When he signed on to direct “Blade Runner 2049,” which hits theaters Oct. 6, Denis Villeneuve was determined to carry on the groundbreaking aesthetic of director Ridley Scott’s original 1982 neo-noir sci-fi thriller. At the same time, he didn’t want to create a mere replica — or replicant, as the case may be.
“The movie we did is deeply inspired by the first movie, but we tried not to become a pastiche or parody,” says the French Canadian director behind such films as “Arrival” and “Sicario.” “We used elements from the first movie with humility and tried to find a strength in them. But this movie has its own personality.”
Adapted from Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,” Scott’s original film — the tale of hard-bitten cop Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), who hunts down renegade androids — has cast a large shadow over the pop culture landscape with its gritty, haunting cyberpunk rendering of a dystopian Los Angeles. Set three decades later, after the events of the first movie, the sequel centers on a young LAPD blade runner (Ryan Gosling) who uncovers a secret that leads him on a quest to find Deckard.
Working alongside cinematographer Roger Deakins and production designer Dennis Gassner, Villeneuve, 49, sought to bring the world of Scott’s seminal classic back to life while pushing it visually in new directions. Here, Villeneuve walks us through the film, one scene at a time.
Alcon Entertainment / Warner Bros. / Sony Pictures
Ubiquitous advertising was a recurring visual feature of the original “Blade Runner,” and Villeneuve picks up that motif in this scene, as Gosling’s Officer K gazes at (and is gazed at by) an immense holographic ad. “We constructed the bridge on the...
Alcon Entertainment / Warner Bros. / Sony Pictures
Gassner was responsible for the production design on “Blade Runner 2049,” but for this scene, in which Officer K looks out at a ruined cityscape, Villeneuve worked with original “Blade Runner” concept artist Syd Mead. “For me, it was important to have...
Stephen Vaughan Warner Bros.
With the new “Blade Runner,” Villeneuve wanted to carry forward the neo-noir aesthetic of the original film, with stark, dramatic lighting as in this scene featuring Gosling, left, and Ford. “It’s a world that is quite bleak and dark and...
Stephen Vaughan Warner Bros.
Actress Sylvia Hoeks, who plays a character called Luv, looks into a retinal scanner alongside Gosling’s Officer K. “The image of the eye was very important in Ridley Scott’s universe, and those elements are in ‘2049’ as well,” Villeneuve says....
Stephen Vaughan Warner Bros.
Villeneuve, in front of one of the film’s spinners, says trying to revive and expand the sci-fi universe that Scott created 35 years ago is by far the biggest artistic challenge he’s ever undertaken. “My respect and admiration for Ridley Scott cannot...
Stephen Vaughan Warner Bros.
Officer K walks past cramped boxes in which some of the city’s poorest residents live, an idea inspired by real-life Hong Kong low-income housing units called “coffin cubicles.” “Part of L.A. is in ruins and doesn’t have power anymore, and there are a...