Box office
Blade Runner 2049 grossed $92.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $175.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $267.5 million, against a production budget between $150–185 million.[6][7][9][113] The projected worldwide total the film needed to gross in order to break even was estimated to be around $400 million, and in November 2017, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film was expected to lose the studio as much as $80 million.[114] Ridley Scott attributed the film's underperformance to the runtime, saying: "It's slow. Long. Too long. I would have taken out half an hour."[115]
In the United States and Canada, the film was initially projected to gross $43–47 million in its opening weekend.[116] In September 2017, a survey from Fandango indicated that the film was one of the most anticipated releases of the season.[116] It made $4 million from Thursday night previews, including $800,000 from IMAX theaters, but just $12.6 million on its first day, lowering weekend estimates to $32 million.[117] It made $11.3 million on Saturday and went on to debut to $31.5 million, performing below both projections but still finishing first at the box office and marking the biggest openings of Villeneuve and Gosling's careers.[117] The film would hold Gosling's opening weekend record for six years until 2023 when it was overtaken by Barbie.[118] Regarding the opening weekend, director Villeneuve said, "It's a mystery. All the indexes and marketing tools they were using predicted that it would be a success. The film was acclaimed by critics. So everyone expected the first weekend's results to be impressive, and they were shocked. They still don't understand."[119]
Deadline Hollywood attributed the film's performance to the 163-minute runtime limiting the number of showtimes theaters could have, lack of appeal to mainstream audiences, and the marketing being vague and relying on nostalgia and established fanbase to carry it.[120] In its second weekend, the film dropped 52.7% to $15.5 million, finishing second behind newcomer Happy Death Day ($26 million)[121] and dropped another 54% in its third weekend to $7.2 million, finishing in 4th behind Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, Geostorm, and Happy Death Day.[122]
Overseas, the film was expected to debut to an additional $60 million, for a worldwide opening of around $100 million.[113] It actually made $50.2 million internationally, finishing number one in 45 markets, for a global opening of $81.7 million. The film made $8 million in the United Kingdom, $4.9 million in Russia, $1.8 million in Brazil, and $3.6 million in Australia.[123] It debuted in China on October 27, where it made $7.7 million opening weekend, which was considered a disappointment.[124][125]
Critical response
Roger Deakins' work on the film received critical acclaim and earned him his first Academy Award for Best Cinematography.Blade Runner 2049 was well received by the American press, and various US publications included the film in their end-of-2017 lists.[126] Critics who saw the film before its release were asked by Villeneuve not to reveal certain characters and plot points in those early reviews.[127]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 443 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Visually stunning and narratively satisfying, Blade Runner 2049 deepens and expands its predecessor's story while standing as an impressive filmmaking achievement in its own right."[128] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100, based on 54 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[129]
Critical reviews compared the sequel favorably to Blade Runner as a worthy successor advancing the franchise mythos,[130][131][132] though some were conflicted over the pacing and tonal shifts of the story,[133][134] and the film drew occasional disapproval from reviewers who felt it lacked the spectacle and dramatic depth of its predecessor.[134][135][136] The film's craftsmanship was the main source of praise from journalists, who routinely singled out Villeneuve for his expertise: A. O. Scott of The New York Times viewed Blade Runner 2049 as an introspection of Villeneuve's own sensibilities, the product of a director exuding an "unnerving calm",[135] while Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said the film seemed to employ a similar narrative tone to the director's late period films such as Arrival.[137]
The Villeneuve–Deakins collaboration was noted for the creation of cinematography displaying "the kind of complex artistry one would expect from the profession's top veteran",[138] with Deakins' work described as "bleakly beautiful".[139] Other aspects of Blade Runner 2049, such as the set design, writing, and scoring, were cited among the strengths of the film.[139][140]
The actors' performances were a principal topic of discussion among critics. Critiques of the dynamic of the cast were positive in the media,[141] and reviewers often distinguished Gosling, Ford, and Wright for further praise.[140][142][143] Gosling's work was described as "superb, soulful",[144] and he was considered physically convincing as a replicant in his expression and appearance.[142] Meanwhile, critics from The Hollywood Reporter and from Empire magazine were among those who believed Ford worked a career-best performance.[143][1] Other journalists, such as Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, viewed the two men as "double dynamite" in conversational scenes, in which the film assumes "a resonance that is both tragic and hopeful".[144]
One particular point of contention in reviews of Blade Runner 2049 was characterization: some critics, for example, saw K's romance with Joi as an idea of unrealized potential because the film explores their relationship only superficially, so Joi never seems to develop into a fleshed-out character.[145] Some criticized the film's depiction of its female characters as being too submissive.[146]
