Blade Runner 2049 - Part 3

[Fallen Angel]

I mean this is the grand total of the first movie in the US. It was bomb both critically and financially when it came out.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I wanted 'Blade Runner 2049' to be Villeneuve's water cooler moment like 'TDK' was for Nolan. I wanted this to crossover to the mainstream and make Villeneuve a household name. I was hoping this will announce Villeneuve's arrival on the big budget blockbuster circuit and earn him some mainstream cred along with the geek cred he has already plied on aplenty. F**k my expectations. F**k it.

 

[FunkMiller]

I wanted 'Blade Runner 2049' to be Villeneuve's water cooler moment like 'TDK' was for Nolan. I wanted this to crossover to the mainstream and make Villeneuve a household name. I was hoping this will announce Villeneuve's arrival on the big budget blockbuster circuit and earn him some mainstream cred along with the geek cred he has already plied on aplenty. F**k my expectations. F**k it.

Eh... TDK is a tentpole popcorn movie, starring arguably the most popular character in fiction. 2049 is the sequel to a cult movie derided on release, and only really loved by a relatively small cross section of the viewing audience. It was never going to be a gigantic hit.

 

[Fallen Angel]

TDK was a Batman property coming off Batman Begins. Which was both a critical hit and financially it did very well too.

Blade Runner 2049 is sequel to a cult sci-fi movie from 35 years ago. It was never going to be TDK level of crossover.

 

[BlackFox]

Yeah its a shame but I guess a sequel to a cult classic that wasnt exactly a hit until years later itself, was always going to face a struggle to some degree, especially if it kept to its roots of being slow and cerebral, the masses want more bang for their buck, rightly or wrongly no matter how good or well reviewed this was plus Denis Villeneuve is just not the house hold name Ridley Scott is in sci-fi, no matter how talented.

I'm going to make the most of it while its in the cinema I think as its turn out might put off any potential future films or force it down a path more mainstream.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Nolan makes commercial films. Fast paced, action filled, usually exposition laden blockbusters. Dennis ain't that kind of a filmmaker. Nor do I want him to be.

 

[Fallen Angel]

If sci-fi modern day audiences can't accept Blade Runner , I wonder what they will think of Dune lol?

 

[Greens]

I wanted 'Blade Runner 2049' to be Villeneuve's water cooler moment like 'TDK' was for Nolan. I wanted this to crossover to the mainstream and make Villeneuve a household name. I was hoping this will announce Villeneuve's arrival on the big budget blockbuster circuit and earn him some mainstream cred along with the geek cred he has already plied on aplenty. F**k my expectations. F**k it.

Villeneuve may not be a household name, but he's definitely a hot property in select circles. He chose a niche for himself and likes to occupy that.

 

[FunkMiller]

If sci-fi modern day audiences can't accept Blade Runner , I wonder what they will think of Dune lol?

I think it’ll be more commercial, and more successful. The themes of Dune are pretty universal (hero’s journey / warfare / evil empire etc.) and the idea of warring great houses is obviously a popular dynamic these days, what with winter being here, and everything.

Dune’s a classically constructed sci-if story. It’ll do well if the film is good, and it plays on the right elements.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

TDK was a Batman property coming off Batman Begins. Which was both a critical hit and financially it did very well too.

Blade Runner 2049 is sequel to a cult sci-fi movie from 35 years ago. It was never going to be TDK level of crossover.

Eh... TDK is a tentpole popcorn movie, starring arguably the most popular character in fiction. 2049 is the sequel to a cult movie derided on release, and only really loved by a relatively small cross section of the viewing audience. It was never going to be a gigantic hit.

I mean I knew this was never gonna br TDK big but I was still hoping for a something big on a smaller scale. I guess I was irrational and I overestimated Blade Runner's appeal. It's totally on me.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Villeneuve may not be a household name, but he's definitely a hot property in select circles. He chose a niche for himself and likes to occupy that.

Yup and I'm very happy for him that he has carved a niche for himself and has become a much sought after director.

 

[kguillou]

This movie is essentially a sister to Arrival in tone and pacing and Arrival made about $200 million but had a 40 million budget. I expect BR2049 to make about the same when all's said and done.

 

[Mjölnir]

I never expected this to be big since the first Blade Runner isn't a big property and since this is a film in the same vein it won't be the kind of film that attracts the masses.

Personally I don't really care since I'm not getting any of that money and it doesn't lessen the experience I had with the film one bit. I only care about money if I want a sequel and I'm unsure of whether a film will get one. I don't think Villeneuve is in any risk of not getting to do the kind of projects he wants either.

 

[FunkMiller]

I mean I knew this was never gonna br TDK big but I was still hoping for a something big on a smaller scale. I guess I was irrational and I overestimated Blade Runner's appeal. It's totally on me.

