‘Blade Runner 2049’ To Lose $80 Million

It’s no surprise by now that “Blade Runner 2049” didn’t exactly meet financial expectations. It’s opening weekend was so soft, it actually caused theater chain stocks to tumble. Many questions were asked in hindsight about the show and don’t tell marketing approach, and the film’s lengthy running time, and not even China could salvage the bottom line for the sequel. Now, it’s becoming quite clear what kind of mark “Blade Runner 2049” is going to leave on the ledgers.

THR reports that production company Alcon Entertainment and the various investors who threw their money at the movie, are bracing themselves to lose as much as $80 million. The film, which cost $155 million before marketing, was said to need $400 million worldwide to break even. At the moment, it’s just a bit over $240 million. That’s quite a way off the goal line, but at the very least, Sony will get back the $110 million they threw in because how their deal works with Alcon.

It’s disappointing news for Denis Villeneuve, who certainly put a lot of craft and care into his followup to Ridley Scott‘s classic movie. But it’s also a loss for fans of contemplative sci-fi, at least the studio level, because you can bet no one is going to spend that kind of money on a cerebral project like this again, anytime soon.