Before we begin, have you checked out the brand-new trailer for BLADE RUNNER 2049 which was released earlier today? You really should; it's mysterious, beautiful and goes a long way towards comforting fears that this sequel will in some way diminish the 1982 original. Although I don't count BLADE RUNNER among my favourite sci-fi movies (I know, sacrilegious), I was certainly concerned when it was announced that a sequel was being developing over thirty years after the release of the original. Such endeavours rarely work out, but with the combined talents of Denis Villeneuve, Ridley Scott, Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling and Roger Deakins, I quickly came around to the idea.
Exactly what BLADE RUNNER 2049 is all about is still largely a mystery, but Denis Villeneuve, Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford took part in a Facebook Live Q&A this morning to discuss what it was like returning to a world of replicants and futuristic noir. Harrison Ford got things started by revealing what it was like stepping into Rick Dekard's shoes thirty-five years later.
I think it’s interesting to develop a character after a period of time — to revisit a character. It was a very interesting working with Denis [Villeneuve], working with Ryan [Gosling]. It was very gratifying experience. The character is woven into the story that intrigued me. There’s a very strong emotional context; the relationship between Deckard and other characters I found fascinating.
Harrison Ford also touched on the technology presented in the original film and how the sequel will take into account where our own real-life technology has taken us over the past thirty years.
I think it’s fascinating that the original film postulated a technology in may ways that we’ve surpassed, and in other ways, we’re not quite there. This film takes into account the thirty years that have passed. It references technologies that actually are in place now, and also — to me which is more interesting — acknowledges and deals with some of the ethical considerations technology presents us with.
Ryan Gosling, who plays a police officer by the name of K in BLADE RUNNER 2049, recalled the first time he viewed the Ridley Scott film as one of the first instances in which he "wasn’t clear how I was supposed to feel when it was over. It made me question what it meant to be a human being. It made me question my ability to recognize the hero from the villain. It was this nightmarish vision of the future but presented in a romantic, dreamlike way. It was very haunting." Gosling added that BLADE RUNNER was "one of the first films where I really wondered what happened when it was over. What happened to that world and those characters. To have that opportunity to physically enter that world and learn the answers those questions was a wonderful opportunity."
BLADE RUNNER 2049 is set for an October 6, 2017 release.