New Blade Runner 2049 prequel film, starring Dave Bautista
#BladeRunner2049‘s @DaveBautista is a replicant on the run in this never-before-seen in-world prequel. Watch it now.
— iTunes Trailers (@iTunesTrailers)
Dave is such a genuine guy. Got to meet him at Fanexpo Toronto when GotG was released. I love how he went from pro wrestler to a legitimate actor, and on top of that, has expanded into more than just a muscle head role. Even as Drax he has some serious emotion and drama at times. Not many wrestlers can do the same, outside of The Rock.
New Blade Runner 2049 banner in US Texas
‘Blade Runner 2049’ Tracking for $40M-Plus U.S. Debut
The success of this is important because if the film is a decent success, that proves Villeneuve is a solid draw because Blade Runner famously flopped at the box office and Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling aren’t big enough names to sell a nigh-$200 million film. That’s pretty big in of itself because it proves that auteurs can be trusted to rake in the money. Dunkirk’s success also proves this.
That said, the film is two hours and forty-two minutes long. That limits the amount of shows it can have in one day. That coupled with the “R” rating means that things are going to be quite tricky for Blade Runner 2049.
Director of Cowboy Bebop, Shinichirō Watanabe, to direct Blade Runner anime covering the gap between the film and 2049
[Some small snippets of character designs and rough animation tests here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwjGlAa3-F4)
[Translated article.](http://www.animenewsnetwork.cc/news/2017-09-14/cowboy-bebop-shinichiro-watanabe-directs-blade-runner-anime-short/.121376)
Director Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo) is directing an animated short tie-in to the Blade Runner 2049 film, which opens in Japan on October 27. The short is titled “Blade Runner Black Out 2022.”
The anime will take place in the year 2022, between the original Blade Runner film, which takes place in 2019, and its sequel Blade Runner 2049. The story will involve a large power outage on the west coast of the United States.
Watanabe is writing the script in addition to directing. Cygames Pictures, the anime studio subsidiary smartphone game publisher Cygames established last year, is producing the animation. Shukou Murase (Halo Legends, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing) is serving as character designer and animation director, and Flying Lotus is composing the music.
The cast includes Kenichirou Matsuda as Iggy, Ichigo Aoba as Trixie, and Makoto Furukawa as Ren.