8 REAL Failed Movie Pitches Just Revealed

by Ewan Paterson

1. The Blade Runner Prequel About Roy Batty's Origin

Blade Runner Roy Batty
Warner Bros.

Blade Runner is one of the all-time great science-fiction films, so anything threatening to touch it has to be amazing. Although it took a good 35 years, audiences got that amazing sequel in Blade Runner 2049, a project headed up Denis Villeneuve, about six years after it was announced that Ridley Scott would be returning to the franchise.

However, during this time, it's likely that a number of Blade Runner sequels, prequels and spin-offs were pitched. One such concept was developed by Sean Keller, who responded to Shannon & Swift's thread briefly detailing their concept for a Blade Runner prequel revolving around Roy Batty, who was portrayed by Rutger Hauer.

Keller's story would've depicted Batty before he realises he's a replicant. He's sent to quell an uprising, but effectively becomes a "synthetic Spartacus" when he rebels against humanity.

Some will be happy we never got to see this story due to how revered the original was, but it's certainly a clever way of realising a Blade Runner prequel, seeing as Roy was always the hero of his own story.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.