53 Years Later, One Underrated Sci-Fi Masterpiece Is Becoming A Movie

"The story follows a young, bedridden girl who agrees to remotely control a genetically engineered 15-year-old girl and use it to influence the masses in a dystopian world where advertising is illegal. Thatcher will star as Philadelphia "P." Burke, the controller, and Delphi, her "puppet.""

"Sheldon is one of the most fascinating sci-fi authors ever: she never made any public appearances, but kept up plenty of correspondence as Tiptree, including becoming pen pals with Ursula K. Le Guin. She continued to use the pen name even after her true identity was revealed until she mortally shot her husband and then herself in 1987."

"Sheldon's - or, rather, Tiptree's - works usually concerned themselves with second-wave feminism, something that was affected by the male pen name. The Girl Who Was Plugged In is written from the point of view of a smarmy, male narrator"

A film adaptation of James Tiptree Jr.'s 1973 novella The Girl Who Was Plugged In is in development with director Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) set to write and direct. Sophie Thatcher will play dual roles: Philadelphia Burke, a bedridden girl who remotely controls Delphi, a genetically engineered 15-year-old designed to influence masses in a dystopian society where advertising is illegal. The novella was written by Alice B. Sheldon under the pen name James Tiptree Jr., a reclusive author known for exploring second-wave feminist themes. The adaptation arrives during a renaissance of female-led sci-fi horror films, continuing a tradition of speculative fiction exploring feminist perspectives.

Read at Inverse