Dane DeHaan has joined the cast of Neuromancer, Apple TV+’s forthcoming series based on William Gibson’s cyberpunk novel.
Apple TV+ is in the process of adding to its already formidable selection of sci-fi offerings with a series adaptation of William Gibson’s seminal cyberpunk novel, Neuromancer. Filming is currently underway, and in the meantime, the production has announced that Dane DeHaan has joined the cast; according to Deadline, he’ll play Peter Riviera – a somewhat unreliable character who causes a number of complications in the original novel.
Elsewhere in the cast, you’ll find Callum Turner as the hacker protagonist Case, Briana Middleton as the cybernetically-enhanced mercenary, Molly, and Mark Strong as Armitage, a shady ex-military guy who has the pair attempt to pull of a high-tech heist. Joseph Lee, Peter Sarsgaard and Clemence Poesy will also appear.
Published in 1984, Neuromancer is one of the key texts in the early cyberpunk genre, with its dystopian future of shared virtual spaces, AI and cybercrime informing the genre for decades afterwards. Given just how pivotal Neuromancer was, and how well it’s aged, it’s a little surprising that it’s taken so long for anyone to adapt it. Indeed, Gibson’s work hasn’t been adapted all that often in general. Johnny Mnemonic was one high-profile film rendering of his work, but more commonly, his ideas have appeared in other filmmakers’ output, most obviously The Matrix.
Read more: Johnny Mnemonic | The Keanu Reeves would-be-blockbuster that was meant to be a $2m indie thriller
Neuromancer is being adapted by Graham Roland and JD Dillard, whose previous work includes Lost, Fringe, Almost Human and, in Dillard’s case, the cult Channel 4 series, Utopia. It’s being shot on location in Tokyo – which is perfect, given that the novel was set in Chiba City – and will run for ten episodes.
Whoever commissions Apple TV+’s output has remarkably good taste when it comes to science fiction, with the platform’s other acclaimed genre shows including Severance, Silo, Foundation and Dark Matter, to name a few. There was also its thoroughly entertaining sci-fi action thriller (with a side order of romance) The Gorge, which rather quietly slipped out in February.
Apple also has the sci-fi series Murderbot on the way this May. Starring Alexander Skarsgård, it’s an adaptation of Martha Wells’ award-winning series of books, The Murderbot Diaries.
In short, it sounds as though Neuromancer is in capable hands. We’ll let you know when a release date emerges.
