Lila 9th and Electric Shepherd Productions have reportedly optionedNow Wait For Last Year from Philip K. Dick’s Estate – with Ted Kupper slated to write the screenplay.
Now Wait For Last Year, a 1966 novel, is the story of an organ transplant surgeon known as Eric Sweetscent who works solely for the president of a wealthy corporation, keeping all of his organs fresh and up to date.
A war breaks out between his people and the alien Reegs, and Sweetscent is drafted as a surgeon for the ruler of Earth, an ally of his own planet.
This sudden change in position at the height of the war makes the government’s counter-espionage organization suspicious.
The organization persuades Sweetscent’s wife to spy on him, by getting her addicted to a new drug. Meanwhile, Sweetscent find himself embroiled in a conflict he never asked for, and can’t truly handle.
The film promises to be one of the oddest Dick adaptions to date, if they stick with the details of the original novel, as it traverses interstellar war, hallucinogenic drugs, and time travel, just to name a few basic elements of the tale.
Philip K. Dick is one of the most adapted science fiction authors ever, with many of his unique stories becoming quick classics. The most recognizable, of course, being Total Recall (which is currently being remade), Blade Runner, and Minority Report.
Production on Now Wait For Last Year – if they keep the name – will likely begin near the end of 2012. No release dates have been announced. Of course, like any optioned film, it could get stuck in development forever.