Yahoo Lifestyle Sci-Fi Drama ‘The Inquest of Pilot Pirx,’ From ‘Solaris’ Author Stanislaw Lem, to Be Adapted by Adrian Tchaikovsky (EXCLUSIVE)
Nafta Films, led by Esko Rips, and Film and Music Entertainment, headed by Sam Taylor, have teamed to adapt Stanislaw Lem’s novella “The Inquest of Pilot Pirx.” Previous films based on Lem’s work include Steven Soderbergh’s “Solaris,” starring George Clooney, and György Pálfi’s “His Master’s Voice.”
British sci-fi novelist Adrian Tchaikovsky has adapted Lem’s story for the screen. Tchaikovsky’s series “Children of Time” won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Hugo Award and British Science Fiction Assn. Award. He recently spoke at the Worldcon in Glasgow on the topic of “AI and the End Times – Do Androids Dream of Killing Us All” and has previously been a guest speaker at the Turing Institute’s AI U.K. conference.
The English-language film tells the story of Commander Pirx who leads a small crew of half androids and half humans on a rescue mission into space. None of them know which is which and Pirx’s secret task is to figure out whether the androids are truly superior to humans. Events turn dangerous when the mission is disrupted by an unknown saboteur.
The project has garnered support from the Estonian Film Institute, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, and the Creative Europe MEDIA Program.
Lem’s story was previously adapted as a film by Polish director Marek Piestrak in 1979.
Taylor, who was a producer on Oscar nominated “Before the Rain,” said: “We are over the moon to team up with Esko Rips and Nafta and bring the combined vision of science fiction’s two most brilliant authors to the big screen. Both writers are my personal heroes and the deep theme of artificial intelligence set within an epic galactic setting will make the film both timely and timeless.”
Rips said, “Nafta Films prides itself on our story-first approach to filmmaking and could not be more thrilled to bring to life this thought-provoking tale by one of the greatest science-fiction writers of all time. Sam Taylor and the FAME team are the perfect partners with whom to bring this intelligent and dynamic story to life.”
FAME, which has produced over 65 films since its inception in 2000, has Kasia Adamik’s “Winter of the Crow,” starring Lesley Manville and Tom Burke, in post-production, with world sales represented by HanWay Films. It is gearing up for “Young Stalin,” adapted from Simon Sebag Montefiore’s book about the bank-robbing years of the young dictator. “Young Stalin” is produced with Archil Gelovani at IFP and financed by Access Entertainment and the GNFC.
Nafta has a slate of 18 projects including three TV series and a variety of features. It is gearing up to go into production with “Serafima,” a historical tragedy directed by Venice Horizons winner Veiko Õunpuu, as well as “Something Real,” a debut feature film directed by Evar Anvelt, which is based on the book of the same name.
Tchaikovsky is represented by Simon Kavanagh and Oliver Cheetham at Mic Cheetham and Olivia Fanaro at UTA.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
