Click here for an update on the Blade Runner movie
Ridley Scott will revisit the Alien franchise next year with Prometheus, a spinoff project that takes place in the same universe as his classic 1979 sci-fi/horror tale. It turns out that won’t be the only one of the legendary filmmaker’s famous sci-fi titles that he’ll be returning to.
Word has gotten out that Scott is now committing to direct and produce a new installment in the Blade Runner franchise, based on his acclaimed 1982 adaptation of seminal sci-fi author Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”
Deadline is reporting that Scott plans to both direct and produce a new Blade Runner movie, working alongside Alcon Entertainment heads Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove (The Blind Side). It has yet to be revealed if the project the trio are developing is a prequel, sequel, or spinoff.
When Alcon and Warner Bros. acquired the rights to the Blade Runner series earlier this year, there was talk from the studio heads about how their dream pick to direct a new installment would be either a filmmaker who could replicate the approach Scott took in his original project (Christopher Nolan was cited as a specific example) – or Scott himself. It seems that the latter has enjoyed the experience of revisiting one of his previous sci-fi creations (Prometheus) enough to do it again.
Blade Runner didn’t fare so well at the box office back in 1982, when sci-fi fans were more interested in checking out Steven Spielberg’s E.T. However, Scott’s film is now considered a cinematic masterpiece for its clever blend of pseudo-science and Noir genre elements – as well as its thought-provoking examination of issues concerning the very meaning of the word “humanity,” among other things. The film’s bleak, yet evocative, imagery of Los Angeles in the early 21st century has also become iconic in the years since its initial release; its influence on filmmakers is readily apparent, especially in similar philosophical sci-fi flicks like The Matrix, Dark City, or Inception.
Back when news first broke about there being plans to make additional Blade Runner movies, most everyone felt it was simply a cash grab on the part of Warner Bros. There’s certainly still truth to that accusation (Hollywood is a business, after all), but the involvement of Scott should certainly pique interests among fans who would definitely enjoy spending more time in the Blade Runner universe he devised.
We will keep you posted on the status of Scott’s new Blade Runner movie as the story develops.
