Denis Villeneuve has given his fans a lot of be excited about. The absolutely excellent "Sicario" is now in cinemas and looking like a possible awards contender, the sci-fi "Story Of Your Life" starring Amy Adams is already in the can, and next year he starts lensing the "Blade Runner" sequel." Even more, he’s established a rewarding creative partnership with cinematographer Roger Deakins, who has lensed "Prisoners," "Sicario," and will be back again for "Blade Runner 2." And while Ridley Scott‘s original movie did enough to dazzle all on its own in 2D, it looks like the followup will be coming with the latest cinematic trend strapped to your face, whether you like it or not.
Chatting with Jeff Bridges in Interview, Deakins revealed that the "Blade Runner" followup will likely be presented in 3D. Asked by the actor if he would ever shoot in 3D, Deakins said: "No, I won’t. I’ve been offered it. I just don’t want to. I think I’m gonna do this film with Denis [Villeneuve] that’ll be made into 3D eventually, but it won’t be shot in 3D. I don’t really like watching 3D. I mean, I’ve worked on a lot of animated movies that were 3D."
READ MORE: Cannes Review: ‘Sicario’
So, putting the pieces together, that likely means a conversion job for "Blade Runner 2," Deakins’ next effort with Villeneuve (the very talented "Selma" and "Ain’t Them Bodies Saints" lenser Bradford Young shot "Story Of Your Life"). And in case you were wondering about those animated movies, Deakins served as a visual consultant on "Wall-E," "Puss In Boots," "Rise Of The Guardians," and the "How To Train Your Dragon" flicks. So he does know a little bit the 3D realm.
Ridley Scott is producing the "Blade Runner" sequel and the irony is that the director has talked with Deakins before about possibly working together on one of his films. "I met with Ridley Scott a few times; this was two years ago. I really enjoyed talking to him, but I knew Ridley liked to operate the camera himself. I said to him at the end, ‘honestly don’t know how this will work because I like to operate and you like to operate, and I don’t think either of us is gonna change.’ [laughs] So you can’t really force yourself to be somebody you’re not. If it’s somebody you don’t know, and you go into a meeting, you’ve got to feel you can work with them and with their way of working," the cinematographer said.
"The other thing he likes doing is shooting on zoom lenses, and I’m not mad about zoom. [laughs] You know, most of the shoots I do with the boys, we shoot single camera. ‘Sicario,’ we shot single camera," he added.
As Deakins has shown, he can create memorable, impeccably crafted images without the need for obvious technical wizardry, and there’s no doubt he’ll do the same for the "Blade Runner" movie. Whether or not they need to be goosed by 3D, is another matter, but if you hit a 2D screening, it doesn’t sound like you’ll be missing anything.
No film has really shown that it needed (I mean, absolutely NEEDED) 3-D – be it converted or otherwise. It\’s become little more than a studio pushed gimmick at this point, probably because so many directors have been inoculated against contracting Cameron-itis.