Mark Wahlberg And Liam Neeson Up For Vincenzo Natali's Neuromancer Would you watch it?

Inspiring much of the cyberpunk movement and influencing countless sci-fi tales, William Gibson's seminal 1984 novel Neuromancer
has long struggled to earn a full-fledged movie adaptation. It's story
of a hotheaded hacker who gets burned when he messes with the wrong
people seems perfect for a taut and tense thriller, yet a film version
hasn't yet gotten off the ground. The latest filmmaker to lead the
charge is Splice writer-director Vincenzo Natali, who has been
developing a would-be adaptation since 2010. Though little news has
surfaced on the project since then, a curious casting update could mean a
Neuromancer movie is closer to reality than ever before.



Movie Hole
reports pay-or-play deals have been offered to Mark Wahlberg and Liam
Neeson for the feature's leads. Should he sign on, Wahlberg would play
the novel's antihero Henry Dorsett Case, the aforementioned hacker whose
had his brain damaged after double-crossing a former underworld
employer, leaving him unable to access his this dystopian world's
cyberspace—which jacks into one's brain directly—and desperate for a
cure. Neeson is up for the role of Armitage, a shady former soldier with
mysterious motives who can offers Case a cure in exchange for his
indentured servitude.



Natali is a daring filmmaker who creates strange and enveloping film
worlds. While the swagger Wahlberg typically brings to roles seems
jarring with Natali's cool and muted emotional tone, it could prove a
dynamic mix. And really, Neeson can't be beat for roles that call for
mystique and intense glowering, so that seems a solid call. From here it
will be intriguing to see whom the filmmakers have in mind for the
third lead, a mercenary "street samurai" named Molly Millions. But with
Natali in post production on his recently wrapped Haunter, it could be a while before casting is nailed down. Still, Movie Hole's source expects Neuromancer will kick into gear soon, and should hit theaters by 2014.