Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve has reflected on the experience of making the massive legacy sequel and expressed his apprehension about doing such a thing again.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmaker was asked about creating a sequel to Ridley Scott‘s Blade Runner and his feelings about following up on someone else’s film. He noted that he was always aware of how large of a shadow the original Blade Runner had cast and that he’d likely not “approach someone else’s universe” with a movie again.
“Blade Runner is one of my favorite films, and it’s absolutely a masterpiece,” Villeneuve explained. “Ridley Scott is one of my favorite filmmakers, and even though he had given his blessing, it was very important for me to hear it and see it in his eyes that he was OK with me doing the movie at the time. But I was constantly thinking about the original film as I was making Blade Runner 2049. It was impossible not to.
“So 2049 was really a love letter to the first film, but it was by far one of the most difficult projects I’ve ever done, and I don’t think I will ever approach someone else’s universe again. I still wake up sometimes at night, saying, ‘Why did I do that?’ I’d declined a few other projects of that scale, but at the time, I said to myself, ‘It’s a crazy project, but it’s worth the risk of losing everything.'”
When was Blade Runner 2049 released?
Blade Runner 2049 was released in theaters in 2017 and was directed by Denis Villeneuve, with stars Harrison Ford and Edward James Olmos reprising their roles from the original. 2049 also starred Ryan Gosling, Jared Leto, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Carla Juri, Lennie James, and Dave Bautista.
