While presenting at the 93rd Academy Awards, Harrison Ford revealed scathing studio notes on 1982’s Blade Runner. The actor was trending on social media during the presentation as many praised the 78-year-old Ford for delivering a memorable introduction.
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner was written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples and starred Ford as Rick Deckard. The film was set in 2019 Los Angeles and followed a former cop who reluctantly agreed to hunt down advanced robots called replicants. Despite only earning $27 million, Blade Runner is considered a cult classic. The cast included Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty, Sean Young as Rachael, Edward James Olmos as Gaff, and M. Emmet Walsh as Bryant.
Ford reprised the iconic role in Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049. The sequel was praised by critics, and won Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects at the Oscars. The film saw K (Ryan Gosling) help reunite Ford’s Deckard with his daughter for the first time. Scott, who executive produced the project, publically criticized the film for being too long. Similar to the original, the expensive Blade Runner 2049 underwhelmed at the box office.
During the production of the original, the legendary director took issue with the many changes requested by Warner Bros. executives. Scott has since made it clear that he didn’t have artistic control over the project and always get along with Ford. While presenting the award for Best Editing during Sunday’s Oscars telecast, Ford read the brutal notes the studio gave off of a crumpled piece of paper. “‘Opening too choppy. Why is this voiceover track so terrible?" said Ford, while adding, “Were they all on drugs? Deckard at the piano is interminable. Flashback dialogue confusing. Is he listening to a tape? Why do we need the third cut to the eggs? The synagogue music is awful on the streets.” The actor concluded the epic intro with the harshest comment of all: “This movie gets worse every screening.”
Ford is set star alongside Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Indiana Jones 5. Mads Mikkelsen, who is best known for playing Dr. Hannibal Lecter in NBC’s Hannibal, was recently signed on to play a mystery role. Meanwhile, James Mangold (Logan, Walk the Line) is taking over the directing duties from Steven Spielberg, who made the first four films in a forty-year franchise. The first Indiana Jones was released in 1981 and centered on an archaeologist who attempted to find the Ark of the Covenant before Adolf Hitler’s Nazis. The film won five Oscars and earned over $200 worldwide on just an $18 million budget.
While Disney has yet to release specific plot details on the unnamed sequel, Mangold has hinted that the film will be set in the 1960s. Fans are hoping that the newest installment fares better than 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Indiana Jones 5 was originally slated to be released in July 2020, but it has been since been delayed numerous times.
Indiana Jones 5 is scheduled to be released in theatres on July 29, 2022.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter