The Basics According to Variety, Michel Gondry was to direct an adaptation of Rudy Rucker's Master of Space and Time. Partizan optioned the work in 2004, then in April 2005 renewed their option. DreamWorks was negotiating production rights, with Jack Black possibly starring. Daniel Clowes was set to script it. DreamWorks has two producers marked: Walter Parkes and Laurie McDonald. The adaptation of the book, which is about two mad scientists who figure out how to control reality, seems to be dead in the water. According to our 26 March news item (below), Michel says that this project "did not succeed." News 26 March 2007 TÉLÉRAMA CHAT Last Thursday Télérama conducted a "tchat" with Michel in French, with questions submitted by fans. (N.B. I had to translate it through Babelfish.) In the "tchat," Michel talks about the possible end of Master of Space and Time, saying (roughly), "In connection with Daniel Clowes, we worked on a project which did not succeed, but I hope well that one will be able to find another of them to collaborate with this brilliant creator." 16 February 2007 SPACE AND TIME UPDATE UGO has an interview with Michel where they talk about the usual this and that. The main point worth mentioning is about how Master of Space and Time is coming along with writer Daniel Clowes.. MG: We're still working on that. I'm not sure how it is going to be. But certainly we're going to work with Daniel Clowes on this or perhaps another one. It is a complex story to put together. UGO: Has Daniel done a draft for you or anything like that yet? MG: No, we're just talking about stories right now. 28 August 2006 MICHEL TALKS TO COMINGSOON As Michel and company head into production in a couple of weeks on Be Kind Rewind, Michel took some time to talk about the film a little bit (spoiler alert!) to Coming Soon.net. He also talks about Master of Space and Time, which is currently on hold until after Be Kind wraps, so that they he and writer Dan Clowes can talk to DreamWorks. "It's very hard, because all of the reasons why we both like the book are reasons why the studio would not do a movie," he said. "It's quirky, it's unpredictable, it's absurd, it's funny, and it's not slick at all. It's rough and grotesque. It's like if you would try to do 'Superman' now the way it was done in 1978 or 'Superman III,' for instance, which was really f*cked up and quirky with Richard Pryor. To me, that is the only superhero movie I liked. I don't like the serious superhero." (Thanks, noise64!) 21 February 2006 MICHEL INTERVIEWED IN WIRED The dude's everywhere. You can't make a move without another interview popping up. This time he's in the March 2006 Wired Magazine - the one with A Scanner Darkly on the cover(!). They ask him about Block Party, and he says he makes his voice heard mostly in the editing. Then they go juicy, trying to get some info about Master of Space and Time, a film which will certainly boost Michel's geek quotient if/when it's made. Alright, I'll get to the point: What kind of effects is Michel planning for MoST? "I'm looking to create a visual sequence of the big bang, not with CGI, but using perhaps the most complex images ever made without a computer. If I do use CGI, it would be combined with images shot in a different way. I also want to design a car where the universe is inside it, and the inside of the car is on the outside." Killer! 18 February 2006 MASTER OF SPACE AND TIME GETS A WRITER Suicide Girls reported yesterday that graphic novelist Daniel Clowes will pen Master of Space and Time, which is looking more and more like Michel's next feature. In case you're not a watcher, this story whipped around the net quickly yesterday, even landing a BoingBoing post. PARTIZAN RENEWS OPTION On April 13th, 2005, Rudy Rucker posted on his blog that Partizan renewed its option for Master of Space and Time, which according to him is "a favorable sign" that they and Michel are still interested in filming it. Woo-hoo!