Duncan Jones Making His Homage To 'Blade Runner' Next, Not 'Mute'

One of the most promising young filmmakers out there today, Duncan Jones, hasn't even released his second film yet but he's already starting to think about the follow-up. After his phenomenal debut film Moon, Jones is about ready to let us all enter the Source Code on April 15 with Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan. And while there had been much talk (and concept art and script reviews) that would suggest Mute would be Jones' next film, that doesn't seem to be the case.

In an interview with We Got This Covered, Jones revealed that Mute is in "limbo" and he wants his next film to be his homage to Blade Runner. "It will be a city based future film," Jones said. Read what happened to Mute and more about this "city based future film" after the jump.

While talking to We Got This Covered, Jones wouldn't say much about his next project except that, unlike Source Code, he wrote it himself and that he's "determined to do a future city film." "I want it to be my homage to Blade Runner, even if it's a bit bigger, it will be a city based future film," Jones said.

As for the latest with Mute, Jones has no problem talking about that. The film is set in 2046 and features "a brutish 40 year old mute named Leo who must go in search of his missing Afghan girlfriend."

Here's what Jones said about the current status of the film.

Well it's in a bit of a limbo actually. I've always loved the script and felt it was a film worth making, but it's a tricky one. It's a sci-fi film, and one of the drafts of the scripts got leaked a while back. The reaction was mixed. Most people didn't get the fact that yes it is sci-fi but it's a futurist film. It's a thriller that happens to take place in the future, it's not some amazing piece of technology that ya know the world is depending upon and the whole story revolves around some particular piece of technology or some sci-fi hook.

That was the whole idea, to tell a film that can be based in any period, but just HAPPENS to take place in the future. And it's been very difficult to basically pitch that in a way where people understand why it needs to be done that way. People just say, why can't it be in a contemporary setting? But no, it's about mood and atmosphere as much as anything else. It's also quite dark so it's been a tough sell. Also, it's not a big film, it has been designed to be sort of a smaller and more independent film. Budget wise, it's in between Moon and Source Code.

I just need to get away from it for a while. I'll come back to it one day and hopefully it'll work the way I see it working. In the meantime, I have another project that I'm very excited about. It will address what people expect from sci-fi films but still does what I want it to do, and still has the heart and energy that I'd wanna see in a sci-fi film.

In the script review we ran a few years back, it says that Jones also compared Mute to Blade Runner, especially in its setting. So the question remains will this new "future city film" share only a setting with Ridley Scott's 1982 classic or will it share the action component as well?

Have you bought into Duncan Jones yet based on one film and one trailer or are you going to hold out for Source Code to see if the sophomore jinx is alive and well? Also, how do you feel about him directing a big future city movie?