Canadian director Vincenzo Natali (“Cube”) is set to make a film adaptation of William Gibson’s novel “Neuromancer,” THR reports.
The adaptation has gone through several different hands now, with Chris Cunningham developing a script over a decade ago. Author Gibson himself even stated that Cunningham would be his first choice, saying “[he is] My only choice. The only person I’ve met who I thought might have a hope in hell of doing it right.” It’s a shame this never panned out – Cunningham surely would have made one wacky sci-fi out of this.
“Moon” director Duncan Jones also once expressed interest in the project, but it eventually ended up in the hands of music video director Joseph Kahn. The Kahn directed feature would have starred Hayden Christensen in the lead, but with Natali stepping in, it is unclear whether Christensen is still on board for the feature.
‘Neuromancer,’ published in 1984, stands as one of the most influential pieces of science-fiction literature and was a seminal piece in the creation of the cyberpunk genre. The story centers on Henry Dorsett Case, a low-life ex-professional computer hacker who is employed by a mysterious corporation to perform a high level hack. It features then-innovative concepts such as transferrable consciousnesses, cyberspace, and even a virtual space called “the matrix” – sound familiar, anyone?
No word on when this one will film yet, but Natali is set to release his Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley-starring creature sci-fi/horror “Splice” on June 4th. Check out the trailer below: