Image Credit: Everett CollectionThey don’t have a script, haven’t cast a star, and are still thinking about who to hire as a director. They don’t even know if it will be a prequel or a sequel (or if it’ll have voice-over narration). But Alcon Entertainment, producers of The Blind Side and The Book of Eli, have purchased the rights to make a movie based on the characters and settings of Blade Runner, the 1982 sci fi classic about a replicant-killing cop who falls for a fembot. “We have some ideas that we’re not in a position to discuss yet,” Andrew Kosove, Alcon’s co-CEO, teases to EW. “But from our point of view, the thematic core of the original movie — what does it mean to be a human being? — is even more relevant today than it was when the film came out. After all, we’re living in the industrial age of technology.” Kosove and his fellow CEO, Broderick Johnson, are partnering on the project with Bud Yorkin, one of the producers of the original film. “That picture turned out so well — it’s just been selected for preservation by the Library of Congress — that for a long time I was afraid to try to make another one,” Yorkin says. “But now seems like the perfect time. We just need to find the right writer and director.”
They could always try Ridley Scott, although it’s uncertain if the guy who made the original Blade Runner would even be interested. His rep have yet to return requests for comment, but he’s pretty busy right now making Prometheus, the sci-fi quasi-prequel to Alien starring Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender.
Read more:
‘Blade Runner’ prequel and sequel rights to go to Alcon
Michael Fassbender spills a few beans on Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’ … er, ‘Prometheus’ — EXCLUSIVE
‘Alien’ prequel morphs into ‘Prometheus’
‘Alien’ prequel Update: Fox won’t greenlight without Ridley Scott directing
No.
Oh god yes.
Aw hell no!!!
I was kidding. I’m ambivalent until we know more.
No… how how about something creatively new instead?
There is nothing new anymore. Everything is old or has been done before. I think the last new thing was Pixar’s UP.
Bad, Bad idea!
You knew it was coming
this is the end of the line for movies!
they are so desperate that they will remake bladerunner!pathetic!
and they wonder why people download movies?!
if i had to pay 15$ to see a movie in the theatre—and it sucked like 99% of them do now!i would be p$ssed!
and they are going to remake the bodyguard too!
ridiculous and pathetic
@Paul Take heart man, re-read the article, they’re not remaking Blade Runner, they’re considering telling the story of what happened BEFORE Blade Runner, or what happened after BR. They’ll remake the original after this one I’m sure, but we at least have a few years for that.
@paul, I’m taking your IP address and sending it to the authorities, I’m sure they’d love to talk to you about all of the movies you’re downloading.
@ joe the dirt, nobody cares how many IP addresses you send anywhere. Are you as much a failure in real life as on the internet?
@joe the dirt
You clearly live under a rock.
coughthekingsspeechcough
PDK is rolling over in his grave.
The estate of PDK is proabbly thrilled, and PDK would have welcomed any of his works being adapted into film (as long as it was done well). Blade runner is arguably the best movie (ever), and certainly the best movie adaption of a sci-fi short story. If they are done WELL, I think it’s a great idea. Whomever tackles it will have to really work to capture the atmospherics of the setting. Really, I’d really love to see them do a Blade Runner videogame.
Wouldn’t it be “PKD”?
Q. If PKD was alive today…what would he be doing (besides barfing at the idea)?
A. Scratching the lid of his coffin. In otherwords, he doesn’t care.
Yes – PKD. Ever hear of a typo, dimwit?
Philip K. D1ck is rolling over in his grave. (can’t spell his name…they censor it). I am wondering how he would feel about trampling all over his ideas like this. Pretty soon, they’ll make a prequel or sequel to Total Recall, another of PKD’s ideas.
Bladerunner wasn’t exactly what he wrote to begin with. Although they generally stuck to the action portion of his book. I will withhold judgment until I see the final product, but I am not optimistic. Hollywood puts out very little that’s worth my time.
Did you ever read “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” which is the short story adapted for the movie? Because it’s virtually nothing like “Blade Runner” and I doubt PKD would have cared if it brought readers to his work. Any writer can disavow a movie/TV adaptation by pointing out it’s not what they actually wrote.
Couldn’t agree more, Christie. There is very little in common between PKD’s original story and this movie. Making a sequel or a prequel to this movie has little to do with him.
Blade Runner is one of my all-time favourite films. I think making a sequel or prequel is a bad idea but at least it might bring a new audience to the original (which looks stunning on Blu-ray, btw).
JFWilder, just to let you know they are making a Total Recall film. It has nothing to do with the one Arnold was in, but it is from the same book just a different take. Also from what I have seen the new Total Recall film looks pretty good.
Adam, I was gonna say the exact same thing.
Go back to the source. That’s all they have to do. Bring us a new adaptation of “Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep?”. Scott’s only cherry-picks elements from the book for his movie. David Cronenberg would be the perfect director for this. He can bring out the oddities of the book in his unique fashion which would fit perfectly within this world.
While I think sequels aren’t any different from multiple episodes of a TV show, so they aren’t a big deal, Blade Runner is complete as it is. No more story is needed.
Because decades-later follow-ups to beloved classics always turn out GREAT.
Oh Yeah! & Justin Bieber can play Decker! It’s PERFECT.
IF that happened and he did, I would go city to city throwing paint at the screen until caught and shot.
I would join ya!
Eeeeeeewwwww!!!!!!!
At this rate, we’ll see a sequel to Titanic.
I would love to hear the pitch someone made to even get this project off the ground. Talk about oats that have already been through the horse!
They made a sequel of sorts to Titanic– Revolution Road.
Syfy did make a sequel to Titanic called Titanic 2. I’m not kidding. Look it up on IMDB.
I just did…sounds like Poseidon Adventure: when a tsunami hurls an ice berg into the new ship’s path, the passengers and crew must fight to avoid a similar fate.
How dumb. A tsunami isn’t even noticable in mid-ocean…maybe a 1″ rise in water. No wonder that’ll be straight to DVD.
It’s funny how snarky everyone always is when things like this are announced, but how when it’s finally released they only see it three times in the theater because they’re so upset.
And regarding classics not living up to the original, consider Herzog’s Nosferatu, or Friedkin’s Sorcerer. It’s possible to pull off a sequel/remake well.
Its funnier still when I say a sequel, prequel or remake is gonna suck and I wont go see it, then I DON’T go see it. But this is as someone said a complete story. There is no need to wring another hour and a half of drivel out of it just to cash in on the name of a classic. The Pink Panther didnt need to be remade (the remake sucked) and Willy Wonka didnt need to be remade (the remake sucked). The originals were perfect, classic no amount of “re-imagining” is going to pull off a second classic. Impossible. Just leave the original classics alone. Hollywood is artistically bankrupt and the sooner they face it, the better.
You are SPOT ON about Wonka and Pink Panther. Pink Panther may be dated, but you’re never going to get the chemistry or acting that was in the original. Who the hell thought Steve Martin was funny or could act his way out of a paper bag? God…that was painful.
While ‘Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory’ is a classic film, anyone who has read the book can vouch for ‘Charlie & The Chocolate Factory’ being a much more faithful adaptation.
Likewise, have you watched the original ‘Pink Panther’ recently? It’s not good, though admittedly better than the remake. The series didn’t take off until it started to turn the focus on Clouseu. David Niven’s Sir Charles Lytton literally sucked the energy from every scene he was in, bringing everything to a screeching halt.
Um.
The industrial age was the industrial age of technology. That’s what “industrial age” means.
The fact that he doesn’t know this does not inspire confidence in his movie.
I’m glad somebody else caught that too…
I have yet to see the first Blade Runner,so I have no idea how good or bad of an idea the sequel is.However,I’m totally psyched about the Hollywood debut of Noomi Rapace,who lit up the screen with the Girl trilogy.If she shows 1/10th of the charisma as she did in those movies,American audiences are in for a treat.
If I’m not mistaken, the Hollywood debut of Noomi Rapace will be in this year’s ‘Sherlock Holmes’ sequel.
It would be one thing if someone had an idea and thought it would be a good sequel but this sounds contrived and uninspired.Just exploitation of a classic.
The original movie came out the same week as ET and was hugely overshadowed by that blockbuster movie. Blade Runner will always go down as one of the greatest Sci-Fi movies for it’s time and the budget was not exactly very big either. Hope Vangelis does the soundtrack again.
no truer words..
ok I was hoping that a FAN like you shows up so I could ask you what is the deal with this movie I love Sci Fi but I do not get why this film is so special. I’ll try to see it again soon.
Dark, Prescient (marketing runs the world and fills the skies while garbage and decrepitude rule the inner city). Reluctant hero/anti-hero with Ford as Decker even more fatigued and put-upon than as Indiana Jones. Ideal music and supporting geeks. Greatest performance of his life by sluggo Brion James – even better than his QuincyM.E. starring role. And this movie captured that brief moment in time when Sean Young was hands down the most beautiful woman anyone could imagine – or manufacture… before she began slicing up dolls and cats and killing quarts of vodka. Get well, Rachel.
I think most of us on here are “a FAN like you”.
See the film while conscious, it makes a huge difference!
You know, you can get the soundtrack, which includes snippets of dialog (including all of Roy’s memorable exit scene), and the whole experience just comes flooding back. Plus you’ve got the soundtrack!
There are thousands of good science fiction books never made into a movie i.e. Neuromancer, Altered Carbon (although these two are supposedly in development). Why ruin Blade Runner with a bogus script.
Ohhh… one of my all-time favorite movies… It could be SO good. Or sssooo bad. Of course to hear a Bladerunner replicant referred to as a “fembot” does NOTHING to inspire confidence in the current generation of young film makers. Better to leave a classic alone than fluckle it up with bad pre/sequels. Those last 2 Star Wars movies have completely ruined the goodness of the original trilogy for me.
May they do better with Bladerunner if they go ahead with it.
You hit the nail on the head! The last three Star Wars movies just killed it for me and the first three were so magical. Don’t remake Blade Runner. It may turn out to be another Indiana Jones/Crystal Skull movie!
Yep…even the re-working of the originals made them worse (excepting the ending getting rid of the stupid Ewok scenes..Yub Yub…you know…make you want to puke at how bad it was). Some things should just be left alone. Next I bet they remake Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Agreed. I’m so absolutely not impressed with Svetkey calling the replicants ‘fembots’. Replicants aren’t robots, moron, they are synthetic biological lifeforms – which you’d know if you’d ever seen the film (and I pity anyone that’s never seen Blade Runner).
Yes Blade Runner is complete. But there more books about Blade Runner. I think they could do a sequel. But one of things that made the original great was sound track. The sound track set the tone so well.
The only question voice over or not?
No voiceover. In Scott’s 2007 Final Cut (by far the best version, and the closest version to what Scott originally intended) on Blu-ray is really incredible.
I’d like to see “I, Robot” done properly, not that mess with Will Pretty Boy Smith.
aw did a good job i thought
The Harlan Ellison screenplay won all sort of awards for WRITING, but no production company would touch it.
I’s like to see the entire Bailey/Olivaw trilogy done right. Paging Peter Jackson…I have a world I want you to create. And I think with today’s technology it could be done easily.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Or yes, but no CG or 3D, and the cast has to be entirely unknowns. I has spoken.