Blade Runner 2049 — Prequel Short: 'Black Out 2022'

source:   youtube.com

added: Thu, Sep 28th '17

As a way to promote "Blade Runner 2049," the makers of the film have been releasing these prequel shorts on the internet, which tries to fill in the 30-year timeline gap between the original "Blade Runner" movie and the new sequel.

"Black Out 2022" is the final entry in a three-part series, and it's probably the best of the bunch. Watch it and see for yourself, above.

Directed by renowned Japanese animator Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo), the 13-minute animated short takes place only three years after the events of the original film (though 27 years before the upcoming sequel) and offers some insight into a global blackout disaster caused by a catastrophic EMP attack.

The blackout event, which has now become a significant part of the "Blade Runner" lore, resulted in the prohibition of Replicant production. As a result, the Tyrell Corporation went belly up. But it also prompted the rise of manufacturer Niander Wallace (Jared Leto's character in the sequel), who is the mastermind behind a new and improved breed of Replicants.

"Blade Runner 2049" stars Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford and will open nationwide October 6th.