Martin Scorsese will produce the mind-bending science fiction tale.
The Big Picture
- Lily Gladstone, fresh off her Best Actress Oscar nomination, will star in The Memory Police, an adaptation of Yoko Ogawa’s acclaimed sci-fi novel.
- The Memory Police takes place on an island where the inhabitants suffer from collective amnesia and are controlled by the enigmatic Memory Police.
- Reed Morano will direct the film, Charlie Kaufman will adapt the novel, and Martin Scorsese will executive produce. A release date has not been set.
Fresh off her groundbreaking Best Actress Oscar nomination, Lily Gladstone has found her next project. The Killers of the Flower Moon star will lead The Memory Police, an adaptation of Yoko Ogawa‘s acclaimed 1994 science fiction novel. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Gladstone is attached to star in the long-gestating project, which was first announced back in 2020. Reed Morano (I Think We’re Alone Now) is attached to direct the film, while cinematic mind-bender Charlie Kaufman will adapt Ogawa’s novel for the screen. Martin Scorsese, who directed Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon, will executive produce, as will Ogawa.
Gladstone is coming off an acclaimed performance as Mollie Kyle in Killers of the Flower Moon; this week, she became the first ever Native American woman to be nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards. Prior to that role, she appeared in Certain Women, First Cow, and Fancy Dance, and made a memorable guest appearance on Hulu’s Reservation Dogs. She can next be seen in the Hulu true crime drama Under the Bridge, alongside Riley Keough and Archie Panjabi.
What is ‘The Memory Police’?
First published in Japanese in 1994, The Memory Police takes place on a mysterious unnamed island whose entire population suffers from collective amnesia. As the inhabitants forget their attachment to objects, they are seized by the enigmatic Memory Police who control the island. The protagonist, an unnamed novelist, attempts to finish writing her book before the Memory Police and the cloak of memory loss can take away everything she has, and everything she is; aiding her in this task is her editor, the last person on the island who can still remember. Inspired by the work of Franz Kafka, the book has a surreal, dreamlike tone. It was belatedly translated into English in 2019, and earned great acclaim, earning nominations for the National Book Award, the International Booker Prize, and the World Fantasy Award.
The Memory Police will be Morano’s first film since the 2020 Blake Lively action thriller The Rhythm Section; she previously won an Emmy for her work on The Handmaid’s Tale. She will also produce the film alongside Margot Hand of Picture Films. Kaufman is the writer of such brain-teasing films as Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Adaptation; his animated feature Orion and the Dark will debut on Netflix next month.
Lily Gladstone will star in The Memory Police; a release date for the upcoming film has not yet been set. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
Killers of the Flower Moon
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one – until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.
- Release Date
- October 20, 2023
- Director
- Martin Scorsese
- Runtime
- 206 minutes
- Main Genre
- Drama
- Writers
- David Grann , Eric Roth
- Studio
- Paramount Pictures
Watch on Apple TV+
