A new adaptation of William Gibson’s The Peripheral, the landmark 2014 sci-fi novel, has today arrived on Amazon Prime Video. Starring Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass, Dishonored), The Peripheral is set in a future where technology has subtly altered society. Moretz, as Flynne Fisher, discovers a secret connection to an alternate reality as well as a dark future of her own.

William Gibson’s The Peripheral begins sometime in the near-future in a small town in rural America. Fisher’s is heading out of town. He asks her to take over his job, working security in a virtual world. She takes the job and notices the game world looks suspiciously like London. Piloting a security quadrocopter, she witnesses a man and a woman out on a balcony, where the woman is apparently killed and gruesomely devoured by a swarm of nanobots. She is uncertain whether this is real or part of a virtual game.

The Peripheral

William Gibson’s The Peripheral TV Adaptation

Exactly how faithful the television adaptation will remain to the original story is currently unknown. The description on Amazon Prime Video is significantly different:

“Stuck in a small Appalachian town, a young woman’s only escape from the daily grind is playing advanced video games. She is such a good player that a company sends her a new video game system to test… but it has a surprise in store. It unlocks all of her dreams of finding a purpose, romance, and glamour in what seems like a game… but it also puts her and her family in real danger.”

The streaming series adaptation was commissioned in 2018 by Amazon. It was developed by Westworld creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan. Work began in April 2018 with a “script-to-series commitment”, receiving a firm go-ahead in the middle of November 2019. Eight one-hour episodes were developed by Kilter Films, through Amazon Studios.

The first two of such episodes are available via Amazon Prime Video from today. Are you planning on watching this evening? Let us know in the comments below!

Categories: TV