Netflix recently acquired a cyberpunk science fiction series based on the 2002 novel Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan.
Writing and executive producing the series is Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Shutter Island, Terminator Genisys) with Skydance Television as the series' studio. Netflix ordered a 10-episode series based on the award-winning book.
Altered Carbon takes place about 500 years in the future: technology is so advanced that human minds and souls get stored digitally: these files can then get transferred from one body to another. The story follows Takeshi Kovacs, a former interstellar soldier whose digital consciousness was held prisoner for 500 years. He's tasked with solving a murder with the promise that he'll have a chance to get a new life on Earth.
The book details the adventures of Kovacs and follows the character as he tries to uncover clues about a murder while occupying the body of a former Bay City policeman.
The book received the Philip K. Dick Award for Best Novel of 2003.
"Kovacs rockets from the seediest hellholes on Earth, through virtual reality torture, into several gory firefights, and on to some exotic sexual escapades," wrote Publisher's Weekly. "Morgan's 25th-century Earth is convincing, while the questions he poses about how much Self is tied to body chemistry and how the rich believe themselves above the law are especially timely."
Kalogridis began adapting the novel in 2012 with David H. Goodman, but had no success in furthering it. Now, though, Netflix owns the rights. Unfortunately, though, Deadline reports that Goodman is not available to work on the new series.
At one point, Warner Bros. had plans to adapt Altered Carbon into a film, with James McTeigue (V for Vendetta, The Invasion, Sense8) directing. However, nothing came of that project.
"Altered Carbon is one of the most seminal pieces of post-cyberpunk hard science fiction out there — a dark, complex noir story that challenges our ideas of what it means to be human when all information becomes encodable, including the human mind," said Kalogridis, as reported by Deadline.
The Netflix deal also includes Morgan's follow-up books to Altered Carbon: Broken Angels and Woken Furies.
Morgan has since expanded into graphic novels, including two about Marvel's Black Widow, as well as video games: he was the lead writer on EA and Crytek's Crysis 2.
