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Blade Runner Sequels and Prequels Happening

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the he-was-a-replicant-people dept.

bowman9991 writes "The iconic science fiction film Blade Runner, based on Philip K. Dick's book and directed by Ridley Scott, will be followed up with sequels and prequels soon. Alcon Entertainment is in final discussions to secure film, TV and franchise rights. They are in the early stages of sorting out how to proceed and were not sure if Ridley Scott would be involved."

25 of 334 comments (clear)

  1. That's it, I quit humanity by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You know, I was watching one of the behind-the-scenes extras on the "Get Low" DVD the other day. For those who haven't seen it, "Get Low" is a quiet little movie--low-budget, not a lot of hoopla. But it has a suprisingly powerful screenplay and great performances from Robert Duvall and Bill Murray. Anyway, the producer points out that, even with a very powerful script and great leads attached, it still took over 8 years to get the movie made. He explained that Hollywood has become so fixated on sequels, prequels, franchises, remakes, and comic-book/TV adaptations that getting funding even for a small-budget *original* film, with no potential for a sequel or merchandising, has become a nightmare. Hollywood may celebrate these kinds of movies at Oscar time, but getting a studio to put up even a relatively trivial amount of money for them is almost impossible unless you can attach some hot A-list leads.

    And that is why we're treated to a stream of endless rapes of once-great franchises/TV shows/comic books. It's why a 60-year-old Harrison Ford is running around fighting fucking aliens with a bullwhip looking for a goddamn crystal skull, while Steven Spielberg is off-camera bathing in a pile of cash. It's why we get sequels to 25-year-old R-rated franchises with PG-13 ratings and once-great stars just there to collect a paycheck (yep, I'm looking at you Bruce Willis). It's why everyone who has produced even a mediocre comic book superhero has Hollywood fawning over them, while great original scripts go right into the trash bin.

    And now it's why we're going to get a shitty PG-13 action-oriented prequel/sequel to one of the great adult science fiction films of all time. It's something no one asked for. It will tarnish the original. And it will suck. But all Hollywood hears is "sequel" and so it's getting the green light.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:That's it, I quit humanity by Damek · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And people keep paying for them. I keep reading how Hollywood is "fixated" on this stuff or has some sort of problem, but people keep buying what they're selling.

      Also, this stuff doesn't tarnish anything. Robocop's still a great movie. The original Star Wars films are still.. well, what they were. The Lord of the Rings books are still great books. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep wasn't tarnished by Blade Runner. I should know, I read the book far too late, twenty years after I started reading sci-fi and ten years after I saw Blade Runner. Dune wasn't tarnished by any of its film adaptations, and for me, the Lynch wasn't tarnished by the so-so SyFy versions. And Herbert's novels weren't tarnished by his kin's prequel novels.

      People like to revisit the places they've been before, with a little variation. You may as well complain, "why do genre novelists write so many series?" I have no freaking clue. But people buy them.

      Now, what I'd like to see is a film adaptation of The Demolished Man or The Stars My Destination by Bester. Also, any of MacLeod's or Reynolds' work, but then that would be a bit difficult...

    2. Re:That's it, I quit humanity by elrous0 · · Score: 3

      I can do a pretty boring summary of the premise of about any movie. It's all in where it goes from there, and how it's executed, that counts.

      Luke, a farmboy on a desert planet, is at odds with his adopted uncle--who doesn't want him to go off to college. Will he stay behind on the farm, or join the mysterious hermit Ben on an important mission, and discover the truth about his dead father along the way?

      Well, that one sounds like a fucking snoozefest. And I liked it a lot better back in 1958 when it was called "The Hidden Fortress."

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    3. Re:That's it, I quit humanity by Seumas · · Score: 3, Interesting

      A lot of people don't know better. Many (or even most?) people don't realize when a movie is a remake of a movie from decades ago. Or when a song is really a cover. Just read youtube (gah) comments for any modern cover of an older song and look at the throngs of younger people who think, for example, the Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" is a Marylin Manson song.

      Why roll out something new when you can just repackage something old to a new audience that is too naive to have a clue?

    4. Re:That's it, I quit humanity by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Funny

      Saying Fuck every other word, showing exploding heads and having tits on screen constantly isn't the recipe for a good movie.

      No, but it's a good start. ;-)

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    5. Re:That's it, I quit humanity by Seumas · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Editing your content and story to be consumable by little kids isn't the recipe for a good movie, either.

      Yippee ki-yay [ . . . ] . . . !

    6. Re:That's it, I quit humanity by fermion · · Score: 4, Interesting
      I don't know if this is new. Hollywood, it seems, has always been about brands, it is just the brands change. At one point it seems it was about the actors. Each studio owned certain people, and people would pay see those properties. Cluade Raines, Jane Russel, Charle Chapman. TV provided no competition nor means of advertising the product, real theater was and is expensive, so people just went to the moving picture show. We hear people say how much they like John Wayne, not that anything interesting happened in the movies.

