Ridley Scott Says 'Blade Runner 2' Will Address Replicant Death; More Sequels May Come

Ridley Scott has been working on the script for Blade Runner 2 for a couple years. It's a script Scott has said original Blade Runner star Harrison Ford called the best he's ever had when Scott delivered it to him a while back. While Scott is not directing the sequel to his 1982 science fiction landmark — that duty falls to Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Enemy) — he is producing and in general overseeing and guiding the movie.

Ridley Scott is out promoting The Martian now, which gives people the opportunity to bring up Blade Runner 2. Speaking about the sequel, Scott insists that part of the story is Rick Deckard, Ford's original character, owning up to the fact that he is a replicant. The movie also features Ryan Gosling, and Scott suggests that part of the plan now is to hand things off to Gosling for additional sequels.

Speaking to Yahoo, Scott said that the replicant question about Deckard, which has been addressed differently in various cuts of the original Blade Runner, is settled and addressed in the sequel:

Of course he's a bloody Replicant! He's going to have to admit it... I'm not going to tell you [how the question of replicant expiration is addressed]. You'll have to see the story. It'll all make sense.

Ryan Gosling is also part of the equation, and Scott says,

[The original film] was 2017, so coming back it'll be 2047, roughly. As young as you can play Ryan Gosling. He's 34, but he looks 27 when he's doing his push-ups. So maybe 2050.

*ahem* actually the original movie was 2019, but close enough.

Scott also has a lot of say on Blade Runner 2, even though he's not directing. Asked if he has final cut on the movie, the answer is a resounding yes:

Oh, yeah. I mean, I always have final cut on everything, really. Partly because I'm very user-friendly. I always believe when you're given X amount of money by someone to f–k around with and make a movie, you can't draw lines in the sand. If I was an investor and you did that to me, I'd remove your ankles. So don't do the auteur s–t. I respect the guy for giving the money and I respect the studio for saying, "Yeah, you want to do this, here we go."

I do wonder about Scott being user-friendly, because on the Prometheus director's commentary track he talks scornfully about people who question why he does things the way he does. But perhaps that comment is more addressed to people working under him, rather than the execs above him.

Finally, Scott suggested that the general landscape of film is more oriented towards sequels than ever, and he's willing to go along with it. Asked if he would do multiple Blade Runner sequels just as he's doing multiple Prometheus sequels, Scott said,

Everyone else is, so why not? I love to work. The French say "Work to live," and I live to work. I'm very lucky to have a job that I adore. All my kids do the same thing. Some of it's trying, but it's like being in professional sport. It's so competitive [that] you better keep bouncing the ball. You can't rest.