The official runtime for this year's Blade Runner 2049 has been confirmed, and it promises to be, at the very least, a much longer film than its 1982 predecessor. There are few films this year that promise to be quite as eventful or epic as Blade Runner 2049. Acting as a decades-in-the-making follow-up film to Ridley Scott's beloved, critically acclaimed classic sci-fi noir, the movie is bringing together some of the most talented creative players working in the entertainment industry today to deliver a sequel worthy of having the Blade Runner moniker.
That means that not only will Denis Villeneuve be trying his hand at directing a full-fledged, blockbuster film - following his stunning work on films like Prisoners, Sicario, and Arrival in recent years - but will also be the first time that star Ryan Gosling has led a blockbuster movie of this magnitude. And now, it looks as though Blade Runner 2049's awe-inspiring practical sets and visuals won't be the only thing that give it the grand, epic feel fans are expecting.
Related: Blade Runner 2049 Gets A Short Prequel Film
After having previously been said to run around two and a half hours long, the runtime for Blade Runner 2049 has been confirmed today. The news comes thanks to an official confirmation by Collider, which lists Blade Runner 2049 as running for a total of two hours and 32 minutes, not counting the film's credits. Not only does this make Blade Runner 2049 one of the longest films set to be hitting theaters this year, it also means the film will be substantially longer than the original 1982 Blade Runner, which ran for just a little less than two hours.
Now, there's no telling if Blade Runner 2049 will wind up actually proving that additional half hour to be necessary to the film's overall story, and expansion of the previously established Blade Runner mythology. And considering there have been several overly complex and ultimately disappointing sequels to beloved, classic Scott films in recent years, it wouldn't be unfair for some Blade Runner fans to be skeptical about this sequel's lengthy runtime.
At the same time, however, the sheer size and scale of the film on display in some of the previous Blade Runner 2049 trailers have certainly hinted at the film being an even moodier and more ambitious sci-fi epic than its classic predecessor. So the film having a much lengthier runtime than most blockbuster films that are released nowadays doesn't come as much of a surprise. The real question is whether or not Blade Runner 2049 winds up being worthy of consuming this much of moviegoers' time when it hits theaters in October. Fortunately, with the kind of creative team that's been assembled for the film, it certainly has the best shot of succeeding in that regard as it could possibly ask for.
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Source: Sony Russia
