Editing Johnny Mnemonic (film) (section)

=== Development ===
In the 1980s, director Robert Longo was known primarily for his artwork, including "Men in the Cities", a series of images meant to be viewed sequentially.  After having been influenced by film, he transitioned to directing music videos and, when he tired of that, became interested in adapting William Gibson's ''Johnny Mnemonic''.<ref name=mckenna1>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-27-ca-971-story.html|title=An Artist Is Now a Director : Longo Hopes ''Crypt'' Opens Film Career|last=McKenna|first=Kristine|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=1992-06-27|accessdate=2023-04-16|archive-date=2023-04-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420072015/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-06-27-ca-971-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>  Longo and Gibson first started work on a screenplay in 1989.<ref name=salza>{{cite book|title=Conversations with William Gibson|editor-last=Smith|editor-first=Patrick A.|chapter=William Gibson Interview, Giuseppe Salza / 1994|last=Salza|first=Giuseppe|publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]]|year=2014|isbn=978-1-62846-016-2|page=<!-- ebook; no numbered pages -->|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAAbBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT80|access-date=2023-07-10}}</ref>  Longo's first attempt to finance the film was through [[Warner Bros.]] in 1990.  [[Bob Krasnow]] liked Longo's short film, ''[[Arena Brains]]'', and offered to finance a feature film.  Before pre-production could begin, Warner Bros. merged with [[Time Inc.]], and the film was put on hold.  Recognizing the film was unlikely to be produced, Krasnow let Longo out of his contract.  Longo nearly gave up on getting ''Johnny Mnemonic'' made but continued to make contacts in Hollywood.<ref name=mckenna1/>

Longo and Gibson sought to sell ''Johnny Mnemonic'' as an [[art film]] on a small budget but failed to get financing from the studios.<ref name=remembering/>  Gibson said they wanted to avoid flashy, [[MTV]]-inspired visuals and "plunge the audience into a very strange but consistent universe".<ref name=salza/>  Longo commented that the project "started out as an arty 1½-million-dollar movie, and it became a 30-million-dollar movie because we couldn't get a million and a half."<ref name=remembering/>  Longo's lawyer suggested that their problem was that they were not asking for enough money and that studios would not be interested in such a small project.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/22/business/on-line-with-william-gibson-present-at-the-creation-startled-at-the-reality.html|title=ON LINE WITH William Gibson; Present at the Creation, Startled at the Reality|last=Lewis|first=Peter H.|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 22, 1995|accessdate=February 5, 2022|archive-date=February 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205225049/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/22/business/on-line-with-william-gibson-present-at-the-creation-startled-at-the-reality.html|url-status=live}}</ref>  Studios were also concerned that Longo's artistic background would impact his ability to make a commercially viable film.<ref name=mckenna2>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-21-ca-4082-story.html|title=It's Just Art on a Big Screen : How did a New York artist land $27 million and star Keanu Reeves to make his very first Hollywood movie? Robert Longo says it's just that he always wanted to direct.|last=McKenna|first=Kristine|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=1995-05-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416172135/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-21-ca-4082-story.html |accessdate=2023-04-16|archive-date=2023-04-16 }}</ref>

The unbounded spread of the Internet in the early 1990s and the consequent rapid growth of high technology culture had made cyberpunk increasingly relevant, and this was a primary motivation for Sony Pictures's decision to fund the project in the tens of millions.<ref name=harmon/>  [[Val Kilmer]] was originally cast in the title role, and Reeves replaced him when Kilmer dropped out.<ref name=woes>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/1995/06/23/johnny-mnemonic-faced-financial-woes/|title=''Johnny Mnemonic'' faced financial woes|last=Nashawaty|first=Chris|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=June 23, 1995|accessdate=February 5, 2022|archive-date=February 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217051604/https://ew.com/article/1995/06/23/johnny-mnemonic-faced-financial-woes/|url-status=live}}</ref>  Gibson approved of this casting and said Reeves understood the character well.<ref name=salza/>  Reeves' Canadian nationality opened up further financial options, such as Canadian tax incentives.<ref name=woes/>  In Canada, Longo discovered he had to maintain Canadian crew quotas.  [[Michael Chapman (cinematographer)|Michael Chapman]] had agreed to shoot the film, but Longo had to hire a Canadian cinematographer instead.<ref name=si>{{cite web|url=https://sova.si.edu/record/AAA.longo09?s=3140&n=10&t=C&q=AT+&i=3140|title=Oral history interview with Robert Longo|last=Olch|first=Judith|work=[[Smithsonian Institution]]|date=January 30, 2009|accessdate=April 15, 2023|archive-date=April 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415054918/https://sova.si.edu/record/AAA.longo09?s=3140&n=10&t=C&q=AT+&i=3140|url-status=live}}</ref>