Matrix are one of the very few movies I can watch again and again. I love almost everything that Ridley does (maybe YOU hated Prometheus, but I didn't mind) and majorly look forward to this!
in Prometheus, he essentially just re-gurgitated "Alien", what could go wrong?
WW2 is old enough that most people don't care about it by now except to study for the test in school
i don't see this being very popular
in spite of our altered boys training http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hoisted+on+own+pretard
What Ridley Scott brought to the table was an art-director's viewpoint. I believe it was his call that the world be dystopian rather than utopian. Syd Mead was brought in to realize that vision from Ridley's sketches.
Blade Runner was a magical coming-together of quite a few artists while they were at the height of their careers, Scott, Mead, Ford, Hauer hell, even Vangellis never was better. Blade Runner was Scott's attempt to bring back Film Noir in a sci-fi setting -- something that seems common now, but was a radical breakthrough then.
It's a tough act to follow. And as much as I like Ridley's visual style, his latest films have suffered badly from too much money lavished on sets and effects, and not enough on script and acting.
I can also say that, having read "Man in High Castle", that's not an easy book to put to film. It's a huge, complicated story that's not easy to follow. I just hope that they put the work into making the story work, and not gloss over it just to work in explosions and effects.
I had heard that Ridley was interested in Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War" -- not *that's* a movie I want to see. That book blew my mind, and I really, really, really want a good movie of that.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
This is why you put an executive in charge of a channel that actually likes the genre. Bonnie Hammer only saw SciFi Channel as a stepping stone to a more mainstream network (USA), and installed another idiot who didn't really care for the shows they were peddling when she left.
They should be funding movies based on classics, whenever possible, instead of the crappy creature-of-the-week and pseudo-reality crap they shovel out every week. These days, its possible to deliver quality science fiction programming without busting your budget, too - but somebody at the top has to be motivated to deliver this to the fans (the network's viewer base), rather than dump garbage none of the fan base wants to see in order to draw more "mainstream" viewers.
Scott's producing the series, not directing. David Semel's actually in the chair. He's directing experience across a lot of serial shows, which bodes well for his ability to respect established characters and storylines. So between the two of them, if nothing else it should be a smooth production.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm078...
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
From TFS: "[Man in a High Castle is] one of his most successful works"
Back in 1962 (when it was published) maybe... but by the time of my generation of SF readers (coming of age in the late 70's, early 80's) it was largely passed over in favor of Electric Sheep. With WWII much further in the past than when it was published, and the Red Menace having been replaced by MAD... it's foriegn dictatorship wasn't as relevant as the overcrowded overpolluted post apoplyptic dystopia of Sheep was to a generation that was influenced by the social chaos of the late 60's and had lived through the shocks of the early 70's. Stories involving the Nazi's (High Castle, Rocket Ship Galileo, even the (then) more recent Iron Dream) were seen largely as quaint anachronisms not classics. Which, in a large way, is also why Cyberpunk emerges in the same era...
Wish I had mod points. Your post is very interesting and insightful and one of the only posts I've ever felt a strong compulsion to mod up.
The short story was dystopian. There was so much solar radiation that anyone rich enough had already left Earth to live off planet. The only people left on Earth were people with genetic defects caused by radiation and people too poor to leave.
Those who will not learn from history are doomed to repeat it - usually in summer school.
Ugh, I always hated those stories in which the Axis powers invade America. They never had any plans to do so. Germany wanted a continental empire going East until the Ural mountains. Japan wanted a resource area for itself, and never really figured out where its final objective was (Australia? India? Hawaii?) before the disaster at Midway happened and all plans went on hold. Italy...Mare Nostrum. They just wanted to dominate the Mediterranean.
None of them had any plans involving the U.S. homeland. Hitler foresaw war with the Americans, but not until the 1980s. The Axis powers meeting at the Mississippi River had zero basis in any kind of historical events.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
Capillary dilation of the so-called blush response? Fluctuation of the pupil. Involuntary dilation of the iris...
...I can also say that, having read "Man in High Castle", that's not an easy book to put to film...
Funny, I've always thought exactly the opposite. When I read it I can visualize the movie scenes in my head, and I almost feel I could write a screenplay from it, even though I've never written one before. I can't think of any other novel that I've had that response to - especially ones written by Dick.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
I believe it was his call that the world be dystopian rather than utopian.
Well, the book was pretty darn dystopian... (well, it was a Philip K. Dick book). Scott did throw out Fancher's original script, which focused on the envionmental themes of the book, to instead focus on the question of humanity; a good thing too, because it's a much more compelling theme.
Scott, Mead, Ford, Hauer hell, even Vangellis never was better.
Let's not forget the work of primary script writer, David Peoples, who also authored the Clint Eastwood western Unforgiven. Two very different films and yet sharing a surprising number of commonalities.
I can also say that, having read "Man in High Castle", that's not an easy book to put to film.
Then again, neither was Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and yet Blade Runner is an example of a near-perfect adaptation, even if the film, taken literally, retains almost nothing of the original book. (As PKD said, "The two reinforce each other, so that someone who started with the novel would enjoy the movie and someone who started with the movie would enjoy the novel.")
It could work. Although Ridley Scott's later work has been quite uneven, in my opinion. But fingers crossed.
I enjoyed reading it. I look forward to this
It really sucks that Philip K Dick died at 53, broke, after cranking out 44 novels and 120 short stories. Between Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, Paycheck, and A Scanner Darkly, he deserved to have some financial reward while he was still alive.
