Though it didn’t make $1 billion at the box office and reignite the world’s love of “Blade Runner,” Denis Villeneuve’s “Blade Runner 2049” is an acclaimed film and has many fans that are anticipating the filmmaker’s eventual return to the franchise. Of course, that doesn’t seem likely, as the aforementioned sequel didn’t necessarily make a profit. That being said, the director would love to return to the franchise, though not in the same way he did before.
Speaking to Empire, Villeneuve said that he would love to come back to the world of “Blade Runner,” though not with the same cast of characters that fans have been introduced to in the classic ‘80s film and the recent sequel. For the filmmaker to return, he’d have to be able to tell a completely new story.
“It’s such an inspiring place, the ‘Blade Runner’ world,” Villeneuve explained. “The problem I have is the word ‘sequel.’ I think cinema needs original stories. But if you ask me if I’d like to revisit this universe in a different way, I can say yes. It would need to be a project on its own. Something disconnected from both other movies. A detective noir story set in the future… I wake up sometimes in the night dreaming about it.”
Now, there will be people that scoff at the idea of a studio giving Villeneuve another $100 million (or more) to make a third “Blade Runner” film, even if it is a reboot of sorts. But keep in mind, those people would have likely laughed at the idea of the filmmaker receiving that money to make a sequel in the first place. Also, let’s not forget that Villeneuve also talked a studio into giving him a ton of cash to adapt Frank Herbert’s sci-fi magnum opus “Dune” into a Christmas 2020 tentpole film.
Basically, if you were to tell me that Villeneuve made a deal with the Devil to be able to greenlight whatever passion project he has in his head, I’d believe you. In a world where independent filmmakers desperately scrounge together $1 million to make a low-budget drama, Villeneuve is over here getting hundreds of millions of dollars to make sci-fi films that (arguably) aren’t destined for $1 billion grosses. Not that I’m complaining, as he’s a filmmaker that deserves any amount of money to make whatever crazy idea he wants. But I digress.
Long story short, Villeneuve is game for returning to the world of “Blade Runner,” so let’s see if it can happen.