'"Repent, Harlequin!", Said the Ticktockman"

[Jan]

Just found on JMS' Facebook page: (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fans-of-J-Michael-Straczynski/139652459402959?ref=ts#!/pages/Fans-of-J-Michael-Straczynski/139652459402959)

Since this has apparently leaked onto several film-oriented websites, I should probably confirm the information and preclude distortion: I have optioned, and adapted into screenplay form, Harlan Ellison's "Repent Harlequin, Said the Ticktockman." It's out to producers, studios and directors now. We hope to find a director who has always wanted to make this story into a movie. More as, if and when it develops.

I should mention that Harlan has never allowed anyone else before to option or adapt Harlequin for the screen, and the draft has his personal seal of approval.

I've been asked in email which sites had the information. The two main ones are trackingb.com and itsonthegrid.com. (The latter is the more accurate, at least it spells my name right.) So I figured better to get in front of it than let it sneak up behind me or get distorted.

Can't wait to see this one. JMS and Harlan in conbination - woo-hoo!

Jan

[SmileOfTheShadow]

Wow that's great news. Sounds like this was done on spec?

[babylonlurker]

Can't wait to see this one. JMS and Harlan in conbination - woo-hoo!

Jan

I look forward to see hear more . Harlan and JMS - it just has to be interesting.

[Jan]

Wow that's great news. Sounds like this was done on spec?

Not to the extent that JMS just wrote a script and sent it out (Changeling); more the way that the company optioned the movie rights and commissioned a script for B5 several years ago. I think that the question now is whether JMS and Harlan can find somebody who wants to make it/back it/distribute it within the time allotted by the option and who will respect the material.

Thankfully, JMS has a much higher profile among the movers and shakers than he did pre-Changeling

Jan

[Whyruss]

Wow - this could turn out great!

[SmileOfTheShadow]

What's the easiest place to find this story? Does Harlan allow his stuff on Kindle or is he fighting technology?

[Jan]

What's the easiest place to find this story? Does Harlan allow his stuff on Kindle or is he fighting technology?
Granted that he doesn't have any use for e-versions, I've never gotten the impression that he'd refuse a contract if it were presented to him. I know it's been reprinted many times but I think it was in "The Essential Ellison" that I re-read it.

Jan

[JasonDavis]

What's the easiest place to find this story?

The E-reads edition of Paingod and Other Delusions is probably your most readily available option at the moment.

There's a paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Paingod-Other-Delusions-Harlan-Ellison/dp/0759299994/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298929939&sr=8-1

and a Kindle edition: http://www.amazon.com/Paingod-and-Other-Delusions-ebook/dp/B003XREUUS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1298929939&sr=8-2

In the near future, the story will be appearing in volume one of Harlan 101: Encountering Ellison, edited by yours truly.

[Belbo]

I somehow managed to miss this at the time, but the spec script was reviewed on ScriptShadow back in March

Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman (http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com/2011/03/repent-harlequin-said-ticktockman.html)

Vague spoilers, I guess, but nothing you couldn't have guessed from the short story.

I can't say I'm surprised that they caught the V For Vendetta similarities (Moore has openly acknowleged the influence), though it'll be depressing if that's the reason no-one picks it up. :(

[Jan]

Thanks for finding that, Belbo.

Jan

[DeMonk]

The E-reads edition of Paingod and Other Delusions is probably your most readily available option at the moment.

There's a paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Paingod-Other-Delusions-Harlan-Ellison/dp/0759299994/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298929939&sr=8-1

and a Kindle edition: http://www.amazon.com/Paingod-and-Other-Delusions-ebook/dp/B003XREUUS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1298929939&sr=8-2

In the near future, the story will be appearing in volume one of Harlan 101: Encountering Ellison, edited by yours truly.

Just as most english stuff it is "geographically restricted":(. I checked at borders.com, amazon, fictionwise... No way I can legally buy the e-book.
What a lousy system!

[babylonlurker]

Just as most english stuff it is "geographically restricted":(. I checked at borders.com, amazon, fictionwise... No way I can legally buy the e-book.
What a lousy system!

I tried on amazon.co.uk as well, and sure enough, available "only in UK"

SO - what's the idea of having a Kindle outside US/UK if you can not buy the English language books anyway ? Are they deliberately trying to create piracy ?

