Concept Art for Vincenzo Natali's NEUROMANCER; Liam Neeson & Mark Wahlberg Offers Lead Roles

Neuromancer was William Gibson's debut novel and the beginning of his renown Sprawl trilogy. The science fiction tale tells the story of a washed-up computer hacker hired by a mysterious employer to pull off the ultimate hack.

Based on the seminal 1984 book by William Gibson which can be said to have legitimised cyberpunk as a mainstream branch of science fiction literature.

Case is a low level hustler living out his last days on the streets of the future Tokyo underground. A talented thief who would break into high security computer systems by directly linking his brain into them, he is discovered and injected with a poison which renders him unable to interface into cyberspace. Unable to work, Case embarks on a self-destructive path of drug addiction and double dealings, waiting for a local crime lord to collect on money and time that doesn`t exist.

Enter a shady businessman named Armitage who offers him the impossible: the chance to repair his neural damage and regain the life he once had. There is a catch though. Armitage has implanted timer activated poisons in Case’s body that he can react if Case doesn’t carry out what he asks. Placed under the protection of Molly, a professional killer who frees him by executing the crime lord, Case is put on a mystery assignment that begins a journey out of the gutters of future Tokyo and into an ever-expanding world of multinational intrigue.

Splice director Vincenzo Natali has been tapped to helm the highly anticipated adaption. Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil) and Bruce Willis (The Expendables) have both been rumored to be attached to the project for some time but nothing definitive was confirmed.

UK based production house GRM Films is one of the principles handling development of the film, and have recently updated their site to reflect the latest casting news: Pay or Play offers have been made to Liam Neeson for Armitage and Mark Wahlberg for Case.

They have also posted the following concept art image from artist Amro Attia, showcasing the possible look for the character Armitage:

Neuromancer is being produced by Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, Jay Firestone, Steve Hoban, Mark Vahradian, Seven Arts and GRM Films. No production dates have yet to be established