Shinichiro Watanabe Directed A ‘Blade Runner’ Short
The upcoming Blade Runner 2049 will be accompanied by an animated short tie-in Blade Runner: Black Out 2022 directed by Shinichiro Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo fame.
Watanabe’s short takes place in the year 2022, in between the timeline of the original Blade Runner movie (set in a dystopian Los Angeles of 2019) and the new film (2049). The story of the short revolves around a power outage on the west coast of the United States, according to Anime News Network.
While the short isn’t out yet, Sony Pictures Japan has released a behind-the-scenes clip that previews some artwork from the Cygames Pictures-produced short, which includes the involvement of Shukou Murase as character designer and animation director.
Flying Lotus, who scored the short, wrote on Twitter about his excitement to be working on a project with Watanabe:
Doing something with Watanabe was a dream of mine. Cowboy Bebop is one of the greatest!
— KUSO (@flyinglotus) September 15, 2017
Blade Runner 2049 opens in the U.S. on October 6.
