History Trivia / JohnnyMnemonic

* {{Novelization}}: By Terry Bisson, along with an audiobook version read by Jack Noseworthy.

* ActorSharedBackground: In the airport, the security scan mentions Johnny has an anti-dyslexia brain implant. [[https://www.ldrfa.org/famous-dyslexics-keanu-reeves-dyslexic-superstar/ Keanu Reeves is dyslexic in real life]].

* TheMockbuster: The low-budget 2003 sci-fi action film ''{{Film/Absolon}}'' bears striking similarities to the plot and thematic elements of ''Johnny Mnemonic''. ''Absolon'' is set in an early-21st century "near future" where half the world has been killed by [[ThePlague a viral plague]] known as "Neurological Degeneration Syndrome" (NDS), and the remaining survivors are [[PhlebotinumDependence dependent on receiving regular treatments]] produced by a single pharmaceutical MegaCorp. The film's hero (played by Creator/ChristopherLambert, who funnily enough was once in the running to play the lead role in ''Johnny Mnemonic'', before Keanu Reeves got the part; See Also: WhatCouldHaveBeen) is unwittingly tasked with carrying part of the cure for the plague in his own bloodstream and finding the second half of the cure [[RaceAgainstTheClock in three days or less, or else the part of the cure already inside him will kill him.]] The film also co-stars Lou Diamond Phillips, bearing a vague resemblance to actor Denis Akiyama and also filling a character role very similar to that of Shinji from ''Johnny Mnemonic''. However, in a unique twist on ''Johnny Mnemonic's'' premise, there's an important revelation that [[spoiler: the cure the hero is carrying in his bloodstream is NOT for the plague--which turns out of have already died out--but a cure for the human body's dependence on the MegaCorp's continuing treatments]].

* StarDerailingRole: Creator/DolphLundgren stayed off the big screen until ''Film/TheExpendables'' fifteen years later.

* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget, $26 million. Box office, $19,075,720.

* DisownedAdaptation: Creator/WilliamGibson isn't very happy with what became of this adaptation of his own story. Gibson himself, despite being credited as the sole screenwriter, has insisted for years that it wasn't his screenplay that was ultimately produced.

* ReCut: Of a sort. In 2021, director Robert Longo created a desaturated "Black and White" version of the film, using the American/International edit, which he says is closer to his original vision of the "art film" that he was originally hoping to get made on a much lower budget.

* On Netflix Streaming English subtitles, the Eyephone is mistakenly called an [=iPhone=].

* ReCut: Of a sort. In 2021, director Robert Longo created a desaturated "Black and White" version of the film, using the American/International edit, which he says is closer to the original "art film" he was originally hoping to get made on a much lower budget.

** In 1995, 320Gb was massive. By 2015, tech companies managed to put out [=mircoSD=] cards the size of your fingernail can fit 200Gb, and 1Tb cards would entering the market less than five years later. Of course, the 320Gb number itself is an upgrade from the original short story, which was written in the 80s and used megabytes instead of gigabytes. The first gigabyte sized hard drive released in 1980 was the size of a refrigerator and weighed 550 pounds. By comparison, an 80Gb sized drive with overflow capacity placed in someone's head within 25/35 years would seem like a possible overreach.

** In 1995, 320Gb was massive. By 2015, tech companies managed to put out [=mircoSD=] cards the size of your fingernail can fit 200Gb, with ''1TB'' cards entering the market just five years later. Of course, the 320Gb number itself is an upgrade from the original short story, which was written in the 80s and used megabytes instead of gigabytes. The first gigabyte sized hard drive released in 1980 was the size of a refrigerator and weighed 550 pounds. By comparison, an 80Gb sized drive with overflow capacity placed in someone's head within 25/35 years would seem like a possible overreach.

** In 1995, 320Gb was massive. By 2015... a card the size of your fingernail can fit 200. This is an upgrade from the short story, which was written in the 80s and used megabytes instead of gigabytes. The first gigabyte sized hard drive released in 1980 was the size of a refrigerator and weighed 550 pounds. By comparison, an 80Gb sized drive with overflow capacity placed in someone's head within 25/35 years would seem like a possible overreach.

** Johnny apparently takes a Concorde jet to Newark. In real life the Concordes were retired in 2003.

*** The Street Preacher delivering a sermon about rejecting the organic body and embracing technological implants as part of God's plan for humanity and salvation from the NAS plague. [=PharmaKom=] goons come to bring him the preservation chamber with which to store Johnny's head.

* TheMockbuster: The low-budget 2003 sci-fi action film ''{{Film/Absolon}}'' bears striking similarities to the plot and thematic elements of ''Johnny Mnemonic''. ''Absolon'' is set in an early-21st century "near future" where half the world has been killed by [[ThePlague a viral plague]] known as "Neurological Degeneration Syndrome" (NDS), and the remaining survivors are [[PhlebotinumDependence dependent on receiving regular treatments]] produced by a single pharmaceutical MegaCorp The film's hero (played by Creator/ChristopherLambert, who funnily enough was once in the running to play the lead role in ''Johnny Mnemonic'', before Keanu Reeves got the part; See Also: WhatCouldHaveBeen) is unwittingly tasked with carrying part of the cure for the plague in his own bloodstream and finding the second half of the cure [[RaceAgainstTheClock in three days or less, or else the part of the cure already inside him will kill him.]] The film also co-stars Lou Diamond Phillips, bearing a vague resemblance to actor Denis Akiyama and also filling a character role very similar to that of Shinji from ''Johnny Mnemonic''. However, in a unique twist on ''Johnny Mnemonic's'' premise, there's an important revelation that [[spoiler: the cure the hero is carrying in his bloodstream is NOT for the plague--which turns out of have already died out--but a cure for the human body's dependence on the MegaCorp's continuing treatments]].

** In 1995, 320Gb was massive. By 2015... a card the size of your fingernail can fit 200. This is an upgrade from the short story, which was written in the 80s and used megabytes instead of gigabytes.

* OneBookAuthor: This was the only feature film directed by Robert Longo, who was world renowned as a highly influential painter and sculptor before and after the film was released.