Dystopian Sci-Fi Movie Based on Iconic Emerson, Lake & Palmer Song in Works

The adaptation of Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s song has secured a director and screenwriter. A classic progressive rock epic is finding new life as a dystopian sci-fi thriller.

The film comes from Radar Pictures, reportedly with the cooperation of the band’s management and surviving members.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s classic prog-rock song being adapted into a movie

A popular Emerson, Lake & Palmer song is being adapted into a movie, Variety reported. It draws its name and thematic core from “Karn Evil 9,” the sprawling half-hour track from the band’s 1973 album, Brain Salad Surgery. Written by Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, and lyricist Peter Sinfield, the piece fused rock, classical motifs, and futuristic dread in a way that had no clear precedent in popular music. Its album cover, designed by H.R. Giger, became an enduring image of the era.

Moreover, the official synopsis hints that the story complements contemporary anxieties. “When Zak, a brilliant but troubled musical prodigy, is invited to perform at a major music festival simulcast in the world’s most popular video game, he is shocked to discover the game’s mysterious creator may be using him to promote a terrifying new technology. In a harrowing twist, our hero comes to believe that this technology may be of inestimable benefit to humanity. And he is hunted by ruthless, anti-technology mercenaries.”

Isaac Ezban, the Mexican filmmaker behind the acclaimed thriller The Incident, will direct. Tim Hedrick, a veteran writer on Avatar: The Last Airbender, has penned the screenplay.

Ezban described the project in vivid terms. “This is, quite literally, a miracle of a movie and just the kind of movie I had always dreamt of directing,” he said in a statement. Hedrick argued that “Karn Evil 9″ functions as a cultural precursor to landmark sci-fi films. “‘Karn Evil 9’ predates ‘The Matrix’ and ‘The Terminator,’ but it anticipates both of those films, as well as our present moment of technological chaos. I can’t wait to explore this world.”

(Source: Variety)

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