If you believe hugo howeythe television adaptation of his trilogy of post-apocalyptic books Silo may never be released, despite millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours AppleTV+ has launched into production. Sure, the dystopian drama starred Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Robbins, and Rashida Jones and was produced by Justified Graham Yost, creator, has a May 5 premiere date, and the show has already premiered in Cannes and London, but the author isn’t ready to say it’s a done deal just yet.
“To be honest,” Howey says, “it’s still a gradual process. I think it will probably reach me on June 30, the day the finale airs. Even when I first walked on the set of the show in England, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, are we really doing this?’
It’s an understandable sentiment, given SiloThe long way from the screen. The series first came about through a short story, “Wool”, in 2011, which gradually grew in size, scope and popularity as more of Howey’s universe began to be developed through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing system. In 2012, 20th Century Fox acquired the option and it was made into a feature film, with Ridley Scott attached as one of the producers. That deal fell through thanks to Disney’s acquisition of Fox, and the project shifted to series limbo at AMC.
A couple of years later, it moved once more to Apple TV+, where Yost, Ferguson, and director Morten Tyldum (the imitation game) were attached, and the rest is history. This month, fans will be plunged into a world of underground crime, intrigue, and falsehood, all buried deep underground. WIRED spoke with Howey about Silolong gestation, the recent wave of AI maniaand why everyone has dystopian fever.
WIRED: You have been working on a possible Silo adaptation for more than a decade. How does it feel to finally have this in the world?
Hugh Howey: In the last week, I have been very emotional. In the past, I was concerned that readers would be satisfied and if we could get people who are not familiar with the books interested in the show. But about a week ago, I started getting the first messages from people who had seen all 10 episodes, and everyone who contacted me was excited.
He has written extensively on artificial intelligence, including a piece you did for WIRED. Where are you now with AI?
I think there’s a mix of excitement and fear right now, but I’m leaning more towards excitement. I think the people I’ve talked to who are scared didn’t realize this was going to happen.
It’s really exploded into the public consciousness in the last few months, but it’s something you’ve been thinking for years.
I’ve been writing and blogging about this for a while, though I said I didn’t know when the timing would be. I think in my blog three or four years ago, I said that in the next 10 years, a computer would write a book that would be indistinguishable from that of a human author. Some people didn’t buy that, and now they’re really scared, whereas I’ve been gradually growing more comfortable with the idea for over a decade.
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