Director says a Hackers follow-up is “actively being considered.”

HACKERS recently celebrated its 25th anniversary and Iain Softley, the director of the cyberpunk cult classic, is saying that we could very well see more from the HACKERS universe.

During a 45-minute Zoom interview with "Collider" in honor of the film's 25th anniversary, Softley teased a return to the world of HACKERS “being actively considered." Here's what he had to say:

“We are, I have to say for the first time in 25 years, and we probably started this conversation a year or two ago, in the aftermath of the 20th anniversary, I’d never even thought it was something that was interesting. Because we’d anticipate something, and then it’d happen. And then it was kind of all pervasive. Whereas, what’s happened now, with big data, and the way that it’s actually broke through and become maybe the dominant force in the world, in terms of influencing politics and finance and elections, that I think there is a call, for the first time ever, that the Knights of the Round Table should be woken up to sort of answer the call again. And there are a couple of conversations.”

The director also noted that the landscape of technology is much more different now which could lead to some fun things to explore in another film:

“It was a much more simple landscape at the time, in 1995. It’s much more complex [now]. It’s much more dangerous that it would become outdated almost as soon as the film’s released. But there are certain cast members, certainly the guys who work with Chris Nolan, DNEG, they’re approached all the time about, ‘Why isn’t there [more Hackers]?’ And on the internet, on Twitter and social media, people are asking about that possibility. So, it’s being explored. But I don’t think any of us would want to do it unless we thought it was worthwhile to do. We wouldn’t do it as just a commercial exercise. But there has been interest, from kind of mainstream producers. So it’s something that’s being actively considered for the first time ever, really.”

The original film follows a group of high school hackers and their involvement in a corporate extortion conspiracy. The film was released in the mid-90s and came out during a time when the internet was unfamiliar to the general public. Despite receiving mixed reviews and underperforming at the box office, the film has gone on to achieve a bit of cult status in the years since its release. The movie stars Angelina Jolie, Jonny Lee Miller, Jesse Bradford, Matthew Lillard, Laurence Mason, Lorraine Bracco, and Fisher Stevens.

So will this new idea be a sequel or a reboot with new cast members? And, most importantly,  who are these “mainstream producers” that are being teased by Softley hearing about? The director kept these details a bit of a secret but what he did share should make fans of the original film a bit excited that this world could be explored again. It sounds like Softley and his team want to make sure this idea is worth visiting before presenting it fully to the public.

Do YOU want to see a sequel or reboot to HACKERS?