A SCANNER DARKLY, with special appearances by Phillip K. Dick's daughters, Isa Hackett and Laura Leslie, as well as producer Tommy Pallotta July 22, 2006

In a future America where the government has lost the war on drugs, undercover cop Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is ordered to do the unthinkable: start spying on his friends. As he struggles with loyalties and a double life, he starts to experiment with Substance D, embarking on a confused and paranoid journey into the absurd. In adapting Philip K. Dick's cautionary novel of drug use, writer/director Richard Linklater (Before Sunset) employs the same photography and animation techniques he used in Waking Life. Co-starring Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder and Rory Cochrane.

Philip K. Dick has slowly but steadily become a cultural icon with his works of mind-bending fiction. His first novel debuted in 1955, and ever since, his cumulative works have sold roughly 20 million copies and been translated to 25 different languages. Considered by some measures to be the most adapted science-fiction author in the history of film, Dick has created futuristic worlds in many of his works, several of which have been adapted into feature films: Blade Runner, Total Recall, Screamers, Minority Report, Impostor, and Paycheck. The movies have brought new fans to Dick’s work. Never out of print in its 27-year existence, A SCANNER DARKLY is one of the three top-selling Dick novels and only the second novel of Dick’s to be adapted. A SCANNER DARKLY became a film due to a respect for Philip K. Dick shared by writer/director Linklater and producer Tommy Pallotta—a mutual admiration often talked about on the set of Waking Life. To stay true to their goal, Linklater and Pallotta enlisted the help of two of the stewards of the Philip K. Dick trust, Dick’s daughters Laura Leslie and Isa Hackett. “We were originally approached by Tommy with the enticement of a faithful adaptation,” say Leslie and Hackett. “When we read Richard's screenplay, and then had the opportunity to meet with him and discuss his and our visions of ‘Scanner,’ we knew this was the right way to go.” Linklater recalls the Bay Area meeting with the author’s daughters. “I think they appreciated the fact that I wanted to stay faithful to the book and tell the whole story,” he explains. “I wasn’t going to be cavalier with the drug aspect. They were very frank—they said, ‘You know, if it wasn’t for drugs, our dad would still be writing today, instead of dying in 1982.’ It’s been a wonderful addition to have Phil K. Dick’s daughters on board with us spiritually.”

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