Blade Runner 2049

Blade Runner 2049 is a 2017 American epic neo-noir science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, based on a story by Fancher. A sequel to Blade Runner (1982), the film stars Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, with Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Dave Bautista, and Jared Leto in supporting roles. Ford and Edward James Olmos reprise their roles from the previous film as Rick Deckard and Gaff, respectively. Gosling plays K, a "blade runner" who uncovers a secret that threatens to destabilize society and the course of civilization.

Ideas for a Blade Runner sequel were first proposed in the 1990s, but licensing issues stalled their development. Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson obtained the film rights from Bud Yorkin. Ridley Scott stepped down as the film's initial director and worked as an executive producer, while Villeneuve was later appointed to direct. Blade Runner 2049 was financed through a partnership between Alcon Entertainment and Sony Pictures, as well as a Hungarian government-funded tax rebate. Warner Bros., which had distributed its predecessor, released the film on behalf of Alcon in North America, while Sony handled distribution in international markets. Principal photography took place mostly at two soundstages in Budapest over four months from July to November 2016.

Blade Runner 2049 premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on October 3, 2017, and was released in the United States on October 6. The film received acclaim from critics, who praised multiple aspects including cast performances, directing, cinematography, and faithfulness to the previous film. It was a box-office disappointment, grossing $277 million worldwide against a production budget of $150–185 million and failing to reach its estimated break-even point of $400 million. Among its numerous accolades, Blade Runner 2049 received Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects out of five nominations, and eight British Academy Film Awards nominations, winning for Best Cinematography and Best Special Visual Effects. A sequel television series, Blade Runner 2099, is in development at Amazon Studios, with Scott set to return as executive producer.

In 2049 Los Angeles, bioengineered humans known as replicants are still used for slave labor. K (short for serial number, KD6-3.7), a Nexus-9 replicant, works for the Los Angeles Police Department as a "blade runner", an officer who hunts and "retires" (kills) rogue replicant models.

After "retiring" (killing) replicant Sapper Morton, K finds a box buried under a tree at Morton's farm. It contained the remains of a female replicant who died during a caesarean section. This demonstrates that replicants could reproduce biologically, previously thought impossible. K's superior, Lt. Joshi, or "Madam," fears this knowledge will lead to war between humans and replicants, so orders K to retire the replicant child and destroy all related evidence.

K visits the Wallace Corporation, successor to the defunct Tyrell Corporation in the manufacture of replicants. DNA archives identify the deceased female as an experimental Nexus 7 replicant. K learns of her romantic ties with former blade runner Rick Deckard. CEO Niander Wallace wants the secret to replicant reproduction to expand interstellar colonization. He sends his replicant enforcer, Luv, to monitor K. An unidentified figure engages several prostitutes in the city, including one named Mariette, to keep eyes on K.

At Morton's farm, K finds the date 6.10.21 carved into the tree trunk and recognizes it from a childhood memory of a wooden toy horse. Because replicant memories are artificial, K's holographic A.I. girlfriend Joi suggests that this is evidence that K was born, not created. K discovers in LAPD records that two children born on that date have identical DNA, but are inexplicably registered as being opposite genders, and that the girl died from a genetic disorder. K's search for the boy leads him to an orphanage, but the records from the year in question are missing. K recognizes the orphanage from his memories and finds the toy horse in the furnace where he remembers hiding it. He then visits replicant-memory-maker Dr. Ana Stelline, who confirms that his memory of the orphanage is a real memory that someone lived, leading K to conclude he is the deceased replicant woman's son. K then fails a baseline test, marking him as rogue. When he implies to Joshi that he killed the replicant child, she gives him 48 hours to pass the test, or he will be retired himself.

Joi hires prostitute replicant Mariette to sync with to be able to have physical intimacy with K. The following morning, Mariette places a tracker in K's jacket prior to leaving. K then takes the wooden toy horse to be analyzed for its origin, which leads him to the ruins of a now radioactive Las Vegas. There he finds Deckard, who informs him that the deceased replicant woman was named Rachael, and that he is the father of Rachael's child. Deckard had helped the Replicant Freedom Movement scramble the birth records to protect the child's identity. Deckard then left the child with the Replicant Freedom Movement to ensure the hunted child would not be found through him. Luv, who has killed Joshi, tracks K to Las Vegas. She kidnaps Deckard, destroys Joi, and leaves an injured K behind. Using Mariette's tracker, the Replicant Freedom Movement rescues K. Their leader, Freysa, reveals that Rachael's child was actually a girl. Fearing that Deckard may give up the freedom movement to Wallace and endanger the child, Freysa urges K to kill him. K deduces that the memory of the toy horse actually belongs to Dr. Stelline, who is Rachael's daughter.