If you're thinking that Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049 will follow in the footsteps of Ridley Scott's 1982 original by having half a dozen different versions out there, then think again. Scott's Blade Runner had different cuts for multiple audiences, some domestic and some international, but if you want the director's full vision, you want The Final Cut. Villeneuve tells Comingsoon we won't have to figure out which cut of the film is definitive because he's only doing one. Well, that makes it easy.
“No, no. I don’t believe in that. When I cut something out, it’s because it’s dead after that. It’s like a branch of a tree, cut. I never put [out] extended versions or additional footage. If it’s not in the movie, it’s because we felt it was not appropriate or good enough. I don’t do that. I hate that. Honestly… it’s never better, the extended version. There was a reason. Even Apocalypse Now. Apocalypse Now Redux is not a good idea. I don’t believe in it, apart from Touch of Evil. The rest of the time, most of the movies, the original versions, and Blade Runner… that’s the truth.”
I'll admit to liking the international cut of Blade Runner for the brief bits of excessive violence they put in, otherwise it's the final version all the way. Good to know that Villeneueve intends on keeping things simple, and if Warner Bros. suddenly decides to put out multiple versions of Blade Runner 2049 we'll know the theatrical one is his preference.
Blade Runner 2049 opens October 6th.
