Looks like William Gibson's Neuromancer is finally coming to the big screen. It's going to be directed by Joseph Kahn, the guy who did Torque (check out this expressive review of the movie on CHUD).
As I have noted before, Neuromancer is so utterly Eighties that the only way it could work is as a retrofuturistic nostalgia piece. Nothing wrong with that; in fact I would absolutely love to see the movie done that way.
Gibson's Matrix was a powerful metaphor for the information age, but in a world full of World of Warcraft addicts, perhaps the idea, although prophetic and visionary in its time, isn't as new and exciting as it once was. Only unrealized visions are able to maintain their lustre.
The abstract, neon-lit empyrean envisioned by Gibson was an escape from the flesh. MMORPG users want to escape from their own flesh, too, but into the idealized body forms provided by their avatars. I guess Cronenberg was more prescient in that aspect.
Don't forget to check Paul Brians' study guide for the novel.
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