Warner Brothers announced in a press release yesterday that Alcon Entertainment; makers of Insomnia, The Wicker Man (that’s the 2006 version), and The Book of Eli; are in “final discussions” to get the rights to make sequels and prequels to Blade Runner. It seems likely that if Warner Bros. is announcing it… then it’s considered to be a done deal.
From Deadline:
Alcon is negotiating to secure the rights from producer-director Bud Yorkin, who will serve as producer on “Blade Runner” along with [Co-CEOs Andrew] Kosove and [Broderick] Johnson. Cynthia Sikes Yorkin will co-produce. Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble, CEO’s of Thunderbird Films, will serve as executive producers…
Johnson and Kosove stated: “We are honored and excited to be in business with Bud Yorkin. This is a major acquisition for our company, and a personal favorite film for both of us. We recognize the responsibility we have to do justice to the memory of the original with any prequel or sequel we produce. We have long-term goals for the franchise, and are exploring multi-platform concepts, not just limiting ourselves to one medium only.”
Sometimes when fans get to work on their favorite fan project, the results can be stunning. And sometimes they’re Stephen Speilberg’s A.I., or Peter Jackson’s King Kong: a lot of beautiful effort, but ultimately a movie where a giant gorilla ice-skates in Central Park. Blade Runner has been an incredibly significant part of our cinema pantheon for almost thirty years now, affecting art design in movies, anime, and American cartoons, as well as the genre of cyberpunk in books, and a not insignificant number of videogames. We’re not holding our breath.
The most comforting and unexpected part of all this is that whatever those “final discussions” wind up hashing out, Warner Bros. will not be giving Alcon the rights to remake Blade Runner.
So, you know what, guys? Blade Runner takes place in 2019. That’s eight years from now. How about you give us until at least then before you try and make more, huh?
