If there is one genre that Hollywood just can”t seem to spin into a billion-dollar multi-studio phenomenon, it”s cyberpunk. Despite having all the cool tech of science-fiction and all the dystopian grittiness of a YA mega-franchise, it just can”t seem to get a foothold in the industry. “Neuromancer” never materialized and somehow “Shadowrun” is still a niche property. But everyone know “Blade Runner.” Which means it”s ripe for a sequel.
And now we have details from Ridley Scott himself.
Scott was recently at the AFI Festival in Los Angeles when he was asked about “Blade Runner 2” (starring Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling) by MTime. They then sent an English translation of the interview to Slashfilm about the opening sequence.
“We decided to start the film off with the original starting block of the original film. We always loved the idea of a dystopian universe, and we start off at what I describe as a ‘factory farm” – what would be a flat land with farming. Wyoming. Flat, not rolling – you can see for 20 miles. No fences, just plowed, dry dirt. Turn around and you see a massive tree, just dead, but the tree is being supported and kept alive by wires that are holding the tree up. It”s a bit like Grapes of Wrath, there”s dust, and the tree is still standing. By that tree is a traditional, Grapes of Wrath-type white cottage with a porch. Behind it at a distance of two miles, in the twilight, is this massive combine harvester that”s fertilizing this ground. You”ve got 16 Klieg lights on the front, and this combine is four times the size of this cottage. And now a spinner [a flying car] comes flying in, creating dust. Of course, traditionally chased by a dog that barks, the doors open, a guy gets out and there you”ve got Rick Deckard. He walks in the cottage, opens the door, sits down, smells stew, sits down and waits for the guy to pull up to the house to arrive. The guy”s seen him, so the guy pulls the combine behind the cottage and it towers three stories above it, and the man climbs down from a ladder – a big man. He steps onto the balcony and he goes to Harrison”s side. The cottage actually [creaks]; this guy”s got to be 350 pounds. I”m not going to say anything else – you”ll have to go see the movie.”
You can get more details about the original scripted scene over at SlashFilm.
Could cyberpunk be on the verge of a comeback? With “Blade Runner 2,” “Ghost in the Shell, “Akira,” and “Battle Angel Alita” all in the works, fans of the genre can only hope!
“Blade Runner 2” is coming to a theater near you…eventually.