Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks/Film, reporting on an original article by Screendaily, brings new that Iain M. Banks, and his well known Culture universe, will be coming soon to theatres near you (maybe, it is Hollywood, afterall….):

The first realisation of The Culture in cinema will be an adaptation of the brilliant short story A Gift From the Culture.

Screendaily report that Dominic Murphy will direct, and co-script with Shane Smith, his collaborator on the ‘psychobilly thriller’ White Lightnin’. It’s just one of a few projects Murphy has on his slate including Jesus Christ Airlines, about daredevil pilots delivering aid to Biafra through hostile Nigerian airspace, and an as-yet untitled film about the Bronte children and their shared world of play and fantasy.

A synopsis of the story, postded and then removed by the F&ME website:

Wrobik, a citizen of The Culture, a society which abhors violence, has been living in exile for eight years, having renounced The Culture, her gender. Now a man, in return for cancelling his gambling debts, he agrees to destroy a starship using a gun which can only be fired by a member of the culture. But disgusted by the thought of murdering innocent people, he decides to flee the city. However, before he can leave, his boyfriend, Maust, is kidnapped and Wrobik is forced to choose between following his conscience and rescuing his lover.

Now, when I reviewed Banks’ Use of Weapons las year, I was not a fan of it. At all. It’s been my only exposure to his work, but it did convince me of one thing: Banks’ style of storytelling seems made for cinema. That, plus the intriguing synopsis, has me interested in seeing how this script develops.

Discussion
  • Adam Whitehead October 22, 2009 at 5:28 pm

    Interesting choice.

    The short story in question – from THE STATE OF THE ART collection – is excellent, but it feels like the opening chapter of a longer story. The events in the story would take maybe 15 minutes maximum to depict on screen, so they have a lot of freedom to take the story in their own direction after that.

    Intriguing idea. Also, it would be relatively cheap. If successful, they could then look at adapting maybe CONSIDER PHLEBAS, which would require a monstrous special effects budget.

  • And some TV and movie links | Mostly Geek October 24, 2009 at 2:05 am

    […] The State of The Art is apparently going to be made into a film. More here and here (tip from A Dribble of Ink). No word on timing or anything else. I’ve read the story but can’t remember a thing […]

  • Mark Lord October 27, 2009 at 1:56 pm

    I’d implore you to take another look sometime at his work. His last SF book, Matter, was simply brilliant!