Before recently, it had been five years since we’ve seen any major projects from filmmaker Charlie Kaufman. Now, as we approach the tail end of 2020, we not only have a brand-new novel, “Antkind,” from the writer, but we’re bracing ourselves for the release of “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” which is set to hit Netflix this fall. And at some point soon, “Chaos Walking,” which he co-wrote, will eventually hit theaters. That’s a lot of Kaufman goodness (or badness, as we still don’t know what the features will be like). However, the writer isn’t slowing down, as he explained in a new interview.
Speaking to the Chicago Humanities Festival, Kaufman was asked how he is keeping himself busy during the pandemic, as most people are still keeping relatively distant and staying indoors when possible. And for the writer, apparently, he’s got plenty of work to do, including some research for a possible adaptation of the novel, “The Memory Police.”
“I got jobs. I got a few jobs that I’m working on right now. So, I’m trying to focus on them,” explained Kaufman.
The writer added that he’s reading quite a bit. He was a bit reluctant to share details but said, “I don’t know if I should say. It’s a book that someone has approached me to write a screenplay for it. It’s called, ‘The Memory Police’… I’m liking it so far.”
“The Memory Police” is a 1994 novel by author Yōko Ogawa. The story follows a young woman that lives on an island that discovers that the Memory Police are erasing the inhabitants’ minds and letting them forget about losing certain items that seem to be inconsequential. It’s a trippy, sci-fi novel that would probably be a pretty great story for Kaufman to tackle, given his writing style.
It’s unclear who he is adapting this novel for or if even he’s going to take the job. However, if you’re a fan of the filmmaker’s work, this is a hint at what the future might hold.