Blade Runner; Ridley Scott signs on to produce & direct the new film.

Bookmark this on Delicious

Whilst it is still unclear if this is a sequel a prequel a redo or a totally different film just set in that same world in not yet known. Comparisons are already being drawn between this and Scott’s return to his other (more successful) iconic Science Fiction film, Alien. Prometheus was originally meant to be a prequel to Alien, but that changed, in large part because of Damon Lindleof’s story ideas, into a film set before Alien and definitely in the same universe, but not a prequel. (I suppose the easiest comparison may be the MCU films Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Thor & Captain America. They are all connected, but work 100% independently of each other)

Ridley Scott being attached has certainly made this film much more important than it may have seemed even yesterday. More to the point it alleviates many fears that people may have had that this would be a wholly inferior addition. The last time there was a film claiming kinship with Blade Runner it was the lamentable Soldier (1998, directed by Paul W. S. Anderson.) They were both written by David Peoples who adapted Phillip K Dick’s ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’ into Blade Runner.

I’m sure the irony of the whole situation won’t have been lost on Scott. When Blade Runner originally came out in 1982 it wasn’t a great financial success and was frankly misunderstood (or not understood at all) by many critics and much of the audience at the time. One showing (there were probably more) had a member of the audience ask, during the film, if anybody knew what the hell was going on. That he was met with laughter, and not calls to be quiet, says it all. However the film has since become something o a classic, with its visual style, complicated and non condescending plot being applauded. It is now considered a classic that was perhaps ahead of its time and it has been re-edited into director’s cuts and ultimate cuts. Most notably the voice over, which was effectively added to make the film more accessible, but Ford despised, being removed.