The fate of K in the closing scenes of the film has been a matter of debate; some critics have suggested that his demise is open to interpretation, as it is not explicitly stated in the film that K has died.[147] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, screenwriter Michael Green expressed surprise that K's death had been called into question, referring to the use of the "Tears in rain" musical motif in the final scene.[12]
The question of whether Deckard is a human or a replicant has been an ongoing controversy since the original release of Blade Runner.[148] Ridley Scott has stated that Deckard was a replicant.[149] Others, however, including Harrison Ford, disagree, and feel preserving the ambiguity of Deckard's status important to the film.[150][151][152] Blade Runner 2049 does not settle this debate.[153] During various physical struggles, Deckard showed no sign of artificial replicant strength; however, Gaff described Deckard to K as "retired"; and replicant maker Niander Wallace tells Deckard that "You are a wonder to me, Mr. Deckard", and that he might have been "designed" to fall in love with Rachael.[151]
Social commentary
Reviewing the film for Vice, Charlotte Gush was critical of its portrayal of women, whom she said were "either prostitutes, holographic housewives" or victims dying brutal deaths. While acknowledging that "misogyny was part of the dystopia" in Scott's 1982 original, she stated that the sequel was "eye-gougingly sexist".[154] Writing for The Guardian, Anna Smith expressed similar concerns, stating that "sexualised images of women dominate the stunning futuristic cityscapes" and questioned whether the film catered heavily to heterosexual men.[146] Sara Stewart of the New York Post entitled her review "You'll love the new Blade Runner—unless you're a woman".[155]
Rachael Kaines of Moviepilot countered that "the gender politics in Blade Runner 2049 are intentional": "The movie is about secondary citizens. Replicants. Orphans. Women. Slaves. Just by depicting these secondary citizens in subjugation doesn't mean that it is supportive of these depictions – they are a condemnation."[156]
Helen Lewis of the New Statesman suggested that the film is "an uneasy feminist parable about controlling the means of reproduction" and that "its villain, Niander Wallace, is consumed by rage that women can do something he cannot":
Fertility is the perfect theme for the dystopia of Blade Runner 2049 because of the western elite anxiety that over-educated, over-liberated women are having fewer children or choosing to opt-out of childbearing altogether. (One in five women is now childless by the age of 45; the rates are higher among women who have been to university.) Feminism is one potential solution to this problem: removing the barriers which make women feel that motherhood is a closing of doors. Another is to take flight and find another exploitable class to replace human females. ... Maybe androids don't dream of electric sheep, but some human men certainly dream of electric wombs.[157]
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Denis Villeneuve responded that he is very sensitive about his portrayal of women: "Blade Runner is not about tomorrow; it's about today. And I'm sorry, but the world is not kind on women."[158][159]
Quoting from viewer demographics for the film by Variety, Donald Clarke of The Irish Times indicated that female audiences seemed alienated from it, as just 35% of its audience was female.[160]
Esquire magazine commented on the controversial aspects of the sex scene—involving K, the holographic Joi and replicant Mariette—calling it a "robo-ménage à trois", and contrasted it with the sex scene between Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson in Her (2013).[161]
Mackenzie Davis, who portrayed Mariette, argued for the self-awareness of the film's social commentary in an interview with the website Refinery29. Asked how she believed Blade Runner 2049 "differs [from Blade Runner] in its portrayal of women", Davis responded:
I think it's pretty self-aware about a pornographic economy that has reduced the roles of women to sheer consumption. The normalization of women's roles as things to be consumed, there's products that are made, just like there are now, the idea of the semi-sentient sex doll is really in line with what's going on in this Blade Runner universe, about having a thing that fulfills everything you want, but doesn't talk back and can't argue with you, but can be a loving, supporting companion and also fulfill all your sexual needs feels like something that's very contemporary and something the movie is very self-aware about. And then I think that there are female roles in different castes of this society that are able to be more embodied and powerful in conventional ways, and also have cracks in their facade where you see their vulnerabilities. But it seems like this world is so dependent on this caste system of humans perform these roles; replicants perform these roles, human superiors, creators, and those are the ways that women sort of travel between. But there isn't a lot of upward mobility.[162]
Other outlets noted the film's depiction of environmental issues, the impacts of climate change and a wider ecocide.[163][164] Science fiction author Matthew Kressel told the BBC that he thought "the environmental collapse the film so vividly depicts is not too far off from where we are today". Stills from the film were also compared to air pollution in Beijing and wildfire smoke in San Francisco.[165][166]
Accolades
Blade Runner 2049 received numerous awards and nominations. At the 90th Academy Awards, it was nominated for five awards, winning Best Cinematography for Deakins, and Best Visual Effects for John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert, and Richard R. Hoover.[167] At the 71st British Academy Film Awards, it received eight nominations, including Best Director, and won for Best Cinematography and Best Special Visual Effects.[168] At the 23rd Critics' Choice Awards, the film was nominated for seven awards, winning for Best Cinematography.[169]
