It’s not quite her dream sci-fi role, but until Killers of the Flower Moon breakout Lily Gladstone’s Star Wars Ewok aspirations come true, The Memory Police sounds like an excellent entry into the genre. The team behind this project is ridiculous; besides Gladstone as the lead, it includes director Reed Morano (The Handmaid’s Tale, I Think We’re Alone Now), Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (adapting Yoko Ogawa’s acclaimed novel), and producer Martin Scorsese.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news, and noted that Ogawa’s book—first published in Japan in 1994; an English translation followed in 2019—has “tones of Franz Kafka and George Orwell.” It was a finalist for the National Book Award, International Booker Prize, and World Fantasy Award, fitting turf for the much-lauded author, who’s also a Shirley Jackson Award winner (among other accolades).
Here’s how the trade describes the story: “Ogawa’s novel is a parable taking place on an unnamed island off an unnamed coast where a majority of the island’s residents are subject to collective amnesia. They endure a process of forgetting things, including objects, people and daily rituals, with the amnesia enforced by an organization called the Memory Police. In the story, a novelist tries to hide her editor, who can still remember, from the Memory Police, while he encourages her to write her book.”
Presumably, Gladstone will play the author, but there’s no confirmation yet on that—and with Kaufman adapting, there’s no telling how the plot may creatively diverge from what’s on the page. No matter what, we’re excited for whatever this exciting team brings to the screen.
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