Blade Runner 2049 is out on Friday and it’s filled with huge surprises and revelations. Don’t worry, you will find none of those in this article, but you may enjoy guessing at them.
The odd story goes like this. According to Indiewire, a PR firm in Texas mistakenly handed out a sheet to some critics seeing the film this week. That sheet gave specific instructions of how to, and how not to, refer to some of the film’s secrets. The filmmakers and the studio had decided on things they absolutely didn’t want to get out, but it wasn’t meant to be presented in a dictatorial fashion. The memo that got handed out is kind of miraculous, though.
Twitter user @TexasArtFilm posted an image of the memo with the actual spoilers redacted like it was a classified document.
This document is amazing for a few reasons. The first is that the studio is going to such lengths to protect the secrets of the film. You may have heard that “even the plot of Blade Runner 2049 is a spoiler” which, technically, is true for every movie. But it’s more true for this one because the true plot hasn’t been revealed in the trailers, which is a rarity.
“We went further than we normally do in trying to protect the secrets on this because it was the filmmaker’s wishes and we agreed that it made sense for this movie,” Warner Bros. senior VP of publicity Dennis Higgins told Indiewire.
The second reason it’s amazing is, I’ve seen the movie, and I have no idea what the hell was redacted. That’s where you come in.
Below, we’ve transcribed those sentences, left the blanks, and want you to fill them in. Think of it as Blade Runner Spoiler Mad Libs.
- Please not mention of any _________ including references to _________.
- Do not mention that there are _________ to _________.
- Do not reveal the fate of any of the characters.
- Do not confirm who is a human and who is not, as is the long-standing tradition with this franchise.
- Do not mention that _________ what _________ discovers at _________ or any of _________ that _________.
- Do not mention that _________.
- If asked about _________, please say ‘We meet may striking characters over the course of the film and _________ one of them.”
Unfortunately, we will not be checking to say if you’re right or not. Not until at least Monday, and fans have had a chance to discover the surprises for themselves.