Both the novel that you have just read and the man who wrote it, changed my life forever--twice.
Now, I realize that is a rather extreme statement--and film producers are known to succumb to hyperbole every now and then--but, in this case, it is, if anything, an understatement. To better explain, I need to go back to meeting Richard Matheson, twenty-two years ago.
In January 1976,1 was twenty-nine years old and looking for a job in the movie business. A friend recommended I read a book named Bid Time Return, by Richard Matheson. As soon as I finished the book, I knew I had to get in the movie business right away so I could produce the film version of the book. A month later, I managed to get myself hired by a film producer named Ray Stark as his assistant. My very first phone call on my very first day of work was to Richard's agent to arrange to meet Richard.
The next week, we met for lunch at an old restaurant in Burbank named Sorrentino's. We became instant friends and, in a handshake, he promised we could work out a deal to develop Bid Time Return as a film. It took three years, but the collaboration bore fruit. In 1979, I produced my first film--Somewhere in Time, based on Bid Time Return. (Richard wrote the screenplay as well.) During those three years, Richard became a loving and patient mentor, introducing me to the concepts of metaphysics and consciousness and changing my perspectives on what it truly may mean to be human; hence the first time Richard and his work changed my life.
(I have recently been amused to hear from Somewhere in Time devotees that someone named Stephen Simon is claiming to have produced Somewhere in Time when the listed producer is Stephen Deutsch. To clarify this, only recently have I legally returned to my birth name of "Simon" from my adopted name of "Deutsch." So Deutsch did produce Somewhere in Time, but now he is Simon, or perhaps I should say Simon produced Somewhere in Time, but he was Deutsch. . . . Well, anyway, you get the idea.)
Just before we commenced pre-production of Somewhere in Time (late 1978), Richard asked me if I wanted to read the galleys of a new book he had written. Of course, I was thrilled. Early that evening, I read What Dreams May Come for the first time. I read it in one sitting and cried--no, sobbed--all the way through. When I finished, I felt like I had gone through an initiation into mysteries of love and life that I had been looking for forever. I didn't sleep that night. In the wee hours, I read the book again, and sobbed through it again. In that moment, I became a conscious metaphysician and a man determined to find a way to bring the most unique love story ever written to the screen; hence, the second time Richard and his work changed my life.
The next morning, I rushed to Richard's house to hug him, thank him, and beg him to "let me run" with What Dreams May Come, that is, pursue it as a film. Richard had been very pleased with Somewhere in Time so that, combined with his recognition of and his bemusement with my obsessive passion to do it, convinced Richard to make another handshake deal with me. And, I assured him, it "wouldn't take three years this time." Well, I was kind of right--it's taken nineteen years! My partner, Bar-net Bain, and I have now produced the screen version of What Dreams May Come through our production company, Metafilmics, in association with Ted Field's Inter-scope Communications. The film was financed and will be distributed worldwide by PolyGram. It stars Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Annabella Sciorra, and Max von Sydow and was directed by Vincent Ward, who most recently directed another wonderful love story entitled Map of the Human Heart. Academy Award-winning screenwriter, Ron Bass (Rainman), adapted the book for the screen.
The tale of those nineteen years is, obviously, another story. Suffice it now to say that both Ted Field (Interscope Communications) and Michael Kuhn (PolyGram) are major heroes in the saga.
So to the book itself, why my passion? Why has it become such a "cult" classic that it has changed people's lives? First, and I believe foremost, it is a powerful and totally original love story. It is said that the keys to a great love story are the obstacles-which the lovers must overcome; further, the biggest challenge of a story which transpires in the afterlife is the question of jeopardy. What sure jeopardy can there be if one cannot die? Richard's genius addressed both of the issues in one bold and innovative plot development.
Second, the bold way in which Richard creates a whole cosmology in the afterlife giving the reader the opportunity to truly experience a whole world--not just glimpses through the "tunnel," but a whole world.
Third, over the years, I've participated in and witnessed another phenomenon about the book. Many people have read this book for the first time literally as they entered the last days or even hours of their lives. For example, the mother of a dear friend of mine was dying of cancer. The woman was terrified of death because she had never been exposed to a belief system which held life as a passage between incarnations and other realms of consciousness. I gave this book to my friend who read it and passed it on to her mother. Her mother's entire demeanor changed. Her fear passed. When she did "cross over" a few days later, my friend was at her side and reported to me that her mother was peaceful and even anticipatory in those last few moments; further, my friend had the distinct impression that her mother's spirit lingered in the room to comfort my friend and let her know that all was well with her mother. Now when a work of art (as this book truly is) can help a reader transcend life itself, it deserves to be viewed in a very special light all its own.
What Dreams May Come is a truly visionary novel written by a visionary author at the top of his powers. We need to remember that the self-examination and consciousness of the 90s didn't exist twenty years ago when Richard wrote the book. Today, every branch of the entertainment industry acknowledges and embraces themes is Richard's writings. In music today, the record stores have whole areas devoted to Enya, Yanni, when twenty years ago, it was a corner bin in the back--maybe. Remember? In the world of books today, The Celestine Prophecy sells twelve million copies, Deepak Chopra's books sell way into the millions, and the bookstores and bestseller lists are replete with such books. Twenty years ago, you had to go to specialty bookstores to find "that" kind of material. And, in my industry, there are a lot of good reasons why I couldn't find financing for the film until now--neither the industry nor the world was ready for Richard's version of twenty years ago, until now.
Richard Matheson saw a lot of this coming. He sensed the approaching awareness of our era, the questions he knew would be asked about the nature of existence, and he wrote a truly evolutionary novel. Into it, he suffused his love for his wonderful wife, Ruth. Only someone who loves as deeply as Richard loves Ruth could write the epic love story depicted in these pages.
Over the years, Richard and I have laughed--and cried, that he wrote a novel that was way ahead of its time. He did. Wonderfully, though, unlike others before him, Richard is still very much around to see his vision recognized and come to fruition. This special edition and the film about to be released validate and recognize Richard's genius. The vision and the visionary converge in the magical illusion we call life.
If you want to know what issues humanity will be facing twenty years from now, there's a guy sitting at his desk in Southern California who has, I assure you, already seen that world. In fact, he's probably writing about it as you read this.
I can think of no greater honor than being asked to write this afterword about an extraordinary adventure into love and life.
--Stephen Simon
