Apple TV Plus's next big new sci-fi movie lands its star
Star of Masters of the Air will return in a much-anticipated sci-fi show
A big upcoming Apple TV Plus show has signed up another star.
Callum Turner, who has gained real heat in the last 12 months following his role in Masters of the Air, will star in Neuromancer.
You may also recognise Callum Turner from the Fantastic Beasts films or 2015’s brilliant Green Room.
But what is Neuromancer? It’s a TV show based on a best-selling and hugely influential novel by sci-fi luminary William Gibson.
Neuromancer was published in 1984 and was Gibson’s first book. It has also been credited with establishing cyberpunk as a thing — it’s no run of the mill sci-fi work.
The story follows Henry Case, a hacker who lives in a future version of Japan. He’s promised his ability to jack into cyberspace will be restored if he takes on one last job for a shadowy organisation.
Turner will take on the role of Case according to Deadline. There’s also a big part for his partner in crime Molly, although we don’t know who will play her just yet.
Apple announced the show in February, as a 10-part series. Graham Roland and JD Dillard are the lead creatives behind the project.
Roland previously wrote for Dark Winds, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan and Fringe, while Dillard directed an episode of the Utopia remake and an episode of the 2020 season of The Twilight Zone.
“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,” the pair said in a statement back in February. “’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.”
We expect the show to be a one-off, but there’s more content to mine if Apple wants it. Neuromancer is part of a trilogy of novels, the Sprawl trilogy. Follow-ups Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive are credited as key inspirations for The Matrix, alongside Neuromancer.