If I had to pick one PKD story to turn into a film it would be Ubik, there were rumours a few years back, but nothing ever came of it.
Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature.
Thanks for reminding us that some people still hate Jews and we need to be wary of you.
The Germans and Japanese didn't want it.
Remeber when it was call Tech Noir?
man, Blade Runner is great. For the record I prefer the voice over for that kind of film.
Yeah, it does seem like Ridley seems to suffer a common Hollywood problem: Believing ones own PR.
He's great, has great vision, but he needs detail experts who are also well known in their field.
I understand the issue. When you work with a great team, but it's always your name people mention and talk about it, I see where that could warp your view point after decades. I just wish they would realize this and hire someone to shoot them down, even if it's in private. :)
Specifically, Hire me
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Thanks for reminding us that some people will swallow anything set in front of them without question. Pretty screwed up to be force fed an idea to the point where any critical discussion is cosidered persecution and any question considered racist. Beware those who seek to control your thoughts.
I read the book back in the 70's and was quite impressed. It was the first time I ever encountered alternative history and it still pops up in my mind now and then. I'm always telling my wife that her jewelry has no "woo" and she has no idea what I'm talking about.
I can also say that, having read "Man in High Castle", that's not an easy book to put to film. It's a huge, complicated story that's not easy to follow. I just hope that they put the work into making the story work, and not gloss over it just to work in explosions and effects.
I think it's my favorite work by Dick, and one of my favorite books period. I would love to see a good film adaptation (and the miniseries format is probably well suited to it). The complicated story (with all of its bizarre, but essential, elements) does pose a challenge. I'm also worried about how Imperial Japan will be handled. Contrary to some other comments here, the Nazis are basically a non-presence in the book, and the relations between the Californian characters and Japanese occupiers are racially fraught. I think there's a risk they might swap Nazi Germany for Imperial Japan, which to my mind would be a huge mistake.
I believe it was [Scott's] call that the world be dystopian rather than utopian.
The book seems pretty dystopian to me, but in retrospect Dick probably wished for things like the emotion controlling device. The Wikipedia article makes it sound even more dystopian than I remember. Does your comment only apply to the movie script?
I had heard that Ridley was interested in Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War" -- [now] *that's* a movie I want to see. That book blew my mind, and I really, really, really want a good movie of that.
Yeah, me too. The message has only become more relevant in the decades since the war in Vietnam, and the interlude on crime-ridden future Earth and commentary on human sexuality could resonate with mainstream audiences now. Plus there are plenty of opportunities for explosions and effects in the original story (unlike "High Castle").
.: Semper Absurda
That goes double for you, pal.
Why don't you fucking release Radio Free Albemuth first, heh ?!?
Non-Linux Penguins ?
What's dystopian about the Beautiful People leaving in luxury off-planet, safe from harmful radiation, while the ugly rabble is left behind so they won't clutter the Elite's pristine worlds? Nothing at all. Or are you part of the rabble?
Imagine the 'glorious Bastards' showing up again ...
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Having just read The Forever War last week (and then Old Man's War, and now Forever Free), I agree wholeheartedly. That is a book that could do well on-screen (provided it doesn't turn into Starship Troopers).
I watched a documentary about movie art direction and production design, and they had an extended segment about the art design of Blade Runner, interviewing the people involved, etc. One thing that they said that was unusual about the film, and hard to replicate, is that there was some kind of a strike (perhaps writer's guild) around the time that they were pre-producing the film, so they had a much larger amount of time to design and plan the look of the movie than the usual, so they really went to town on it. I think the look of the film shows the extra attention to detail that was given.
Phillip K Dick wrote the novel by using the I Ching to randomly create plot points. The I Ching features pre-eminently in the novel.
I'm not sure how well that will translate to the big screen.
Certainly the whole "The Axis Won WW2!" thing will translate over easily, but the book really isn't about that.
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I've seen half of the movies based on Philip Dick stories. I've read 99% of Philip K. Dick that was ever published, even the straight fiction, (non-science fiction). I like Blade Runner the most, as it is I think a great movie. Flawed, but I would rather see a great flawed movie that a boring adaptation that stuck to the script, like A Scanner Darkly. Or Ender's Game.
Ender's Game really needed to be about twice as long, or maybe a two part movie. If someone ever has the guts to do a two part movie...oh, there was Star Wars 4,5, and 6. Ender's Game suffered by flat, humorless, un-likeable and un-identifiable characters, and some plot/meaning lapses. If you had read the book, you could have filled in the lacuna, but I bet people watching the book were lost after 20 minutes. With more time, these issues could have been addressed.
I guess the moral my story is, a good book does not necessarily make a good movie. Neither does a faithful adaptation of a good book, while a non-faithful adaptation risks alienating the book lovers. But, if you are going to spend millions on a movie, merely having PKD attached to it, or some name actor, or rising young star/starlet, will guarantee some interest and movie goers.
I'm not holding me breath.
The Book In the Presence of Mine Enemies covers a similar alternate universe from a 2035 perspective
Man in The High Castle should be a low-budget movie, there is nearly no action and most of the story is about the universe (how much could Nazis and Imperial Japan uniforms cost? Even adding a Colt replica and a Mickey Mouse watch shouldn't put the thing over budget) and questions about what is genuine...
Let's hope that Ridley'll understand that!
About Forever War, have you read Marciano's comic adaptation? It's quite good.
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