"Time Is the Traitor" is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by Alfred Bester

Alfred Bester

Alfred Bester was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books...

 originally published in 1953

1953 in literature

The year 1953 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* January 22 - The Crucible, a drama by Arthur Miller, opens on Broadway....

. It is included in the Bester anthologies The Dark Side of the Earth (1964) and Virtual Unrealities

Virtual Unrealities

Virtual Unrealities is a collection of short stories by science fiction author Alfred Bester. Published in 1997 by Random House ISBN 0-679-76783-5, with an introduction by Robert Silverberg.Virtual Unrealities contains the stories:...

(1997). Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

 bought the film rights

Film rights

Film rights are the rights under copyright law to make a derivative work—in this case, a film—derived from an item of intellectual property. Under U.S...

 to the story in 1998. The movie is "In-Development

Development hell

In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...

" with producers Matthew McConaughey

Matthew McConaughey

Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor.After a series of minor roles in the early 1990s, McConaughey gained notice for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused . He then appeared in films such as A Time to Kill, Contact, U-571, Tiptoes, Sahara, and We Are Marshall...

 and Denise Di Novi

Denise Di Novi

Denise Di Novi is an American film producer.-Personal life:When she was three years old, Denise and her family moved to Los Angeles from New York, where her father Gene Di Novi - a musician - made music for the TV shows of Danny Thomas, Dick Van Dyke and Andy Griffith. Prior to that, Gene worked...

.

It is the story of John Strapp, the world's most powerful man, who is obsessed with finding a girl identical to his long-dead love, Sima Morgan.