In an alternate script for Blade Runner (1982), the opening scene was to depict Rick Deckard retiring a Replicant in a distant, rural setting.
About a year ago, Ridley Scott revealed that Blade Runner 2049's opening sequence was very similar to that of the original alternate script.
"We decided to start the film off with the original starting block of the original film. We always loved the idea of a dystopian universe, and we start off at what I describe as a ‘factory farm’ – what would be a flat land with farming. Wyoming. Flat, not rolling – you can see for 20 miles. No fences, just dry dirt.
“Turn around and you see a massive tree, just dead, but the tree is being supported and kept alive by wires that are holding the tree up. It’s a bit like The Grapes of Wrath; there’s dust, and the tree is still standing. By that tree is a traditional, Grapes of Wrath-type white cottage with a porch. Behind it at a distance of two miles, in the twilight, is this massive combine harvester that’s fertilizing this ground. You’ve got 16 Klieg lights on the front, and this combine is four times the size of this cottage. And now a spinner [a flying car] comes flying in, creating dust. Of course, traditionally chased by a dog that barks.
“The doors open, a guy gets out and there you’ve got Rick Deckard. He walks in to the cottage, opens the door, smells stew, sits down and waits for the guy to pull up to the house to arrive. The guy’s seen him, so the guy pulls the combine behind the cottage and it towers three stories above it, and the man climbs down from a ladder – a big man. He steps onto the balcony and he goes to Harrison [Ford]’s side. The cottage actually [creaks]; this guy’s got to be 350 pounds. I’m not going to say anything else – you’ll have to go see the movie.”
In the newest Blade Runner 2049 trailer, I believe that there are a few scenes validating Ridley Scott's claims. As seen here, a menacing Replicant character (Dave Baustista) battles Officer K (Ryan Gosling) in a strange rural countryside.
Below, you can even see the futuristic tractor (background) that the original storyboards for Blade Runner (1982) included and the tree held up by wires that Scott described.
Could this be the opening sequence for Blade Runner 2049? Is the evidence supported? What do you think of this analysis?
Shout out in the comments below!
