Synopsis

In a dystopian 2021, data courier Johnny Mnemonic carries an encrypted package inside a brain implant. When the information proves too large to safely retain, Johnny becomes a target for criminal enforcers and a powerful corporation. With time running out, he joins forces with underground allies to survive long enough to deliver the data and uncover its dangerous secret.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film adapts William Gibson's short story "Johnny Mnemonic," first published in the May 1981 issue of *Omni*. The story later appeared in Gibson's collection *Burning Chrome*.

• Gibson wrote the screenplay himself, expanding the short story's premise into a feature-length cyberpunk action film. The movie also introduced the character J-Bone, created specifically for the adaptation.

• Principal photography took place in Toronto and Montreal, whose industrial architecture helped provide the film's dense, futuristic urban atmosphere.

• The Japanese theatrical version ran approximately 103 minutes, compared with the roughly 96-minute version released in the United States. It also included additional material involving the character of the street preacher.

• The film's computer-generated cyberspace sequences were designed and produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks.

• In 2022, a black-and-white edition titled *Johnny Mnemonic: In Black and White* was released. Robert Longo presented it as closer to the film's original visual conception.

• The movie was released in the United States on May 26, 1995, during the period when cyberpunk was moving from cult literature and underground media into mainstream cinema.