Blade Runner’s jaw-dropping aesthetic runs deep in the modernized world of Denis Villeneuve’s follow-up, Blade Runner 2049, making for one of the most gorgeous sci-fi movies in recent memory. Now, a new book wants to dive into the art that helped envision that world, and its parallels to the original film.
io9 is excited to offer a peek inside Tanya Lapointe’s Blade Runner 2049 Interlinked: The Art, a new release from Titan Books that examines the concept art created for Villeneuve’s 2017 sequel. Itself a sequel of sorts to Lapointe’s previous 2049 artbook, The Art and Soul of Blade Runner 2049, Interlinked hyperfocuses on pieces that explore the visual language that binds Ridley Scott’s original to its successor.
“One of the things I love most about this book is how it lets the creative team explain how they came up with these images,” Lapointe said in a provided statement. “How they collaborated with the director, and how they found the balance between honoring a cult film, and bringing new ideas into the world of replicants.”
Interlinked isn’t just packed with artwork from the creation of the movie, but interviews with designers and artists about their process and working with Villeneuve to create a world that felt new and unique to 2049, but still inherently Blade Runner. “How much inspiration was drawn from the original movie? How far were the boundaries pushed into new creative territories? And, how were the visual cues created to illustrate the 30-year lapse between the two movies?” Lapointe’s statement continued. “To answer these questions, I interviewed production designer Dennis Gassner and tracked down a dozen artists who worked on the film. They had great stories, most of which I had never heard before.”
Check out a few more gorgeous pieces from the book in the gallery below, making their debut here on io9!
Blade Runner 2049 Interlinked: The Art is available now.
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