MovieChat Forums > Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Discussion > ideal year for BR2?

ideal year for BR2?

posted 6 years ago by bozo_500 (12151)
11 replies | jump to latest

While initially it looked like BR2049 could be abit of a blockbuster (see here https://moviechat.org/tt1856101/Blade-Runner-2049/59fddd440240fe0012b5ef58/LOL-check-out-this-guys-Box-Office-estimate?reply=59ff028d691d140012e901be) think its safe to now say BR2 couldn't have come at a worse time when non stop action superhero movies rule the cinematic roost (similar to when BR/The Thing came out in 82 when feel good Spielberg/Lucas SF like SW/ET etc ruled) so been wondering when the ideal time would've been for BR2 (still written by Hampton and somewhat similar to BR2049)

1992 was the Directors Cut in cinemas so that was a big year for BR (it was like a culmination of the BR cult - fans whod already knew about the mythical alternate cut and even people that had never seen BR were checking out this new superior version of the ahead of its time cult SF movie), then you had the CD soundtrack in 1994 at last and there were the BR sequel novels and the Paul Sammon Making Of book around then as well so the 90s were a big time for BR. Also R rated SF films were a big deal in the 90s (1991s T2 sort of loomed over the decade until 1999s Matrix) which probably had its origins in 82s BR (i.e that's when the cinematic seed was planted for cyberpunk dystopian SF and then followed all the similar R rated SF - Terminator, Aliens, etc but BR had to wait about 10y to really enter the zeitgeist)

so if the rights had been sorted out at some point after the Directors Cut and Hampton had drafted out something similar to BR2049 and Scott had come back as director (and bearing in mind how long it took BR2049 to come out after it was announced in 2011)..then maybe 1997 (like 2017 there was an Alien and Star Wars movie in cinemas) on the cusp of the 21st Century, and come before all the other late 90s dark SF movies questioning reality -Matrix, Dark City, 13th Floor, Fight Club etc (1995s Johnny Mnemonic had been an attempt at a sort of Blade Runner for the 90s maybe due in part to the resurgence/popularity of the BR:DC.. but had flopped but that was mainly due to it being a terrible movie).

starring 55 year old Ford (Ford still a big deal name above the title movie star in the 90s like Arnie, Cruise etc with several huge hits like Fugitive, Clear & Present Danger, Air Force 1) and some young 90s dude as K (Ed Burns? or maybe Pitt could've done BR2 with Ford instead of Devils Own) maybe Edward James Olmos/Gaff now as his boss, with Bowie as Wallace of course and whichever new 90s babes as Joi (JLo? Denise Richards?) and Luv (Milla Jovovich? Zeta Jones?). And maybe Rutger would've come back somehow (another Batty replicant) CGI was in its early stages but would've been able to handle the stuff in BR2049 just see what they did with 5th Element (alot of stuff was done practical anyway) and set 10 or 20 years after the events of BR1 - so 'Blade Runner 2029'

anyway it probably would've done a lot better at the box office (Ford, a climate of R rated SF movies of the time, and BR being a bigger thing in the 90s due to the DC) - it might've been enough to given BR2 similar box office to The Matrix (which might've led to a BR3 in the 00s)

[–] Batty67 (358) 6 years ago

Good chronology of BR events. I recall being ecstatic when the Vangelis soundtrack finally became available in 1994 (almost wore-out that CD)! I've read the Paul Sammons (1995 or 1996) book on the making of BR. I also watched the 1992 release at the Cineplex Odeon Uptown theater and the lines to get in were tremendous. I went to the 2007 "final cut" early, expecting long lines, and...nothing. The theater might have been 1/4th full. I was very disappointed.

So, I'd say mid-90s would have been an ideal time for the sequel. By 2007 the mainstream interest had dropped greatly so mostly the true fans were left (and we are legion, but not going to make BR2049 as successful as Thor Ragnarok). Etc.