Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon Headed to the Big Screen?

The newly minted Mythology Entertainment formed by Brad Fischer, Laeta Kalogridis and James Vanderbilt, has obtained the movie rights to Richard Morgan’s science fiction novel Altered Carbon. Initially the film adaptation of Altered Carbon was to be developed by Warner Bros. and Joel Silver back in 2006, but has since been snatched up by Mythology Entertainment.

Variety reports that Fischer, Kalogridis and Vanderbilt will be producing the film, while Mike Medavoy and Arnie Messer will be executive producers. Kalogridis who has worked on films such as Shutter Island and Avatar will taking on the task of adapting Altered Carbon for the big screen along with David Goodman.

First published in 2002, Altered Carbon is described as a “hardboiled science fiction novel.” Set in a cyberpunk dystopian world, approximately five hundred years in the future, human personalities can be stored digitally and downloaded into new bodies, referred to as sleeves. Most people in this future have cortical stacks in their spinal columns that store their memories, so if their body dies, their “stack” can be stored indefinitely. The story follows a specially trained soldier named Takeshi Kovacs, who’s consciousness is downloaded from an off-world prison and into the body of a disgraced cop. A highly influential aristocrat has requested Kovacs because he believes he has been murdered and wants the soldier to find out the truth about the incident. The plot unfolds through Kovacs’ narrative. Kovacs eventually solves the mystery, but only after a great deal of violence has occurred.

“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.

Two more novels featuring the anti-hero Kovacs were published in 2003 and 2005. The deal that was struck with Mythology Entertainment also covers the two additional books in the “Takeshi Kovacs” series, Broken Angels and Woken Furies.

Mythology Entertainment which launched in November, has closed deals on the John Bellairs’ series of family-fantasy books, beginning with The House With a Clock in Its Walls, which is reportedly being adapted to a drama series by Supernatural creator Eric Kripke. The Lobotomist which is at HBO and being produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company, Appian Way. Dan Thomsen will be writing the pilot and Robert Schwentke will be directing. Mythology Entertainment will also be taking part in the Showtime documentary on Suge Knight (working title).

Altered Carbon is an exciting science fiction and crime hybrid “with intricate (but always plausible) plot, a powerful noir atmosphere and enough explosive action to satisfy the most die-hard thriller fan.” The well crafted novel will surely translate successfully to the big screen and I for one, am looking forward to seeing the result.