Editing Zardoz (section)

===Development===
Boorman was inspired to write ''Zardoz'' while preparing to adapt [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' for [[United Artists]], but when the studio became hesitant about the cost of producing film versions of Tolkien's books, Boorman continued to be interested in the idea of inventing a strange new world.<ref>{{cite news |last=Champlin |first=Charles |title=Visions of the Future |work=Los Angeles Times |date=11 January 1974 |at=Part IV, p. 1}}</ref> He wrote ''Zardoz'' with William (Bill) Stair, a long-time collaborator. Boorman said that he "wanted to make a film about the problems of us hurtling at such a rate into the future that our emotions are lagging behind."<ref name="sight">{{cite journal |last=Strick |first=Philip |url=https://archive.org/details/Sight_and_Sound_1974_04_BFI_GB/ |title=Zardoz and John Boorman |journal=[[Sight & Sound]] |volume=43 |issue=2 |date=Spring 1974 |page=[https://archive.org/details/Sight_and_Sound_1974_04_BFI_GB/page/n15/mode/2up 73] |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> The original draft was set five years in the future and was about a university lecturer who became obsessed with a young girl whose disappearance prompted him to seek her out in the communes where she had lived. Boorman visited some communes for research, but decided to set the story far in the future, when society had collapsed.<ref name="sight"/>

In the audio commentary, Boorman says he developed the emergent society, focusing on a central character "who penetrated it. He'd be mysteriously chosen and at the same time manipulated ⁠— ⁠and I wanted the story to be told in the form of a mystery, with clues and riddles which unfold, the truth slowly peeled away."<ref name="sight"/> The script was influenced by the writings of [[L. Frank Baum]], [[T.S. Eliot]] and Tolkien, and drew inspiration from medieval [[Arthurian]] quests.<ref name="forty"/> "It's about inner rather than outer space," said Boorman. "It's closer to the better science fiction literature which is more metaphysical. Most of the science fiction that gives the genre a bad name is adventure stories in space clothes."<ref name="forty">{{cite news |last=Blume |first=Mary |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87148882/boorman-zardos-profile-1/ |title=Boorman at 40: Losing a Millstone at a Milestone |work=Los Angeles Times |date=7 April 1974 |at=Calendar, p. 24 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

"Nobody wanted to do it. Warners didn't want to do it, even though I'd made a shitload of money for them," Boorman said. His then-agent [[David Begelman]] knew the head of [[20th Century Fox]] wanted to make a film with the director, and offered the executive the script to read, but insisted on a decision within two hours. "It's either yes or no," Begelman told him. "You have no approvals, and it's a million dollars negative pick-up". Boorman said that the "Fox guy came to London, and I was very nervous, so we went for lunch whilst he read the script. When he finally came out of the office his hand was shaking, clearly with no idea of what to make of it. Begelman went straight up to him and said, 'Congratulations!' He never gave the poor guy a chance."<ref name="john" />