I tell you what, any extremely successful Blade Runner sequel would most probably be a terrible movie - horribly dumbed down and generic. Sad, but true.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Yeah imagine of Denis wasn't a fan of Ridley's movie and went totally bombastic in approach. The essence of Blade Runner would be lost and what the original stood for. But you might put a few more bums on seats.

 

[kguillou]

So how would u guys rank this in his filmography? I honestly think this is his best work, and i'm a huge fan of Prisoners, Sicario and Arrival (I havent seen Enemy or any of his prior smaller films)

 

[MadVillainy]

Im honestly not a fan of the original, but i just got back from this and really enjoyed it.

I'm not surprised it's not doing well. Blade Runner is well revered in the cinema/movie buff bubble, but it's not this big pop culture staple.
And it's a very slow, completive movie and it's long. There's not a lot of humor or balls to the wall action.


People shouldn't be surprised.

 

[BlackFox]

Really need to see Arrival. I think its better than Prisoners which was very good and sort of just behind Sicario, but then I adore that film, after a few watches it might be on par but he's clearly a director that works for me. Not afraid to take a risk or two.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Just looking things up and ARRIVAL has a better Rotten Tomatoes score and rating and equal Metacrtic rating compared to Blade Runner 2049.

I would say INCENDIES is his best but Arrival is my personal fave (overall 2nd IMO). The man is a genius.

 

[mclay18]

Alcon and Sony will be hit hard. The European market isn't responding well and one exec has already declared that Asia will hafta bail this one out to have a chance at being respectably in the red. I'm not sure how this kicks into a new gear in Asia. Plus BR2049 is sandwiched between an MCU and a DCFU tentpole in November. Sony is f**ked and since Alcon wanted this to spawn a franchise, they're f**ked as well.

Sony is distributing internationally, so they're not losing money on it either. But Alcon... they would probably be better off co-financing films this size rather than fully fund and call the shots on everything (like Legendary has done with a few films). Had Warners co-financed, BR2049's marketing would be more focused and goosed the o.w. numbers closer to $50M+.

The good thing Alcon did was let Villeneuve make the film his own way and perhaps the film will get some Oscar love later on.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I think this movie will be like the original, only with critical acclaim. In 10 years, everyone will rave and it will have a cult following and regarded highly

 

[weezerspider]

Yeah, I never expected this to do well. I think some of the younger folks don't realize how HATED the original was by casual viewers. I really don't know why they made this film from a business standpoint, but I am so glad they did.

I think this might be Denis' best film. I need to see it a few more times before I commit to that, though.

 

[SomeOldGuy]

Sony is distributing internationally, so they're not losing money on it either. But Alcon... they would probably be better off co-financing films this size rather than fully fund and call the shots on everything (like Legendary has done with a few films). Had Warners co-financed, BR2049's marketing would be more focused and goosed the o.w. numbers closer to $50M+.

The good thing Alcon did was let Villeneuve make the film his own way and perhaps the film will get some Oscar love later on.

Per deadline, Sony co-financed to the tune of $90 million:

We’ll be parsing through how big the losses are here for Blade Runner 2049, but one thing is for sure is that Warner Bros. will arrive largely unscathed. They have no equity in the Denis Villeneuve feature and are collecting a distribution fee between 8-10%. Any P&A dollars stateside is backstopped by Alcon. Industry estimates figure $130M overall P&A for Blade Runner 2049. Sony, too, doesn’t have equity in Blade Runner 2049, but co-financed, contributing an estimated $90M before rebates and credits. They receive a distribution fee plus a share of the global profits (are there any??). It is Deadline’s understanding that Sony’s money is recouped in front of Alcon’s.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Sony is distributing internationally, so they're not losing money on it either. But Alcon... they would probably be better off co-financing films this size rather than fully fund and call the shots on everything (like Legendary has done with a few films).

But Sony/Colombia Pictures actually co-financed the project. It's a joint production venture between Alcon and Sony. Alcon was going to produce this movie but since they don't have enough fund they asked Sony to co-finance the movie. They split the movies' prod. budget 50-50 between themselves.

Had Warners co-financed, BR2049's marketing would be more focused and goosed the o.w. numbers closer to $50M+.

Yup. Alcon provided the marketing strategy for the movie. It didn't exactly catch on with the GA. Warner Bros most likely would have extracted more out of the marketing material but I'm glad Alcon didn't cheapen the premise of the movie with action oriented trailers/TV spots.

The good thing Alcon did was let Villeneuve make the film his own way and perhaps the film will get some Oscar love later on.

Agreed. Going by the users here and in other places, Alcon made the best use of their talents and made a great movie. That's all that counts in the end.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

They totally tried to sell this movie as an action flick.