Blade Runner 3? It's Not ENTIRELY A No

Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve interested in revisiting the Blade Runner universe.

by Andrew Pollard
Blade Runner Hanging Iconic Shot
Warner Bros.

Today’s a special day for fans of Blade Runner, for it’s the birthday of the beloved Rutger Hauer – who sadly left us last year at the age of 75.

In addition to this, however, today has also brought the tease of a new movie set in the world of the Blade Runner franchise.

Speaking to Empire, Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve has indicated that he’d certainly have interest in a new Blade Runner film. Well, kind of.

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Villeneuve explained how the world of Blade Runner is “such an inspiring place” that he would indeed be interested in tackling another of these pictures, so long as it wasn’t directly connected to the previous two silver screen outings for the property.

Elaborating, the director – who is currently putting together his hotly anticipated take on Frank Herbert’s Dune – added, “The problem I have is the word ‘sequel’. I think cinema needs original stories. But if you ask me if I’d like to revisit this universe in a different way, I can say yes. It would need to be a project on its own. Something disconnected from both other movies. A detective noir story set in the future.”

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A detective noir story based in the future-set landscape of the Blade Runner universe? Consider us sold!

As for the aforementioned Dune, the first trailer for Villeneuve’s take on Herbert’s legendary literary realm is expected to arrive any day now.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.