While I am always curious interested in the burbling Blade Runner rumours that seem to sprout up ever couple of years, things seemed to have come to a boil yesterday with the trades announcing that Alcon Entertainment has optioned the prequel, sequel, equal rights to make more films. I am certainly not opposed to making tangent films in that unusual universe. Cyberpunk has come a long way since 1982, so we are already in an analogous place from the Original Star Wars trilogy aesthetic to the Prequel Trilogy aesthetic, most likely. And lets not forget that supposedly forgettable Soldier (yea, the Kurt Rusell one) is ostensibly set in the same universe. I’m all for the 28 Days/Weeks/Months later philosophy of new stories in developed universes.
But lets not get too worked up either way, people. The lesson from TRON is that 30 year old cult films are never going to make Spielberg/Cameron type money and I expect that the production cycle for a film such as this is going to be a long and arduous one. Nevertheless, I’m sure people paying for the rights are bandying about the word ‘Franchise.’
Tron made $400 million. There is no way Disney isn’t immensely happy with that nor is the film anything but an unqualified financial success.
Considering the cost and marketing, I would have thought their target number would be considerably north of $400M WW, considering what Pirates of the Carribean (based on a 30 yr old ride) ended up with.
Many blockbusters of considerable same budget have made that tally Domestic. A solid way to launch a franchise, but certainly this ain’t PIRATES money.
Pirates wasn’t expected to be a hit, primarily because it was considered a huge financial risk. That it made crazy money and spawned 3 sequels was sheer icing on the cake.
Many blockbusters of considerable same budget have made that tally Domestic. A solid way to launch a franchise, but certainly this ain’t PIRATES money.
It ain’t Master and Commander money either. But then, I guess what you can draw from that film’s failure is that movies based on books can never make Pirates/Spielberg/Cameron money.
You know, like Sanctum did.
I’m extremely wary of news like this. I have ZERO interest in seeing a continuation/prequel to the Dekkard story, and if all they want to do is tell a new story, I’d rather they came up with a new and exciting universe rather than just borrowing from BLADE RUNNER’s
I refuse to believe this. Too many of my favorite childhood Harrison Ford movies have been bastardized (Indy, Star Wars)… I don’t know if I can deal with my favorite sci-fi film being tainted in a similar way.
So many of the ideas from Blade Runner have already been mined, but I am not totally averse to the idea of a sequel or prequel; the original film won’t be spoiled for me. Mind you, it would need some shit-hot talent at the helm. People prepared to take risks.
I’m not against the shift in technology and special effects for modern movies, but there is a beauty in Blade Runner, an ambiance, a overflowing feeling, that could never possibly be recreated with a CG world. Which is the route that they would take.