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Blade Runner 2049 Was Originally A 2-Part 4-Hour Film


Blade Runner 2049 has been criticized for its 2-hour-and-43-minutes runtime, but it could have been a much longer film. Director Denis Villeneuve almost made a sequel that was four hours-long and he even considered releasing it in two parts, according to Blade Runner 2049 editor Joe Walker, who recently revealed the film's original length while speaking in an interview with Provideo Coalition.

"That break revealed something about the story – it's in two halves. There's K discovering his true past as he sees it and at the halfway mark he kind of loses his virginity (Laughs). The next morning, it's a different story, about meeting your maker and ultimately sacrifice – "dying is the most human thing we do." Oddly enough both halves start with eyes opening. There's the giant eye opening at the beginning of the film and the second when Mariette wakes up and sneaks around K's apartment. We toyed with giving titles to each half but quickly dropped that. But what does remain is that there's something of a waking dream about the film. That's a very deliberate choice in terms of visuals but also the kind of pace they were striving for on set and the hallucinatory feel in the cut – it's the kind of dream where you tread inexorably closer to the truth."

Walker said that that the extra footage is mostly extra dialogue and connective scenes, and according to him, the theatrical version is superior to the longer cut. The film already felt long as it is, and it probably would have received more bad reviews if it was released in two parts. You can read our review here.

Read more: Denis Villeneuve Explains How Blade Runner 2049 Got Its Hologram Sex Scene

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