It was a flop. In the summer of 1982, and despite the credentials of its director, star and inspiration, a hard-edged noir set deep in the neon miasma of smog and rain of the near future was never going to play nice with the likes of E. T., Star Trek II and Poltergeist.
Over the years the cult of Blade Runner grew as successive ‘final’ cuts were released, and all the while the creators refused to be drawn on veracity of the many theories which spun around the film. But it was a closed book, a lost future – or so we all thought.
It was just shy of the film’s thirtieth anniversary when Ridley Scott announced a sequel to Blade Runner was in production. Five years later we were treated to Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049, produced by Scott, and starring Ryan Gosling and a returning Harrison Ford. To say we liked it is an understatement, and it is a thrill to see it make its Freeview debut today.
Sony Movies will air the FREEVIEW PREMIERE of Denis Villeneuve’s BLADE RUNNER 2049 starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford on FRIDAY 20 MARCH at 9pm as part of Sony Movies Friday Night Film Club.
To celebrate the Freeview Premiere of Blade Runner 2049, Adam Solomons unpacks what makes Denis Villeneuve’s long-awaited sequel such a winning success — and what it tells us about how follow-up films can go so wrong
1. Bring in a new director
And after The Force Awakens became the second-highest grossing film in history, JJ Abrams relinquished the most recent sequels in the galaxy far, far away to the up-and-coming Looper director Rian Johnson, whose The Last Jedi was controversial to some longtime fans, but ultimately proved an artistic achievement of great merit. (Abrams returned for the anticlimactic The Rise of Skywalker, proving the rule once again.) Bringing in a new director to take over the franchise can prevent filmmakers developing a siege mentality toward their work and allow an aligned, although independent, artistic voice to lend their own commentary on what made the first iteration work. Villeneuve was an inspired choice to succeed Ridley Scott in the case of 2049 — a move that Villenueve once again made in the case of David Lynch and Dune — with his unique visual perspective giving the Blade Runner universe the new lease of life it needed. If you can find an ingenious new voice to take on the project, sequels don’t have to be reheats.
2. Subvert expectations
3. Go deeper into the lore
4. Wait!
In the cases of the recent Incredibles 2, The Dark Knight and Paddington 2, audiences were forced to wait a little longer than expected as pre-production dragged on and scripts were carefully written and rewritten. An immediate sequel to Blade Runner in the mid or late-eighties could’ve resulted in an Arthur 2: On the Rocks-sized flop, but Ridley Scott wisely chose to take on original projects before returning to the franchise as executive producer. 2049 was ultimately worth the wait in extraordinary fashion, utilising the original film’s long legacy, its by-now iconic characters, and bringing in a new audience altogether. Sequels needn’t be soulless cash-grabs, if they’re made with soul and patience.
5. Cast Harrison Ford
Blade Runner 2049 airs on Sony Movies Friday 20th March at 9pm (Sony Movies is available on Freeview 32, Sky 321, Freesat 302 and Virgin 425)