Syfy has announced its deal to develop a four-hour miniseries adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s award winning novel, The Man in the High Castle. Frank Spotnitz (The Hunted, The X-Files) is attached to write and serve as executive producer. He will pen the first two installments and oversee the writing for the final two. Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions will produce the series along with Headline Pictures, Electric Shepherd Productions and FremantleMedia International. Ridley Scott and Stewart Mackinnon are set to produce.
Dick’s novel narrates an alternate history story in which the Axis Powers were victorious in the Second World War. Fifteen years after the end of the war, citizens live in a world ruled by totalitarian fascist imperialism.
The source material is interesting and an intriguing enough concept to produce a successful piece of television. Spotnitz seems a formidable addition to the series. He has had extensive experience writing for television and genre shows. Ridley Scott’s involvement is definitely a welcome development; it certainly elevates the prestige of the series and with Scott’s experience and history producing sci-fi projects there is a higher probability of overall success. Don’t forget, Scott’s classic science fiction film Blade Runner was adapted from Dick’s other novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
