When “A Scanner Darkly” premiered two months ago at the Cannes International Film Festival, most of the questions asked by journalists weren’t about the stars, which include Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder.
They wanted to know about the man who wrote the novel on which the film is based–Philip K. Dick. It didn’t matter that Dick, the author of more than 30 books and dozens of short stories, has been dead for almost a quarter-century.
He’s the hottest writer in or out of movies right now.
Since Dick’s death at age 53 in 1982, eight movies have been adapted from his work. “A Scanner Darkly,” which opened last week, is the latest. Dick published “Scanner” in 1977. By that time, he’d emerged from semi-obscurity as a genre writer whose vision transcended the parameters of science fiction.
“His ideas resonate with the fragility of the human condition in the face of fearsome technology,” said David Hartwell, a writer and editor of sci-fi novels.
“Every decent filmmaker sees Philip K. Dick as a source of philosophically dense material expressed in colloquial language and action scenarios.”
Author Kit Reed put it another way: “Dick was a tremendous source of ideas, and Hollywood is ravenous for story ideas. When barracudas go hunting for food, they look for the biggest, tastiest fish they can find.”
Dick’s influence in film shows no signs of abating anytime soon. Coming next is, well, “Next,” adapted from a Dick story, in which Nicolas Cage plays a man who can see into his own future and avoid government arrest. It’s due out sometime next year.
