Before the upcoming remake of Total Recall, or even the original Paul Verhoeven film, body horror genius David Cronenberg was in line to create the film adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s classic short “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale.” For the first time, artist Ron Miller has released some of the work he and his wife did on the Cronenberg version, which was apparently so different from the eventual Verhoeven one that it was once proposed as a sequel.
David Cronenberg’s ‘Total Recall’: concept art from the film that never was
Artist Ron Miller has released concepts from David Cronenberg’s version of the film that would become Paul Verhoeven’s “Total Recall.”
Artist Ron Miller has released concepts from David Cronenberg’s version of the film that would become Paul Verhoeven’s “Total Recall.”
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
The movie Miller describes would have given a much larger role to mutant leader Kuato, including “an elaborate dream sequence where he morphed first into the sphinx and then into a kind of phosphorescent vagina.” It also would have featured agents with guns inside their bodies and — best of all — imported Earth-bred camels wearing respirators. Head over to io9 for concept art and balsa wood models from Cronenberg’s project.
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