Blade Runner 2 is one of those movies which was rumoured and talked about for years, but it’s now finally happening, with Prisoners and Sicario director Denis Villeneuve at the helm.
Regardless of whether it’s him or even original director Sir Ridley Scott taking charge of the sequel, it still has a lot to live up to, and the pressure is on for the movie to meet the expectations of fans. A major plus point is the fact that Harrison Ford will be reprising the role of Deckard, but it turns out he’s actually been attached to the project from the start.
However, despite the actor’s return, Blade Runner 2 may not end up being a straightforward sequel. “The movie will be autonomous and at the same time there will be some link, but I cannot talk too much about it,” teases Villeneuve. “The only thing I can say is I was raised with the original cut, the original version that Ridley doesn’t like. That’s the Blade Runner that I was introduced to at the beginning and that I loved for years, and then I must say that I’m someone that appreciated the very last cut, the [Final Cut] version. So between all the different cuts, for me it’s the first and the very last that I’m more inspired by.”
“It’s a huge challenge, because you don’t want to cut and paste, otherwise why [do it]?” the Enemy director continues. “And at the same time you have to respect what was done, so you have to find the right equilibrium between being faithful to the first one and bringing something new at the same time that will make sense to the Blade Runner universe.”
The filmmaker went on to confirm that shooting will begin on this new Blade Runner movie next summer, though exact locations have yet to be decided on. Wherever it ends up being filmed, you can guarantee it will look good; Skyfall’s Roger Deakins is part of the project.
“Roger was dreaming to go back to sci-fi since it’s a long time,” Villeneuve said of the cinematographer, “and to convince him to do Blade Runner it took me maybe 2.5 seconds.”
