10 Movies That Accidentally Set Up Sequels
1. Blade Runner
The original release of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner saw Scott's darker and more enigmatic vision neutered due to the ever-dubious judgements of test audiences.
As a result of these harshly negative responses, Warner Bros. added a spoonfeeding voiceover narration from Harrison Ford's protagonist Deckard - who couldn't seem less enthusiastic while performing it - to clarify the plot, and a tacked-on happy ending in which Deckard and replicant Rachael leave Los Angeles for greener pastures.
Regardless of the changes, Blade Runner received mixed reviews upon release and was a commercial failure, yet an entire decade later, Scott was finally allowed to release his Director's Cut, which ditched the terrible narration and restored his more ambiguous, tantalising original ending.
This ending hinted at the prospect of Deckard himself being a replicant - a provocation which has stoked the imaginations of sci-fi fans ever since.
When Scott, who never intended for Blade Runner to have a sequel, returned to assemble his Director's Cut, he couldn't have imagined that the final image of Deckard staring at an origami unicorn would live on in fans' minds like a brain worm for decades.
And so despite the film's box office failure, its enduring popularity among genre fans and home video success eventually prompted rights holders Alcon to pick up that seemingly abandoned cliffhanger and reunite with Deckard for Blade Runner 2049.
Yet the delicious irony is that while the sequel was incredibly well-received - some even believing it to have improved upon the original - 2049 didn't actually reveal Deckard's true identity one way or another.
It did, at least, circle back to his and Rachael's relationship in a meaningful and emotional way, which surely nobody expected an entire quarter-century after Scott pulled the original film out of the doldrums with the Director's Cut.