**Major spoilers ahead**
No matter how the box office figures eventually pan out, much will be discussed about “Blade Runner 2049” in the years to come. Packed with ideas about the future, creation, our relationship to digital technology and more, Denis Villeneuve and his team crafted a thoughtful followup to Ridley Scott‘s acclaimed, original movie. On top of that, the filmmakers crafted a new story, one that links to the past, while also building a possible future. However, in the process of bringing “Blade Runner 2049” to the big screen, one key element changed.
The ending of the film sees Harrison Ford‘s Rick Deckard meet his long lost daughter, one who may hold the key to the future of replicant autonomy. Meanwhile, outside, Ryan Gosling‘s Officer K lies in the snow, looking up in the sky, as he slowly dies. Wait, dies? Yep. According to screenwriter Michael Green, there shouldn’t be any ambiguity about the fate of Gosling’s character.
“I was surprised to find out that anyone thought he didn’t die. And I can say this: the non-casual fan might recognize the music cue that plays in that moment,” screenwriter Michael Green told Entertainment Weekly. (It’s Vangelis‘ “Tears In The Rain” from the first film).
That wasn’t the original idea, though. Speaking with The LA Times, Hampton Fancher, who wrote the 1982 picture and the treatment for ‘2049,’ reveals that Deckard’s journey had a very different outcome in his version of the story.
“In my script, Deckard died at the end, but you have him live,” he told Green, who joined him for the interview. “The first time Ridley and I ever considered doing a second ‘Blade Runner,’ in 1986 or whatever it was, I came up with an idea about Deckard and his next job — and it’s kind of horrifying what happens in my little fantasy. Now that Deckard lives, that idea is back in my head. But I’m not going to tell you what it is.”
Meanwhile, Scott has previously talked about franchising “Blade Runner,” an outcome which seems unlikely given the box office for the film. But according to Green, there was never a thought about anything beyond ‘2049’ when writing the movie.
“So many studios and property rights holders have seen the success of Marvel, which we all adore and wonder how to replicate it. For me, the lesson of Marvel is: you don’t begin by building a universe. You begin by telling a story worth telling,” he told EW. “And if it is a great story directed well and performed brilliantly and stays with people, it will become the black hole around which a galaxy can form. If you begin by trying to build the universe before creating a film worth watching, well, there be dragons. At no point in the creation of this story or script did anyone talk about spin-offs or how might things continue. It was always: what’s our story and make sure you have a story that is worth the title.”
That’s not to say he didn’t think about it, but again, it was about getting ‘2049’ right first. “I’ve certainly fantasized about it but I kept it in the box of fantasy until we had this movie well in hand and knew that it landed well. At no point during the making of this were people concerned with building out the universe. All the focus was on: ‘Let’s make the best possible movie we can right now and then maybe, maybe dare to dream, ‘ ” Green explained.
It’ll be interesting to see how the story continues or if it does, but “Blade Runner 2049” certainly leaves audiences with plenty to chew on after they leave the cinema.