They have no one but themselves to blame for this "somehow" flopping. Can't blame Wokeism. Can't blame white men. Can't blame capitalism. Can't blame Covid. Can't blame a jaded audience.
They chose to make yet another sequel to a double flop. Lol no one cares about this movie outside of overly involved film dorks.
I love the Blade Runner movies but I agree 100%. It's a niche franchise. Both movies flopped. Online there is a very vocal cinephile fanbase but they're a loud minority.
I consider The Thing to be another example. Flopped in '82 (opened the same day as Blade Runner), the prequel flopped in 2011 too. Yet online everyone tells you it's the best thing since sliced bread. I had a coworker who when talking about movies said his favorite was Alien (1979) followed by both Blade Runners. Naturally I asked him about John Carpenter's The Thing from 1982 since it opened the same day as BR and is a sci-fi horror like Alien. HE'D NEVER HEARD OF IT! It was crazy to me that someone who loves Alien and Blade Runner would have never even heard of The Thing.
I'd say The Shining is another example. It underperformed in 1980, it only grossed $4 million more than Friday the 13th even though it had 40x the budget and more star power. Kubrick at this point in this was a 4x nominated best director and had 3 movies nominated for best picture, Jack Nicholson had been nominated for 5 oscars winning 1, it was based on a very well selling Stephen King novel, whose work had recent successful adaptions in Carrie and Salem's Lot, yet it barely did better than a tits-and-stabbings slasher. Fast forward to 2019 with Doctor Sleep. Flop. One of the most beloved and celebrated movies of all time gets a well reviewed sequel and it barely moves the needle.
Online movie circles =/= general audiences