Saturday, 18th of February, 2006

Xeni at Boing Boing passed on the news a couple of days ago that Dan Clowes is working on the screenplay of the Michael Gondry-directed adaptation of Rudy Rucker’s Master of Space and Time, set to star Jack Black - hugely exciting news!
A Boing Boing reader wrote in to point out a similarity with a movie from 1989 by Mike Jittlov called The Wizard of Space and Time, and wondered whether Rucker had intended the similarity in naming the novel, so I couldn’t help but point out myself (after looking it up, mind you) that the Rucker novel in fact dates from 1985 (actually 1984 according to Wikipedia).
And Xeni put up my comment, so I have officially been Boing Boinged for the first time.

4 Responses to “Clowes & Gondry do Rucker, Peter does Boing Boing”

1. Shannon says:
   February 18th, 2006 at 1:59 pm

   traffic explosion!!

2. Clayton George says:
   February 24th, 2006 at 3:39 am

   …I believe the title of Jittlov’s fillum is Wizard of SPEED and Time. I have enough collectibles on this well-known unknown masterpiece to confirm this, I think….anyway, the phrase-ette “space and time” is common enough to make it a possible coincidence. Of course, it does screw with Jittlov’s ability to finish the film (he has said that the film as it exists today is but a 60% complete workprint of the final film…and he, I believe, does intend to finish it someday.) and get it Special-Edition-DVD’ed.
   …in any case, “Master of Space and Time” could be OK, but it is surely not going to be as good as WOSAT. Fnord…

3. Peter says:
   February 24th, 2006 at 10:19 am

   Thanks Clayton,
   Actually I do agree - “Space and Time” is such a well-known phrase that even had the movie been SPACE and time, it could easily have been a coincidence. As it is, the title you quote shares only a preposition, a conjunction and the word “time” ;)
   And here is Jittlov’s film on IMDB. I think the Gondry-directed movie will probably be good. But I’m keen to see (the incomplete) WOSAT sometime too. Fnord.

4. John Hudgens says:
   March 2nd, 2006 at 5:03 am

   I only just recently found out about this discussion - I was wondering why my website traffic spiked that week… :) While Rucker’s book may have been *published* before Jittlov’s feature was released, the film was primarily shot in 1984, and was based on Jittlov’s earlier 1979 short film, also called “The Wizard of Speed and Time”…

   I’m not saying there’s any lifting going on by anyone… just setting the timeline straight… :)