Blade Runner 2049
Blade Runner 2049 is a 2017 American epic neo-noir science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, based on a story by Fancher.[10][11] A sequel to Blade Runner (1982), the film stars Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, with Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Dave Bautista, and Jared Leto in supporting roles. Ford and Edward James Olmos reprise their roles from the previous film as Rick Deckard and Gaff, respectively. Gosling plays K, a "blade runner" who uncovers a secret that threatens to destabilize society and the course of civilization.
Blade Runner 2049
Hampton Fancher
Characters from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
by Philip K. Dick
- Alcon Entertainment[1]
- Columbia Pictures[1]
- Scott Free Productions[1]
- Bud Yorkin Productions[1]
- Torridon Films[1]
- 16:14 Entertainment[1]
- Warner Bros. Pictures (North America)[1]
- Sony Pictures Releasing (International)[2][3]
- October 3, 2017 (Dolby Theatre)
- October 6, 2017 (United States)
163 minutes[4]
United States[5]
English
$267.7 million[9]
Ideas for a Blade Runner sequel were first proposed in the 1990s, but licensing issues stalled their development. Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson obtained the film rights from Bud Yorkin. Ridley Scott stepped down as the film's initial director and worked as an executive producer, while Villeneuve was later appointed to direct. Blade Runner 2049 was financed through a partnership between Alcon Entertainment and Sony Pictures, as well as a Hungarian government-funded tax rebate. Warner Bros., who had distributed its predecessor, released the film on behalf of Alcon in North America, while Sony handled distribution in international markets. Principal photography took place mostly at two soundstages in Budapest over four months from July to November 2016.
Blade Runner 2049 premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on October 3, 2017, and was released in the United States on October 6. The film received acclaim from critics, who praised multiple aspects including cast performances, directing, cinematography, and faithfulness to the previous film. Despite this, it was one of the biggest box-office bombs of the year, grossing just $267.5 million worldwide against a production budget of $150–185 million for a reported loss of $80 million. Blade Runner 2049 received many accolades, including Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects out of five nominations, and eight British Academy Film Awards nominations, winning for Best Cinematography and Best Special Visual Effects. A sequel television series, Blade Runner 2099, is in development at Amazon Studios, with Scott set to return as executive producer.
Plot[edit]
In 2049, 30 years after the events of Blade Runner, bioengineered humans known as replicants are slaves. K (short for serial number, KD6-3.7), a Nexus-9 replicant, works for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) as a "blade runner", an officer who hunts and "retires" (kills) rogue replicants. After retiring replicant Sapper Morton, K finds a box buried under a tree at Morton's farm, containing the remains of a female replicant who died during a caesarean section, demonstrating that replicants can reproduce biologically, previously thought impossible. K's superior, Lt. Joshi, fears this knowledge could lead to war between humans and replicants and orders K to retire the replicant child.
K visits the Wallace Corporation, successor to the defunct Tyrell Corporation in the manufacture of replicants, where DNA archives identify the deceased female as Rachael, an experimental replicant. K learns of Rachael's romantic ties with former blade runner Rick Deckard. CEO Niander Wallace wants the secret to replicant reproduction to expand interstellar colonization. He sends his replicant enforcer Luv to follow K.
At Morton's farm, K finds 6.10.21 carved into the tree trunk and recognizes it from a childhood memory of a wooden toy horse. Because replicant memories are artificial, K's holographic A.I. girlfriend Joi believes this is evidence that K was born, not created. He discovers in LAPD records two children born on that date with identical DNA aside from the sex chromosome, but only the boy is listed as alive. K tracks the child to an orphanage but the records from that year are missing. K recognizes the orphanage from his memories and finds the toy horse where he remembers hiding it.
Replicant memory designer Dr. Ana Stelline confirms that his memory of the orphanage is not artificial, leading K to conclude he is Rachael's son. At LAPD headquarters K implies to Joshi that he has killed the replicant child. He fails a baseline test marking him as rogue. Joshi gives him 48 hours to pass the test, or he will be 'retired'. Joi hires replicant prostitute Mariette as a surrogate for Joi to have sex with K. Mariette is part of the replicant freedom movement and leaves a tracker on K. Analysis of the toy horse leads K to the ruins of Las Vegas. He finds Deckard, who tells him that he is the father of Rachael's child and scrambled the birth records to protect the child's identity; Deckard left the child in the custody of the replicant freedom movement.
Luv kills Joshi and tracks K to Las Vegas. She kidnaps Deckard, destroys Joi, and leaves K to die. Using Mariette's tracker, the replicant freedom movement rescues K. When their leader, Freysa, tells him that Rachael's child was a girl, K understands that he is not Rachael's child, deduces that Stelline is her daughter and that the toy horse memory is hers, one she implanted in replicants whose memories she designed. To prevent Deckard leading Wallace to Stelline or the freedom movement, Freysa asks K to kill Deckard.
