Why the Westworld creators wanted to adapt William Gibson with The Peripheral
Wiliam Gibson is unquestionably one of the fathers of modern science fiction. It's hard to imagine The Matrix existing without Gibson's debut novel Neuromancer, or the entire subgenre of steampunk without The Difference Engine (which Gibson co-wrote with Bruce Sterling). But despite this extensive influence, none of Gibson's works have ever been directly adapted for the screen before. That changes this week with the premiere of The Peripheral on Amazon Prime Video.
Adapted from Gibson's 2014 novel of the same name, The Peripheral stars Chloe Grace Moretz and Jack Reynor as Flynne and Burton Fisher, siblings from 2032 America who make money playing video games (or "simulations") for high-paying customers in order to afford much-needed medicine for their dying mother (Melinda Page Hamilton). All is not what it seems with those simulations, but perhaps some of this set-up sounds familiar in a world where the "metaverse" gets mentioned more every day and life-saving drugs only get pricier.
"I feel like the world has grown into the book," says director Vincenzo Natali (Cube), who helmed the first episode. "The book was written in 2014, even before Trump was elected, and in the most exciting and chilling way, it just feels like it's coming to fruition."
Sophie Mutevelian/Prime Video Chloe Grace Moretz
Natali had long wanted to adapt Neuromancer for the screen, but it never quite came together. After he secured the rights to The Peripheral, he brought it to Westworld creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, who know a thing or two about ambitious sci-fi.
"William Gibson has always been an iconic author, I just love his work," Joy tells EW. "And when a director who I love as much as Vincenzo comes to me and says, 'Hey, I have the rights to this William Gibson book,' I'm like, say no more! I'm in!"
Joy continues, "The material is just so incredible. I read it all that night when Vincenzo first brought it to us. I couldn't put it down. It's Gibson at his best in terms of complete immersive world creation and almost uncanny ability to predict the future — so much so that many of the things he's predicted have already come to pass as of today. But he combines it with what feels like a really personal story."
Westworld taught Joy and Nolan important lessons about making sci-fi shows — namely, that a dose of reality really helps sell the fantastic.
"The major thing that we took away from Westworld, production-wise, was that shooting on location is always helpful," Joy says. "Not only for the performances to be interacting with the real, but for the effect on screen. Especially when dealing with a world that is artificial, it helps when you're basing something off of reality. So we shot in both London and the U.S. and, you know, that presents challenges. There's a lot of block shooting that has to be done, and there's a lot of coordination."
Sophie Mutevelian/Prime Video Gary Carr and Chloe Grace Moretz on 'The Peripheral.'
Natali adds, "the Jonah/Lisa shooting paradigm of like, 'let's not build, let's discover' really helped us because both of those places were beautiful and fascinating to discover. There's a tendency in science fiction and fantasy to be very additive in design and to just fill the frame with stuff. I wanted very much to approach it almost in a subtractive way, where we just make very distinct changes — which, ironically, actually are more impactful than if you just threw a lot of stuff at the screen."
Natali says Gibson himself has been a "wonderful partner" on the adaptation, and is "enthusiastic" about the show.
"It's very exciting that after all these decades of influence, Mr. Gibson finally gets to see something of his reach the screen intact," Natali says. "More than anything, I just wanted him to be happy."
The first two episodes of The Peripheral are streaming now on Prime Video, with subsequent installments coming weekly.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content:
