Hopefully it won’t just be a replicant of the first film. Pun intended.
The sequel to Blade Runner is coming, slowly but surely. We don’t know much about it, only that Harrison Ford will most likely be returning as Deckard and the film will take place in the same world as the original, albeit decades in the future. But other than that, how will the sequel take the original into account? Well, a new interview with cinematographer Roger Deakins sheds just a little light on the subject.
First of all, who’s working on it?
Blade Runner 2 is directed by Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Sicario), shot by Roger Deakins (Skyfall), written by Hampton Fancher (Blade Runner) and Michael Green (Green Lantern), and produced by Sir Ridley Scott.
What did Roger Deakins say?
From a recent interview with Screen Crush:
“We’re just treating the new one as what it is; it’s an entirely separate movie that will stand by itself. I mean obviously it has elements that connect it to the original. But it’s going to stand alone by itself as a movie.
And I’m not going to do shafts of light coming through a window with rain just for the sake of doing shafts of light and rain – although it was really superb the way it was done. No, you have to think about the script and approach it anew.”
“I mean, I did think twice about it. Because you think ‘Oh yeah, Blade Runner, the original is so wonderful.’ And I thought ‘This script is not the old script. It’s not a remake. It’s another take on the story. It’s another story and a progression.’
So, what does this tell us?
It tells us that the film isn’t necessarily a direct sequel to the first Blade Runner in a sense it doesn’t immediately continue the plot threads of that first narrative. So, if we do see Deckard again the story being told won’t necessarily be a follow up to his time with Rachael or his hunt for the Replicants chronicled in the first tale.
We also know they won’t be doing callbacks just for the sake of doing callbacks, which many films these days have a habit of doing in order to capitalize on nostalgia. We think it’s a pretty safe bet you’ll be seeing neon signs, but we expect the world has changed somewhat in the time that has passed since a certain Eldon Tyrell met his untimely demise at the hands (literally!) of one of his creations.
Think of Blade Runner 2 has another story in the same world as the first. Obviously, the events of Blade Runner need to be acknowledged, but it was a personal story in an indifferent world. We can only hope this film will deliver a satisfying cyberpunk experience.
