A feature film based on the sci-fi novel Neuromancer is in the works at Toronto’s Prodigy Pictures, with Vincenzo Natali attached to direct.

Natali (Cube, Splice) also adapted the screenplay, about a washed-up computer hacker who is snapped up by a mysterious employer to work on the ultimate hack. Veteran Jay Firestone (Lost Girl, Relic Hunter) will produce through his Prodigy shingle.

The feature is the second of William Gibson’s works to be turned into a movie, following 1995’s Johnny Mnemonic. The project has been passed around Hollywood, with reports that music video helmer Joseph Kahn was to direct, with Hayden Christensen rumored to star. No word on if he’s still on board.

Neuromancer was written in 1984 by the American/Canadian author and remains a landmark of the cyberpunk sub-genre.

The story looks to be a natural fit for Natali, given his sci-fi leanings. His long-awaited Splice, with Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley, hits theaters on June 4.

The final draft of Neuromancer was one of 24 projects that recently received funding through Astral Media The Harold Greenberg Fund’s script development program.

Among the other projects are Kari Skogland’s Prisoner of Tehran, Thom Fitzgerald’s Consecrated Ground, Brad Peyton’s The Troll Under the Table and Clement Virgo and Karen Tulchinsky’s I Shot the Sheriff. Shaftesbury Films’ Sea Witches and Temple Street Productions’ Drifter also received support from Astral.