This is getting very annoying .

[Jan]

I have a feeling it may have something to do with international copyright issues. Have you contacted Amazon/Borders, etc. to ask?

Jan

[DeMonk]

No use: nobody has bought the rights for continental Europe so it is simply not available to us. It happens with a LOT of books.

No one wants to buy those rights because it's assumed that there are not a lot of possible customers for english books, so not a great margin for profit.

We can buy hard copies in the US or UK, but not e-books, which is a pity as I don't see very well and being able to adjust the letter size is a great joy.

It's frustrating and infuriating.

[SmileOfTheShadow]

Read it last night. What a cool story. It's hard to pull off dark and whimsical at the same time, but he did. I don't recommend speed reading Harlan's work either.

[Joe Nazzaro]

You can buy The Essential Ellison on amazon.uk, which would probably take care of the problems you cited. They sell used copies that are priced quite reasonably, plus you're getting a thousand pages of vintage Ellison. Best bargain you're ever going to get.

[Joe Nazzaro]

Apologies, I didn't read back far enough to realize that Amazon uk wouldn't ship to continental Europe. I've also just realized that Marvel Comics ran an adaptation of the story in the black and white SF magazine, Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction. It was illustrated by Alex Nino and was extremely trippy.

[SmileOfTheShadow]

I've also just realized that Marvel Comics ran an adaptation of the story in the black and white SF magazine, Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction. It was illustrated by Alex Nino and was extremely trippy.

Now that, I'd like to see.

[Jan]

Harlan Ellison's suing to stop the release of the upcoming film "In Time" alleging copyright infringement of his story "Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman"

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/harlan-ellison-sues-claiming-foxs-235987

The suit (and story) mention that Harlan has allowed the story to be adapted to a screenplay but doesn't mention JMS by name. It's not clear whether Harlan's seen an advance screeing of "In Time" or not.

Jan

[JoeD80]

Richard Roeper had said this movie was based on Harlan's work and JMS asked him about it over twitter a few days ago. It sounded like Roeper got that information from an official outline, so this may be a situation like the offhand James Cameron comment with Terminator where someone accidentally mentioned their "inspiration".

[Joe Nazzaro]

I noticed that JMS asked on his Facebook page a few weeks ago if anybody had access to the film's press kit, so I guess it's making a bit more sense. Frankly, when I saw the trailer for the film recently, it felt much more like a thinly-veiled remake of Logan's Run to me.

[frulad]

The suit (and story) mention that Harlan has allowed the story to be adapted to a screenplay but doesn't mention JMS by name.

None of the reportage on the suit that I've read mentioned JMS.

[Jan]

None of the reportage on the suit that I've read mentioned JMS.

I doubt if anybody but the hard-core fans who read here or his FB page even know about it. And as far as the lawsuit is concerned, that part doesn't matter, only that the film might jeopardize that project.

Jan

[DeMonk]

Just as most english stuff it is "geographically restricted":(. I checked at borders.com, amazon, fictionwise... No way I can legally buy the e-book.
What a lousy system!

Update: I found an e-bookshop that sells his books to Belgium: it sells from the Netherlands: bol.com. They have several.

I don't know about Denmark, but it's worth a try... It's in Dutch though.

In case you're interested in the window "zoeken" (= search) just type Harlan Ellison. They have pocketbooks, hardcovers, audiobooks too. The e-books are labeled "digitaal boek".

[babylonlurker]

Update: I found an e-bookshop that sells his books to Belgium: it sells from the Netherlands: bol.com. They have several.

I don't know about Denmark, but it's worth a try... It's in Dutch though.

In case you're interested in the window "zoeken" (= search) just type Harlan Ellison. They have pocketbooks, hardcovers, audiobooks too. The e-books are labeled "digitaal boek".

Thanks for the info.

However, there is no way I will read an English language book *translated* into Dutch, or Danish for that matter. Not any more. Too much is lost in a translation. If I can I will read stuff in the original language.

- and, having lived in The Netherlands for quite a while I do speak and read Dutch, even if not quite at the level of my English.

If they can provide the English language version I will, of course be happy .

[DeMonk]

It's not a translation. It's in English.
I wouldn't have bothered if it was in Dutch.

