Blade Runner 2049

Denis Villeneuve says the only cut of Blade Runner 2049 that exists is the one we’ll all be seeing in the theater.

Here’s a funny thought for you: someone is about to be swayed into seeing Blade Runner 2049 by this new batch of character posters. I’ve written before that Blade Runner 2049 doesn’t really have much left to prove to audiences  —  you’re likely already in or out, and have been for quite some time  —  but that doesn’t apply to everyone. Somewhere, on some website, somebody is going to look at this international poster of Ryan Gosling and think to themselves for the first time, oh, yeah, I think this might actually be a movie I want to see. Job well done, graphic designers.

In what is pretty much a sci-fi pop culture supernova, the director of anime touchstone Cowboy Bebop has teamed up with Sony Pictures to create a short film in the Blade Runner universe, a prequel of sorts to Blade Runner 2049 called Blade Runner Black Out 2022.

A couple of weeks ago, Warner Bros. released the first in a trilogy of short prequel films for Blade Runner 2049. Set in 2036, that short introduced us to Jared Leto’s enigmatic antagonist Niander Wallace. The second prequel short dropped today, and it gives us a little background on another new character: Sapper, played by Dave Bautista, who gets to put some of those famous pro-wrestling skills to use in Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming sequel to Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic.

Last fall, Ryan Gosling revealed that Harrison Ford punched him in the face — like, legit punched him in the face — on the set of Blade Runner 2049. It was for a scene they were filming in Denis Villeneuve’s sequel to Ridley Scott’s sci-fi classic, of course. Still, the thought of iconic curmudgeon Harrison Ford punching iconic pretty boy Ryan Gosling in the kisser is just so delightful. In a new interview, Ford responds to Gosling’s face-punching allegation by suggesting his younger co-star should be “grateful” it only happened once. That sound you hear is the firing of shots from Ford’s general vicinity.

Johann Johannsson and Denis Villeneuve are one of those rare director-composer powerhouses that, until a few months ago, seemed inseparable. Johannsson scored Prisoners, Sicario, and Arrival, and also signed on to provide a soundtrack to Blade Runner 2049. About a month ago, it was announced that Hans Zimmer and his cohort Benjamin Wallfisch would be joining the soundtrack crew, with Johannsson perhaps taking a backseat. As it turns out, Johannsson has exited the vehicle completely.

When shouldn’t you release a clip for a movie? I can understand releasing entire chunks of a movie on YouTube when you’re working with an unproven or questionable title; if you’re trying to entice audiences to see some mediocre horror film, then by all means, release one of the movie’s better jump scares in an effort to get them into the theater. But when you’ve got a title as recognizable as Blade Runner 2049, with several excellent trailers and a few smart television spots, why bother? How many people could possibly be on the fence at this point?

Blade Runner 2049 sure seems like it’s planning to turn the whole Blade Runner mythos on its head. All of the promotional material has been teasing some kind of revelation that’ll change the future world of replicants forever, but we still have no idea what this revelation will be. What we do know is it definitely has something to do with Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard, who seems to have been in hiding ever since the events of the original film.

For Jared Leto so loved the world that he gave his eyesight so that whosoever sees Blade Runner 2049 shall enjoy a quality performance. That’s right: Your boy Jared Leto is at it again. According to director Denis Villeneuve, Leto was so committed to his role in Blade Runner 2049 that he made himself blind for the whole shoot. Ever the humble cinema servant, Leto downplays it like blinding yourself is no big deal.

It won’t be hard for this fall to beat the worst summer box office in more than ten years, but it’s gearing up to blow the past few months out of the water. Fall — that is, Thanksgiving, a.k.a. all-the-kids-are-home-from-school-and-looking-for-something-to-do season — is almost upon us, and with it come some of the most exciting blockbusters of the year. And it’s Marvel vs. DC yet again as two superhero movies vie for the top spot.