The 1996 motion picture adaptation was a star vehicle for Pamela Anderson, which was intended to enable her to cross over from television to movie stardom. With a plot based loosely on Casablanca, the film had Anderson playing the title role, a mercenary and night club owner in a cyberpunk future entrusted with looking after a pair of contact lenses important to exposing political scandal. The film was critically mauled on its release, but became a moderate hit due to its star.