Neuromancer, William Gibson’s much-lauded sci-fi novel published in 1984, is coming to Apple TV+, the iPhone giant said Wednesday.
The 10-episode drama has no release date yet. But it’s sure to be — as Apple TV+ says about almost every upcoming show — “much anticipated.”
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Apple TV+ airs Neuromancer, William Gibson’s award-winning sci-fi novel, as a series
Apple TV+ said it will add a new drama series based on Gibson’s multi-award-winning novel Neuromancer to an already formidable slate of sci-fi fare. It includes Foundation, Silo, For All Mankind, Constellation and more.
Gibson’s debut novel, Neuromancer won huge praise as a pioneer of the “cyberpunk” genre, winning the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award and the Hugo Award. It served as part one of the Sprawl trilogy, followed by Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive.
Here’s how Apple TV+ describes its version of Neuromancer:
The series will follow 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.
Can the series do justice to the book?
With a much-treasured book like Neuromancer, plenty of fans will wonder if a TV show adaptation can possibly be up to the task. It may come as a relief to know that Gibson is an executive producer on the show. And yet that only goes so far.
“I answer showrunner’s and director’s questions about the source material. I read drafts and make suggestions,” Gibson wrote on X about his role. “I don’t have veto power. The showrunner and director do, because the adaptation’s their creation, not mine. A novel is a solitary creation. An adaptation is a fundamentally collaborative creation, so first of all [it] isn’t going to ‘be the book.'”
Click on the box below to see Gibson’s full comments:
I’m not going to be answering many questions here, about Apple TV’s adaptation of Neuromancer. I’ll have to be answering too many elsewhere, and doing my part on the production. So I thought I’d try to describe that, my part.
— William Gibson (@GreatDismal) February 29, 2024
Previously, Gibson joked in a preface to an edition of the novel about his “sins of omission.”
“My real sympathy, though, is with the bright 13-year-old, curled up on a couch somewhere, 20 pages into the book and desperate to get to the root of the mystery of why cell phones aren’t allowed in Chiba City. Hang in there, friend. It can only get stranger.”
In other words, the brilliant writer failed to invent cellphones in his futuristic 1984 debut. And he also left the Soviet Union intact. As for when Apple TV+ airs Neuromancer, we’ll have to see how the show handles those omissions.
An ‘iconic’ property
Graham Roland (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Dark Winds) and JD Dillard (Devotion, The Outsider) will create the sci-fi series for Apple TV+. Skydance Television, Anonymous Content and DreamCrew Entertainment produce it. Roland serves as showrunner and Dillard directs the pilot episode.
“We’re incredibly excited to be bringing this iconic property to Apple TV+,” said creators and executive producers Roland and Dillard. “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,” they added.
Other executive producers include David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Matt Thunell, Drake, Adel ‘Future’ Nur, Jason Shrier, Zack Hayden and Gibson.
Notably, sci-fi smash hit Foundation, with its third season in production, and acclaimed comedy The Big Door Prize, with a second season soon to air on Apple TV+, also hail from Skydance. And Anonymous Content has a longstanding track record with Apple TV+, with new projects on the way.
Watch sci-fi on Apple TV+
Neuromancer may be a ways off, but you can watch whole seasons of sci-fi series like Foundation, Silo and For All Mankind right now. (Here’s our guide to the best sci-fi shows on Apple TV+.)
Apple TV+ is available by subscription for $9.99 with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
After first airing in November 2019, “Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 471 wins and 2,090 award nominations and counting,” the service said.
In addition to award-winning movies and TV shows (including breakout soccer comedy Ted Lasso), Apple TV+ offers a variety of documentaries, dramas, comedies, kids shows and more.
Source: Apple
