Origins

'Total Recall' is one of the most beloved sci-fi movies of all time, but the story could be found on the page before it ever became a Hollywood classic.

The flick is based on the 1966 novelette 'We Can Remember It for You Wholesale' by Philip K. Dick, and it wasn't long before screenwriters began looking to adapt the book for the big screen.

Nine years later, Ronald Shusett and Dan O'Bannon purchased the rights to the story, and began working on a screenplay.

However, the pair took a break from the project after finding the story a challenge to adapt, and instead turned they attention to another script which would ultimately become Ridley Scott's 'Alien'.