Wacked-out director Michel Gondry announced recently he’s adapting Philip K. Dick‘s novel Ubik for the screen! Dick is as wacked-out as Gondry, if not more so. And Ubik is one of his most wacked-out novels. Just some of the highlights of the novel include: Anti-telepaths, sentient doors, half-dead spouses, psychic spying, and a stereo system that reverts into a gramophone. Not to mention the usual reality distorting twists and turns that are common in all of Dick’s novels. In short, it’s a masterpiece.
Gondry has handled some complicated material in his time. But this is going to be a real challenge. Honor the original. And the film will be difficult to understand. Simplify it too much. And it loses much of its power. And don’t get us started on the tone. No one has ever nailed the tone of Dick’s novel.
