Prometheus & Blade Runner Sequels?

[Mitch Henessey]

From Ridley Scott's recent interview with Metro:

What made you want to tackle sci-fi again?

I hadn’t done sci-fi for so long and I enjoyed doing it. Plus, when it comes to the Alien world, no one else had addressed the origin question and I thought that was interesting to tackle. Prometheus evolved into a whole other universe. You’ve got a person [Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw] with a head in a bag [ Michael Fassbender’s David] that functions and has an IQ of 350. It can explain to her how to put the head back on the body and she’s gonna think about that long and hard because, once the head is back on his body, he’s dangerous.

So that’s the sequel?

[Laughs] I wish it was that easy. They’re going off to paradise but it could be the most savage, horrible place. Who are the Engineers?

Was it your idea to shoot in 3D?

Yes, but it was an obvious thing to do. I may as well join the club, you know? Celluloid is disappearing. The labs don’t exist any more except to service the old films. I like the digital process. It’s more reliable. You push a button and you get 5,000 prints that are all exactly the same but if I was going to do it physically with film, at the end of the process the chemical has gotten so used it’s no longer functioning. I would never use film again.

Why did you use a lot of real sets rather than full CGI like, say, Avatar?

[Laughs] Because it was a quarter of the price of Avatar. Sorry, Jim! I’m a cameraman, primarily. My films have always been criticised for being too visual, too misty, too this or too that, but I don’t care. We’re dealing with a visual medium; storytelling is entirely visual, as Hitchcock said. Because I went to art school and I can draw, I know exactly how the script is going to evolve into a film.

There is a rumour you’ll be making a Blade Runner sequel.

It’s not a rumour – it’s happening. With Harrison Ford? I don’t know yet. Is he too old? Well, he was a Nexus-6 so we don’t know how long he can live [laughs]. And that’s all I’m going to say at this stage.

http://www.metro.co.uk/film/914651-ridley-scott-blade-runner-sequel-is-no-rumour-its-happening

I would definitely watch a Prometheus sequel. Since buying it on DVD, I've probably watched it three or four times already, and I can't enough of it. Yeah, I know. It's an unsatisfying Alien prequel with too many unanswered questions, a painfully long run time, and convoluted story. But Prometheus 2 (or whatever the hell Scott decides to call it) could provide more clarity, and answer unresolved questions.

As far as Blade Runner goes.... I think I'll pass on it. A sequel for Blade Runner just feels so unnecessary, and I can't picture anyone besides Harrison Ford as the lead. As Scott alluded to in the interview, Harrison Ford is a lot older now. He's seventy years old, so portraying a believable version of the Rick Deckard character might be too much of a stretch. But Scott never confirms anything, so he could kill off the character.

Your thoughts?

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

There is definitely more need for a Prometheus sequel than there is for a Blade Runner sequel.

Blade Runner has had what, 3 or 4 different cuts released that have provided fans with lots to discuss and ponder upon. The ending is often touted as one of the best endings to any sci-fi film too and has a lasting legacy. I cannot imagine that a sequel now will add anything to one of the best films ever made, if anything, the end result will likely detract and taint the original.

Prometheus on the other hand struck me as a film that was teeing up a sequel as it provided very little until the last 20-30 minutes or so. It does leave a bitter taste in the mouth that Ridley may have been planning a sequel all along but uses the expectation of an Alien prequel to generate a lot of money, twice. I understand it's the nature of the industry, but I would happily have waited an extra couple of years for a less bloated and more concise combination of Prometheus and it's sequel in one film.

 

[Diet Soda]

The critics who complained that Prometheus was disappointing because it left too many unanswered questions are idiots; Scott has said from the beginning that he plans on making more than one prequel. Conversely, if everything was wrapped up in a nice, neat package, the same morons would moan that the plot was far too simple.

Though in fairness, the plot of Alien wasn't exactly taxing: big ugly alien turns up on helpless ship, eats crew. However if Scott has masterminded this massive narrative, a two and a half hour film won't be sufficient to get everything in. After all, it is his story, so he can do what he wants with it.

With Blade Runner, on the other hand, Phillip K. Dick never wrote a sequel to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, so a new source material would have to be created. Yes, there were sequels written by someone else but these were more of an attempt to cash in on the success and the cult following of the film.

Undoubtedly, Blade Runner is a genre masterpiece, and should not be defiled by having something attempt to clone its initial brilliance, even if it had Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford back on board - there are such films that do not require a sequel in order to maintain their legacies.

With the Alien franchise though, the quality of the movies declined as the series progressed, ultimately becoming a laughing stock with not one but two crossovers with Predator. So in that sense, the fans deserved another film in that universe that restored the franchise to its former glory.

And on an additional note, I don't think the sheer magic of this scene will ever be able to be rivaled in cinema, by a sequel or otherwise.

 

[Loveless]

A Prometheus sequel is pretty much essential, obviously there's more of that story to tell. I'm not too pleased by the prospect of a Blade Runner sequel, to me that seemed like a pretty complete story with nothing else to say. I absolutely do not want to see Harrison Ford if it does happen, it would completely ruin the necessary ambiguity of Blade Runner. Regardless I'll see them both eventually. I'm interested in the links thrown up this week in the Prometheus extras which link Weyland (Prometheus) to Tyrell (Blade Runner).