Philip K. Dick's Daughter Endorses Michel Gondry's Ubik

Isa Dick Hackett, daughter of Philip K. Dick and chief executive of Electric Shepherd Productions, is currently overseeing a number of her late father's works to the big screen. One of them is Ubik, Dick's 1969 science fiction novel about a group of people experiencing strange shifts in reality in a future where psionic powers are widespread and the lines between life and death are blurred -- and Hackett's confident that Michel Gondry is the filmmaker for the job.

Gondry is currently scripting an adaptation of Ubik to direct himself, with Steven Zaillian and Steve Golin producing. Hackett gave io9 an update on Gondry's vision for the film:

"Michel Gondry, I love his work. I think it's a great fit, myself. I think Michel Gondry and Ubik is insane, crazy good. Steve Zaillian is producing, and he's such a craftsman with his scripts, so it's great to have him on the team, so we end up with something that's not so non-linear that it can't be understood. Right now the status is he's scripting, Michel is scripting we're expecting the first basic treatment within a month or so. We're doing this independent of a studio, so the goal is to get the script written and the story that we all want to tell, and then take it out and figure out who wants to make that story. As opposed to doing development at a studio and having studio people telling us what story we're going to tell."

And which actor do the filmmakers have in mind for the role of protagonist Joe Chip?

"I can't say a particular actor. That would get me in hot water. But it has to be the everyman right? Joe Chip in the novel is sort of the dumpy everyman guy that my Dad always wrote about. So we'll see. But really Michel will be the one [to decide] -- it has to be someone that he wants to work with, someone he'll respond to. It's such a great role I'm sure there will be a lot of interest in it."

Hackett's lips are sealed, but think about the key words at play: "Dumpy everyman." Any suggestions?

· How will Michel Gondry's Ubik live up to Philip K. Dick's legacy? [io9]