Oscar-winning film-maker Charlie Kaufman has been hired to write the screenplay for science fiction adaptation IQ83, reports Deadline. Starring Steve Carell as a scientist battling to find a cure for a virus that causes dementia before his own intellect dwindles to nothing, the film is being billed as the 21st century’s answer to Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 1964 satire Doctor Strangelove.
IQ83 is based on the 1978 novel by Arthur Herzog which tells of a global pandemic caused by a new disease that gradually reduces its victims’ intelligence levels. Presidents are reduced to mumbling, drooling zombies while announcing plans to combat the virus live on TV, and city crowds devolve rapidly into packs of dumb animals.
Herzog, who died in 2010 at the age of 83, is known for his novels The Swarm and Orca, both of which were made into 1970s horror movies. However, Hollywood’s efforts to translate IQ83 for the big screen have foundered despite repeated efforts by a variety of screenwriters over the past 20 years. Kaufman’s appointment is said to mark a shift from attempts to adapt the book as a serious drama towards a more satirical, quirky approach for which the screenwriter and director seems well suited.
The New York-born film-maker won his Oscar for best original screenplay for another offbeat science fiction effort, 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He is also known as the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of 1999’s Being John Malkovich and 2002’s Adaptation, as well as the director of 2008’s Synecdoche New York.
Deadline’s report suggests producers will wait to see if Kaufman can finally crack IQ83 before approaching directors. Carell, currently Oscar-tipped for the Cannes smash Foxcatcher, looks a perfect fit to add awards season credentials should the movie make it to the production stage.
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