Let the wild rumor rumpus begin! We ‘ve all heard over the past few months and years that director Ridley Scott wanted to return to the Blade Runner universe, to revisit the cult film’s atmospheres and themes that tanked upon box office opening yet enthralled the world upon home viewing. This Renegade Reporter is likely not alone in thinking that Blade Runner is one of the most important and quite simply awesome science fiction films of all time. And that’s why the Blade Runner 2 sequel worries me, especially given the cinematically beautiful but thematically (and common sensically – is that a word?) empty Alien-sorta-prequel, Prometheus.
Not sure exactly where Blade Runner 2 lands on Ridley Scott’s schedule given work on a Prometheus follow-up as well as the biblical epic Exodus, but apparently the director and star of the original film, Harrison Ford, have been talking about bringing Deckard back for the sequel. Says the actor:
“Yeah, we’ve been chatting about it…I truly admire Ridley as a man and as a director, and I would be very happy to engage again with him in the further telling of this story.”
This is pretty interesting since there are a ton of stories about the tension between the Scott and Ford on the set of the 1982 film, as well as some consternation on the actor’s part considering the tinkering done with the film after the fact (particularly the theatrical release of the film; one would assume the subsequent 27 different cuts have eased the pain of this wound). While acknowledging this “static,” Ford also said:
“I’m not there to generate nostalgic moments, I’m there to do a job of work…I quite understand that everyone has an ambition when they come into a film and everone’s ambition may not be so focused on the same thing.”
It remains to be seen just how large of a role Deckard would have in Blade Runner 2; Scott has commented before that the character may not be the primary character. Still, very interesting to know that the director and actor have been talking. Given Ford’s projected involvement in some capacity in Star Wars: Episode VII, there’s really no reason to think he won’t revisit this well again too if the story, timing, and presumable money, are right.
Source: IGN
