New Blade Runner Movie gets the green light

I know what you might be thinking....they shouldn't make a follow up to the classic sci-fi film Blade Runner simply because it will never come close to the original. Okay, I admit there's a thousand reasons why there shouldn't be another Blade Runner film (we won't discuss them here), but then again, if they are prepared to take that gamble they will have to come up with something pretty epic to try and hush the critics.

According to Deadline, Ridley Scott is going to direct and produce the film which is a good start. What isn't clear at present is whether the film's going to be a follow-up or a prequel. There are three follow-up Blade Runner books written by K. W. Jeter. Jeter's Blade Runner 2 : The Edge of Human really explored the Blade Runner universe in depth and could be a good starting point for a follow-up film. The original film was only loosely based on Philip K. Dick's book 'Do androids dream of electric sheep?'

One factor that will be paramount to it's successs, or it's failure, is the film soundtrack. Vangelis created a futuristic masterpiece for the original film so it'll be fascinating to see who composes the score for this one.

Let's remind ourselves of the Vangelis score with a taster below....

Will they want Vangelis to compose the soundtrack for the new film or will they go for an artist who makes more futuristic sounds to try and achieve their vision?

Whoever they choose has a massive task on their hands. Here's a few suggestions of electronic artists that could be considered for the job :-

Boards of Canada - the Scottish duo have a huge following but have yet to compose a film score. Maybe they are waiting for something that they can really get their teeth into. They were rumoured to be composing the Tron Legacy soundtrack before it was announced that Daft Punk were doing the honours.

Underworld have shown off their soundtrack skills by shifting with ease to a more cinematic /  ambient sound with the film scores 'Breaking and Entering' with the help of Gabriel Yared and 'Sunshine' with John Murphy.

Cliff Martinez came up with the sci-fi score for the film Solaris back in 2002 which some compared to Vangelis and Blade Runner. Whilst I think the Vangelis score is superior to his Solaris score, it still stands out as a fine piece of work.

Then there's Clint Mansell who's composed some unique scores. Requiem for a dream, The Fountain, Smokin' Aces, The Wrestler and the Britsh sci-fi film Moon are among his works that could see him become a candidate.

One thing worth noting is ambient music as a genre generally ages well. The Blade Runner score by Vangelis still sounds fresh and futuristic all these years later. So whoever does compose the soundtrack for the new Blade Runner film will be looking to create a body of work which will stand the test of time. A massive challenge to say the least....