While theStar Wars Celebrationis just starting to rage following theRogue Onereel of behind-the-scenes images and footage, a whole other science fiction epic is being produced elsewhere. We’ve been hearing a good amount about the casting forBlade Runner 2, the presumptive title ofDenis Villeneuve’s sequel toRidley Scott’s impossibly influential original, but today we got our fist images of what we should expect from the world of Villeneuve’s sequel, and things look messy. You can check out the concept art below.
On top of these pieces of concept art,EWtalked with Villeneuve about accepting the offer to direct the film, as well as sharing how the film gave him his first flickers of ambition to make movies; theSicariodirector says he’s seen the movie a “thousand times.” The director also talked about bring backHarrison Fordas a much older Decker - ”he’s full of wisdom and good advice,” says Villenueve - and says that the new film will take place several decades after the original. “The climate has gone berserk — the ocean, the rain, the snow is all toxic,” says the director, giving us a sense of the dark vision Villeneuve sees for hisBlade Runner.
He also speaks about howBlade RunnerscreenwriterHampton Fancherconvinced him to take the project by talking about the film as a kind of dream; you can see the full quote below. As for the concept art, he explains that the vehicle in the second image is a kind of snow-destroyer that roams around the futuristic Los Angeles; Villeneuve refers to the machine as a “Canadian wet dream.” He credits Fancher with helping him get out of his “terror period,” before accepting the job.
“It’s a great team and spirits are very high…Failure is not an option," is how Villeneuve ends the conversation, which makes one very heartened indeed for this, one of the most touchy projects that the world of science fiction filmmaking has ever witnessed.
Here’s what Villeneuve said about his first encounter with the originalBlade Runner:
“I remember the opening sequence perfectly…That note of music; seeing Los Angeles in 2019; that smog; that darkness. It’s really the movie that gave birth to my desire to become a director.”
Here’s what he said about meeting with Fancher:
“He told me thatBlade Runnerwas a dream. We just have to dream again and not worry too much about logic. That removed so much pressure and gave me the key to move forward.”
