Exclusive: Eagle Eye Co-Writers Working on Blade Runner 2

Posted on Monday, September 29th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta

This weekend I received an e-mail from /Film reader Tanner C. informing me that one of the screenwriters of Eagle Eye was working on a screenplay for Blade Runner 2. I spent the weekend trying to get confirmation, and thanks to my friend Frosty at Collider who was able to get in touch with a second person who was also at the event, I was able to confirm that the following was actually said. But before you throw a hissy fit. let me fill you in on all the details and assure you that nothing is being developed by the studio itself, or with the studio’s involvement. Here is the original email:

“I recently attended a Q&A session with one of the writers of ‘Eagle Eye’ after a free screening organized by the magazine Creative Screenwriting. During the Q&A, the writer said that he and whomever it was that helped him co-write the ‘Eagle Eye’ screenplay were in the process of writing a sequel to Blade Runner, and had already contacted the producers of the original, etc., etc. This is probably a load of empty words/wishful thinking on his part, but I for one am appalled by just the notion of a Blade Runner sequel, and thought you’d be as well, so I thought perhaps you’d like to look into this yourself and perhaps use your soapbox to get some fanboys a little pissed, as well. If not, then at least you have a scoop.”

Okay first of all, lets make sure we know who exactly we’re talking about. The screenwriters in question are not Alex Kurtzman or Roberto Orci, but instead Eagle Eye co-writer Travis Wright (who was at the event) and his Eagle Eye co-writer John Glenn. (Update: John Glenn has confirmed that he is no longer involved in the project)

Wright produced a 2005 animated movie which spoofed disaster films, called Disaster! The Movie. While at UCLA, Wright won the Jack Nicholson prize in screenwriting for his WWII drama Hunting the Wolf. At one point Wright and Glenn were attached to write a remake of The Warriors for Tony Scott/Paramount and Louis Leterrier’s remake of Clash of the Titans.

Wright revealed at the Creative Screenwriting event that they have been working on various treatments for a Blade Runner sequel over the last couple years. And there is also the claim that recently the duo have been working with Blade Runner co-executive producer Bud Yorkin on the project. It should be noted that Yorkin likely doesn’t control the rights to a Blade Runner sequel, and all of this is being developed outside of the studio.

But this isn’t just some small side project, Travis also claims that they are already working with a pre-visualization team on some of the hunter action sequences for their eventual pitch with the studio. I don’t believe that Ridley Scott is involved, but the screenwriting team has worked directly with his brother Tony Scott on projects, so their might be a possible connection.

All of this really scares the hell out of me. Blade Runner is one of the most beloved sci-fi films of all time, and it is a movie that doesn’t need a sequel. If Scott had an idea, and really believed it was worth making, then maybe MAYBE. But we certainly don’t need a sequel written by the second teir team of Eagle Eye. Lets hope to God this doesn’t happen.

UPDATE: I just received an e-mail from John Glenn, who claims that he is no longer working with Travis Wright on the Blade Runner sequel. I’m guessing this means that Travis is just working on the project by himself now. The email is reprinted below with permission from Glenn:

John Glenn, here. I just read your article about myself and Travis Wright working on a remake of Blade Runner … Travis and I actually broke off as writing partners years ago - after the first draft of Eagle Eye. Due to previous commitments, I couldn’t make the screening / Q&A last week — so to be honest, I have no idea what Travis was talking about or why he brought up a project we were tooling with years ago, when we still wrote together. There was a point where Travis and I were working with Bud Yorkin on a sequel to Blade Runner, but that was years back. It never got too far off the ground because the movie is so perfect, so the more we thought about it, the more uneasy we became with the idea. Anyway, just an note to clear the air. My apologies to you and your readers for the confusion Travis created.

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  • Omg, this is so great
  • Domino
    SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! This cannot be serious. Horrible idea, especially by them.
  • Filmfan
    Yay! I hope they get it on the fast track.
    Travis and John are amazingly talented.
  • dlb
    This is just too silly to get pissed off about.
  • Ugh. I just have nothing but dread about this. This film is a timeless classic, and I just can't stand the thought of it being ruined.
  • What? No this is a TERRIBLE idea. There is absolutely no reason to make a follow-up. I think it pretty much speaks for itself.

