Culture

Blade Runner sequel, co-owned by Vancouver’s Thunderbird Films, nabs Harrison Ford

By Trevor Melanson /

THE#BCBIZDAILY
Rick Deckard returns, a booze lottery and a billion-dollar mall

Blade Runner gets moving
You may have heard: the Blade Runner sequel has secured the star of the original movie from 1982, Harrison Ford, and Canadian director Denis Villeneuve—who did Prisoners and Toronto-set Enemy—is in negotiations to take over from Ridley Scott. What you may not have heard in Thursday night’s news: the Blade Runner franchise is co-owned by Vancouver’s Thunderbird Films, which bought a 50 per cent stake in 2011 when Alcon Entertainment (the lead producer on the film) acquired the intellectual property rights. Local mining mogul and Lionsgate founder Frank Giustra, who joined Thunderbird in 2012, will act as executive producer alongside Thunderbird CEO Tim Gamble and Ridley Scott. No news yet whether or not Vancouver might be considered as a filming location for the bleak, rainy sci-fi—but we’ve certainly got the right weather for it.

UPDATE: Thunderbird CEO Tim Gamble replied to BCBusiness‘s request for comment via email. With regards to the new director, he said, “Denis is a gifted director and the perfect choice to lead the creative vision for this iconic brand. Frank and I are thrilled. It’s a bonus that he is a fellow Canadian.”

Gambling for booze
The B.C. government announced Thursday that liquor stores will have to enter a lottery if they want to move locations this spring, a change introduced after the province scrapped its initial five-kilometre rule requiring new liquor stores to be that distance from old ones in favour of a one-kilometre restriction. VQA and wine stores, it should be noted, are exempt from the one-kilometre rule. Applicants, both private stores and BC Liqour Stores, have between Friday, February 27, and March 27 to apply. “All applications received during this period will be placed in a lottery and drawn at random,” the release says.

Metrotown, king of malls
Ever wonder which malls in Metro Vancouver are worth the most money? Well, probably not, bit of an obscure thing to wonder, but it’s a neat bit of info nonetheless. Vancouvermarket.ca, a blog run by Colliers International associate vice-president David Taylor, has ranked Metro Vancouver’s most valuable commercial real estate assets. Metrotown, worth just over $1 billion, takes the top spot, followed by Oakridge Centre and Pacific Centre. For the full top-25 ranking, check out Taylor’s list here.