Chinese outfit C2M Media Group has come on board to co-develop and co-finance long-gestating sci-fi feature Neuromancer with UK sales team GFM Films.

C2M, a co-production partner of CJ Entertainment, recently backed successful Chinese-Korean productions A Wedding Invitation and Miss Granny.

William Gibson’s influential sci-fi novel from 1984 follows a smooth ‘computer cowboy’ who is banished from cyberspace after double-crossing the wrong people until a shadowy conspiracy offers him a second chance at redemption.

Mr & Mrs Smith and Man on Fire producer Lucas Foster is currently in talks with new writers and a director on the project.

Foster said: “William Gibson’s books have been very prescient on the topic of Super Intelligence, which people variously call Machine Intelligence or A.I. As we surrender more and more of our thinking and imagining over to software, we lose something important and tangible in ourselves. Neuromancer tells the story of that (near) future.”

”Neuromancer will be a meaningful co-production”, said Josh Dong, president of C2M. “C2M will collaborate with GFM not only in financing, but also in script development, film production and global distribution”.

Guy Collins, Partner of GFM Films added: “This strategic working relationship with C2M adds strength to GFM’s film slate. I have been impressed on my visits to China this year on the knowledge, enthusiasm and willingness I have experienced to explore new opportunities.”

C2M partner Mike Hsu introduced the partnership between C2M and GFM.

GFM will be looking to feed the film through the recently inked China-UK co-production agreement.