15. Blade Runner 2049 (7 points)

The unexpected teaser for Blade Runner 2049 sequel was no doubt an exciting look into the long-awaited sequel that landed in the hands of one of todays greatest directors, Denis Villeneuve. The filmmaker is responsible for some of the most fantastic films of the past few years, including this year’s Arrival and last year’s Sicario. The teaser trailer for 2049 gave us the thought that Villeneuve has started again right where he left off with his last film, as the tone, look, and anticipation feels just as exciting, possibly even more as his last couple of films.

One of the more interesting aspects of 2049 is how it will be rated leading into its release. As of right now, every films Villeneuve has completed, other than Arrival, has been rated R. But with a name like Blade Runner and the possible fan base it can create today, although its predecessor was rated R, the question has become whether or not his Blade Runner will in fact get an R-rating.

Blade Runner 2049 just wrapped filming last month in November and is well underway into the editing process. Screen Daily recently caught up with Villeneuve, and on top of saying that he approached the film the same way he did Arrival as far as using minimal CGI components, he also slightly talked about the rating:

My producers are finding it fun to remind me that it will be one of the most expensive R-rated independent feature films ever made.

The teaser didn’t give much as far as a rating goes, but it did in fact give us an idea about how the visuals will not only play out on screen, but how it was created. That will mainly be due to Villeneuve and the magnificent cinematography of Roger Deakins. With a duo like this behind the film, don’t expect to see a whole lot of CGI or visual effects done to the film, rather the use of practical effects takings it place. Here’s what Villeneuve had to say about the use of CGI in his film and overall:

I can count on my fingers the amount of times we put a green screen on set. Most of the movie was done on camera, me and [cinematographer] Roger Deakins worked very hard to do it that way.

My actors were not walking on green screens all day long. CGI is a strong tool for backgrounds and extensions but what is around the actors needs to be as real as possible. When I watch a movie that’s mostly CGI, I’m disengaged.

It’s interesting to hear Villeneuve talk about CGI and using it as little as possible. While that is very much true and I agree with him to a certain extent, the film is set in 2049 and that time can’t and shouldn’t look the same as it does today. Could it be created with practical effects? Yes, no doubt. But there has to be a certain amount of CGI injected into the film to bring that world to life, a la Arrival. Not much, but just enough to make us believe.

It’s also worth mentioning that Villeneuve teased that “Blade Runner could go on.” A sequel for this movie is not only a no-brainer, but it’s long overdue. And with studio’s of today wanting to create/maintain franchises, sequels to the sequel seems like a huge possibility, but that’ll be up to movie-goers and their feeling of a Blade Runner sequel and its 2049 setting.

Now that you’ve heard my thoughts, what do you think about the sequel possibly being rated R? Is that what you want? Are you excited for the sequel? Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 is released on October 6th, 2017 and stars Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, Jared Leto, Mackenzie Davis, Ana de Armas, and Dave Bautista.