Sumith Prasad
The much-awaited television adaptation of William Gibson’s cyberpunk novel ‘Neuromancer’ is finally materializing at Apple TV+. The project will start filming in September in Spain and London, England. Graham Roland serves as the showrunner of the science-fiction series, and J.D. Dillard is on board as a director. Callum Turner headlines the cast.
Set in the near future, the show revolves around Case (Turner), an out-of-work hacker who is contacted by a mysterious new employer called Armitage. Along with Molly, a mercenary cyborg, and a thief/illusionist named Peter Riviera, he commits a series of data thefts for their employer. Their first job has them stealing an electronic copy of the mind of McCoy Pauley, a brilliant hacker who taught Case a great deal of what he knows. They steal this electronic mind to help them in performing their next job.
As the narrative progresses, Case and his group head to Freeside, an enormous space habitat in orbit around Earth. Freeside serves as a luxury resort and casino for the wealthy, and it is also the location of Villa Straylight, the home of the incredibly wealthy and powerful Tessier-Ashpool family. The group’s second job is to break into the Villa Straylight and hack into Wintermute, a powerful artificial intelligence created by the Tessier-Ashpool family.
As the plot concludes, it turns out that Wintermute itself is behind the whole scheme. Government regulations put careful restrictions on artificial intelligence to prevent them from getting out of hand, and Wintermute was using Armitage and his team to break those restrictions. This allows Wintermute to merge with another AI called Neuromancer, becoming a new, more powerful electronic being.
Roland is known for creating Prime Video’s action thriller series ‘Jack Ryan,’ starring John Krasinski and based on the “Ryanverse” created by Tom Clancy. He also created AMC’s psychological thriller series ‘Dark Winds,’ based on the ‘Leaphorn & Chee’ novel series by Tony Hillerman. His credits include acclaimed shows such as ‘Lost,’ ‘Prison Break,’ and ‘Fringe’ as well.
Dillard helmed the biographical drama ‘Devotion,’ starring Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell. His television credits as a director include Prime Video’s ‘Utopia,’ Paramount+’s horror fantasy ‘The Twilight Zone,’ and HBO’s horror mystery ‘The Outsider.’
Turner portrayed Maj. John “Bucky” Egan in the war series ‘Masters of the Air’ and Joe Rantz in George Clooney’s sports drama ‘The Boys in the Boat.’ In ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,’ he played Theseus Scamander. His recent credits include ‘The Last Letter from Your Lover’ and ‘Divine.’
Gibson’s ‘Neuromancer’ was published in 1984. The novel ended up winning numerous prestigious awards, becoming the only novel to win the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award. The book was followed by ‘Count Zero’ in 1986 and ‘Mona Lisa Overdrive’ in 1988, forming the ‘Sprawl’ trilogy.
Spain, a principal location of the series, previously hosted the filming of BBC’s ‘Doctor Who’ and Netflix’s ‘Black Mirror.’ On the other hand, London is a significant location of Netflix’s ‘One Day’ and Apple TV+’s ‘Masters of the Air.’
Read More: Naomi Watts and Tye Sheridan’s The Housewife Begins Filming in Queens in June
