9 Years Ago, Ryan Gosling’s Cyberpunk Masterpiece Quietly Paved The Way For The Dune Trilogy

One of Ryan Gosling’s best movies is widely considered a cyberpunk masterpiece and quietly paved the way for the modern Dune trilogy. A brilliant sci-fi noir, this 2017 film was surprisingly not a box office success, yet it plays a crucial role in the rise of one of Hollywood’s most premier directors and storytellers. Gosling stars in this outstanding film that also features cinematography by the great Roger Deakins.

This weekend is a big one for both Gosling and the Dune trilogy, as the movie star’s latest film, Project Hail Mary, is already breaking box office records left and right. If you do catch the movie this weekend, like millions of people around the world, you’ll likely see the newly released trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three, an epic interpretation of Frank Herbert’s Dune: Messiah novel and the conclusion of his Dune movie trilogy. Both Project Hail Mary and the Dune franchise, however, quietly tip their hats to this underseen sci-noir movie.

Blade Runner 2049 Proved Denis Villeneuve Could Direct Dune

With the release of Blade Runner 2049 in 2017, Denis Villeneuve somewhat unknowingly launched the “sci-fi epic adaptation” era of his directing career. Before Blade Runner 2049, which stars Gosling and serves as a direct sequel to Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking Blade Runner, Villeneuve was already a successful filmmaker, having directed instant classics like Incendies, Prisoners, and even a collaboration with Taylor Sheridan before his Yellowstone fame on Sicario.

It wasn’t until 2016’s Oscar-winning movie Arrival that Villeneuve dived into the sci-fi genre and emerged as a definitive voice in the genre. Villeneuve went on a filmmaking spree during the 2010s, releasing one movie per year from 2013 to 2017, which ended with Blade Runner 2049. He would then go on to direct the first two Dune movies, which were released in 2021 and 2024, respectively, with Dune: Part Three slated for a mid-December 2026 release.

After watching the Dune films and the trailer for the upcoming conclusion, it’s evident that Blade Runner 2049 was inadvertently a proof of concept for Villeneuve, serving as undeniable evidence that he could handle a massive Dune adaptation. In what is becoming the original Star Wars trilogy of our time, the Dune franchise may not exist as we know it without Blade Runner 2049, as it became a pivotal movie that sharpened Villeneuve’s vision, increased the scale of his filmography, and established him in the industry as a remarkable sci-fi director.

Blade Runner 2049 Is A Cyberpunk Masterpiece Despite Box Office Flop

Blade Runner 2049’s underwhelming box office performance is quite an oddity. Apart from Villenueve’s credibility after Arrival and other films, the film featured a star-studded cast led by Gosling, Ana de Armas, Dave Bautista, Robin Wright, Jared Leto, Mackenzie Davis, David Dastmalchian, Wood Harris, and Harrison Ford, reprising his role as Deckard from the original film. What’s more, the film earned universal critical acclaim and a Rotten Tomatoes score of 88%, and even won two Oscars for cinematography and visual effects.

Despite all this acclaim and success, Blade Runner 2049’s box office remained the one thorn in its side. The film earned roughly $259 million worldwide against a steep budget of $150 million and ended up losing millions of dollars, all costs included. This is likely the main contributing factor as to why a third Blade Runner movie has yet to be made in the nine years since the sequel was released, although the upcoming Prime Video series Blade Runner 2099 is expected for a late 2026 streaming release.

Blade Runner 2049 certainly exists in film history as an anomaly on paper, but it should truly be remembered as a crucial stepping-stone for the modern Dune trilogy under Villeneuve’s direction. It can be thanked for sparking Gosling’s career shift into the sci-fi genre, as seen in 2018’s First Man and the number one movie in the world right now, Project Hail Mary.