[5][6][7] An American remake entitled Vanilla Sky, directed by Cameron Crowe, was released in 2001, with Penélope Cruz reprising her role.
From a prison cell in Madrid, the 25-year-old man, César (Eduardo Noriega), tells his story to psychiatrist Antonio (Chete Lera) while wearing a prosthetic mask.
It is revealed that, shortly after falling asleep drunk on the street, César signed a contract with Life Extension, a company specializing in cryonics, to be cryogenically preserved and to experience extremely lucid and lifelike virtual reality dreams.
Returning to their headquarters, under supervision by prison officers, he discovers they specialize in cryonics with a twist: "artificial perception" or the provision of a fantasy based on the past to clients who are reborn in the future.
The site's critical consensus states: "Director Alejandro Amenábar tackles some heady issues with finesse and clarity in Open Your Eyes, a gripping exploration of existentialism and the human spirit".
[9] James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film three and a half stars (out of four), writing that movies "of this intelligence, audacity, and complexity come along so rarely that it's mandatory to cry out their arrival" and that "those who see it will not quickly forget the experience".
[12] Holly E. Ordway of DVD Active wrote "I don’t give out “perfect 10” ratings lightly, but Open Your Eyes earns one by all accounts".
[13] However, Aaron Beierle of DVD Talk gave a more lukewarm review, writing that he "found most of Open Your Eyes interesting" but remarked that "there's something about the picture that kept me from being completely involved".
[20] Transporting the action from Madrid to New York City, Vanilla Sky follows its source material's plot very closely, but makes several changes to the ending.