Blade Runner 2049: all the latest news, commentary, and trailers

As of November 2019, we’ve officially caught up with Blade Runner’s dystopian future. But we’re already ten years past the very different book that inspired its name.

Most fans of Ridley Scott’s 1982 film are aware that it’s based on a novel by Philip K. Dick, and that the book is not called Blade Runner. If you pick up Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, you’ll notice the term never appears in it. Even in the movie, “blade runner” is a slick but random name for mercenaries who hunt replicants. But it isn’t meaningless. Blade Runner’s remarkably weird title has its own backstory, which has nothing to do with androids, bounty hunters, or tears in rain.

Ridley Scott’s 1982 film Blade Runner famously relied on elaborate miniatures to bring its futuristic Los Angeles to life, and helped define a cinematic look for dystopian sci-fi worlds. While Denis Villeneuve also used a number of miniatures to achieve the same effect in his sequel Blade Runner 2049, quite a few of the shots were enhanced with digital imagery.

Montreal-based Rodeo FX recently released a visual effects reel that highlighted its work on the film. Some of the film’s big, environmental shots were completely digital, but there’s other instances of where the production enhanced used practical locations with some CGI.

In conventional love stories, boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, girl falls for boy, and some pivotal plot point happens. Unless there’s a sequel, we assume that afterward, they live happily and inconsequentially ever after. But, what if in the future, it’s boy designs girl? In Blade Runner 2049, Officer K (Ryan Gosling) lives with his AI hologram companion Joi, who was manufactured by Wallace Corp and tailored as the perfect companion. Her product tagline is, "Everything you want to see. Everything you want to hear.”

Spoilers ahead for Blade Runner 2049.

Most people haven’t heard of Donald Mowat, but they’ve likely seen his work in films like The Fighter, 8 Mile, The Departed, the James Bond films Skyfall and Spectre, and now, Blade Runner 2049. Mowat is a longtime makeup designer whose work has earned a Primetime Emmy, a Saturn Award, two Hollywood Makeup Artists Guild awards, and two Gemini Awards. He was recently nominated for a BAFTA award for his work on Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals. Mowat has worked with director Denis Villeneuve multiple times, on Prisoners and Sicario, and he most recently partnered with Villeneuve again on the sequel to 1982’s Blade Runner. Though critics have largely been positive about the film, it's been a box office disappointment. But that may change once the film opens in China and Japan on October 27th.

A few days before Blade Runner 2049 was released in America, I spoke to Mowat by phone about his use of vision boards, the challenge of continuity, and how to pick the exact right shade of pink for a gigantic naked hologram woman.

The summer of 1982 was an extended cinematic Christmas for science fiction, horror, and fantasy fans. Steven Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial dominated the summer’s box office, and the canon of classic genre movies added many more entries that summer, with Conan the Barbarian and George Miller’s The Road Warrior in May, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and John Carpenter’s The Thing in June. But right around the July 4 holiday that year, two visually groundbreaking science fiction films were released to mild box-office returns, unremarkable reviews, and eventually passionate fanbases: Blade Runner and Tron.

Both Blade Runner and Tron are unlikely cult hits. Both are considered state-of-the-art examples of science fiction cinema. (Blade Runner’s visual impact is well-established, but the same goes for Tron, which Pixar honcho John Lasseter said paved the way for Toy Story. This, in spite of the fact that by 1995, Tron was a punchline for The Simpsons, specifically regarding how quickly it was forgotten.) Both have ardent fans who grew up, entered the movie business, and pushed for improbable, big-budget sequels. Walt Disney Pictures released Tron: Legacy during the 2010 holiday season, and Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures recently released Blade Runner 2049. Though these sequels are largely as dissimilar as their predecessors were, a few parallels are striking and unavoidable.

This past weekend, Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 arrived in theaters. It is, in many ways, the most improbable of sequels, following a cult sci-fi film 35 years after the original flamed out at the box office. Yet the movie has been universally praised as a creative success, racking up some of the most impressive reviews of the year. It’s an ambitious, visually decadent film, and one that’s captivating despite a nearly three-hour run time.