Luv takes Deckard to meet Wallace, who offers Deckard a duplicate Rachael in exchange for revealing what he knows. Deckard refuses, and Luv kills the duplicate. As Luv transports Deckard to be interrogated, K intercedes and tries to rescue Deckard. He fights and drowns Luv but is mortally wounded. He stages Deckard's death to protect him from Wallace and the replicant freedom movement before taking Deckard to Stelline's office and handing him her toy horse. As K lies on the steps looking up at the falling snow, Deckard enters the building and meets his daughter for the first time.[a]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Blade Runner 2049 grossed $92.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $175.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $267.5 million, against a production budget between $150–185 million.[6][7][9][113] The projected worldwide total the film needed to gross in order to break even was estimated to be around $400 million, and in November 2017, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film was expected to lose the studio as much as $80 million.[114] Ridley Scott attributed the film's underperformance to the runtime, saying: "It's slow. Long. Too long. I would have taken out half an hour."[115]
In the United States and Canada, the film was initially projected to gross $43–47 million in its opening weekend.[116] In September 2017, a survey from Fandango indicated that the film was one of the most anticipated releases of the season.[116] It made $4 million from Thursday night previews, including $800,000 from IMAX theaters, but just $12.6 million on its first day, lowering weekend estimates to $32 million.[117] It made $11.3 million on Saturday and went on to debut to $31.5 million, performing below both projections but still finishing first at the box office and marking the biggest openings of Villeneuve and Gosling's careers.[117] The film would hold Gosling's opening weekend record for six years until 2023 when it was overtaken by Barbie.[118] Regarding the opening weekend, director Villeneuve said, "It's a mystery. All the indexes and marketing tools they were using predicted that it would be a success. The film was acclaimed by critics. So everyone expected the first weekend's results to be impressive, and they were shocked. They still don't understand."[119]
Deadline Hollywood attributed the film's performance to the 163-minute runtime limiting the number of showtimes theaters could have, lack of appeal to mainstream audiences, and the marketing being vague and relying on nostalgia and established fanbase to carry it.[120] In its second weekend, the film dropped 52.7% to $15.5 million, finishing second behind newcomer Happy Death Day ($26 million)[121] and dropped another 54% in its third weekend to $7.2 million, finishing in 4th behind Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, Geostorm, and Happy Death Day.[122]
Overseas, the film was expected to debut to an additional $60 million, for a worldwide opening of around $100 million.[113] It actually made $50.2 million internationally, finishing number one in 45 markets, for a global opening of $81.7 million. The film made $8 million in the United Kingdom, $4.9 million in Russia, $1.8 million in Brazil, and $3.6 million in Australia.[123] It debuted in China on October 27, where it made $7.7 million opening weekend, which was considered a disappointment.[124][125]
Future[edit]
Potential sequels[edit]
During the promotional tour for the 2015 film The Martian, Scott expressed interest in making additional Blade Runner films.[170] In October 2017, Villeneuve said he expected a third film would be made if 2049 was successful.[171] Fancher, who wrote both films, said he was considering reviving an old story idea involving Deckard traveling to another country.[171] Ford has said he would be open to returning if he liked the script.[171] In January 2018, Scott stated that he had "another [story] ready to evolve and be developed, [that] there is certainly one to be done for sure", referring to a third Blade Runner film.[172]
In January 2020, Villeneuve expressed interest in "revisit[ing] this universe in a different way," making "something disconnected from both other movies," as opposed to a direct sequel.[173]
Blade Runner 2099[edit]
In November 2021, Scott announced that a Blade Runner TV series was in the works.[174] In February 2022, it was announced that the series, Blade Runner 2099, was in development at Alcon Entertainment, Sony Pictures Television and Amazon Studios. It will be set fifty years after the events of 2049. Scott will serve as executive producer and potentially direct the series, while Silka Luisa will serve as showrunner.[175] On October 12, 2022, it was reported that the series was officially approved and ready to move into production.[176]
In April 2023, Joe Roberts writing for Slash Film announced progress for the planned filming and 2024 release of the limited series, stating, "We then learned, via BBC, that the show would film in Ireland, with Northern Ireland Screen chief executive Richard Williams confirming a spring 2023 start date. If that turns out to be the case, don't expect the series to make it to Prime Video in 2023. Filming will no doubt take months and if post-production is anything like you might expect on a big-budget sci-fi outing, we should prepare for "Blade Runner 2099" to debut sometime in 2024."[177]
Video game[edit]
In June 2023, Annapurna Interactive announced Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth was in development. It is to be set before the events of the movie and after the anime Blade Runner: Black Lotus.[178]