    I don't care how talented these guys are, they have no business touching this classic. There's no need to update it or add more to the canon. I mean, there are like two or three different cuts of the film! That should be ENOUGH.

    Not seeing this.
  • Scott
    If these guys are amazingly talented then why write Blade Runner 2? Can't they make a better, more original idea?
  • Great?! GREAT?!?! How dare you!

    Seriously, though... C'mon, BLADE RUNNER 2? Is there nothing holy left? This is almost as absurd as the 300 sequel. Or S. DARKO. Yes, they are talented, but there are movies ripe for sequels. Work on THE GOLDEN COMPASS' sequel and get it right this time. But leave BLADE RUNNER alone!
  • REAL6
    WHY GOD WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    And Esp Eagle eye? Movie was so horrible!!!
  • Christine
    What.
  • Domino
    Stick to making shitty derivatives of previous films instead of tainting other peoples work by attaching your hackery to it.
  • ifthenwhy
    Is Bad News Bears, a classic to me, any worse for wear because of the horrific shit pile "Breaking Training"?

    No.

    This "remake/sequel" machine, that has been operating at it's fullest powers recently, just furthers the exposure of Hollywoods diseased ridden underbelly.

    I say let em hang themselves.
  • Marcus
    Oh Hell No!!!
  • Leo G
    Okay, unless Ridley Scott is on board (which I doubt) this is gonna suck.
  • Joe
    Please, guys, PLEASE divert your attention to a lawsuit against Lionsgate, Friedberg and Seltzer for ripping off your movie title.

    We don't need Blade Runner 2.

    We do need those douchenozzles out of work.
  • Iron Matt
    @Fabio

    If you even remotely read the article, then you'd know Peter cites his sources, NONE OF WHICH ARE YOU!

    That being said, holyfuckinshit this is one of the worst ideas I have heard in a long time. What, exactly, is compelling these dumbfucks to make a sequel to a movie that clearly doesn't need one?
  • joshua
    NO NO NO!!!
  • MKW
    No no no.
  • Meli
    I'm unclear how these guys think it is a good idea to write a sequel
    to Bladerunner! It must be the drugs - the bad kind.

    I hope those above who wrote they think it's a good idea are using sarcasm because if they're serious they need to stop watching movies.
  • Captain Awesome
    dlb pretty much said it for me. It's too stupid to even bother spending any energy on.

    This is like someone telling me Michael Bay is remaking 2001.
  • ...Yeah...and calling yerself "Captain Awesome" is either 1) awesomely juvenile, or 2) stupid; take yer pick...AND, 2010 is BETTER than the "classic" 2001...chew on that for a while !!
  • Indy
    Ridley Scott better be involved along with Harrison Ford, who is looking like he's in good shape in Indy4 (not the best of the series but Harrison is always on target)........ If Shia is gonna be the star I'll boycott the film.....
  • gah
    EPIC FAIL
  • Brandon
    Oh no. They must have been listening when I jokingly mentioned Blade Runner 2 in the Slashfilmcast chat a few weeks ago.

    Hollywood ears are everywhere. Keep all bad ideas to yourselves!
  • YoungZe
    I don't like it. Not a bit. I will act like i never read anything about it and ignore it to death.
  • Jesus
    I just wet my pants - out of excitement .... cant wait to see this sequel ... beep beep!!!
  • Remenber what Ridley Scott said in last June:

    "I am going to do one. I waited for a book for 20 years and I have got the book. I am not going to tell you what the book is but that film is going to probably be written within the next month. That will definitely be what I do next after Nottingham, the Robin Hood film that I am doing now in England."
  • Domino
    @Captain Awesome, careful throwing around ideas like that, Bay just smacked his forehead and wondered why he didn't thought of that
  • Domino
    @Domino, thought=think
  • helicopters
    he IS making 2012...
  • ANGRY BROOMSTICK
    you have to be fucking kidding me. fucking ridiculous.
  • MrCavanagh
    Because all of the other sequels to films that have been left dormant for decades turned out just SUPER!

