quietearth [Interviews 06.18.12]



[Editor's note: Someone made a mistake so we pulled our Haunters interview Yes, we’re all curious about the state of these long-evolving projects. I asked Vincenzo: where is Neuromancer?

"Neuromancer is moving along. I was just actually writing an email to William Gibson and we're in constant contact, and he's been instrumental in the development of the script, and you know it is one of the great, unmade science fiction novels and I sincerely hope I’m the one who's allowed to make it. And I believe I will be. We have Lorenzo di Bonaventura producing it, and he's a high-powered Hollywood producer, and I think he can make something like this happen. We're starting to talk about casts, so I think there's every reason to believe this will happen, but I think everyone needs to be a bit patient because this isn't running through the typical studio mill - we're not taking the easy path. It's a film which will be financed independently, even though there are some pretty powerful people onboard, and a lot of stars have to align in order for it to exist, so...."


Gee, I say out loud. Like you say, it's a pretty important book, you’d wonder why people wouldn’t be lining up...

"Well, I do wonder that, you know, but I think there’s a reason why it hasn’t been made in the 30 years since it was first published, and it’s because it's a very difficult book. It's a complex book. And it deals with really big ideas, and I think Hollywood feels most comfortable with science fiction when basically it's an action film in disguise. And I think there are definitely action elements to Neuromancer, but that's not really the engine that’s driving the thing. But, listen, it's one of the most influential novels of any sort, ever, and I think remains so and remains extremely relevant, so I’m very hopeful."

Yes, I agree, and let's hope Neuromancer doesn't take as long as the other book to movie project you’re also associated with, JG Ballard's High-Rise.

"Yes, High-Rise. It's totally in progress, too. It's in the works. These are the two passion projects I have, Neuromancer and High-Rise and I just ask for everyone's patience because they are difficult, and there's a reason why they haven’t become movies yet. And greater filmmakers than I have tried and failed to make them into movies, but I think with High-Rise we have a really fantastic script and I have a magnificent producer, Jeremy Thomas...."

Yes, yes, but what about the concept of shifting the High-Rise from London's Docklands onto an island? What were we to make of that?

"You can do that because it's a piece of surrealist fiction. You can do that. Believe me. I think the script is actually very faithful to the book - certainly faithful to it thematically, and faithful to the characters, but it did have to be updated because it was written in 1974 and the nature of not only high rises themselves but of the entire world has changed. I would say there's a little bit of Super-Cannes injected into our version of High-Rise and it is more about the isolated community and less about that kind of porous community that he wrote about in his book, where people are traversing to their jobs and then happily returning home to beat each other senseless, which I love, but I think, honestly, in a movie, unless you are making a surrealist film, unless you do want to do Exterminating Angel, which, frankly, would not be possible at this scale, you have to take into account the fact that film is a very realistic medium, that I honestly didn't know how to do that without the audience balking at it - because there’s no way in a world that's set in London, where every street corner has a CCT cameras, that that could ever possibly happen. With a movie like High-Rise, you also have to create the high rise. So there's a dollar factor involved in that, and that’s why it's challenging. If Ballard wrote books that could easily be made...."

Yes, you have a point there, Vincenzo. And as you say, it's best to have a number of projects on the go at once. Good luck with these.

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uncleB (10 months ago) Reply

Did I just read this right??? JG Ballards High Rise is going to finally be made??? i must be dreaming, Im sure I will wake up soon and be highly pissed.

votre (10 months ago) Reply

I hope...
I pray...

Oh screw it. I'm probably just setting myself up for even more disappointment than I got from Paycheck or Minority Report.

PeterSHall (10 months ago) Reply

What's with the tone of the "questions" in this interview? Why so antagonistic and dismissive of a great interview subject?

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