Logan's Run


Logan's Run is a novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, the novel depicts a dystopic ageist future society in which both population and the consumption of resources are maintained in equilibrium by requiring the death of everyone reaching the age of 21. The story follows the actions of Logan, a Sandman charged with enforcing the rule, as he tracks down and kills citizens who "run" from society's lethal demand—only to end up "running" himself.

Plot

The introduction to the book says:
In the world of 2116, a person's maximum age is strictly legislated: 21 years, to the day. When people reach this Lastday they report to a Sleepshop in which they are willingly executed via a pleasure-inducing toxic gas. A person's age is revealed by their palm flower crystal embedded in the palm of their right hand that changes color every seven years; yellow, then blue, then red, then blinks red and black on Lastday, and finally turns black at 21.
Runners are those who refuse to report to a Sleepshop and attempt to avoid their fate by escaping to Sanctuary—a place where they can live freely in defiance of society's dictates. Logan 3 is a Deep Sleep Operative whose job is to terminate Runners using a special weapon called simply 'the gun', a handgun with selectable ordnance keyed to self-destruct if touched by an individual who is not the proper owner. Runners are most terrified of a weapon called the 'Homer', which homes in on body heat and ignites every pain nerve in the body, killing the target.
Sandmen practice Omnite, a hybrid type of martial arts. On his own Lastday, Logan becomes a Runner himself in an attempt to infiltrate an apparent underground railroad for runners seeking Sanctuary.
For most of the book, Logan is an antihero; however, his character develops a sympathy towards Runners, and he becomes more of a traditional hero figure.
Jessica 6, a contact that Logan made after he chased her Runner brother, Doyle 10, into Cathedral, where he was killed by the vicious, pre-teen "Cubs", helps him, despite her initial distrust of him.
Francis, another Sandman, and friend of Logan, catches up with Logan and Jessica after they have managed to make it to the final-staging area before Sanctuary. Francis reveals that his true identity is that of the legendary Ballard, who has been helping arrange their escape. Francis tells them he is actually aged 42, but due to his faulty palm flower, which does not change colour and through use of plastic-surgery shops, he has been able to disguise his true age and appearance. He is working from within the system, as he believes the computer controlling the global infrastructure, buried beneath Crazy Horse Mountain, is beginning to malfunction, and the society will die with it.
Sanctuary turns out to be Argos, a previously abandoned space colony near Mars.
Logan and Jessica escape to the colony on a rocket, which departs from a former space program launch site in Florida, while Ballard remains to help others escape.

Sequels and spin-offs

Nolan wrote two sequels, Logan's World and Logan's Search, published after the film's release. There is also a novelette, Logan's Return, that was published as an e-book in 2001. Two other novels, Logan's Journey and Logan Falls, have been co-written, but not yet published.
Logan's World deals with events following Logan's return to Earth, amidst the survivors and ruins of the system he escaped in the first novel, while Logan's Search deals with Logan going to an alternate reality to once again stop the government system he escaped in the first novel, albeit with some minor changes.
George Clayton Johnson's long-rumored personal sequel to Logan's Run, titled Jessica's Run: A New Sequel for the Logan's Run Universe, was said to be "in development". It was still in development at the time of George Clayton Johnson's death on Christmas Day 2015.

Reception

gave Logan's Run two stars out of four and praised the novel as "a good SF thriller"; he also stated it was superior to the film version.

