The Variable Man
Science Fiction • Time Travel • Adventure
In the year 2236, humanity has learned to predict the future.
Every decision. Every risk. Every outcome.
Then Thomas Cole arrives.
Accidentally ripped from 2021 and thrown more than two centuries into the future, Cole enters Terran civilization where machines calculate everything—and people have forgotten how to improvise.
But the machines can’t predict him.
With humanity preparing for an interstellar war whose outcome depends entirely on statistical probability, one ordinary handyman becomes the most dangerous man alive.
They could predict everything. Except him..
Logline
When a brilliant but unconventional handyman is accidentally transported from 2021 to a technologically advanced future governed by predictive machines, his instinctive ability to solve problems makes him an unpredictable variable capable of changing the outcome of an interstellar war—and the future of humanity itself.
About the Screenplay
The Variable Man, based on the public domain novella by Philip K. Dick, is a science-fiction adventure exploring a future where humanity has become so dependent upon technology, specialization, and statistical prediction that the ability to improvise has nearly disappeared.
In 2021, Thomas Cole is an obsessive inventor and handyman who proudly claims he can fix anything. While experimenting with a homemade electromagnetic device in his garage, Cole is caught in a temporal accident and transported more than two hundred years into the future.
He awakens in 2236.
Earth—now Terra—is an extraordinarily advanced civilization governed by efficiency, technology, and prediction. A powerful Statistical Report Builder (SRB) calculates the probabilities behind everything from government policy to interstellar warfare.
Terra is preparing for war with Proxima Centaurus, and Security Commissioner Darin Reinhart believes a revolutionary weapon called Icarus will finally tip the statistical odds in humanity’s favor.
Then Cole arrives.
Suddenly, the machines can no longer predict the future.
To Terra’s computers, Cole is an impossible anomaly—a variable man whose decisions cannot be extrapolated because he doesn’t think like the people of the twenty-third century. Where their society depends upon specialized systems, Cole works through intuition, experience, curiosity, and the simple human instinct to take something apart and figure out why it doesn’t work.
Reinhart sees him as a threat that must be eliminated.
Scientist Peter Sherikov sees something entirely different.
He sees the one man capable of finishing Icarus.
But when Cole gets his hands on the machine, he doesn’t simply repair what the future has built. He unknowingly changes its purpose—and transforms a weapon designed to win a war into something capable of opening the universe to humanity.
The Variable Man combines time travel, futuristic adventure, political intrigue, and classic speculative science fiction in a story about the danger of allowing technology to make every decision for us—and the uniquely human value of imagination, intuition, and unpredictability.
Screenplay Details
Author: James Leach
Based On: The Variable Man by Philip K. Dick
Genre: Science Fiction • Time Travel • Adventure
Format: Feature Screenplay
Page Count: [Page Count]
Setting: Earth / Terra
Time Period: 2021 / 2236
Status: Completed / Available for Option
Available Materials
Screenplay
Synopsis
Treatment
Character Sketches
Pitch materials / Storyboards
About the Screenwriter — James Leach
James “JC” Leach is a U.S. Air Force veteran, technical writer, and screenwriter who has been developing original screenplays since 2008. His work spans historical drama, military and geopolitical thrillers, science fiction, suspense, horror, and stories inspired by real events.
With a professional background in technical writing, instructional design, and simulation development, JC brings extensive research, technical authenticity, and a disciplined approach to storytelling. His military experience in electronic warfare and aviation provides an additional foundation for stories involving military operations, technology, and high-stakes environments.
JC has developed a diverse portfolio of feature-length screenplays. His work includes original material as well as two adaptations of public-domain literary works, giving him experience translating existing stories into cinematic narratives.
He is currently adapting his screenplay portfolio into novels, expanding his stories across both film and publishing. JC is interested in connecting with producers, representation, and creative collaborators seeking distinctive, character-driven material with strong cinematic potential.
JAMES LEACH Author • Screenwriter 