When “Blade Runner 2049” was released last year, the film received rave reviews from critics and most fans. But unfortunately, the Denis Villeneuve-directed sci-fi film was just not able to connect with general audiences. With a final box office gross of $92 million domestically ($259 million worldwide), ‘2049’ was deemed a disappointment at the box office, based on its $150 million production budget.
However, it seems as if “Blade Runner 2049” has found new life on home video.
According to The Numbers, ‘2049’ is one of the biggest selling home video releases of 2018, with almost a million units sold and over $21 million grossed. For comparison’s sake, the film ranks as #3 in total units sold for the year (but with almost twice as many sold as #4), and #2 in total gross, only behind “It,” with $30 million. While the $21 million is a mighty impressive number, it doesn’t immediately mean that “Blade Runner 2049” would become a profitable film, based on the fact that the break-even for the film probably sits around $400 million.
This could speak to a couple of the reasons that were floated around by people when the film wasn’t lighting up the box office. First, and foremost, people are generally more conservative with their movie ticket spending, and the audience that would be excited about a “Blade Runner” sequel might have decided to stay home and wait for the Blu-ray. And second, the almost 3-hour runtime of the film might have been enough to scare people away from the theaters.
No matter the reasons, the good news is that, much like the original “Blade Runner,” ‘2049’ is finding its audience on Blu-ray. At least that means that people are watching Villeneuve’s beautiful film and enjoying it.
But don’t go expecting the studio to greenlight a third film.