I didn’t see Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner until 2007. Yup, 25 years after the film had been released and 30 years into my life I finally saw the film many consider to be one of the best, if not the best, science fiction films of all-time. The glorification of Blade Runner was all I had to go on before walking into the theater that year as I sat down to watch the newly minted Final Cut. I was less than impressed, but ill-conceived expectations will do that to a film of this sort.
This isn’t an action packed film of the future. It’s nothing like Scott’s more audience friendly Alien. It’s an incredibly cerebral “what if?” based on Philip K. Dick‘s sci-fi novel, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” and it wasn’t until 2008 or 2009 that I watched it again with a completely different set of eyes. That’s when it clicked.
I knew what I was getting into. I was no longer expecting spaceships, aliens or robots in the traditional sense. I was prepared for an introspective, thought-provoking and emotional story that touches at the core of what it means to be human. The end result — I immediately fell in love with it and everything I originally found off-putting. I felt like one of those people we always hear about that first saw Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 and hated it, only to continue to revisit the film and eventually fall in love. Such is the way with movies, and it’s one of the reasons we love them.
What I like most about Blade Runner now is it’s a film I feel you can approach with a different theory every time you sit down to watch it. A theory you’re either wishing to prove or disprove, and ultimately you’ll find all the clues you need to come to some conclusion or no conclusion at all. Each character is a riddle waiting to be solved with back-stories to consider. To this end I’m happy I didn’t like it the first time I saw it, otherwise I may have never thought to look for answers where I didn’t find them before.
I am a bit miffed Ridley Scott gave away his interpretation of the ending on the latest Final Cut five-disc definitive release, but I still hold to the idea you can believe whatever you want to believe about the ending. After all, I don’t think it is in any way clear cut, even though I believe explanations can be made one way or another that would be hard to dispute. I definitely have done my best to go back through it and come up with a definitive theory of my own… I even came close once.
With that taken into consideration we come to today’s news as Warner Bros-based financing and production company Alcon Entertainment (The Blind Side, The Book of Eli) announced they are in final discussions to secure film, television and ancillary franchise rights to produce prequels and sequels to Blade Runner. Alcon is negotiating to secure the rights from producer-director Bud Yorkin, who will serve as producer along with Alcon’s Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove and Cynthia Sikes Yorkin. Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble, CEO’s of Thunderbird Films, will serve as executive producers.
Now, before you run off to the comment section all twitterpated you should know that while the deal is all inclusive, it excludes the rights to remake the original. However, Alcon may produce projects based on situations introduced in the original film. The project would be distributed domestically by Warner Bros. while international rights are yet to be determined.
Also, for those paying attention over the years, this isn’t the first time an offspring of Blade Runner has been considered. In 2009 the New York Times announced Ridley Scott was working on a Blade Runner prequel series of 5- to 10-minute shorts called “Purefold” aimed at online distribution and then perhaps television. The series was said to be set at a point in time before 2019, when the Harrison Ford movie takes place in a dystopian Los Angeles.
The difference between the “Purefold” project and this new project is “Purefold” was said to be “inspired by Blade Runner” as those creators didn’t have rights to Dick’s novel, which I am assuming is part of this new deal even though it isn’t mentioned specifically in the press release, outside of it being a source of inspiration for the original film.
Going back even farther, we go to 2008 when Slash Film learned Travis Wright (Eagle Eye co-writer) had put in some work on a Blade Runner sequel. It was eventually revealed Wright, along with John Glenn, were simply commissioned to explore a potential Blade Runner sequel and did so from about 2003-2005, but they never reached the script stage.
Where does this leave us? Well, if you read this quote from Johnson and Kosove it sounds like they are serious about finally getting something put together. “This is a major acquisition for our company, and a personal favorite film for both of us,” the statement read. “We recognize the responsibility we have to do justice to the memory of the original with any prequel or sequel we produce. We have long-term goals for the franchise, and are exploring multi-platform concepts, not just limiting ourselves to one medium only.â€
So now I ask you. What do you think about this idea? Does a television show cheapen the project or if they were able to explore something as dramatic as say the recent “Battlestar Galactica” would you be more inclined to get onboard? Are you more interested in a web, television or film franchise?
In my opinion, I’m up for it if they are willing to take some risks. “Battlestar Galactica” had its share of fire fights, but it was also about something more than photon torpedoes and making the jump to lightspeed. There was real drama to that series and risks like that aren’t taken often in science fiction outside of smaller films such as 2009’s Moon. Are they willing to take that risk? Also, how big is the Blade Runner fanbase? Is it a band of online sci-fi cinephiles or does it have a broader reach, large enough for a studio to take a risk?
