We have been hearing a lot about Ridley Scott’s sequels as of late due to the auteur hitting the promotional circuit for the upcoming release of his new movie Exodus: Gods and Kings. Therefore, when Scott has not been fending off accusations of white-washing in his current epic, he has had time to sit and talk to numerous publications and media outlets about Prometheus 2 and Blade runner 2. Each time further expanding on the developmental stages of each of the projects. It’s safe to say that the major concern on everyone’s mind is that there is a possibility that, if the movie doesn’t live up to expectations, it could ruin and taint the legacy of the first film (bearing in mind that the first film was subjected to a cascade of negative reviews, and also failed at the Box Office – it’s funny how the world of film works as the same thing happened with John Carpernter’s The Thing [1992]; in fact, with most of Carpenter’s 80’s filmography). However, apparently there is one man, who’s seal of approval on the finished script, has us feeling more confident and positive about the whole thing.
Promoting his latest opus, Ridley Scott took the time to sit down with MTV, and low and behold, the subject of the two highly anticipated sequels – Blade Runner 2 and Prometheus 2 – came up, and as mentioned above Scott has confirmed that the screenplay is good to go, but remained more evasive on whether he would be taking to the directors chair or not. Scott also announced that he had stopped listening to what critics had to say about his work after top critics gave it a mauling upon its release back in 1982. This is what Scott had to say on that issue:
“…with great respect, I never read press… [I was] “slaughtered” by the press when Blade Runner debuted “…three pages of slaughter, I was so offended, I would never read any more press. You have to know what you’ve done. The key thing is you can be the only person, your own critic.
And in regards to the Prometheus criticism? Scott offered this rebuttal: “I don’t make films for other people, I make films for me,” he said. “And so far, it’s pretty good because I’m still here after 35 years. So there’s a good expression, ‘fuck you very much.’”
Straight to the point, and I can’t help but think that the haters will look back on Prometheus and have to eat their own words. What’s that old adage… that history repeats itself.
Scott also tells of when he gave the script over to Harrison Ford to have a read through:
“Harrison… said this is the best thing I’ve ever read. So he’s very relevant to what happened in the first one. I’m not just doing a sequel with lots of action and see how father we can go with the special effects because you can’t really. With Blade Runner we kind of landed on a somehow credible future and its very difficult to change than because it’s been so influential with everything else.”
What sounds promising is the fact that Scott is sticking with the same noir-esque futuristic setting that was so masterfully produced back in 82 and has been a massive influence on many science-fiction films to date. It could be argued that Blade Runner was the movie that started the Cyberpunk movement (although Fritz Lang’s impressionistic masterpiece made way back in 1927 was the precursor to Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep).
It has already been stated that Harrison Ford is going to be reprising his role as Deckard, even if he is only going to turn up in the first act of the movie, as apparently the movie is based on finding Deckard (much like the rumoured Star Wars VII premise that it’s based on the search for Luke Skywalker, or at least that’s what we have been told. However, Scott thinks the script is great, and Ford thinks it’s one of the best things he has ever read, so whether this is merely hyperbole, or a case of misinformation, there has to be a basis to the fact the script is somewhat decent.
While it is still a toss up between what film Scott decides to take on between both sequels after he is done with post-production on the Matt Damon starring vehicle The Martian, he has still been passionately talking about the potentials in the sequel to Prometheus (…which was a great Sci-Fi movie… yes, you heard me right!). The issue is whether the second installment of the franchise would take off straight after the ending of the first movie – which would only seem like the most logical approach. Subsequently, Scott has confirmed that the story will focus on what the future holds for Dr Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace), and also the mysterious intentions of the android David (played by Michael Fassbender), and Scott also confirmed a few weeks back that there would be the inclusion of a new breed of Alien in the film as he is finished with the Xenomorph for now. Here’s what Scott had to say about David:
“You have too, you can have a person go off into the galaxy, and have a person who still has his head off. Once that head goes back on, he’s really dangerous. But he’s also very seductive, so maybe he’ll persuade her to help him put the head back.”
There’s no official release dates for either Blade Runner 2 or Prometheus 2, but they could both start shooting sometime next year.
Source: ScreenCrush, GiantFreakinRobot
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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