Yes, you read that correctly, the director for Blade Runner 2049 actually kicked Ridley Scott off the set. To be more forthcoming though he did it in a nice, joking way that didn’t hurt anyone’s feelings and got the point across just fine. That’s usually for the best since the fact that Scott was executive producing the film kind of indicates that there was no need to be nasty or crude about it. Quite honestly it was more about having the space and opportunity that the director needed to create his vision of Scott’s well-established universe without any distraction or interference of any sort. Thankfully Ridley was accepting of this friendly rebuke and managed to give the director his desired space.
It would be a little nerve-wracking to have the creator of the universe you’re working on hanging right over your shoulder the entire time, but thankfully it didn’t happen. Ridley Scott agreed to give Denis Villeneuve, the director of Blade Runner 2049, as much space as he possibly wanted. It was more out of respect for one another that Villeneuve wanted Scott off the set and out of the way so that he could work his magic while not worrying over what Scott was thinking when he did one thing or another. No matter how much he tried Scott would have likely given out pointers here and there since he did in fact create the Blade Runner world and would likely have a lot to say about it.
The biggest problem with that however is that micro-managing anyone is not a good idea when you’ve already agreed to have as little of a presence on a project as possible. Scott’s continued presence on the set would have been a serious issue since it would eventually undermine Villeneuve’s process. It wouldn’t even have to be intentional, the mere presence of the man on the set would have been enough since the director would have been worried over the smallest details and likely have allowed far too many mistakes to occur simply because of nerves.
That was in part why he asked him, nicely and in his own way, to leave. Villeneuve was attempting to direct Harrison Ford at one point and noticed Scott in the background. He then asked Scott who his favorite directors were, still in a nice tone. When Ridley replied Villeneueve followed up with the question of how Ridley would feel if his favorite director happened to be standing behind him, looking over his shoulder as he was trying to direct a movie. Apparently Ridley Scott then burst out laughing as he took his leave, no doubt getting the point. It wasn’t mean, it wasn’t nasty, and it wasn’t intended to hurt anyone’s feelings. It was just a pointed reminder that Scott had already told Villeneuve that he would be as hands off as possible but would always be just a phone call away if he was needed.
It just took a simple little reminder and things went back to the way they were.
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