Now that we basically now Denis Villeneuve's "Blade Runner 2049" will not be making the festival rounds, we can all catch our breaths and festival hop until we're back home for the October 6th release date. It doesn't really say anything about the movie's quality that Warner has decided to not bring it to festivals. They're being careful with the film, that's all. This will most likely be a difficult film to absorb and surely something that won't be for all tastes.
Villeneuve said from the beginning that the studio has the Final Cut, but just to be clear Joe Walker is editing (who worked on Arrival and Sicario), Villeneuve no doubt is in full-control and working in collaboration with everyone, but that's not saying we won't get a Director's Cut in the future to honor the Blade Runner tradition. Already having the film at 163 minutes, including credits, is lengthy.
Variety:
"Blade Runner 2049” will have a relatively lengthy running time of two hours and 32 minutes, plus another 11 minutes for credits. It’s 35 minutes longer than the iconic 1982 original, which checked in at an hour and 57 minutes. Alcon Entertainment, Warner Bros., and Sony Pictures have set a worldwide release on Oct. 6 with Warners distributing domestically and Sony distributing internationally. Alcon and Sony are worldwide partners on the film."