BATTERY PARK, New York — In the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" books, the second smartest computer of all time has figured out the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. The answer is 42.

And darned if it doesn't seem like there have been 42 different versions of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," starting in 1978 with a BBC radio series, the subsequent novel, a BBC television mini-series and then various stage plays, video games, comic books and other multimedia interpretations and spin-offs.

"It was never (the late author Douglas Adams') intention to have just one definitive version of 'Hitchhiker's Guide,' " said Adams' longtime friend Robbie Stamp. "It was always meant to change with times and tastes."

Stamp also said that it was Adams' wish that there be a film version of "Hitchhiker's Guide," though, ironically, it's taken nearly 42 years for that to happen.

"It was one of the great frustrations in his life that this material that seemed so well-suited to a feature film just couldn't get made," said Stamp, who also served as one of the producers on the new science-fiction comedy, which opened worldwide today. (Some of "Hitchhikers' " cast and filmmakers were interviewed by the Deseret Morning News during a press gathering in New York's Ritz Carlton Hotel.)

The film had several false starts over the years, one of them occurring just after the first book became an international best-seller in 1980. But it was Adams himself who scrapped that version, which involved Columbia Pictures and director Ivan Reitman (who went on to direct the 1984 smash hit "Ghostbusters.")

Stamp said the whole process appeared to come to an end when Adams died of a heart attack in 2001. But his widow, Jane Belson, urged Stamp to see the project through to the end.

Enter screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick ("Chicken Run"), who was brought in to work on Adams' seemingly unworkable script treatment.

"Douglas' script was unbelievably funny," Kirkpatrick said, "but it was a bit of a mess, too. It was a lot like the books, which are very idea-driven. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's not ideal for movies, which are plot-driven."

So Kirkpatrick worked to give the story a shape and some direction while preserving the unique voice of Adams. "Never mind the fans, I would never have forgiven myself if I hadn't done my best to make this sound like Douglas' work."

In fact, he brought back things from the first book that Adams himself had excised from the script. "I don't know that we could have done a movie without the whale scene. Those who have read the books will know what I mean," he said with a laugh.