The production company Alcon has two employees who keep track of Blade Runner's canon and continuity. The sci-fi franchise began with Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in 1968. However, the first movie didn't release until 1982, introducing Harrison Ford as protagonist Rick Deckard. Set in Los Angeles circa 2019, critics praised the film's futuristic visuals but criticized the pace of its story. Still, like many other '80s movies, Blade Runner became a cult classic and is retroactively considered one of the best sci-fi films of all time.
Ford returned for a sequel, Blade Runner 2049, that released in 2019. He was joined by fellow original star Edward James Olmos, who played Gaff. Blade Runner 2049 also included several actors new to the franchise, including Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, and Dave Bautista. The Denis Villeneuve film was considered a box office disappointment but drew praise from critics and audiences for maintaining the spirit of the first movie. An upcoming anime series, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, is set to debut in Fall 2021, proving the franchise shows no signs of slowing down.
While discussing the new show during a Television Critics Association panel (via The Wrap), Alcon co-founder and co-CEO Andrew Kosove discussed the importance of keeping Blade Runner's timeline intact. He explained, "We have two people who work for us at Alcon whose— I wouldn’t say it’s their full-time job, (but) it’s the majority of their job." Kosove went on to say that the employees take it "really seriously" and that they focus on "interweaving the different stories and making sure the timelines, the canon, the character motivations are all seamless and have a logic within the canon."
In addition to the two existing movies and upcoming anime series, the Blade Runner franchise also includes video games, short films, comics, novels, and more. For this reason, it makes sense that maintaining the timeline is nearly a full-time job at Alcon. Sci-fi audiences are particularly good at keeping track of canon and continuity in their favorite franchises and won't hesitate to mention an oversight that takes them out of the movie or show they're watching. Alcon devoting two employees to the Blade Runner timeline shows it takes even the smallest detail seriously.
Alcon is likely far from the only company or production to use such a strategy. Any show or movie franchise that goes on for a while or has particularly complex mythology probably utilizes a similar system to keep track of things, even if it isn't the responsibility of two specific employees. With Blade Runner: Black Lotus set in between the original film and Blade Runner 2049, it was likely especially important to heed the timeline and established continuity in the new project. Viewers will be able to see how it turned out when the Blade Runner series releases later this year.
Source: The Wrap
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