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News, updates and information
about the film.
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R e l e a s e D a t e : A u g u s t 1 1 , 2 0 0 0 (maybe Fall, 2000)
Introduction
| Impostor, the short story by Philip K. Dick was first published in June, 1953 in the magazine Astounding. The feature film is currently set to be released in the summer of 2000. Impostor was originally set to be one part of a trilogy called Alien Love Triangle. Miramax was so impressed with this part of the project that they decided to film Impostor as a full-length film.
The story is a classic piece of Philip K. Dick's psychological science fiction. It follows Spence Olham, a scientist working on a top-secret government project who must discover the identity of a humanoid robot who has infiltrated the project's facility and taken the place of a worker there. He is accused of being an android himself and must both clear his name and reveal the identity of the traitor. Knowing that there is a self-destruct mechanism in the robot but not what it is, Olham is set on a psychological goose chase which culminates in an unexpected ending. It is one of the first stories Dick wrote which explores a common theme in his science fiction, the question of what is human.
Written in 1952, the upcoming release of Impostor almost 50 years since its creation is a testimony to the enduring nature of Philip K. Dick's science fiction. It deals with universal themes of identity, self-knowledge and paranoia. Philip K. Dick fans look forward to seeing this story realized on the big screen and have hopes that Impostor will expose the author's profound ideas to a larger audience.
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May 23, 2000 - Impostor Test Screening Gets Great Review on Ain't It Cool News!
- Read the review.
Order this book from Amazon.com.
If it is not available, try a search for the "Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick Volume 2" on these sites:
- Abebooks.com
- Bibliofind
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Credits
Click links to find out more from the Internet Movie Database.
| Executive Producer |
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Michael Phillips (II)
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| Director |
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Gary Felder (Kiss the Girls, Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead) |
| Producers |
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Gary Fleder
Marty Katz
Gary Sinise
Amber Steven
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| Production Companies |
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Dimension Films [us]
P.K. Pictures
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| Cast |
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Gary Sinise
Madeleine Stowe
Vincent D'onofrio
Mekhi Phifer
Tony Shalhoub
Tim Guinee |
| Written by |
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Caroline Case
Ehren Kruger (Arlington Road, Scream 3, Reindeer Games)
Mark Protosevich
Scott Michael Rosenberg
David N. Twohy |
| Based on the short story by |
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Philip K. Dick |
| Special Effects |
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Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) [us] |
| Original music |
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Mark Isham |
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The Story
Gary Sinise plays
Spence Olham in "Impostor" |
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Spence Olham is a goverment scientist who has worked for 10 years on a top-secret project to defend the Earth from the Outspacers, hostile aliens from the planet Alpha Centauri. He lives with his wife Mary and commutes to the Project daily with his friend Nelson.
One fateful day, Spence is taken into custody by the FSA, the "security organ" of the government. He is accused of being an Outspace spy, a humanoid robot who took the place of the real Spence Olham. He is told that a self-destruct mechanism is inside the robot which is set to detonate when a certain phrase is uttered. However, the previous agent didn't know what the phrase was. Olham insists that he is not the robot but is told that he is under false recall, memories planted in the robot's mind so that it thinks itself human.
Olham is taken to the Moon where he is to be disassembled and the bomb removed where it can do little damage. He manages to steal the ship and heads back to Earth to prove his innocence. A frantic struggle follows when he is sabotaged by his own wife. After narrowly escaping, Olham takes the matter into his own hands. He sets out to locate the ship which carried the "impostor" and prove that it never killed the "real" Olham.
No more can be revealed without spoiling the story but rest assured it is classic reality-bending Philip K. Dick at its best.
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History
Impostor has appeared in the following collections:
(1953 NOV) ASTOUNDING {UK}
(1955) A HANDFUL OF DARKNESS, Rich & Cowan, hb,
(1955) SCIENCE FICTION TERROR TALES {ed. Conklin} Gnome, hb, $3.50
(1956) BEST SF 2 {Ed.: Crispin} Faber & Faber{UK} 15/-
(1956) THE END OF THE WORLD {Ed.: Wollheim} ACE, pb, S-183, $0.25
(1966) UNTRAVELLED WORLDS {Ed.: Barter, Wilson} MacMillan, pb, 7/6d
(1968) THE METAL SMILE {Ed.: Knight} Belmont, pb, B60-082, $0.60
(1969) DARK STARS {Ed.: Silverberg} Ballantine, pb, 01796, $0.95
(1973) THE ASTOUNDING-ANALOG READER: VOL.2 {Ed.: Aldiss, Harrison}Doubleday, hb, $7.95
(1977) THE BEST OF PHILIP K. DICK, Ballantine, pb, 25359
(1977) SOULS IN METAL {Ed.: Ashley} St.Martin's, hb, $6.95
(1980) THE ARBOR HOUSE TREASURY OF MODERN SCIENCE FICTION, {Ed.: Silverberg, Greenberg}
Arbor House, hb, $19.95
(1980) WIDE-ANGLE LENS {Ed.: Fenner} Morrow,
(1984) ROBOTS, ANDROIDS AND MECHANICAL ODDITIES
(1984) PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE FICTION {Ed.: Phillips} Prometheus,
(1986) THE GREAT SF STORIES 15 {1953},{Ed.: Asimov, Greenberg} DAW,
(1987)SECOND VARIETY, Grafton?
(1990) WE CAN REMEMBER IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE, Citadel Twilight,
(1987) GREAT SCIENCE FICTION OF THE 20TH CENTURY, Crown-Avenal,
(1990) INVASIONS {Ed.: Asimov, Greenberg, Waugh} Roc
Links
Please send information about this film by e-mail to jason@philipkdick.com.
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