“I shouldn’t have had to make that decision”: Blade Runner Director Had One Big Regret After Convincing Harrison Ford to Return For a Box Office Disaster
The epic neo-noir sci-fi film Blade Runner, released in 1982, is set in a dystopian future. The movie sees Rick Deckard (portrayed by Harrison Ford) reluctantly hunting down replicants that have escaped to Earth. It was released to great critical acclaim and even grossed $41.71 million worldwide.
A sequel to this movie has been in development since 2011 and was released as Blade Runner 2049 in 2017. Initially, director Ridley Scott was attached to the project and he had even worked on a script for it. The project was eventually passed on to Denis Villeneuve. Scott had revealed that he had to convince Harrison Ford to do the movie despite his initial enthusiasm to star in the movie.
Ridley Scott Regretted Not Directing Blade Runner Sequel
Ridley Scott’s masterful filmmaking made Blade Runner a success. He had conceived the movie as a two-part project. However, when the time for the making of the sequel arrived, he had to back out due to his commitment to Alien: Covenant which is a part of the popular Alien franchise.
In an interview with Empire (via IndieWire), Scott revealed that he might have made a mistake by choosing to let go of Blade Runner 2049. He said: “I shouldn’t have had to make that decision. But I had to. I should have done Blade Runner 2.”
The movie was eventually made by Denis Villeneuve who proved that he was a worthy successor to Ridley Scott as the director of Blade Runner 2. The Dune director was initially sure that this movie would mark the end of his career as he would not be able to meet the expectations of the audience or the critics.
Harrison Ford Had to Be Convinced to Star in the Sequel
In Blade Runner 2049, Harrison Ford had a very enthusiastic response to starring in a sequel when he was initially asked about it. He starred in the movie alongside actors of the newer generation such as Ryan Gosling, Dave Bautista, Jared Leto, and Ana de Armas.
In a 2014 Reddit AMA, the Star Wars actor expressed his thoughts about the cult classic’s sequel, saying:
“I’m quite curious and excited about seeing a new script for Blade Runner if in fact the opportunity would exist to do another, if it’s a good script I would be very anxious to work with Ridley Scott again, he’s a very talented and passionate filmmaker. And I think it would be very interesting to revisit the character.”
Despite this enthusiasm, when Ridley Scott approached Ford about the movie, he did not seem as interested. In an interview with Yahoo, Scott recounted his interaction with The Fugitive actor. Scott said:
“Yeah, and I got Harrison back. Because Harrison said, ‘Meh,’ and I said, ‘No, read this.’ And I think he said, ‘This is the best script I’ve ever had.’ We’ve been working on it for a couple of years.”
Thankfully, Ford was aboard the project after reading the script. Blade Runner 2049 did not do too well in terms of box-office collection. However, it gained great critical acclaim.
