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In March, Alcon Entertainment purchased the rights to director Ridley Scott's Blade Runner in the express interest of "producing prequels and sequels" to the 1982 sci-fi classic. Producers Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson and Bud Yorkin explained that their inspiration for going back into the world of Blade Runner was to "explore the themes that the movie invokes" and described the possibilities for future Blade Runner movies as "an irresistible intellectual exercise" (money was also probably a factor, but it didn't come up).
Whether Scott would return to the cinematic world he created was not known at the time, but Deadline reports that Scott is "committing to direct and produce" either a prequel or a sequel. While the producers also spoke indirectly about director Christopher Nolan, it turns out the plan was always to get Scott to come back.
will harrison ford return? >> Posted 08.19.11 by Ryan -
The recent news that Alcon Entertainment is making plans to "produce prequels and sequels" to director Ridley Scott's Blade Runner was met with a great deal of enthusiasm by sci-fi fans, mixed with a healthy bit of skepticism. After all, Scott's adaptation of Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is considered by many to be the greatest sci-fi movie ever made and a national treasure by the Library of Congress. As one commenter put it, "Blade Runner is powerful and fantastic for what it is. More importantly, it is complete. Why would you even want to alter it?"
In an effort to address such concerns and to tease the potential of the expanded universe of the Blade Runner franchise, producers Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson and Bud Yorkin recently opened up to io9 about why they decided to play around in the Blade Runner universe, why now is the right time to do it and who they might be interested in getting to help them realize their new visions. And, yes, there will be Replicants.
what did the producers have to say about their plans for Blade Runner >> Posted 03.04.11 by BrentJS -
One of the greatest science fiction movies of all time will have new life if a planned deal goes through. In a press release distributed yesterday, Warner Bros.-based production company Alcon Entertainment announced it's in "final discussions to secure film, television and ancillary franchise rights to produce prequels and sequels" of acclaimed director Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, an adaptation of the late Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
While it wasn't a commercial hit during its initial theatrical run in North America, Blade Runner is highly regarded today for its contributions to the sci-fi genre and to cinema in general. It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1993 for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The movie has landed on countless "Top" lists, including Time's ALL-TIME 100 Movies and the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Movies, and it claimed the top spot on IGN's Top 25 Sci-Fi Movies of All Time.
more about the Blade Runner deal, plus two trailers! >> Posted 03.03.11 by BrentJS -
The ReelzChannel 100 began when we asked Leonard Maltin for his favorite Hidden Gems of the decade. His list led the web team into a general discussion about the best movies of the decade and — after no small amount of debate, arguing, and (we're not proud to say) some petty name-calling — we decided we'd better bring it to an end with a company-wide vote. Then it was just a matter of tallying up the votes and hoping for the best. Lucky for us, ReelzChannel is filled with a staff ranging from movie lovers to movie fanatics. What turned out isn't what you'll find on a critic's best of list — instead it's what movie fans really enjoyed.
In day two of the ReelzChannel 100, we highlight the 10 best DVDs and Blu-rays from the past decade.
Posted 12.22.09 by reelz -
If there is one thing Hollywood likes, it's a comeback story, and no one seems more poised for that right now than writer-director Troy Duffy. Politics may have sunk his The Boondock Saints initially, but word of mouth and DVD sales proved co-star Billy Connolly right when he said, "The kids will find it! It's rock 'n' roll!"
Now the saints have been resurrected in a sequel, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. In honor of this achievement, we look at six movies that surprisingly failed in theaters in Back from the Dead: Movie Classics that Began as Box-Office Bombs.
Posted 10.30.09 by reelz -
While Astro Boy is hardly a household name in America, he is something of a cultural icon in his native Japan. In fact, a six-foot statue of "Tetsuwan Atom" (Astro Boy) was erected outside Ikeda Elementary School in Osaka's Ikeda City to honor Osamu Tezuka, the man who created the character in the '50s.
Director David Bowers (Flushed Away) was the man tasked by Imagi Animation Studios with updating Astro Boy for modern American audiences. Bowers told AMC that he looked to some classic sci-fi films for inspiration.
I think things like Star Wars and Blade Runner have just been so influential that if you make a science fiction film you can't help but include elements. But I was just after making a very cool science fiction film, so I just threw all of the things I loved into a giant melting pot and tried to make something original from it. Somebody asked me during production, "Who's this movie aimed at?" And I cited Star Wars as an example of a film I loved when I was ten years old — I loved the robots and the space battles. And then when I came back to it as an adult, I loved Luke Skywalker's journey and his relationship with his father. So I hoped this movie too would work on different levels.
Bowers designed the world of Astro Boy to be futuristic, yet familiar, a style he calls "retro-futurist."
I wanted to make sure that the Astro Boy movie felt as fresh and new and original to audiences today as Tezuko's strips were in the 1950s. But of course nowadays they look retro and old-fashioned. So I tried to retain elements of that and the feel of it, but sort of update the style of it.
Posted 10.20.09 by BrentJS