Editing Ubik (section)

===Planned film adaptations===

====Original attempt – Gorin====
In 1974, [[French cinema|French]] film-maker [[Jean-Pierre Gorin]] commissioned Dick to write a screenplay based on ''Ubik''. Dick completed the screenplay within a month, but Gorin never filmed it.<ref>Paul Williams, Introduction, ''Ubik: The Screenplay'' by Philip K. Dick, 1985</ref> The screenplay was published as ''Ubik: The Screenplay'' in 1985 ({{ISBN|978-0911169065}}) and again in 2008 ({{ISBN|9781596061699}}). Dick's former wife Tessa claims that the published screenplay "has been heavily edited, and others have added material to the screenplay that Phil wrote", though she suggests that "film producers really ought to take a look at the author's own screenplay before embarking upon their journey of interpretation".<ref>[http://tessadick.blogspot.com/2008/09/ubik-and-other-movies.html UBIK and other movies] Tessa Dick, It's a Philip K. Dick World, September 8, 2008</ref>

====Dick's screenplay====
Dick's screenplay features numerous scenes that are not in the novel. According to [[Tim Powers]], a friend of Dick's and fellow science fiction writer, in his foreword to ''Ubik: The Screenplay'', Dick had an idea for the film that involved "the film itself appearing to undergo a series of reversions: to black-and-white, then to the awkward jerkiness of very early movies, then to a crookedly jammed frame which proceeds to blacken, bubble and melt away, leaving only the white glare of the projection bulb, which in turn deteriorates to leave the theater in darkness, and might almost leave the moviegoer wondering what sort of dilapidated, antique [[jalopy]] he'll find his car-keys fitting when he goes outside".<ref>Tim Powers, Foreword, ''Ubik: The Screenplay'' by Philip K. Dick, 1985</ref>

====Pallotta and Celluloid Dreams====
[[Tommy Pallotta]], who produced the [[A Scanner Darkly (film)|film adaptation]] of Dick's novel ''[[A Scanner Darkly]]'', said in an interview in July 2006 that he "still [had] the option for ''Ubik''" and wanted to "make a live action feature from it".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greencine.com/article?action=view&articleID=314|title=Tommy Pallotta: Substance PKD|work=greencine.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607081738/http://www.greencine.com/article?action=view&articleID=314|archive-date=June 7, 2011|access-date=December 26, 2006}}</ref> In 2007, Dick's daughter, [[Isa Dick Hackett]], said that the film adaptation of ''Ubik'' was at an advanced stage of negotiations.<ref>[http://www.calendarlive.com/books/cl-et-dick15sep15,0,5604716.story?coll=cl-books-features calendarlive.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211064053/http://www.calendarlive.com/books/cl-et-dick15sep15%2C0%2C5604716.story?coll=cl-books-features |date=December 11, 2007 }}</ref> In May 2008, the film was optioned by [[Celluloid Dreams]], to be produced by Hengameh Panahi for Celluloid Dreams and Isa Dick Hackett for Electric Shepherd Productions. It was slated to enter production in early 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=1&id=54511&type=0 |title = SciFi.com |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080522010559/http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=1&id=54511&type=0 |archive-date = May 22, 2008 |url-status = dead |access-date = May 20, 2008 }}</ref>

====Failed Gondry production====
[[File:Michel Gondry Deauville 2012 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|A planned film adaptation by [[Michel Gondry]] (pictured) was abandoned in the early 2010s.]]
[[Michel Gondry]] was working on a film adaptation in early 2011, with [[Steve Golin]] and [[Steve Zaillian]] producing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/michel_gondry_adapting_philip_k._dicks_ubik|title=Michel Gondry Adapting Philip K. Dick's 'Ubik'|author=Kevin Jagernauth|date=February 16, 2011|work=The Playlist|access-date=December 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110004141/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/michel_gondry_adapting_philip_k._dicks_ubik|archive-date=January 10, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2014, however, Gondry told French outlet Telerama (via Jeux Actu) that he was no longer working on the project and explained: <blockquote>"The book is brilliant, but it's good as a literary work. Having tried to adapt it with several screenwriters, ...  at the moment I don't feel up to doing it. It doesn't have the dramatic structure that would make it a good film. I received a script that disheartened me a bit, and that was it. It was a dream, but in life you can't always have what you want."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-05-05 |title=Michel Gondry Abandons Ubik |url=https://members.stg.empireonline.com/movies/news/michel-gondry-abandons-ubik/ |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=Empire |language=en |archive-date=March 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321173329/https://members.stg.empireonline.com/movies/news/michel-gondry-abandons-ubik/ |url-status=dead }}</ref></blockquote>