Denis Villeneuve, the director of Blade Runner 2049, discussed his concerns for his career and the flop of the 1982 neo-noir sci-fi sequel. Harrison Ford and Edward James Olmos reprised their roles from the 1982 classic in the 2017 film, which served as a sequel to Ridley Scott’s well-known work.
Released 30 years after the first film, Blade Runner 2049 received mainly positive reviews from critics and viewers. Unfortunately, this praise would not translate to the movie’s box office success, as it only made $267.5 million overall despite an estimated $185 million production budget.
Villeneuve, 56, however, was unfazed by this setback and considered himself fortunate not to have been banned by the film industry.
Harrison Ford’s $267.7 Million Film Was A Major Letdown For Denis Villeneuve
It turned out that even Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve was aware that making the film was a mistake. When the director looked back on it later, he was simply happy that he was still making movies. The first iconic film, directed by Ridley Scott, put a lot of pressure on the Dune director.
In an interview with MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Villeneuve discussed the disappointing box office performance of the Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling starrer film:
“I put myself into massive artistic danger. That was walking, as Christopher Nolan said to me once…walking on sacred territory. It’s true. It was sacrilegious what I did. I was told, ‘You don’t do that.’ Just the fact that I’m still here making movies, for me…at least I wasn’t banned from the filmmaker community. It was a dangerous game.”
Villeneuve’s concerns were likely not allayed by Scott. According to what Ford recalled to ABC News, The Duellists director gave Villeneuve a simple but severe warning:
“He gave Denis his blessing, told him not to screw it up. ‘Let it lay like Jesus flung it,’ as my people used to say.”
On the other hand, Villeneuve created a unique vision for the sequel while keeping in mind the movie’s close ties to the original. The Fugitive actor, 81, added:
“Denis has made it his own movie, and we feel that, but, we, who made the movie– the relationship with Denis was the best..”
How Ridley Scott Convinced Harrison Ford To Reprise His Role In Blade Runner 2049
Denis Villeneuve was reportedly chosen to take over as the film’s director after Ridley Scott stepped back as the initial director. The 2017 film featured both seasoned performers like Harrison Ford and actors from a later generation like Ryan Gosling and Dave Bautista.
But Scott revealed in a Yahoo interview that Ford was not overly impressed with his Blade Runner sequel. Thankfully, the script piqued the actor’s interest once again, as the director claimed:
“Yeah, and I got Harrison back. Because Harrison said, ‘Meh,’ and I said, ‘No, read this.’ And I think he said, ‘This is the best script I’ve ever had.’ We’ve been working on it for a couple of years.”
Ford once discussed his thoughts on a sequel during a 2014 Reddit AMA, a few years before the movie’s release:
“I’m quite curious and excited about seeing a new script for Blade Runner if in fact the opportunity would exist to do another, if it’s a good script I would be very anxious to work with Ridley Scott again, he’s a very talented and passionate filmmaker. And I think it would be very interesting to revisit the character.”
Although Blade Runner 2049 underperformed at the box office, it won several awards, including Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography. Ford will next be seen as Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross in Captain America: Brave New World, which is set to be released on July 26, 2024.
Watch Blade Runner 2049 on Max.
