The long-awaited sci-fi epic Neuromancer, based on the award-winning novel by William Gibson, is coming to Apple TV Plus as a 10-episode miniseries.
Famous for its influence on sci-fi culture and for coining the phrase “cyberspace”, Gibson’s iconic novel is a huge IP for Apple to take on. Inspiring everything from The Matrix films to the popular videogame Cyberpunk 2077, you can even draw a through-line from its depiction of head-mounted computer equipment to Apple's own Vision Pro headset.
While there’s not much information at the moment, here are all the first details of the much-anticipated show and everything we know so far.
Neuromancer: Release date
No release date has been confirmed for Neuromancer as of yet. The show will be the next big sci-fi Apple Original release, alongside some of the best shows on Apple TV Plus, like Severance.
Though Apple is only publicly speaking about Neuromancer as of February 2024, it's been involved with the production since at least late 2022, when the first casting rumors began to swirl.
Neuromancer: Cast & Crew
While there is no confirmed cast at the time of writing, the show will be created by Graham Roland (“Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” “Dark Winds”) and JD Dillard (“Devotion,” “The Outsider,” “Sleight”).
Produced by Drake’s DreamCrew Entertainment, there’s a star-studded team working on this adaptation of the 1984 novel.
Roland and Dillard said, “We’re incredibly excited to be bringing this iconic property to Apple TV Plus,”
The creators added, “Since we became friends nearly 10 years ago, we’ve looked for something to team up on, so this collaboration marks a dream come true. ‘Neuromancer’ has inspired so much of the science fiction that’s come after it and we’re looking forward to bringing television audiences into Gibson’s definitive ‘cyberpunk’ world.”
As a project, Neuromancer has bounced around Hollywood for many years — Lost creator and Star Wars director J J Abrams was even linked to the project for a time, though he's not been linked to the project in recent reports.
Reports in early 2023 suggested that Miles Teller, star of Top Gun: Maverick and Whiplash, would be taking on the lead role of Henry Case.
Neuromancer: What’s it based on?
Neuromancer is the debut novel by acclaimed futurist author William Gibson. Released in 1984, it is one of the “most-respected works within the cyberpunk genre", according to Apple's press release, and "has received numerous accolades, including the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award and the Hugo Award.”
The novel is part of the “Sprawl” trilogy, which means we could see the follow-ups “Count Zero” and “Mona Lisa Overdrive” as miniseries if Neuromancer is a success on Apple TV Plus.
The book, on which the show is based, draws influence from punk subculture and early hacker culture. The novel has influenced the hit video game Cyberpunk 2077, as well as movies like The Matrix and Ghost in the Shell. It's perhaps even more influential in literary circles too, with books like Snow Crash, Altered Carbon and Ready Player One owing it a debt.
Neuromancer: What’s it about?
Neuromancer is the story of “a damaged, top-rung super-hacker named Case who is thrust into a web of digital espionage and high stakes crime with his partner Molly, a razor-girl assassin with mirrored eyes aiming to pull a heist on a corporate dynasty with untold secrets.”
Think somewhere between Blade Runner and James Bond and you'll be almost along the right lines — set in the near future, it's a prescient tale of how vulnerable the world becomes when it becomes dependent on artificial intelligence and digital connectivity. Case is a down-on-his-luck super-hacker called in to work with a group of mercenaries for one last job involving an artificial intelligence so powerful, it could change the world forever.
Cyborgs, space stations, and a revolutionary-for-its-time depiction of cyberspace, it's a sci-fi nerd's dream. Here's hoping the series can do it justice.