But a 35-year wait brings with it a lot of expectations — particularly when you’re talking about a film that arguably never really begged for a sequel in the first place. Given that Villeneuve hews closely to the moody, somewhat impressionistic approach to storytelling that Ridley Scott used back in 1982, we found ourselves with quite a few lingering questions about Blade Runner 2049. The morning after its opening weekend, we sat down to discuss it all.

Significant spoilers ahead for the 1982 Blade Runner and its 1968 source material.

Ridley Scott’s original 1982 film Blade Runner has been so visually influential that its special effects still look state of the art, in spite of the clunky analog computers and the women’s goofy 1980s helmet-hair and enormous ‘80s shoulder pads. Scott’s smoky, run-down retro-noir setting, full of ceiling fans, rusting clunky future-tech, and ramshackle Asian marketplaces, has been spliced into the DNA of tomorrow. It’s influenced the visual style of everything from the 2013 hit Pacific Rim to the despised 2017 Ghost in the Shell, and on to the long-awaited sequel, Blade Runner 2049.

The team behind Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 has done an excellent job of not revealing to audiences what Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 is actually about. Sure, everybody knows Harrison Ford is back, and Ryan Gosling and Jared Leto are in it, and replicants are involved in some way, shape, or form. But other than that, it’s pretty much been radio silence — so much so that we decided to make our initial review a totally spoiler-free zone.

So I was a little surprised to see this latest trailer, which… spoils some things. And not in a minor, Oh now I can infer what this person wants from a plot perspective kind of way. (Although there’s plenty of that, too.) This trailer spoils a specific moment that had my entire theater murmuring with approval. When a film is this ambitious and beautiful, there are bound to be several moments like that, but throwing this one away in a pre-release trailer seems like an odd choice, simply because I don’t see what value it brings. The movie opens in two days, and at this point, potential moviegoers have most likely decided whether they want to go. And if not, this kind of tease probably won’t change their minds. Even more bizarre is the fact that dozens of film critics were specifically asked to not share this same moment in pre-release reviews, so audiences could enjoy the movie fresh for themselves.

It’s been 35 years since Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner hit theaters, and when it takes this long for a sequel to roll around, a few questions need to be answered. No question is more important than “why?” Yes, we’re in a cultural moment where nearly everything is a sequel, prequel, reboot, or spinoff, but Scott’s dystopian film never organically called for a follow-up the way some films do. It’s a neo-noir thriller with an open ending, but from a character and thematic perspective, Scott neatly sewed up the story. Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), an android hunter known as a “blade runner,” learns that all life has some sort of value. Tired of killing others, he decides to go on the run with his android lover Rachael (Sean Young).

That leaves Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 with a pretty steep hill to climb. The sequel has to live up to the unforgettable visual style of Scott’s film, while simultaneously forging its own identity, and defending its reason for existing in the first place. Turnkey action sequels are fine for comic book movies, but a distinctive classic like Blade Runner demands an entirely different standard.

Blade Runner 2049 is still a few weeks away, but fans will be able to get another look at the sequel with the release of the second of three short film prequels over at the iTunes Trailers site, via Polygon, and on YouTube.

Titled 2048: Nowhere to Run, this second prequel is set 12 years after the first short film, 2036: Nexus Dawn that was released a few weeks ago, and — as the name suggests — just a year before the upcoming Blade Runner 2049.

We’re still a few months away from the October 6th release of Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049. Until then, though, fans will be able to tide themselves over with a series of three short films looking to fill in the 30-year gap between the original Blade Runner — set in 2019 — and the sequel.

The first is 2036: Nexus Dawn, posted over at Collider, which takes place 13 years before Villeneuve’s film kicks off. In the world of Blade Runner, the government instituted a prohibition on new replicant production in the year 2023 following an EMP attack that was blamed on replicants. The new short picks up Niander Wallace — presumed to be the villain of Blade Runner 2049, largely based on the fact that he’s played by Jared Leto and looks incredibly evil — petitioning to have that prohibition overturned so that he can create new replicants of his own.

