The Wish Machine (Russian: Маши́на жела́ний, Mashína zhelániy, literally "Machine of wishes"), also called Stalker, is a screenplay by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky for the 1979 movie Stalker that in turn is based on the fourth chapter of their 1972 novel Roadside Picnic, published in Avrora issues 7–9.
Tarkovsky's volunteer secretary Marianna Chugunova claimed that in total 12 or 13 variants of the screenplay were considered.Ant Skalandis (), Машина желаний. Стругацкие и Тарковский; the article details the history of the creation of the screenplay
Two versions of the story were published: an early draft, printed by Text Publishers;Kindle edition. The blurb says it is one of the first scenarios, rather remote from the film. and a later version published in issue 25 of Сборник научной фантастики (1981),Сборник научной фантастики. Выпуск 25 at fantlab.ru which was also translated and published abroad:
In French: Stalker. Pique-nique au bord du chemin (1981) by Svetlana Delmotte In Polish: Maszyna życzeń, by Paweł Porwit in: Kwazar 01 (13) 1983Аркадий и Борис Стругацкие «Машина желаний» at fantlab.ru In Hungarian: Stalker (1984) by Iván Földeák In Swedish: Stalker (1987) by Kjell Rehnström and Sam J. LundwallLibris: Stalker
References