/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.