Last year, Arrival composer Jóhann Jóhannsson joined Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 to create the score for the upcoming sequel. Now, as the film comes closer to its October release date, two more composers are joining the project to assist him: Benjamin Wallfisch (Hidden Figures, It), and Hans Zimmer (Inception, The Dark Knight).

According to Studio Ciné Live (via Entertainment,ie), Villeneuve says that Jóhannsson isn’t leaving the project, but that the two composers are coming on to help. “It's hard to get to Vangelis' angle. We have Johann's breathtaking atmospheric sounds, but I needed other things, and Hans helped us." Both Zimmer and Wallfisch both coming off of their latest collaboration with Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk.

Science fiction is always a fan favorite at San Diego Comic-Con, and Blade Runner 2049 is taking advantage with a huge presence here at the convention. The film is expected to make an appearance during the Warner Bros. Hall H panel, but it’s also drawing attention outside of the convention center with something called the Blade Runner 2049 Experience.

Housed in a giant tent across the street from the convention center, it’s an installation made up of two parts. The first is a virtual reality experience called Blade Runner 2049: Replicant Pursuit, that puts participants in the role of a Blade Runner chasing a missing replicant. But the second half is a physical journey into the world of the movie — a detailed set featuring a crashed Spinner vehicle, a replica of the White Dragon Noodle Bar, and an assortment of live actors that are ready to help you track down a replicant, or discover if you’re one yourself.

A new trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 has hit the web, and like the first two trailers for the film, it shows off a story that’s closely hewed to Ridley Scott’s original.

The trailer was revealed during Good Morning America, and shows some new details about the upcoming cyberpunk thriller. Ryan Gosling’s Officer K of the LAPD has gone searching for Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), who says that he and his fellow Blade Runners were being hunted. As the trailer unfolds, it turns out that K may be the key to the future of humanity. It’s not perfectly clear whether or not replicants will replace humans, but the truth could kick off a war in the process.

IMDb has put together a video that runs the latest trailer from Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 alongside scenes from Ridley Scott’s original film, showing that sequel is borrowing not only from the design and feel of the world, but its visuals as well.

Our first glimpses of the film have seen a world that looks incredibly familiar, from the moody dystopian atmosphere and haunting music, but IMDb’s mash-up shows that the attention to detail lines up visually, too. The positioning of the actors, as well as the camera’s motion, framing, and even its height seems to be a careful reconstruction of the original film, showing that the film’s creators are careful to replicate more than just the atmosphere and visual trappings of the world.

The latest Blade Runner 2049 trailer is full of stunning shots, as director Denis Villeneuve seems to be trying his hardest to surpass Ridley Scott’s original vision of a grim, dystopian future. But in the early moments of the trailer, one shot stands out: a car speeding down a road, flanked by glowing, skyscraper-sized Atari logos. It’s a striking image, but in the world of 2017, it’s hard to imagine a universe where Atari even exists in the year 2049, let alone on the scale Blade Runner 2049 presents.

The Atari logo is a neat throwback to the original film, which was released in the height of Atari’s heyday in 1982. Then Scott positioned the video game brand on billboards in Blade Runner, alongside what were massive companies like Pan Am, RCA, Bell Phones, and Cuisinart. After all, Scott was envisioning our future, and in 1982, imagining 2019 without Atari or Bell Phones was like filmmakers today imagining a future where Apple no longer exists in 40 years. (Rumors of a “Blade Runner curse” have been floating around the internet for years, since so many of the companies featured in the film’s on-screen ads experienced financial ruin following the movie’s release.)

Blade Runner 2049 is the upcoming sequel to one the the most venerated sci-fi films ever made, and now Sony has released a new trailer with more footage from director Denis Villeneuve's followup to Ridley Scott’s iconic movie.

The new footage, which comes after a long and wide-ranging Facebook Live conversation featuring Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, and Villeneuve, features more footage of Ryan Gosling’s character, more of Harrison Ford’s reprisal as Rick Deckard, and our first glimpses of Jared Leto (who appears to be some kind of creator of new replicants) and Robin Wright (a police commander).

