Johnny Mnemonic (film)

Johnny Mnemonic
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Longo
Screenplay byWilliam Gibson
Based onJohnny Mnemonic
by William Gibson
Produced byDon Carmody
Starring
CinematographyFrançois Protat
Edited byRonald Sanders[1]
Music by
Production
company
Johnny Mnemonic Productions[2]
Distributed by
Release dates
  • April 15, 1995 (1995-04-15) (Japan)
  • May 26, 1995 (1995-05-26) (United States)
Running time
96 minutes[4]
Countries
LanguageEnglish[2]
Budget$26 million[5]
Box office$19 million (US)[5]

Johnny Mnemonic is a 1995 cyberpunk action film[6] directed by Robert Longo in his feature directorial debut. William Gibson, who wrote the 1981 short story, wrote the screenplay. The film, set in 2021, portrays a dystopian future racked by a tech-induced plague, awash with conspiracies, and dominated by megacorporations and organized crime. Keanu Reeves plays Johnny, a data courier with an overloaded brain implant designed to securely store confidential information. Takeshi Kitano portrays a yakuza affiliated with a megacorporation attempting to suppress the data; he hires a psychopathic assassin played by Dolph Lundgren to do so. Ice-T and Dina Meyer co-star as Johnny's allies, a freedom fighter and a bodyguard, respectively.

It was shot in Canada; Toronto and Montreal filled in for Newark and Beijing. The project was difficult for Gibson and Longo. After they struggled for years to finance a low-budget adaptation of Gibson's story, Sony greenlit Johnny Mnemonic with a $26 million budget. When Reeves' previous film, Speed, unexpectedly became a major hit, Sony attempted to retool Johnny Mnemonic as a blockbuster. Longo experienced extensive creative differences with the studio, who forced casting choices and script rewrites on him. The film was ultimately recut without Longo's involvement, resulting in a version that he felt did not reflect his artistic vision. Described by Longo and Gibson as originally full of irony, it was edited into a mainstream action film and received negative reviews from critics.

A longer version (103 mins) of the film premiered in Japan on April 15, 1995, featuring a score by Mychael Danna and more scenes involving Kitano. The film was released in the United States on May 26, 1995. In 2022, a black-and-white edition of the film, titled Johnny Mnemonic: In Black and White was released, which Gibson characterized as closer to his original vision.[7]

  1. ^ "Ron Sanders » Directors Guild of Canada". www.dgc.ca. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Johnny Mnemonic (1995)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  3. ^ "Johnny Mnemonic". Library and Archives Canada. 12 May 2015. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  4. ^ "JOHNNY MNEMONIC". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference mojo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Johnny Mnemonic (1995)". Allmovie. Archived from the original on 2023-07-04. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference screenslate was invoked but never defined (see the help page).