Blade Runner 2 is now scheduled for release October 2017 (bumped up from its original January 2018 slot) so we really are closing in on something that was once either incredibly unlikely or even impossible. Just to make things a little weirder, Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel, Alien: Covenant, is due out in August 2017. Its enough to freak me out.
Here’s something interesting I stumbled upon whilst looking up the latest Denis Villeneuve/ Blade Runner 2 news on the ‘net and trying to avoid the clickbait. Someone on the IMDB message-board was asking what’s the longest stretch of time between a film and a sequel being made. Blade Runner was released in 1982, and the (untitled) Blade Runner 2 film is set for 2017, which is a gap of 35 years. Some examples of other long gaps the poster mentioned are The Hustler (1961) and The Colour of Money (1986) = 25 years, Psycho (1960) and Psycho II (1983) = 23 years, The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Part III (1990) = 16 years.
There are likely other examples, but a responding poster noted there is a Brazilian horror -film franchise with a longer gap; This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse (1967)/ Embodiment of Evil (2008). But I think there may be a case for Blade Runner taking the prize for a Hollywood film series. One I can think of is The Odd Couple (1968) and The Odd Couple II (1998) which is close at 30 years, but still short of the Blade Runner gap. Maybe someone reading this will be able to think of something obvious that I’ve missed.
Blade Runner 2 is scheduled to start filming next month (I’ve read it starts shooting in Budapest but don’t know how true that is, like everything else, much about this film -including its proper title- is a mystery). But yeah, we do know it starts shooting in July. The more I think about that… its really weird. I guess all the design work is done, the sets are being built now, costumes are getting ready… it messes with your head, thinking about it. Imagine what it will be like when the first set photos get released or the first teaser trailer in six months. I guess it won’t be long before some of the secrecy gets lifted a little, at the moment it feels like the lull before the storm. Anything is possible right now.
On the whole everything seems promising, and as someone who was critical of a sequel at first, I’m currently quite looking forward to it. Up to now everything I have read about it seems positive. News has been scant about the film other than updates on the cast, which is looking as impressive as the film’s backroom talent – Ryan Gosling and Robin Wright were confirmed awhile ago, but more recently Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, Spectre) and Mackenzie Davis (The Martian) have been added to the roster, as well as some names less familiar to me- Carla Juri, Sylvia Hoeks and Ana de Armas, which already indicates the film has more women’s roles than the first film featured. God only knows what that means. But Mackenzie Davis in the picture below looking very Pris-like is an unnerving coincidence…
Funnily enough Denis Villeneuve has another film due out this year, and it’s a sci-fi film too- Story Of Your Life is based on an acclaimed short story of the same name by Ted Chiang (note there is a rumour going around that the film’s title has now changed to Arrival). The film stars Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker, and concerns aliens arriving on Earth and the military recruiting an expert linguist to determine whether the aliens come in peace or are a threat. I’ve avoided reading the original story so know little more than that, other than its serious science-fiction inferring the film is firmly in the CE3K camp of First Contact rather than that of Independance Day. In anycase, its Villeneuve’s first genre entry and so will be very interesting to see prior to his Blade Runner 2.
Of course one of the questions fans have about the new film concerns the music and whether Vangelis will be involved, and this has yet to be resolved. I rather suspect Vangelis won’t be composing the films score. Villeneuve usually has Johann Johannsson composing the scores for his films and I expect the same to apply here- which is good, as having a creative team familiar with each other always bodes well for a project. Nothing has been announced yet, but Johannson stated “Back in the studio working on a very special project to come in the next year.” on Facebook which has his fans already wondering, but he has signed a new album deal so it is likely something for that or some other film project. It certainly feels too soon for work on the Blade Runner 2 score, unless he is preparing some source music for on-set use (i.e. background music for in a bar or something). Who knows?
the ghost of 82 
Some responses to trivia…
I’d actually prefer not to have a angelus involved. To my mind, like Ridley Scott, he isn’t producing work as vital or remotely as interesting as he was in the early 80s. And it’s better to let this film have its own identity rather than try to recapture that 82 magic. It really was lightning in a bottle.
By a bizarre coincidence, I just picked up the collection ‘Stories Of Your Life’ this evening to re-read the astonishing story ‘Understand’.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Chiang is almost a contemporary SF Borges. Nolan should be adapting these stories instead of burning through Warner Brothers’ money crashing planes etc. That Villeneuve is making the title story is wonderful. Buy the book and skip that story if you don’t want to spoil the film! Buy it!
Sigh. That should read ‘Vangelis’, not ‘angelus’.
Thank you, spell-correct.
Ha, you had me thinking I was missing some obscure reference. Spell-correct saves my blushes.
I agree with you completely re: Vangelis. He’s not the fiery ambitious genius he was decades ago. What has gotten me ‘excited’ about BR2 is Ridley Scott not directing- its really given the film an opportunity for a fresh voice and to be something new. Setting it decades later means it should look very different too.
I guess it might not count, with it having a different cast and technically a different medium, but as the only remotely close example I can think of: there’s a 55-year gap between Gone with the Wind and sequel miniseries Scarlett.
Having written that, I Googled it and there’s a list on Wikipedia here (is that cheating/killjoying?) Scarlett comes third behind Bambi II and Fantasia 2000!
http://thequietus.com/articles/20806-jhann-jhannsson-to-score-blade-runner-sequel