Warner Bros based production company Alcon Entertainment are reportedly in negotiations to acquire the rights to make sequels, prequels and all kinds of unnecessary nonsense relating to Ridley Scott’s 1982 classic film Blade Runner.
They are negotiating with producer/director Bud Yorkin who currently holds the rights to the franchise. Should the deal go through Alcon’s rights will be all-inclusive, except for the right to remake the original.
Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosgrove, who run Alcon, said, “We are honoured and excited to be in business with Bud Yorkin. This is a major acquisition for the company, and a personal favourite film for both of us. We recognise the responsibility we have to do justice to the memory of the original with any prequel or sequel we produce. We have long-term goals for the franchise, and are exploring multi-platform concepts, not just limiting ourselves to one medium only.”
Based on the novel ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ by Philip K. Dick (although the novel and screenplay differ significantly), Blade Runner is widely accepted as one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. But its recognition has been retrospective, as the film disappointed at the box office – although it may have had something to do with the fact that Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and E.T. the Extra Terrestrial were both released on the same weekend.
Despite the optimistic press-release from Alcon, many Blade Runner fans will be worrying that any subsequent films will go the same way that many franchise revivals have – downhill. On the plus side, they can’t remake the original, so it could be worse.
