Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson announced today that he had been selected to compose the score to the upcoming sequel to the sci fi classic, Blade Runner.
The Blade Runner sequel is being directed by Denis Villeneuve, who previously directed Sicario and Prisoners, both scored by Jóhannsson.
The original Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott and scored by Vangelis, is considered a classic of science fiction cinema, in large part because of the film’s stunning combination of visuals and music.
Jóhannsson, right, describes his music as a ‘blend of electronics and classical orchestration, drawing on minimalism and drone music, as well as electronic and classical forms”.
“I’m obsessed with the texture of sound,” says Jóhannsson, “and interested in minimal forms, with how to say things as simply as possible, how to distill things into their primal form.”
“When I discovered the albums on Eno’s Obscure Records label from the 70s, my interest moved into creating minimal, ambient structures with classical instruments,” he recalls. “I set the guitar aside and started writing music for strings, woodwinds and chamber ensembles, combining acoustic and electronic sounds,” he adds. “My ideal is music where the electronic and the acoustic sounds blend seamlessly.”
Here’s a Jóhannsson’s A Song For Europa, from his upcoming album, Orphée:
Blade Runner 2 is a sequel to Ridley Scott’s classic 1982 film. The sequel stars Jared Leto, Ana de Armas, Mackenzie Davis, Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford.
awesome, him and Villeneuve have a great thing going, love his work, he’s gonna do a great job.
original is one of my favs all around.
will it have narration by Harrison Ford ?
If you know about this subject,,
The original movie had none but at last minute the studio forced them to put it in, tha is why you do not hear it in the director’s cut.
Such a shame about that though, because with the narration it felt like a film noir (old detective movie) instead of a sci-fi movie, which i thought was real cool
If you don’t have it already, get the five disk overkill Blade Runner Blu-Ray set:
http://amzn.to/2bOTZBr
It’s got five different cuts of the film, with and without narration, and it lets you see how the film evolved to Scott’s Director’s Cut version.
I hope the soundtrack will have hight dynamic range!
It’s beautiful, but it’s orchestral… Will this period when even cyberpunk movie is required to have strings and woodwinds ever end?
I hope it never ends! Although, I’m confident it won’t be purely orchestral. Johann is great at blending rich, haunting atmospheres with orchestral pieces. I’m thinking something like his album IBM 1401, but with more vintage synth. Hopefully he’ll use this as an excuse to buy a CS-80!
Should have been me..
If you happen to read this Jóhann, please let there be a CS-80 somewhere in the opening scene. And also if you meet up with Vangelis, tell him to stop hording music and release stuff. The thought of him passing away and piles of music never seeing the light of day haunts me at night
I was about to say!
If there’s no CS-80 providing 2/3rds of the mix in at least one track, somebody’s gonna get cut!
That’s sad. Hollywood these days almost never uses the originators on reboots or long overdue sequels. They should have got Vangelis to do it again. It’s a no-brainer. When I saw Ghostbusters, it was a classic example of the same kind of thinking – that’s why it bombed. Hollywood lately thinks greedy and is short sighted…with little respect for the original recipe and original creators/actors/composers.
When people go to see Blade Runner 2, they want the original ingredients, not simulated flavors. Duh! Just more opportunistic franchise name exploitation.
Yes, what’s wrong with Vangelis? Is he on vacation? Is his CS-80 in the reapair shop at the moment? They should have given the score to him – an Oscar guarantee!!!
The way Vangelis works today is incredible, but sample-based, and more orchestral than ever. My guess is that he doesn’t want to do it!
Those are a pair of gigantic boots to fill. Both with the score and the film in overall.
Vangelis soundtrack must be one of the biggest reasons why I’m interested in making music and synths in the first place.
Sorry guys, did what we could to reach out to Ridley. If you want the original flavour, check out the Moments Lost project. https://soundcloud.com/analogsweden/the-escape-moment-lost
And big congrats to Johann, I’m sure he will make a great soundtrack!
Just discovered this artist by accident last night while looking for artists similar to Max Richter, and I must say:
Flight From The City is one of the prettiest things I’ve heard in a while!
Definitely looking forward to what they will do with it. How exciting.
What made Blade Runner were the visuals AND the Vangelis soundtrack. Try to imagine the Star Wars sequels without a John Williams score. Without him, it will be just another dystopian cyberpunk movie. We can only speculate as to why he isn’t doing it but, no disrespect to Johann, without him it just isn’t Blade Runner.
Williams is not scoring Rouge One. Displat will probably blend his own themes with Williams themes much like he did with the later Potter movies he scored.
Excellent choice.
Nothing against Jóhann Jóhannsson, but Vangelis is preferred!
All the whining. They’re not remaking Blade Runner, they’re making a standalone sequel. Both the movie and the soundtrack to BR are some of the most treasured things in my life, however I would hate to see the same people come together 30 years later to try and continue the same story. LET IT EVOLVE, IT MIGHT BE BETTER THAT WAY.
All I can say is that following on from Vangelis is going to be a very hard nut to crack. The soundtrack to Bladerunner, not to mention the film itself, is up there with other unbeatable sci-if classics (at least in my books anyway) such as those from the late great Andrei Tarkovski. Perhaps Johannsson should score this sequel with the mighty Russian ANS?
Admin: Personal attack deleted. Keep comments on topic and constructive.
The standalone nature of the original is part of what makes it poignant all these years later, so I hate to see it resurrected and thus reduced to a “franchise.”
Still, this choice is a reassuring indication that the sequel is at least trying to be it’s own movie and not going the Force Awakens route of trying to merely reproduce the vibe and magic of the original. If they’d chosen some retro synth revivalist to do the soundtrack, I’d be worried.
I love J.J.s music, and I love the film (and TV) scores he’s done. That said, I wonder if Atticus Ross would have been an interesting choice too: https://youtu.be/23eplOj4uVE
Good choice. I was thinking Disasterpeace would
have been great too.
This guys has a tough job ahead of him. I hope that he is able to immerse himself in the process and not worry too much about what the legions of Vangelis fan boys will have to say about the outcome. It would be tough to take on a project like this, in which the expectations are set so very high. I would take it as an honor and as an awesome personal challenge to create something unique and befitting. I hope that the “Nostalgia Brigade” doesn’t turn this into a miserable undertaking for the man. We shouldn’t expect a certain style or sound, only that it melds with the movement and aesthetic of the film.
Ridley Scott chose a different composer and creature designer for Prometheus and, altho a fabulous film to look at, IMO, the movie fell far short of its potential. Seems he got too involved in shooting and not in scripting. H.R. Giger and Jerry Goldsmith, in large part, made that original what it was.
Giger contributed a small amount to Prometheus and unfortunately, Goldsmith had passed. Still there was an option to use much of the original score and far more of Giger’s work.
Alas……..