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Blade Runner 2049 Director Wants to Make a Spinoff, Not a Sequel
Although he wants to return to the Blade Runner universe, director Denis Villeneuve is more interested in making a spinoff or solo film, rather than a Blade Runner 2049 sequel. A few years back, Villeneuve undertook the intimidating task of making a followup to Ridley Scott's 1982 movie Blade Runner. An adaptation of Philip K. Dick's sci-fi novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Blade Runner went from a box office disappointment upon release to being regarded as a masterpiece of its genre in the decades thereafter. Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049 was no slouch either, winning two Oscars (for cinematography and VFX) and cementing its director as one of the most respected names in sci-fi filmmaking working today.
Unfortunately, Blade Runner 2049 also followed in its predecessor's footsteps by under-performing at the box office, taking in $260 million worldwide on a budget somewhere between $150-185 million. Going by the old rule of thumb than a movie needs to double its budget at the box office to make a profit, the Blade Runner sequel lost money and plans for additional films have since been abandoned. However, should the chance present itself, Villeneuve would love to take another crack at the franchise.
Speaking to Empire for its 100 Greatest Movies of the Century issue (with Blade Runner 2049 coming in at #45), Villeneuve described the Blade Runner universe as "an inspiring place" he would love to revisit in a movie "unconnected" from the previous two. He went on to explain why he's more interested in a standalone or spinoff Blade Runner movie, as opposed to a more straightforward Blade Runner 3.
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“The problem is 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."
Part of what makes Blade Runner 2049 great is the film operates like a standalone movie for a good chunk of its runtime, keeping its references to Scott's movie to a minimum until the plot necessitates them. In fact, Blade Runner lead Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) doesn't even show up in person until the third act, with Ryan Gosling's replicant K serving as the main protagonist up until that point. Some people have even admitted they wished Deckard wasn't a part of the story at all and Blade Runner 2049 had carried over the world and themes about consciousness from Scott's film without bringing any of its characters back. You can see why Villeneuve would be interested in taking the next logical step and breaking away from the original Black Runner's narrative completely, were he to get the chance to explore another detective noir plotline in the property's vision of the future.
The Blade Runner franchise will live on thanks to the upcoming Blade Runner: Black Lotus animated series (which Adult Swim is producing), but another live-action film is unlikely to happen in the wake of Blade Runner 2049's commercial failure, be it a sequel or not. Of course, Villeneuve will be able to scratch his sci-fi itch in other ways with his upcoming Dune movie adaptation. The film will only adapt the first half of Frank Herbert's classic 1965 novel, leaving Villeneuve to continue telling the story of Arrakis and House Atreides in a second movie, should his first installment prove a box office success. Still, who knows: for years it seemed like Blade Runner 2049 was never going to happen, so there may yet be hope for Villeneuve's dreams of a spinoff/standalone followup.