    To Kill a Mockingbird 2 in 2010!
  • This is really the worst idea ever.

    Nothing comes remotely close to these idiots!
  • Bill
    this is horrible. horrible.
  • B33
    Eagle Eye had a rather terrible script which does not bode well for this project... Not that it was a good idea, to begin with. Having the eagle Eye writers simply makes matters much worse.
  • Pierre
    I bet Blade Runner 2 is just the codename for yet another Extended Directors Cut; this time with 30 seconds of extra footage of Harrison Ford exhaling, therefore proving once and for all that he was a replicant.
  • Bob
    Pissed...
  • MrCavanagh
    The problem with the notion of a Blade Runner sequel is that the first film is still held in such high regard not only for it's story, but for the fact that everything was done in camera. A sequel will be nothing but wall-to-wall CGI.
  • crux
    There are soo many piss poor writer/ directors in the buisness these days. None of them have any original material so they just sap off their influences. That said, if you were influenced by Blade Runner or Riddley Scott for that matter you shouldn't be making sequels. Bud Yorkin is a twat box anyway the only reason he got involved in the property was to turn a profit. Nevermind the fact that his sh*tfulness really screwed the project after principal wraped.
    F**k that. Lemme guess, Laboof is Deckards replicant son. Oh yeah lets call him "Nexus X".

    Look, unless it's a Nightbreed sequel I just don't care.
    And "STOP WITH THE F**KING REMAKES"!!!!!!!!
  • Captain Awesome
    MrCavanagh,

    Till this day. Blade Runner still looks better than most if not all the sci-fi stuff done today with the help of CG. Not to mention the great story and overall package.
  • tw
    Blade Runner doesnt need a sequel, i mean i'd probably go see it if it looked good but theres really no need to make BR2. On that note this decade is gonna be the remakes decade so i wouldnt be surprised to see old movies remade / sequelled.


    i give it 5 years before star wars is remade :P
  • Jamie
    Hire Kenneth Branagh?
  • JP Dyno
    Im crying on the inside.
  • Christopher Marc
    ok the only way this would work is that it's either or a prequel or a sequel without any of the original characters...those writers should get that out of their heads, you can't bring back these actors...plus recasting would be an insult to the original...

    that being said as long as they focus on the off world colonies and Ridley Scott is directing it can work...I'm sure a lot of Blade Runner fans would like to see what the colonies looked like and how the replicants acted like slaves over there...and why/how they would escape and hide out on Earth...

    I'm not saying even attempting this sequel is a good idea, but if it has to happen at least we can hope it's done with the right people involved..mainly the original screen writers should be able to look the script over and make changes


    I'm still waiting for James Cameron to make Alien 5: Hadley's Hope, the whole colony being wiped out would had made a great Alien3....we don't always get the movies we want
  • Agent J
    Man this gonna be Epic. I sure hope this is true. I'll be the first to watch this and man oh man....I'm in awe that the best movie will finally get a sequel. EAGLE EYE FOR THE WIN!!!!!!!!
  • Mark
    WOW on twitter when Peter was teasing us with clues and I guessed Blade Runner 2 I thought no fucking way could that be the sci fi classic but sure enough hollywood always finds a way to sink a little lower
  • Steve
    I, for one, would not mind seeing the Blade Runner universe again. If somebody comes up with a good idea, I'd like to see them at least given the chance to follow through with it. Having some of the creative minds behind the original come back (Ridley Scott, etc.) wouldn't hurt, either.

    And no, this isn't the worst sequel idea of all-time. That dubious distinction lies with "S. Darko," the sequel to "Donnie Darko," which was an even more self-contained film than "Blade Runner" was.
  • Hector
    *KNOCK KNOCK* ... "WHO'S THERE?" ... "ORIGINAL IDEAS." .... "ORIGINAL IDEAS WHO?" .... "LOL, BLADE RUNNER 2."
  • Blackstar
    No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.No.

    I absolutely, positively forbid any Blade Runner 2 to be made.

    Ever.
  • Gotta finish watching the first blade runner...
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