      Then the actors were able to move around freely, and TV provided a competitive environment and a means of advertising, and technology advanced, so there may have a short time when movies were made to be original and entertaining, maybe early 60's to late 80's. This was when the full potential of the medium was once again used, which I think had not happened since the silent films. The thing with films after the silent is I think they became obsessed with the dialogue, or the color, and forgot that film was a multi sensory experience.We see this today with movies that are overly visual. I think the classic films, the ones we use to compare to the contemporary films, completely use the medium. Gone with the wind and the burning of atlanta. Casa Blanca and the use of the black and white film as an asset. The use of contemporary f/x in Star Wars.

      But comparing a selective group top films to a whole contemporary population is unfair. I would guess that most of the films from even 30 years ago are mostly unwatched by moder audiences, even the ones that we top. Xanadu was very popular, and where is it now? I don't know if Raging Bull is a top netflix choice. I have never heard of Where the Buffalo roams and the less said about Flash Gordon the better.

      Which is to say that I think film is alive and well, and with ability to make films less expensively, and to distribute them, I think we will see an increase in good films, not less. They just may be showing at your local metroplex, or maybe. The Kings Speech, Black Swan, True Grit, were all top grossing film and all original and good work.. Which is why we have to support out local local small film houses. We lost one and it sucks. If you have one, and like good films that are not repetitive drivel, go once in a while.

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    7. Re:That's it, I quit humanity by Omestes · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Blade Runner was a huge improvement over the original story.

      In your, completely subjective, opinion at least. I disagree.

      That said, I see Blade Runner and DADoES as separate things, and enjoy both of them roughly equally for completely different reasons. Blade Runner was a stylistic master piece, with pretty much perfect scene making and acting. DADoES was a tilted tragi-comedy with a brooding philosophical bent, and the trademark Philip Dick ambiguity. The story was much much more intellectually satisfying, and pulled off intelligent better (unlike the movies silly unicorn thing), but, like much of Dick's writing, is a bit hit or miss. The story's world comes off more like a sketch than a completed thing. The movie makes up for this in spades, but at the expense of intellectual depth.

      Blade Runner, though, is the second best Dick adaptation (After A Scanner Darkly), and is a brilliant film on its own. If I was stuck on a desert island and could only have one, I would ponder how arbitrary this whole scenario is, and then pick the story.

      Its pretty much the same way I see the LoTR trilogy, the books and the movies are very different beasts, and can be judged separately. It isn't really an either/or thing.

      --
      A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
  2. Ugh by eegad · · Score: 3, Funny

    Freaking Replicants.

  3. I don't want more life, fucker by Utini420 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This will all end in tears. One way or the other.

    --
    A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation.
    1. Re:I don't want more life, fucker by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      I have seen things you people wouldn't believe in the original.

      Harrison Ford fighting killer androids.
      Flying cars shimmering over the Los Angeles distopia.

      All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... Time for a sequel.

  4. Yay! by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 4, Funny

    Blade Runner is a superb film and a sequel is long overdue!

    Besides, what could possibly go wrong?

    --
    Summation 2
  5. Awesome universe by binarylarry · · Score: 3

    I hope they'll make some movies exploring other areas of the Blade Runner universe. Recasting Deckard, the replicants, etc would be terrible.

    But the universe is awesome, I'd welcome more stories from there.

    --
    Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
  6. In other news.... by Unka+Willbur · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The classic Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" is getting a sequel, a prequel and a reboot... "We feel there's a lot of left to explore in the world of 'Mona Lisa,'" said a greedy scum-sucking banker-type who wouldn't know art if it slapped him upside his swollen ego with a jugged fish,.

    --
    "Remember when I said I would never lie? Well, that was the first time."
    1. Re:In other news.... by SirGarlon · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Actually it is very common for painters even today to paint their own variations and re-interpretations of Mona Lisa. It's called a "study." Of course, it's different. The challenge in a study is to bring something new and create new art based on the same subject.

