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w.a.s.t.e.

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Originally posted by Xytraguptorh
That's too bad about the current status of A Scanner Darkly, though I'm sure there's still some hope.

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Friday, May 21, 2004
Erik Davis consults on A Scanner Darkly!
Boing Boing pal Erik Davis sends us this exclusive bit of insider insight into the Hollywood adaptation of Philip K. Dick's surreal SF novel "A Scanner Darkly":
"This spring, I had the opportunity to read and consult on Richard Linklater’s screenplay for Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly, which is set to start filming this July. As I love many of Linklater’s films, this was a great honor, although much less funny than the New Yorker’s description of me as a “Dick expert.” Expert or no, I can tell you that I have every reason to believe that Linklater’s film will be what Dickheads everywhere have been waiting for: the first “real” “authentic” PKD movie. While the film updates the historical vibe from paranoid 70s to paranoid 00s, the script is dark and tart, funny and faithful. Nearly all the dialogue is drawn from the novel, and the few changes sharpen Dick’s themes rather than squelch them. Linklater has kept the story dark, and haunted by rumors of God. As has been reported, Keanu Reaves will play Bob Arctor, the Orange County narc who goes schizo after being assigned to spy on himself. Linklater has been planning this project for years; it was Reaves’ interest in the story that finally got the ball rolling.

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We were originally approached by producer Tommy Pallotta with the enticement of a faithful adaptation. When we read Richard Linklater's fantastic screenplay, and then had the opportunity to meet with him and discuss his and our visions of Scanner, we knew this was the right way to go. (The picture is being co-financed by Warner Independent, a new division of WB devoted to serious films with modest budgets.)

A Scanner Darkly is one of our father's most personal stories because much of it is based on his own experiences. For this reason, it was especially important to us that it be done with all of the right intentions. His struggle with drug abuse is well documented, and he (and we) have witnessed many casualties. The novel is filled with his humor and his own tragedies. And we believe that Richard's screenplay manages to capture these key elements -- he has even included our father's poignant afterword in his adaptation.

After agreeing that this project was the right way to go, we were delighted to hear that this group of gifted actors would be playing the characters

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Warner Independent Pictures has completed production in Austin, Texas on "A Scanner Darkly," starring Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder and Rory Cochrane. The picture is adapted and directed by Richard Linklater from the classic novel by Philip K. Dick. The film is planned for a fall 2005 release.

Like a graphic novel come to life, "A Scanner Darkly" will use live action photography overlaid with an advanced animation process (interpolated rotoscoping) to create a haunting, highly stylized vision of the future. The technology, first employed in Linklater’s 2001 film Waking Life, has evolved to produce even more emotional impact and detail.

“There is a unique power to ‘Scanner,’ as there is to all of this author’s outstanding works,” said Linklater, an enthusiastic Philip K. Dick fan. “I was compelled to pursue my dream of getting this novel turned into a movie, no matter how long it took.”

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