Adaptations

Film

The novel was adapted in 1976 as a film, directed by Michael Anderson and starring Michael York as Logan 5, Jenny Agutter as Jessica 6, and Richard Jordan as Francis 7. The film was produced by Saul David, a former MGM executive and well-known science fiction supporter. The film only uses the basic premise from the novel.
The film's world is a post-apocalyptic, dystopian one, in which people now live inside a huge domed city and are oblivious to the world outside, believing it to be a barren, poisonous environment. The motivations of the characters are also quite differentin the film, the age of planned death is 30instead of reporting to a Sleepshop, citizens must take part in a ritual called in which they are incinerated with the chance of being "renewed". Logan is a 26-year-old Sandman, sent by the computer to find and destroy Sanctuary. The computer alters his palm flower to show him as approaching Lastday, and he becomes a runner and escapes from the city.
Sanctuary turns out not to exist. The only other person that Logan and Jessica encounter outside the city is an old man who lives with a large number of cats in the Senate Chamber of the largely intact ruins of Washington, D.C.. Logan kills Francis, who is simply a Sandman in the movie and not a rebel leader, and leads the old man back to remain just outside the domed city, returning to try to lead a revolt against the culling. No one believes or listens to him or Jessica, and instead he is captured by Sandmen. In his interrogation by the computer, his information of there being no Sanctuary causes the computer to malfunction and self-destruct. Logan and Jessica then flee.
As the young population leave the confines of the burning and exploding domed city, they meet the old man outsidethe first time they have seen anybody of that age.

Remake

Though a remake has not yet been produced, talk of a remake has been discussed almost continuously from the mid-1990s until as recently as 2015.
In the mid-1990s, Warner Bros. began development of a remake of the movie. In April 2000, director Skip Woods entered negotiations with the studio and producer Joel Silver to write and direct the remake. The director planned to make it closer to the novel than the original film, restoring elements including Crazy Horse Mountain and sky gypsies. In March 2004, director Bryan Singer was brought in to develop and direct Logan's Run. Singer had begun working with production designer Guy Dyas from his previous film X2. Screenwriters Ethan Gross and Paul Todisco were hired to write the script with the director, with the film being slated for a 2005 release. In October, the director said he had begun previsualization of Logan's Run, which would be completed by the time he finished production of his project at the time, Superman Returns. The following December, screenwriter Dan Harris said that he and the director had turned in a first draft for Logan's Run. Harris said that further development of the project would take place in Sydney after production for Superman Returns, for which he also collaborated, was finalized. The screenwriter said that the remake would contain more action than the original film, describing the premise to be "a remake of the concept of the movie plus the book".
In February 2005, screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie was hired to rewrite the script, with filming to take place in Australia. In February 2006, Logan's Run was scheduled to begin production in September/October 2006 in Vancouver. The following May, Singer's availability to direct Logan's Run was rendered questionable by scheduling conflicts with filming the sequel to Superman Returns. By May, Singer confirmed that he would not direct Logan's Run, seeking a vacation from the demands of his job. Directors Robert Schwentke and James McTeigue were approached for the project, but neither ultimately signed on.
In August 2006, production offices for Logan's Run were taken over by the production for the 2008 box office bomb Speed Racer. In April 2007, producer Joel Silver reiterated his plan to remake the original film. The following July, Silver said that since Singer's departure, no new director had come aboard the project. In August 2007, the project was reinvigorated with Joseph Kosinski hired as the new director and a new script being written by screenwriter Timothy J. Sexton. Kosinski had made a presentation to Warner Bros. including graphic art and animated previsualization that illustrated his plan for the film, whose low budget appealed to the studio. No progress was made, and Kosinski moved on to make .
In May and June 2010, Carl Erik Rinsch was hired to direct, and screenwriter Alex Garland was hired to write the film. Rinsch ultimately pulled out of the project due to scheduling conflicts. As of August 2011, Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn was attached to direct the remake starring actor Ryan Gosling and Rose Byrne with screenwriter Andrew Baldwin. In October 2012, Justin Kroll of Variety tweeted that Gosling was no longer attached to the project. As of June 2013, video game developer Ken Levine, creator of the Bioshock series, was confirmed to be attached to write the screenplay. On April 6, 2015, it was revealed from The Tracking Board that the latest concept for the film was based on a female lead.

Television

A television series spin-off from the film, starring Gregory Harrison as Logan 5 and Heather Menzies as Jessica 6, lasted one season of 14 episodes, from September 16, 1977, through January 16, 1978, on U.S. television. D. C. Fontana served as story editor and employed several other writers from , as well as the original novel's authors. The series pilot was produced by Saul David, who was replaced by CBS with veteran television producers Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts.

Other adaptations