[Joe Nazzaro]

I meant to post this before on the Harlan Ellison thread, but you can actually buy a lot of books from Ellison himself. Just send a SASE to the Harlan Ellisone Recording Collection (HERC), P.O. Box 55548, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413. They sell lots of stuff including original hardcover, paperback and audio releases. Looking at the current eight-page catalogue, they have a coffee table hardcover of 'Repent Harlequin' for just $20 and an audio version for $15. They also have a handful of foreign editions as well. I just bought the graphic novel version of Vic & Blood: The Chronicles of A Boy and His Dog and a hardcover of The Harlan Ellison Hornbook for just $35 plus tax and shipping. Just a week later, my order came in, with both books signed to me by Harlan. Personally, I don't think you can get a better deal than that. And for overseas readers, I can see there are foreign shipping rates of $5 per book, which I think is quite reasonable. Anyway, I know people have recently been looking for a place to get Ellison books, so buying copies from the author himself seems pretty cool to me.

[SmileOfTheShadow]

I meant to post this before on the Harlan Ellison thread, but you can actually buy a lot of books from Ellison himself. Just send a SASE to the Harlan Ellisone Recording Collection (HERC), P.O. Box 55548, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413. They sell lots of stuff including original hardcover, paperback and audio releases. Looking at the current eight-page catalogue, they have a coffee table hardcover of 'Repent Harlequin' for just $20 and an audio version for $15. They also have a handful of foreign editions as well. I just bought the graphic novel version of Vic & Blood: The Chronicles of A Boy and His Dog and a hardcover of The Harlan Ellison Hornbook for just $35 plus tax and shipping. Just a week later, my order came in, with both books signed to me by Harlan. Personally, I don't think you can get a better deal than that. And for overseas readers, I can see there are foreign shipping rates of $5 per book, which I think is quite reasonable. Anyway, I know people have recently been looking for a place to get Ellison books, so buying copies from the author himself seems pretty cool to me.

That's great news. No catalog online though? SASE is so 1990s!

[babylonlurker]

It's not a translation. It's in English.
I wouldn't have bothered if it was in Dutch.

Thanks, I will look into it.

[JasonDavis]

For anyone still seeking a copy of "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman," I can confirm that the story will be included in Harlan 101: Encountering Ellison, the next book from the same folks who did Brain Movies. And CafePress will be more than happy to ship it damn-near anywhere.

I don't have an exact date yet, but the book should be out soonish.

[SmileOfTheShadow]

For anyone still seeking a copy of "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman," I can confirm that the story will be included in Harlan 101: Encountering Ellison, the next book from the same folks who did Brain Movies. And CafePress will be more than happy to ship it damn-near anywhere.

I don't have an exact date yet, but the book should be out soonish.

1. Is the book edited by Jason Davis and if(1.=true)
2. Does Jason Davis send out autographed copies?

[JasonDavis]

1. Is the book edited by Jason Davis and if(1.=true)
2. Does Jason Davis send out autographed copies?

Yes to #1. No to #2; it's Harlan's book, so I don't feel it would really be appropriate...though you might convince me to scrawl something near my name on the copyright page if you caught me off guard at a con.

[OmahaStar]

Yes to #1. No to #2; it's Harlan's book, so I don't feel it would really be appropriate...though you might convince me to scrawl something near my name on the copyright page if you caught me off guard at a con.

Note to self - acquire one of Jason's blank checks before seeing him at a con ...

[Jan]

Note to self - acquire one of Jason's blank checks before seeing him at a con ...
Memo to OmahaStar: Autographs are never legal signatures. That'd be stupid. :p

Jan

[Jan]

For those interested, here's the actual complaint filed:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/65510308/Complaint-Harlan-Ellison-in-Time

Items 14 and 15 are the most interesting for this non-legal sort of person.

Jan

[Joe Nazzaro]

Thanks for the link, Jan. It makes for interesting reading. It will be interesting to see if the studio can win this case by basically arguing that A) resemblance between their film and Ellison's story are purely coincidental (a difficult sell) or B) confusing the issue by bringing in other examples of other stories that contain similar elements, thus trying to establish that there are no new ideas under the sun. On the other hand, if somebody explains the events of the Terminator case, they will probably realize that if James Cameron can't win against Ellison, they probably wouldn't have much of a chance either. I suspect that studio executives being what they are, they will probably think they can make this go away by threatening to litigate it to death, but if you look at Harlan's legal history, he never gives up and rarely if ever loses. In fact, I would be interested to know if he's ever lost a case or dropped it without settlement. My bet: a settlement the week before the film's release and an ambigious acknowledgement of the works of Harlan Ellsion tacked on to the home video release.

