Explore the World of ‘Blade Runner 2049’ in New Featurette
Denis Villeneuve’s getting ready to tie a ribbon on Blade Runner 2049. The French filmmaker behind Arrival told Entertainment Weekly that “we are running towards the finishing line right now” on the production due for release October 6, and added that “we are elated. It feels like Christmas as we look at the completed shots.” But directors of generously budgeted studio projects have to say that, nonspecific positivity is pretty much written right into their contracts. Footage, however, cannot lie, and so it’s enticing news indeed that Villeneuve’s little exclusive with EW comes packaged with a new featurette including fresh frames from the hotly anticipated sequel.
The featurette includes soundbites from the major names associated with the project: Franchise newcomers Ryan Gosling and Jared Leto express the admiration for the first film, original star Harrison Ford cracks a smile, Ridley Scott pops by to play humble about being surprised by his film’s success back in the ’80s, and perhaps most intriguingly, cinematographer Roger Deakins informs us that he’s never worked with so many sets or such complex lighting patterns. But the actual sights of the film itself will undoubtedly draw the most fans. We see Gosling slink around a long-since abandoned room while a hologram of Frank Sinatra warbles “One For My Baby (And One More For the Road),” giant skyscrapers in a metropolis worthy of comparison to Metropolis, and a bustling bazaar filled with odd future artifacts.
Altogether, it’s a pretty heartening glimpse at the upcoming film. From the sound of it, Villeneuve and his team understand what fans loved about the original — the epistemological pondering, the immersive vision of future culture, the sci-noir atmosphere of moody darkness. The challenge to deliver more of the same, only different, is not an enviable one, but Villeneuve’s give us reason for hope.