For fans of Ridley Scott’s prestigious works of science fiction, 2017 is shaping up to be a very exciting year indeed. On the one hand, we have Alien: Covenant, a bloody, R-rated scarefest directed by Sir Ridders himself. But fleshing out the Alien universe is a time-consuming endeavour, and work on Covenant has meant that Blade Runner 2049, a sequel 30 years in the making, has been passed on to one Denis Villeneuve.
If that name rings a bell, it should –Â Villeneuve has shot up into Hollywood’s big leagues following his work on Prisoners, Sicario and the rather excellent Arrival. Such a streak of critically-acclaimed hits hasn’t gone unnoticed, either, after the filmmaker was recently appointed to helm the long-gestating Dune reboot for Legendary – pending an official confirmation, of course. But in 2017, Blade Runner 2049 will take center stage.
It’ll adhere to the 30-year time gap between it and Ridley Scott’s cherished original and here, Villeneuve spoke to Empire Magazine about the endearing legacy of Blade Runner and, more specifically, how it’s affected not only his own career, but the careers of those around him.
“I’m having the time of my life on this, but it’s insane for sure,” director Denis Villeneuve admits in the new issue of Empire (on sale December 29). “Because it is so insane, it gives you freedom. A lot of people on this [film] are children of Blade Runner, raised with the imagination and energy of the original, and have been inspired by those images all our lives.”
Villeneuve’s interview comes hand-in-hand with a new still for Blade Runner 2049, which shows Ryan Gosling’s LAPD officer K between takes. Much like Harrison Ford before him, he’ll be on the hunt for replicants – and crippling moral dilemmas – come 2017.
Blade Runner 2049Â will open on October 6, 2017.
Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.
