Image: Warner Bros.
Movie titles get changed all the time, it just happens. Sometimes it’s unfortunate, like when Antonio Banderas’ Eaters of the Dead became The 13th Warrior — sure, the movie would have sucked no matter what, but that original title was so much cooler. Other times, changing the title is a blessing, which is exactly what happened with Blade Runner 2049.
In an interview with Monsters and Critics, Alcon representative Andrew Cosgrove shared one of the original planned titles for the sequel to the iconic scifi film. Blade Runner: Androids Dream.
Yeah sure, it technically makes sense. Blade Runner is based on Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and androids dreaming is kind of a plot point in both films, but that title sounds really silly. Not to mention that there’s another Dick project with a similar name. Cosgrove said they ultimately decided to name it 2049 because it would be “simple and clean” to go with something direct instead of metaphorical. That said, it sounds like he would have preferred the other one…if it wasn’t a bit of a spoiler.
“I actually really like that title but with the benefit of hindsight, I’m very happy we ended up with the title we did because I think it’s a little leading,” Cosgrove said.
Cosgrove also shared some of the working titles during early development of the film, and the reasons behind them. When co-writer Hampton Fancher was working on the early treatment, he called it Acid Zoo. Then, when Cosgrave came along, they changed it to Queensboro because it was the New York bridge he’d take to get to Fancher in Brooklyn. That was the working title used when the story was first pitched to director Denis Villeneuve, interestingly enough. Unfortunately, some fans eventually figured out that Queensboro was the working script for the Blade Runner sequel, so it was secretly changed to Triborough, named after another NYC bridge.
“[The line producer was] like, ‘Well, people found out that Blade Runner was Queensboro so we picked a different bridge to jump off of.’ That is the evolution. Actual titles, different ones were kicked around. I shouldn’t say which ones they were,” co-writer Michael Green said.
Blade Runner 2049 is definitely the most logical out of all of the presented titles, though I have to admit, it would have been cool to see Blade Runner: Acid Zoo on the marquee. It may not have made any sense, but much like Eaters of the Dead, it just sounds really, really cool.