August 11, 2006
Bill Pullman May Portray Philip K. Dick
Dan from DimFuture.Net found this little tidbit on Dark Horizons about an upcoming Philip K. Dick Biopic:
Bill Pullman is in talks to play science fiction author Philip K. Dick (”Blade Runner,” “Minority Report,” “A Scanner Darkly”) in the independent film “Panasonic” reports Production Weekly.
The lines between reality and perception blur in this comic journey into the life and mind (literally!) of one of sci-fi’s most brilliant authors. Paranoid conspiracies of the highest order, drug-fueled interdimensional shifts, and 1970’s pop culture combine for the mind-bending adventure of the century.
Musician Matthew Wilder, best known for his 1983 hit “Break My Stride,” will direct starting next month.
I’m guessing there’s still quite a bit of pre-production to go on here. We’ll probably be lucky if we get to see this near the end of 2007, but Philip K. Dick’s life is interesting enough that this becomes something to look forward to seeing.
UPDATE: It looks like there’s contradictory information here. Dan (DimFuture.Net) also found an article on Scifi Wire:
Paul Giamatti is in negotiations to star as SF author Philip K. Dick in an untitled biographical movie that his newly launched production company Touchy Feely Films is producing with Anonymous Content, Variety reported.
The authorized biopic also is being produced by the Philip K. Dick estate through its Electric Shepherd Productions. Tony Grisoni (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) will write the screenplay.
Dick, who died in 1982, penned more than four dozen books and numerous short stories, with at least seven being adapted for the big screen, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report and A Scanner Darkly, which is currently in theaters.
The nontraditional biopic will interweave the prolific author’s life with his fiction and incorporate elements of his last unfinished novel, The Owl in Daylight.
Producers are Giamatti plus Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin and Lenny Bekerman. Giamatti can now been seen in M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water, provides one of the voices in The Ant Bully and will soon be seen in The Illusionist.
Personally I think Giamatti would do a better job. Pullman may look the part more but Giamatti’s a better actor.
Comments
August 11, 2006
Aram said:
Oh, my first pingback! Thanks, SFAM!
I’m hoping it’ll be great.
August 12, 2006
DannyV said:
There’s actually TWO competing biopics of Philip K. Dick here, it’s not an either/or thing. Personally, I think the one with Giamatti will be the better one. Not only is Giamatti a MUCH better actor than Pullman(what’s the best Pullman’s done, Independence Day? *snortle*), but the screenplay is written by Tony Grisoni, already experienced in adapting literary figures to the screen with great respect and fidelity.
August 13, 2006
Rasham Zakuma said:
“(what’s the best Pullman’s done, Independence Day? *snortle*)”
Evidently you haven’t seen Lost Highway by David Lynch, which came out a year later and was one of Lynch’s best movies, albeit being quite surreal and confusing. Bill Pullman was pretty good in that.. If he wasn’t, well, at least the direction and rest of the cast made it worthwhile. Although then again he wasn’t in much of the movie.
SFAM said:
Rasham, I haven’t seen Lost Highway either. Perhaps Pullman is a terrific actor. I just haven’t seen a body of work of his equal to Giamatti, but this could be because I haven’t seen enough of his movies.
Rasham Zakuma said:
Actually, I haven’t seen much of Pullman besides that, Independence Day, and Casper myself. But he did a pretty decent mellow, cynical kind of character in Lost Highway.
DannyV_El_Acme said:
Good point with Lost Highway… You know, from his role in Lost Highway, I always said Pullman would have made a hell of a Harry Mason in a movie based on the first Silent Hill.
August 19, 2006
ETM said:
I despise Pullman… even when he’s bearable, like in Lost Highway, it’s simply because the character happened to resemble the only one he can play. He has one voice, one face, one stupid grin for every role, no matter what he’s playing - the President, a cop, or an idiot.
Giamatti is becoming one of my favorites as of lately, so… my choice is clear in the matter.
August 21, 2006
R. Tim said:
I like Pullman a lot in The Zero Effect too… that said, I’ll take a PKD biopic with either of them, even though I hate biopics!
August 25, 2006
dvc said:
hey, does anyone know where i could find the script or subtitles to Burst City?
August 26, 2006
SFAM said:
Hi DVC, Burst City just came out last month on DVD with Subtitles.
July 21, 2007
Mihaly said:
Everyone is forgetting that Bill Pullman was in SPACEBALLS!!!!!!! I rest my case……………………..
March 21, 2008
Johanna said:
I just saw Bill Pullman on Broadway in Edward Albee’s Peter and Jerry and he was absolutely brilliant!!! He is best on stage. Don’t knock Bill. He has a different kind of quality that Paul, who is also a great actor, does not have. I think he’d be fantastic portraying PKD.
Gigabyte Eschaton said:
Philip K. Dick Laurent is dead!