      --
      [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
  7. Re:The Best of Philip K Dick by C_amiga_fan · · Score: 5, Informative

    And short stories of course (not a complete list):
    1. Beyond Lies the Wub
    2. Roog
    3. Paycheck
    4. Second Variety (Screamers)
    5. Imposter
    6. The King of the Elves
    7. Adjustment Team
    8. Foster, You're Dead
    9. Upon the Dull Earth
    10. Autofac
    11. The Minority Report
    12. The Days of Perky Pat
    13. Precious Artifact
    14. A Game of Unchance
    15. We Can Remember It For You Wholesale (Total Recall)
    16. Faith of Our Fathers
    17. The Electric Ant
    18. A Little Something For Us Tempunauts
    19. The Exit Door Leads In
    20. Rautavaara's Case
    21. I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon
    And some other random ones - Fair Game, The Hanging Stranger, The Eyes have it; The Golden Man; The Turning Wheel; The Last of the Masters; The Father-Thing; Strange Eden; Tony and the Beetles; Null-O; To Serve the Master; Exhibit Piece; The Crawlers; Sales Pitch; Shell Game; Upon the Dull Earth; Foster, you're dead; Pay for the Printer; War Veteran; The Chromium Fence; Second Variety.

    --
    FREE magazine : http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/prior/
  8. Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human by naz404 · · Score: 3

    I found the official sequel, Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human by K.W. Jeter (one of Philip K. Dick's good friends and the guy who coined the term "steampunk") to be a pretty decent read. Why don't they option that?

    --
    http://www.object404.com
  9. Re:sacrilege ! by greg1104 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The only surprise is that they're talking about new material inspired by Blade Runner, rather than planning a "even more gritty reboot!" of the original movie.

  10. What ???? by gstoddart · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sequels and Prequels of Blade Runner, and Ridley Scott may or may not be involved???

    So, they're going to make generic sci-fi movies that loosely relate to Blade Runner, and that none of the fans of the original will care about seeing ... and people who didn't like/didn't see the original won't care about seeing.

    Who do they expect to be watching this? They better have damned good screen plays for this, or they're throwing money down a hole trying to capitalize on the legacy of a good movie only to find out they don't have an audience.

    This has all the potential to become a complete flop. I'll stick with my director's cut of the original unless I hear some really compelling reasons that this isn't going to be crap.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:What ???? by MrNemesis · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Even with great scripts, I doubt the production design would be up to much. Never before and never since had a I seen a sci-fi universe brought to life with such confidence, style and scope - and that in itself was a crucial part of the Blade Runner story. Awesome vision from Scott plus Trumbull and team at the absolute peak of their powers, and one of the last epic films to make extensive use of models before the CGI revolution kicked in.

      Heck, when was the last time you saw a film that was even as well *lit* as Blade Runner?

      Making a film as artistically distinct as Blade Runner appears to be a dead art. Or rather a type of art that no-one is willing to finance. Not that I'm saying Blade Runner was all about the effects, it wasn't, but damn if they didn't almost singlehandedly define the visuals of the genre for a generation to come.

      Chances of requels/prequels/sequels/bleaquels having the same effect? Nil.

      --
      Moderation Total: -1 Troll, +3 Goat
  11. Re:To quote another movie that shouldn't've been m by naz404 · · Score: 4, Funny

    <vader>

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

    </vader>

    fixed that for you.

    --
    http://www.object404.com
  12. This will not end well. by 0111+1110 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Alcon Entertainment has previously produced 19 other films, including The Blind Side, Insomnia, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pant, P.S. I Love You and the post apocalyptic science fiction film The Book of Eli, which starred Denzel Washington.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcon_Entertainment

    Lost & Found
    My Dog Skip
    The Affair of the Necklace
    Insomnia
    Love Don't Cost a Thing
    Chasing Liberty
    Racing Stripes
    The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
    16 Blocks
    The Wicker Man
    P.S. I Love You
    One Missed Call
    The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
    The Blind Side
    The Book of Eli
    Lottery Ticket

    No. This will not end well. Although, to be fair, Insomnia was not bad. It's just that the Norwegian original was much, much better. The remake was not necessary. We can only pray that these jokers choose a decent writer and director for like the first time in their lives. This should have been tagged with "whatcouldpossiblygowrong".

    --
    Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
  13. Re:Prequel name votes... by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 3, Funny

    Blade Walker, Mars Ranger

    Blade, the direct descendant of Cordell Walker, Texas Ranger, enforces the law and hunts renegade replicants in the wild frontier of an offworld colony on Mars.

  14. Re:The Best of Philip K Dick by CFTM · · Score: 3, Informative

    Just an FYI, if you go in to the Adjustment Bureau expecting Adjustment Team you'll be quite disappointed. It's meant to be its own story but uses a similar entity to the adjustment team for controlling events. That's not to say it'll be either good or bad, just that it's really not intended to be a telling of a Dickian story.

  15. Re:sacrilege ! by Johnny+Mnemonic · · Score: 3, Informative


    Are Hollywood writers so creatively bankrupt

    Hollywood thinks so little of writers that they don't even credit them. They'll credit the Key Grip, for xchrist sakes. And the caterer. But not the writers. The story is a ancillary concern to the 'splosions. And here we are.

    --

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    $tar -xvf .sig.tar