Ridley Scott Says BLADE RUNNER 2049 Was "F**king Way Too Long" and Takes Credit For Most of the Script
For those of you wondering what Ridley Scott honestly thought of director Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049, he shared some blunt thoughts in an interview with Vulture. One of his biggest issues was that he felt it was way too long, saying:
"I have to be careful what I say. I have to be careful what I say. It was fucking way too long. Fuck me! And most of that script's mine."
I know a lot of people felt the same way. After all, the movie clocks in at two hours and forty-five minutes, but it was still great! As you can see, Scott also went ahead and took credit for most of the script. The filmmaker went on to explain his ownership of many of the films plot points, saying:
"I sit with writers for an inordinate amount of time and I will not take credit, because it means I've got to sit there with a tape recorder while we talk. I can't do that to a good writer. But I have to, because to prove I'm part of the actual process, I have to then have an endless amount [of proof], and I can't be bothered."
He then goes on to talk about the big ideas that he came up with for the film. If you haven't seen the movie yet, though...
Scott explains:
But the big idea comes from Blade Runner. Tyrell is a trillionaire, maybe 5 to 10 percent of his business is AI. Like God, he has created perfect beings that, for all intents and purposes, there is no telling the difference from humans. Then he says, “You know what? I’m going to create an AI. I’ll have a male and female, they will not know that they’re both AIs, I’ll have them meet each other, they will fall in love, they will consummate, and they will have a child.” That’s the first film. The second film is, what happens to the baby? You’ve got to have the baby, you can’t have the mother, so the mother has to inexplicably die four months after she breastfeeds. The bones are found in the box at the foot of the tree — that’s all me. And the digital girlfriend is me. I wanted an evolution from Pris, who is inordinately sexy in the original, right?
The filmmaker goes on to say, "I shouldn’t talk. I’m being a bitch." It's interesting to hear him talk about the film and go out of his way to make sure to say that he won't take credit, but then take credit and point out all the things he's taking credit for.
As the producer of the movie, I think all the fans understood that Scott had a heavy hand in the development of the story. After all, without him, there would be no Blade Runner movies! But, if he wants to take credit, then he's entitled to it.
In the end, the final product was an amazing film that was created by a team of extremely talented individuals.