After Watchmen, What’s Unfilmable?

Neuromancer
Writer: William Gibson

Lame excuse: Too legendary. If Gravity’s Rainbow is the last literary titan standing, then William Gibson’s world-beating Neuromancer is the first sci-fi colossus to beat when it comes to the cinema crossover. A mash of punk, technology, noir and metaphysics, it one-upped Pynchon’s challenging masterpiece by being both accessible and mind-blowing, ushering in the 21st century before its time.

With a hacker antihero in Case, and a supporting cast made up of unhinged cyborgs and desperate gangsters, Gibson’s award-winning page-turner rebooted not just speculative fiction, but sci-fi cinema as we know it. He’s even rebooted himself: His not-great 1995 adaptation of Johnny Mnemonic, starring a clumsy Keanu Reeves, was upgraded into a mirrored money-machine called The Matrix. And yeah, that ended clumsily as well, but it all points out the obvious.

William Gibson is due. He’s so due.

William Gibson’s seminal Neuromancer is in development (again).Image courtesy Seven Arts Pictures

We need to live in a century where William Gibson helps turn Neuromancer into a better film than the three made by two Wachowski brothers hypnotized by the meatspace merge. That century is now, actually: Neuromancer has been on Seven Arts Pictures’ front burner for around a year now, and looks set to roll with Torque director Joseph Kahn in the hot seat.

Wait, a young hotshot commercial and video director taking on a culturally important monster narrative? Where have we heard this before?

So it’s with pride that I throw my money down on Neuromancer, an easy bet given the chatter. We’ll try and corner the press-shy Seven Arts Pictures to back up that bet, and report what we learn. But of all the candidates on this list, it seems Gibson’s classic is on the fast track to make history and move units.

Chance in hell? Oh yeah. Turn on, jack in, good luck.

This article appeared at Wired

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