Appropriately following the heels of all of this Prometheus news, word that Blade Runner, Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi masterpiece starring Harrison Ford, would be getting some sort of continuation or explanation in the form of another film from a production company (Alcon Entertainment) that could only by a sliver of the original film’s rights, started some waves in the word of online film bloggers.
Now, Alcon co-founder Broderick Johnson has spoken on the project(s): “we never would want to remake it — but they do think there’s a rich vein of material for a prequel or sequel, which they will be entitled to make.” [L.A. Times]
The other Alcon co-founder, Andrew Kosove, had this to say: “The Blade Runner lore is kind of irresistible… and the extraordinary pace of technological advancement since the movie came out means that there are a lot of opportunities to do something fresh.”
The founders go on to tackle several other lingering narrative problems with another Blade Runner film. The original’s set in 2019, which is 8 years away, making a prequel pretty hard to squeeze in. Johnson responded that the film would be set in an alternate universe this time around. Boom, there goes the dynamite.
There’s also the countless number of films that have already paid homage to the classic: “we want to make sure we don’t look like we’re borrowing from the movies that borrowed from it,” says Kosgrove. Easier said than done?
On one hand the two seem astutely aware of the property there slicing into. On the other, they appear oddly cavalier about the whole thing (alternate universes?).
All of this ends with the founders admitting that, though they’ve yet to meet Ridley Scott, “[him directing] is something we think would be wonderful.” If that last bit feels like a smart P.R. move, then you and I share the same feeling.
Do we need this? Seriously, do we need this?