Last night at CinemaCon, Sony Pictures Entertainment gave those in attendance a look at some new footage from director Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming film Blade Runner 2049. Let’s just say that I walked away really, really excited.

Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman introduced the film during the company’s presentation to theater owners (Sony is handling international distribution), recounting his first experience seeing Ridley Scott’s 1982 original. He then brought star Ryan Gosling onstage to discuss the project.

There’s one film that routinely ends up at the top of any list of best science fiction films: Blade Runner. Ridley Scott’s 1982 cyberpunk noir has inspired many films, but it’s never received a sequel until now. The first trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 just hit the web.

There’s been little known about the film, aside from its cast: Harrison Ford is returning to reprise his role as Rick Deckard, and will be joined by the likes of Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright, Dave Bautista, Mackenzie Davis, and Jared Leto.

Generally speaking, we've been referring to the upcoming sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi classic with a grab bag of shorthand titles. Stuff like The Untitled Blade Runner Sequel, or The New Blade Runner, or Director Denis Villeneuve's Upcoming Blade Runner Movie That Has Ryan Gosling In It. Today, that all ends, as the official title has been announced.

Blade Runner 2049.

The sequel to Blade Runner has attracted a really intriguing cast and crew, and now, we know that it will sound great. Composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, who collaborated with director Denis Villeneuve on films like Sicario and the upcoming film Arrival, will be providing the score for the upcoming Harrison Ford film.

I first came across Jóhannsson’s music not in a movie, but for a promo for Battle: LA. "The Sun’s Gone Dim And The Sky’s Turned Black," the final track on his 2006 avant-garde album IBM 1401, A User's Manual, provided a haunting soundtrack for the trailer, which made it stick out for me.

Jared Leto has nabbed a role in the Blade Runner sequel, Variety reports. He joins an already solid cast, including Harrison Ford (who will reprise his role from the 1982 original), Ryan Gosling, and Robin Wright. Details on Leto’s character are not yet known.

The original Blade Runner was set in a dystopian version of Los Angeles in 2019; the sequel is said to take place several decades later. The movie will be directed by Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Arrival), and is set for release on October 6th, 2017.

Last we heard, the long-awaited sequel to Ridley Scott's classic Blade Runner was scheduled to come out in January of 2018, but it looks like audiences won't have to wait as long as expected. Production company Alcon Entertainment has announced the film will now hit theaters on October 6th, 2017 — a full three months ahead of schedule. Normally movie release dates slide back, not forward, so the move here is likely a matter of Warner Bros. feeling confident that the film can hit the earlier date — and everyone wanting to avoid the cultural tidal wave that will be Star Wars: Episode XIII, scheduled to arrive in December 2017.

Details on the story itself are being tightly guarded — Alcon's press release only says that it's "set several decades after the original" — but we do know that Denis Villeneuve (Sicario) will be directing the film, with the staggeringly talented cinematographer Roger Deakins shooting the film. On the cast side, Harrison Ford will be returning, capping off a return to his three most iconic roles (alongside Han Solo and Indiana Jones), with Robin Wright and Ryan Gosling also set to appear. One thing seems certain, however: there will be replicants, and they will be retired.

The Blade Runner sequel is getting a major new addition — Robin Wright, who currently stars as Claire Underwood in House of Cards, is in final negotiations to join the cast, according to Variety and The Wrap. Wright's role is unknown, but she joins a cast featuring Ryan Gosling as the lead and Harrison Ford reprising his role as replicant hunter Deckard. The sequel is set several decades after the original film, which depicted a futuristic, dystopian vision of Los Angeles in 2019.

The untitled film is being directed by Denis Villeneuve (Sicario) and has Roger Deakins (Skyfall, No Country for Old Men) on board as cinematographer. Original screenwriter Hampton Fancher is co-writing the script with Michael Green based on a story idea developed with Ridley Scott, who directed the first film and is executive-producing the sequel. It started shooting earlier this year and is set for a release on January 12th, 2018.