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Ridley Scott To Direct New Blade Runner Movie
In his first accepted submission, fwarren writes "Alcon Entertainment, best known for the movie The Blind Side, purchased the rights to Blade Runner earlier this year. The next order of business? Hire Ridley Scott. Scott has signed on to make a new Blade Runner movie. At this point it is not known whether it will be a sequel or a prequel. With no script or writer at this point, I think it is safe to say it will be a roller coaster ride for the next few years."
I don't know, but Phillip K. Dick is probably rolling in his.
It seems like Hollywood just can't be content to let a good work stand on its own. Sooner or later everything good has to get either a sequel, prequel, or remake. It's just disrespectful, in my opinion, to works that are actually good and stand the test of time on their own. Not everything has to be turned into a cash cow.
The way I see it, the only way this is going to turn out good is if it's in the same universe but not about the same characters (I'll allow a couple of cameos). The world Scott built was amazing, surely there's room for more stories there than Deckard (who should be dead at any meaningful point in the future anyway).
I have studied Blade Runner. You'd need a mighty fine, mind-blowing script to even come near to the original. Mind you, half of what Made Blade Runner so good was, what was NOT said, as what was implied. The dialog in the film is terse, tight, and very carefully worded. It's like a Phillip Glass composition, in that there's only in there what needs to be in there and nothing more. Seriously go back and look at it, and then think about what's the undertone behind each line in the film.
Like a film noir detective movie, everyone is a suspect, and everyone is hiding some secret. It's not cut and dry, but layered.
Hollywood doesn't know how to do a film like that anymore. Now it's cartoon characters and explosions, and everything is at face value, spoon-fed to the audience.
Then there's the look of the film. With the exception of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, *nothing* looked like Blade Runner. The film is so groundbreaking is this respect, I don't even know where to begin. Did you ever even hear the word "Dystopian" before Blade Runner? It literally *invented* cyberpunk -- there's no doubt that Gibson was influenced by the film when he wrote his novels in the way he describes BAMA or Chiba.
A new film would have to be above-board exceptional. Script, Characters, Cast, Visuals, Music, Director. When Blade Runner was made, everyone involved was at the top of their game. It's rare to get such a talented crew in one place at one time. Think about the names involved in that production, Scott, Mead, Ford, Hauer, Vangellis, Fancher -- I mean, this crew was kind of a magical occurrence of talent that doesn't happen often.
I have a friend who just doesn't "get" this film. He says it's about a guy who has to kill a bunch of replicants who are going to die anyhow. And yes, if you're watching the surface of the film, it's a pointless exercise, after all, if they are going to die soon, why bother shooting them?
But that's not what the film is *about*. Just ask Rob Zombie, who's most famous song is about Blade Runner. Blade Runner is a deep, deep film. It's an abyss in a Nietzsche-esque sense.
It's not likely to be "replicated" or topped, or sequel'ed. All another film based in that universe is going to do is remind us of how brilliant the original was.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.