Ridley Scott's Blade Runners!

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Brace yourself, sci-fi fans!

Those of you who might be fearing the potential of an eventual Blade Runner remake should either close this thread now or prepare for full-on nerdgasm, depending on your level of cynicism…

Ridley Scott announced today that his commercial company, RSA Films, in conjunction with independent studio, Ag8, was working on a project called Purefold, a series of 5-10 short films targeted for the Web as well as a possible TV release.

According to the New York Times, the series, set within the world of Blade Runner, will not include characters from the original film, but will continue to expand upon the themes of the classic science-fiction film. Surprisingly, Purefold will gather and incorporate narrative input from the viewing audience.

Says the Times:

"We don't take any of the canon or copyrighted assets from the movie," said David Bausola, founding partner of Ag8, who said he hoped the series would debut later this summer and that the first episodes would depict events about two years into the future. "It's actually based on the same themes as 'Blade Runner.' It's the search for what it means to be human and understanding the notion of empathy. We are inspired by 'Blade Runner.'"

[The_Return]

Cool concept.

I'm not a rabid fan of Blade Runner (like most Blade Runner fans are), but it was still a damn good movie...I'd be willing to see how these turn out.

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Needless to say, I am pretty excited about this.

[Zero]

heh heh heh - he said nerdgasm

[scouse mac]

This is the sort of thinking we need more of, exciting news indeed!

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Alcon Entertainment stirred up a hurricane of controversy when it acquired the rights to produce prequels and sequels to Blade Runner. Since its release in 1982, Blade Runner has cultivated a reputation as one of the all-time great science fiction movies.

Alcon co-founders/co-CEOs Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove acquired the property because they, too, are fans of the property. But they must tread carefully to avoid keep from alienating the core fanbase, a very protective bunch.

Thankfully, they have Blade Runner star Harrison Ford on their side. Or at least, Ford is not actively rooting against their efforts. While making the rounds to promote Cowboys & Aliens, Ford told Omelete:

“If they go into it with the ambition and some very good idea of how to bring something new to it, maybe it’ll be successful.”

Omelete asked, “There’s a lot of talk about a new Blade Runner movie. Maybe developing into a TV series, things like that. How do you feel about it?”

Ford responded:

“I don’t have any feeling whatsoever. It was an interesting part of my professional life, I’m glad I made that movie, I’m glad that it got released without the hideous voice-over and I don’t know anything about it. I don’t have a judgement about how wise it is to revisit it. I personally think if you’re gonna do… The ambition every time that I’ve been involved in a sequel of a film or a movie that had a number of iterations, I always felt that we were responsible for bringing something new to the characters and to the experience of the audience. If they go into it with the ambition and some very good idea of how to bring something new to it, maybe it’ll be successful.

I wouldn’t feel bad if I were not invited to the party, because I would understand they would want fresh blood to be spilled. So there you are. They’re making another Jack Ryan movie and I’m not involved. So that’s the way it is.”

That’s a pretty optimistic response for an actor with a prickly reputation, and a very reasonable stance. In most cases, it would probably be best to leave the classics alone. But if a new Blade Runner movie or TV series is inevitable, of course we hope the folks in charge seek out a fresh take. There’s always more story out there, and some of it’s worth telling.

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Original writer in talks to return. This new film will take place “some years after the first film concluded.”

http://collider.com/blade-runner-2-sequel-hampton-fancher/167046/