[Jan]

My bet: a settlement the week before the film's release and an ambigious acknowledgement of the works of Harlan Ellsion tacked on to the home video release.

Yeah, but I wonder if the fact that JMS has already written a screenplay for "Harlequin" might make this one more than seeking acknowledgement. Even though we like to slag Hollywood for copying everything under the sun, it seems to me that the acknowledgement would make it that much harder to sell JMS's screenplay. And that's the film I'd be wanting to see.

ETA: No matter what, the studio's gonna have to react fast since the suit was filed on Sept 14 and they've got 21 days (Oct. 5) to respond but the film's due to open on Oct. 28.

Jan

[Joe Nazzaro]

Actually Jan, you bring up a very good point. Since JMS would find it that much more difficult to sell his screenplay now, it would be another area in which to establish damages.

[Jan]

Just found this:

http://69.147.126.45/news/yahoo-contributor-network/harlan-ellison-just-time-get-credit-movie

I'm a little disappointed because I *really* want to see JMS's script made. Not that I expected the film to actually be stopped but....

Jan

[SmileOfTheShadow]

Just found this:

http://69.147.126.45/news/yahoo-contributor-network/harlan-ellison-just-time-get-credit-movie

I'm a little disappointed because I *really* want to see JMS's script made. Not that I expected the film to actually be stopped but....

Jan

Yeah, my friends who have seen the movie are comparing In Time to "Repent Harlequin" as if it's a dumbed down version, but pretty good. From what I hear. Definitely hurts the prospect of it getting made.

[Jan]

The lawsuit's not over and no settlement has been reached. From reading Harlan's Webderland page, it's become obvious that the stories making the rounds were incorrect. Harlan hasn't commented on it but [url=http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/8762/where-did-the-fake-harlan-ellison-story-come-from.html[/url] has a quote from Harlan's attorney:

"We have no idea where the story came from and have no further information," Thurston said. "As for Mr. Ellison, he has not and will not be commenting on litigation while it is pending."

Jan

[Jan]

No real information as to why, but here's a report that Harlan has dropped the suit against "In Time".

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/in-time-harlan-ellison-lawsuit-dropped-267567

Jan

[frulad]

I would guess that given the poor box office and critical reaction, Harlan realized that it was probably in his and a potential "Repent..." film adaption's best interests to NOT draw a connection between his story and the film.

[Jan]

This is what Harlan posted last night:

HARLAN ELLISON
- Thursday, December 1 2011 21:31:1
PART 2

2) Many, many of you have asked me about the progress of my plagiarim lawsuit againt the film "In Time" and its resemblance to "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman. The case is now settled, and I refer you to Jan's posting of yesterday, the front page headline on THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER labeled (EXCLUSIVE). The url, again (and thank you, Jan), is http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/in-time-harlan-ellison-lawsuit-dropped-267567. PLEASE READ IT VERY VERY CAREFULLY!Bearing in mind all you've read about the Action up till now, all I can say to answer ANY questions you may wish to ask is contained in the Agreed Joint Statement of the Settlement Agreement between the parties: PLEASE READ IT VERY VERY CAREFULLY!

"After seeing the film 'In Time', Harlan Ellison has decided voluntarily to dismiss the Action. No payment or screen credit
was promised or given to Harlan Ellison. The parties wish each other well, and have no further comment on the matter."

So don't ask. Reads carefully and all questions are answered.

Joe Straczynski's screenplay based on my multiple-award-winning "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" is back in play, for all interested producers, particularly at HBO.
It is a frabjous day calloo-callay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


(emphasis added by me (also one typo fixed))

Jan

[SmileOfTheShadow]

Yay. HBO, you reading?

They'd do a fabulous job.

[Joe Nazzaro]

Something tells me that when Ellison saw how inept the film actually was, it was probably better to distance rather than associate himself with it in any way. And since it disappeared virtually without a trace, it really did little to affect the viability of a 'Repent Harlequin' project.