Now that he’s gone all in on Alien, Ridley Scott is completely sold on the idea of expansive franchises, which could be the future of Blade Runner. In an interview with IGN, he suggested that, sure, he’d be into the idea of making more movies in that world after the upcoming Blade Runner 2049. Asked whether he’d continue to grow Blade Runner in the same fashion as Alien, he invoked George Lucas in his response.
Yes. I think that, you know what, George has always proved that. Of course there’s always something. George Lucas. You know, and the way he’s handled Star Wars has been spectacular. It’s what I’ve been trying to do to really evolve Alien, because in those days I wasn’t into making sequels, but now suddenly you realize, “Well, that’s stupid.” I’ll use the word “duh” again, right? You’d better get into sequels, duh. So that’s in a way what I’ve been doing.
Scott’s newfound love of sequels is only slightly disappointing because it seems so in keeping with Hollywood’s current desire to turn everything into a universe. He’s only executive producing Blade Runner 2049, leaving directorial duties to Denis Villeneuve. However, Villeneuve recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he “felt [Scott’s] presence all the time.”