Martian Brothel

Looks like 2012 is a big year for Ridley Scott, going back in time (or back to the future) to re-envision two of cinema’s defining sci-fi universes: Alien and Blade Runner. Scott’s Alien prequel Prometheus is Ripley-less… but now it looks like the Blade Runner sequel might get another dose of Deckard.

According to Twitch, Harrison Ford is in talks to reprise his role as the replicant-hunting detective.

This goes against what Producer Andrew Kosove told the LA Times back in August. He was quoted as saying:

In no way do I speak for Ridley Scott but if you’re asking me will this movie have anything to do with Harrison Ford, the answer is no. This is a total reinvention and in my mind that means doing everything fresh, including casting.

Never say never in show business.

I wonder if Sean Young (who played the doll-like robot Rachel) be asked to also rejoin the cast (would have to be a cameo, of course)? Given her recent appearance on Celebrity Rehab (where she was treated for alcoholism), it would be nice to see the ageless brunette beauty get another shot at the big screen.

Sean Young as Rachel.

But there is something disconcerting about these sci-fi remakes, sequels and prequels that I cannot shake. They have the potential to eat away the themes of the original stories like some kind of commercial cash-in cancer. Almost like a Terminator traveling back in time and killing the one special thing you loved in a story or film.

For instance, the reprisal of Deckard raises all kinds of questions about the meaning of the 1982 classic: Is Deckard a human? A Replicant? A ghost (Philip K. Dick was known to play around with the afterlife and technology)? Will Ford he even play Deckard — or will he cameo as another character?

There was something to be said about the ambiguity of that film. It left the audience with something cerebral to chew on. What is consciousness? Can machines be conscious? Can we know what we are? What is it to be human? Is life a dream? Does it f#cking matter?

Probably not.

F#ck it. You know I will go see it in the theaters, anyways. We all will. And that is the problem.