In 1982, in a small Quebec town, Canada, Denis Villeneuve (Sicario) went to see Blade Runner, starring Harrison Ford and directed by Ridley Scott. Little did he know that the dystopian sci-fi classic — about one man (Ford) tracking down rogue replicants — was going to change his destiny.
“I remember the opening sequence perfectly,” Villeneuve says, adding that he’s seen the movie “thousands of times” and knows it by heart. “That note of music; seeing Los Angeles in 2019; that smog; that darkness. It’s really the movie that gave birth to my desire to become a director.” So the personal stakes were high when he was asked to direct the sequel, which he was apprehensive about even after accepting the job (a moment of pre-production he calls his “terror period”).