While I got to do a lot of cool things at this year’s Comic-Con, one of the highlights was getting to sit down with director Denis Villeneuve for an extended interview about Blade Runner 2049. Since I know the studio and filmmakers are trying to keep the many mysteries about the story under wraps, when I sat down with Villeneuve I decided to use my time to ask about the many things he could answer. As you can see in the video above, he talked about which version of Blade Runner he’d like people to see before watching 2049, if the sequel will feature Harrison Ford narration (he shares a great story about Ford and his ADR session), Johann Johansson’s score and how closely it will hew to what Vangelis did on the original movie, what he learned from test screenings, the length of the current cut, getting to work again with Roger Deakins and how they only shoot with one camera and no coverage, how he doesn’t believe in a lot of dialogue in his films, and so much more. If you’re looking forward to Blade Runner 2049 or just a fan of Denis Villeneuve, I promise you’ll enjoy this interview.

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As most of you know, the highly anticipated sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1980s sci-fi classic takes place 30 years after the events of the first film and stars Ryan Gosling as a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, who unearths a secret that leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, which has Harrison Ford reprising the role. Blade Runner scribe Hampton Fancher and American Gods co-creator/Logan co-writer Michael Green penned the screenplay. The film also stars Jared Leto, Robin Wright, Barkhad Abdi, Dave Bautista, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Lennie James, and Mackenzie Davis. Blade Runner 2049 opens in theaters on October 6th.

Here’s exactly what Denis Villeneuve and I talked about followed by some links to some of our recent Blade Runner 2049 coverage and some images.

Denis Villeneuve:

  • Talks about this being his first Comic-Con experience.
  • How does he decide what footage to show at Comic-Con?
  • Does the movie have narration? Says as a joke he gave Harrison Ford narration to do during ADR.
  • Which version of Blade Runner would he like people to see before the sequel?
  • blade-runner-2049-ryan-gosling
    Image via Warner Bros.
    Is Johann Johansson’s score evocative of the original film’s score?
  • Talks about test screening the movie.
  • The editing process.
  • How long was his first cut of the film and what’s the running time now?
  • Talks about how he doesn’t believe in a lot of dialogue.
  • How a lot of movies have unneeded exposition.
  • How a lot of the companies that advertised in the original Blade Runner went out of business.
  • Which companies are still around in Blade Runner 2049. Says he created new companies to advertise in the film.
  • Talks about working with Roger Deakins and if they really only shoot with one camera and no coverage.

Here are some links to recent Blade Runner 2049 coverage:

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Image via Warner Bros.
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Warner Bros. and Alcon Entertainment
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Image via Warner Bros.