Images From The Neuromancer Movie That Almost Happened
If you’ve been anxiously awaiting any sort of news out of the Neuromancer movie or television adaptation, well, it’s been a long and winding road.
Ever since the William Gibson classic came out back in 1984, fans have been wanting something to hit the big or small screen to bring this world to life.
Back in 2012, it sure looked like it was actually going to happen. Vincenzo Natali‘s had real legs to it. There was casting news, a script and even concept art. It sure seemed like we were a full go for this thing.
At the time, GFM films released some concept art and a little bit of news that confirmed rumors about possible casting. It wasn’t much, but for the first time something solid seemed to be coming out of the film’s development.
Check out what came out at the time for the possible Neuromancer movie adaptation.
The first artwork itself was just a moody picture of someone’s tattooed back. According to Bleeding Cool, the artwork was by Amro Attai an artist who has worked with Vincenzo Natali before.
The image first appeared on Attai’s blog. While all of the other pictures on his blog were monster designs (some from his work on Splice), the Neuromancer concept art was posted along side another image that seems to be from the same production.
The second piece showed someone in a hoodie in a setting lit with neon signs. It could certainly have been Neuromancer’s protagonist, Case. But as with the first image, its ambiguous enough to be anyone in a cyberpunk setting.
As far as casting news went, GFM Films confirmed that they had offered “pay or play” deals to Liam Neeson for the role of Armitage and Mark Wahlberg for Case.
A pay or play deal basically meant the actor would get paid even if the movie fell through. So, what the heck happened here? Why did the Neuromancer movie not come out at the time?
Well, things seemed to be progressing nicely. Vincenzo Natali was directing, the script was penned and they were negotiating deals for casting moves. A couple of issues cropped up. The first was around funding, and it seemed that getting enough money to start the production proved more difficult than thought.
Unfortunately, the money-raising process took so long that Vincenzo Natali was no longer available to begin. He went on to have a ton of television directing credits, including shows like Hannibal, Orphan Black, Luke Cage, The Strain, American Gods, Westworld, Locke & Key, and The Peripheral.
Then, in 2017 Tim Miller appeared attached to a possible Neuromancer movie. But that appeared to die on the proverbial vine as well with no movement or any real news on the movie front after the original burst of energy.
Easily the biggest news here, though, is that in February 2024, Apple TV+ announced it was moving forward with Neuromancer, but not as a movie. It will be a television series with 10 episodes confirmed.
Graham Roland and J.D. Dillard are heading up the production. Roland’s credits include Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan and Dark Winds while Dillard is known for The Outsider and Sleight.
While the Apple TV+ version of Neuromancer is likely to have a different aesthetic than the concept art above, we are definitely headed toward the cyberpunk vision we’ve been waiting decades to see.
