It’s not really an enviable task, taking on one of the best sci-fi movies of all time, but that’s what filmmaker Denis Villeneuve chose to do when he signed on to direct the upcoming Blade Runner 2049.
The film will be released in cinemas later this year, but the talented French-Canadian director has been speaking to Heat Vision on the pressures of directing a follow-up to such a classic.
Speaking to the trade at CineEurope, Villeneuve said: “Ryan Gosling and I made peace with the idea that the chances of success were very narrow. I came on board because the script was very strong. But no matter what you do, no matter how good what you’re doing is, the film will always be compared to the first, which is a masterpiece. So I made peace with that. And when you make piece with that you are free.”
The filmmaker, whose last film Arrival wowed audiences and critics alike continued:
“To take Ridley Scott’s universe and try to make it my own was a really big task for me. [Scott gave me the] biggest gift of all, which is freedom. He said, it’s your movie. I’ll be there if you need me, otherwise I’ll be away, and I must say he was not there physically, but I felt his presence all the time, because I was dealing with his universe all the time. So in a way he wasn’t there, but he was there a lot at the same time.”
Blade Runner 2049 is scheduled to arrive in cinemas across the world in October, and we’re hoping to find it pop up at the likes of TIFF in September, and maybe even the Venice Film Festival just prior.
In the film, Harrison Ford returns as Rick Deckard, along with the likes of Gosling, Jared Leto, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Dave Bautista and Robin Wright. The date for your diaries is October 7th.
