"UBIK" the movie

Pretty sure I had the pc game way back when....never read the novel though, should I remedy that?
 
I think the story will translate well to screen, but will the timing be right? Have there been too many stories in recent years dwelling on alternate realities, people realising that their reality is just a virtual reality...? PKD may have inspired many of these either directly or indirectly, but will a new film based solidly on a PKD novel just arrive at the tail end of a lot of others. Needless to say this film will succeed only if it is done exceptionally well. Personally, I think Eye in the Sky would be better bet for a strikingly new film.
 
Ubik is probably in my top three PKD books, if I am honest—I'm not committing to the other two, although Flow my tears may well be there—Gondry is probably one of the few working directors today that could pull this off. I could possibly name a few others, but Gondry does come at a risk. He can be unpredictable and get carried away with himself at times. There are a few elements that are weak in the story that will not translate well on-screen, namely the main female character (I'm being careful with what I say), her role in the story isn't executed very well. But one thing is very important. There is one scene that is absolutely pivotal and if he/they gets the build up right, the tone, VFX and the performance all singing together in harmony...and they pull off that scene it will be worth it.

The scene is walking up the stairs to the hotel room, in the latter pages of the book. It is probably, for me, one of the most potent scenes I have read from Dick and one of my favourite visual scenes in any book I've read.

I would love to shoot that scene. If they do it badly I might do it anyway as a filmmaker, effects artist and writer. The only problem is, context is what makes that scene so potent.

Ps. Hello to all. I just joined.
 
Hard to say if we'll ever see it. Dates start off at 2009 and it was still being optioned then.

SF books tend to have their rights bought and great plans made a lot, then they're never heard of again.

Dick was a big fashion with the success of Blade Runner followed by Total Recall, but remember that BR was actually a flop at first and only saved by later cult status, while the BR remake sort of flopped, which may indicate to the utterly cowardly movie producers union that the public's interest in him has flagged.

When you're trying to raise a hundred million dollars it can be a bit difficult if the author, while alive, never really made a good living, especially when you're competing against books by the most successful writers who've ever lived
 
Whilst it's incredibly difficult to get a film off the ground, even for seasoned producers and directors, this one is currently still on track. Gondry has been busy self-promoting Mood Indigo, and Zaillian/Gondry are still busy shaping it. They want to take it to a studio fully packaged. It won't be an easy sell, but I am still optimistic about it.

They could pull off this film for a fair bit less than $100mil, despite it being in part quite effects heavy. The killer is always the marketing budget.

Also don't forget that Isa Dick Hackett is one of the main driving forces behind this particular one.

I wouldn't underplay how successful Minority Report was, and to a lesser extent The Adjustment Bureau. There have been some pretty dire adaptations though, like Next and Paycheck.
 
Puaul Verhoeven and Ed Newmeyer should do this film.(y):)
 
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