Denis Villeneuve recently spoke of his time directing Blade Runner 2049, and his comments imply that a long-awaited project of his probably won’t happen. With Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 reflection seven years later, there also comes doubt regarding a specific franchise collaboration that fans have been left waiting for. Although Villeneuve’s directorial credits are quite varied, his recent focus has been on stepping in to lead huge science-fiction franchises. While his command of making movies in this genre can’t be questioned, it could be that these projects have reduced his desire for one film in particular.
Although Denis Villeneuve’s entry into the Blade Runner timeline was well-received by critics, it didn’t live up to expectations at the box office. However, his work with the Dune franchise has more than redeemed the financial shortcomings of Blade Runner 2049. Despite his recent success, Villeneuve’s recent comments may imply that he’s done with one specific type of filmmaking, which is bad news for fans of a certain franchise.
Blade Runner 2049’s Ending Explained
Blade Runner 2049 was 35 years in the making – and it’s ending will be debated for 35 more. Allow us to explain what really happened.
A Denis Villeneuve Star Wars Movie Seems Unlikely After His Blade Runner 2049 Comments
The director seemingly wants to avoid stepping into someone else’s world again
Back in 2017, Villeneuve was a guest on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, with the director discussing his feelings about the Star Wars franchise. The interview revealed that Villeneuve would be “Open to” directing a movie in the Star Wars universe that took place away from the Skywalker saga. Although several movies of this nature have been planned, only 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and 2017’s Solo: A Star Wars Story ever manifested. Despite Villeneuve’s comments about making a standalone Star Wars movie, a recent exchange with The Hollywood Reporter casts the speculative project into doubt.
The Blade Runner 2049 director spoke out about being unable to ignore the significance of making a sequel to the 1982 cult classic. 2017’s Blade Runner follow-up was the first time the director had ever stepped into someone else’s world when making a movie. Villeneuve claims the film was “By far one of the most difficult projects” he’d ever done, and that he still wakes up sometimes at night saying, “Why did I do that?” If the director found adhering to established canon so taxing, he may not want to commit to a movie set in the Star Wars timeline.
Why Villeneuve Doesn’t Want To Tackle Someone Else’s Universe After Blade Runner
Making a Blade Runner sequel came with a lot of pressure
Denis Villeneuve’s filmography consists of primarily original ideas. Although Dune, Dune: Part Two, and Blade Runner 2049 all have literary origins, this is a fairly new development in the director’s storied career. The stress that Villeneuve was under when making Blade Runner 2049 sounds like it came from the gravitas of the task and the popularity of the first movie. As such, it doesn’t seem as though the director enjoyed the experience in retrospect and may want to return to his earlier framework of making original movies.
Although Blade Runner has a devoted following, it’s quite small when compared with the size of other franchises. So, if Denis Villeneuve felt under pressure when making Blade Runner 2049, these negative emotions might be magnified if he were to make a movie for a much larger property. As such, it would make sense for Villeneauve to withdraw from making sequels set in motion by other franchises, especially after the Dune duology.
Denis Villeneuve’s Star Wars Movie Would Be Pointless After Dune
Star Wars and Dune are already too similar
Although there were things the 1984 Dune movie got right, Villeneuve’s current iteration of the story is by far the most successful. Therefore, the writer/director of the 2021 reboot is already at the helm of his own enormous franchise. Stepping away to direct a movie for a competitor like Star Wars would be an unusual move, so it wouldn’t make any sense. Denis Villeneuve has a very distinctive filmmaking style, so applying his hallmarks to a story set in the Star Wars universe would result in a movie that resembles his work on the Dune films too closely.
Everything Star Wars Took From Dune
There are a number of striking similarities between George Lucas’ much-loved Star Wars franchise and Frank Herbert’s seminal 1965 novel, Dune.
In addition to a potential conflict of interest, Star Wars is already heavily inspired by the original Dune books. So, Denis Villeneuve establishing Dune as its own movie franchise, only to step away and direct a movie for a property that also stems from the same source material, would be a very inert decision. In short, it looks as if Denis Villeneuve’s Star Wars ambitions have probably fallen by the wayside. As such, the closest fans will get to Villeneuve directing a Star Wars movie has already happened, and they have the director’s experience with Blade Runner 2049 to thank.
Blade Runner 2049
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Set thirty years after the original film, Blade Runner 2049 is a sci-fi neo-noir film by the director of Dune, Denis Villeneuve. The film follows LAPD replicant officer K, who discovers a devastating secret that could throw society into total chaos. To stop a potential war between replicants and humans, he’ll need to locate missing former blade runner Rick Deckard and uncover the truth.
- Director
- Denis Villeneuve
- Release Date
- October 6, 2017
- Cast
- Ryan Gosling , Harrison Ford , Jared Leto , Ana De Armas , Robin Wright , Lennie James , Dave Bautista , Carla Juri , Hiam Abbass , Barkhad Abdi , David Dastmalchian , Mackenzie Davis , Sylvia Hoeks
