Updated:i09 also spoke with Alcon's producers where they repeat much of the same quotes but interestingly say that whilst their intention is a franchise reboot similar to Batman Begins, they think attracting
Chris Nolan (whom a lot of sites, including this one, brought up his love of the original) 'would be pie in the sky' for them and that he's probably unreachable. Personally, if you are giving him the freedom to create almost anything he wants... I wouldn't be so sure that he wouldn't do it. In yesterday's post about
Alcon and Warner Bros' purchasing of the
Blade Runner 'franchise' rights, I mentioned that I had hoped that film's director
Ridley Scott would get first refusal on any project the studio planned to make. Less than 24 hours later and reassuringly, the company's co-founder
Andrew Kosove was quick to tell
The L.A. Times that they would indeed welcome Ridley's involvement;
We havent met Ridley, but the thought of re-engaging with his artistic vision is very exciting, and is something we think would be wonderful.
Whether or not Ridley would be interested in re-visiting a perfect film from his heyday is another question entirely but he deserves that first refusal regardless, though we shouldn't count out his interest altogether just yet. Let's not forget his next movie is, for all intents and purposes, an Alien prequel titled Prometheus. Kosove also revealed that the idea is for a prequel to the 1982 film that would be set in an 'alternate universe', possibly to avoid the dated aspect of Scott's futuristic vision as 2019 is now only eight years away and we don't seem any closer to having flying cars.
A lot of filmmakers have borrowed from Blade Runner in the intervening years, and we want to make sure we dont look like were borrowing from the movies that borrowed from it, Coming up with something original on our part is a real threshold issue.We know there are tremendous challenges here.
Alcon's other co-founder
Broderick Johnson says;
we never would want to remake it but they do think theres a rich vein of material for a prequel or sequel, which they will be entitled to make. The risk is not just getting a movie made but coming up with a story that really justifies coming back one to one of the great science-fiction stories.
Financing for a film is in place with Warner Bros set to produce, so everything's setup for them to find a writer/director package and a concept they approve. In theory, this one could move very quickly if they find the right talent but let's hope considerable care and attention is put into it first because Blade Runner was never a populist film to begin with - so trying to turn it into a low-brow, Joe Popcorn franchise just isn't going to work. For the sake of not repeating one's self, I spoke about Blade Runner's purchasing rights earlier today,
HERE.