3 Great Philip K. Dick Sci-Fi Books That Still Need a Movie or TV Adaptation

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Philip K. Dick was a highly imaginative American science fiction writer known for stories where characters often question what’s real. He frequently explored bleak future worlds and used his innovative writing to warn readers about the potential downsides of things like constant monitoring, virtual reality, drug use, powerful corporations, and the increasing influence of technology.

Numerous films and TV shows, such as Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, The Man in the High Castle (on Prime Video), Total Recall (based on “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”), and Blade Runner (based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), have been successfully adapted from the writer’s work. However, some of his most compelling stories haven’t made it to the screen, despite efforts to do so. These are the most noticeable gaps in the list of Philip K. Dick adaptations.

3) Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said

The novel takes place in a bleak 1988, after a second civil war. It centers on Jason Taverner, a genetically engineered pop star who mysteriously wakes up in a world where he’s completely unknown. In this oppressive police state run by the National Guard, not having identification is a crime. Taverner must find his way through this dangerous society, uncover how he was erased from existence, and confront corrupt officials, drug traffickers, and a hidden rebellion.

As a huge Philip K. Dick fan, I’ve always been surprised that Flow My Tears hasn’t gotten a really good film adaptation. It’s actually one of his more straightforward stories, and it packs a real emotional punch, which makes the lack of a successful movie even stranger. There was talk back in 2009 of a film being made by the company behind Terminator Salvation, but it just never happened – it seems to have gotten stuck in development forever. It has been done as a play a few times – there was a production in 1985 and later ones in Los Angeles and London – but honestly, I think it would be perfect as a limited series, maybe 6 to 8 episodes. And if someone like Alex Garland, who really gets sci-fi with shows like Devs and Ex Machina, was at the helm, it could be absolutely incredible.

2) The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch

Philip K. Dick’s The Three Stigmata is a futuristic, unsettling story set both on Earth and its off-world colonies. It follows Leo Bulero, a corporate problem-solver, and Barney Mayerson, a colonist, as they get drawn into a mystery surrounding a powerful hallucinogen called “Chew-Z” and the strange businessman Palmer Eldritch. Eldritch is marked by recurring, bizarre physical traits – metal teeth, a prosthetic hand, and mechanical eyes – that manifest within the Chew-Z induced hallucinations. Dick himself found the novel deeply disturbing, admitting he was frightened by it and felt it explored the nature of pure evil, to the point where he couldn’t bring himself to edit the manuscript.

Netflix secured the rights to adapt Philip K. Dick’s novel The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch in 2023, but there haven’t been any updates since. Some believe the book is too complex to film because it plays with what’s real and features distorted perceptions. However, successful adaptations of Dick’s work, like Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly, demonstrate that his strange and mind-bending stories can work on screen. With the right team, a film version of The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch could be truly unique.

1) Ubik

Imagine a future where companies use people with psychic abilities to spy on each other. Glen Runciter runs a business that protects against these psychic spies, employing individuals who can block telepathic powers. When Runciter and his team take a job on the Moon, they’re caught in a trap and an explosion occurs. The survivors quickly realize something is terribly wrong: time seems to be moving backward around them, causing things to revert to older states and people to age at an alarming rate. Adding to the mystery, messages from Runciter start appearing everywhere, along with advertisements for a strange, hard-to-find drug called Ubik.

As a longtime Philip K. Dick enthusiast, I can tell you Ubik is a novel that really gets under your skin – it’s a deep dive into what it means to be alive, and what happens after. It’s been a dream project for filmmakers for ages, and the attempts to bring it to the screen have been…well, a bit of a saga. Back in ’74, Jean-Pierre Gorin actually had Dick write a screenplay, but it never saw the light of day. More recently, in 2011, Michel Gondry – the guy who directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and who felt like a perfect fit – tried to make it happen, but he ultimately found the story too tricky to translate to film. It bounced around a few studios after that, and in 2020 there was a glimmer of hope, with the estate suggesting a new development was brewing. Sadly, that didn’t pan out either. It’s a truly fascinating novel, and I’m starting to wonder if Ubik is just destined to remain a book.

As a huge Philip K. Dick fan, I truly believe a screen adaptation of Ubik is long overdue. There’s a real appetite for it, and honestly, so many talented directors could absolutely nail it. I’m thinking someone like Christopher Nolan or Denis Villeneuve, or even the Wachowskis – someone who isn’t afraid of ambiguity and complex storytelling. Charlie Kaufman could also bring a wonderfully surreal touch. Ubik is Dick’s most visually interesting and structurally daring work, and I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time before someone finally decides to bring it to life.

What Philip K. Dick book would you most like to see turned into a movie or show? Share your thoughts in the comments and join the discussion on the ComicBook Forum!

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2026-01-15 01:21