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That is I think what is meant but that also seems like a very large number, an almost overwhelming number - too many. Could it also be that he is including the AI holograms also?

One reason why millions sounds like a lot is that there are not that many off-world colonies.

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    Once you have disposable people, it necessarily follows that the cost to produce them (in money, materials, etc.) is not prohibitive, nor is the schedule. A million is 1000 thousand, or roughly the population of San Jose, CA. There were over 1 million Chevrolet Impalas sold in the US just in one year (1965), and there were 1 million Toyota Corollas sold in 2005 and in 2011, and it's not at all hard to believe those numbers, with ZERO off-world colonies in any of those years.
    – CaptAlgorithm
    Commented May 11, 2023 at 13:58
  • Every person who emigrated gets a free replicant, plus every company out there is going to own hundreds
    – Valorum
    Commented May 11, 2023 at 14:03

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Yes, Neander is referring specifically to millions of Replicants

It's important to remember Wallace's earlier monologue with Luv when he creates the Replicant who turned out to be a failed attempt at a fertile one:

He runs the SCALPEL’S dull edge under the Model’s CHIN to raise it. Stills her when she again shivers.
NIANDER WALLACE
Every leap of civilization was built off the back of a disposable workforce. We lost our stomach for slaves. Unless... engineered. And I can only make so many.
He runs the dull edge along the entire length of the Model.
NIANDER WALLACE (cont’d)
To make this I have to build from whole cloth. Bit by bit and at great expense. Shameful inefficiency, built into Tyrell’s template. Tyrell.
He touches the Model’s abdomen at the navel.
NIANDER WALLACE (cont’d)
That barren pasture, empty and salted. Right there. The dead space between the stars. This the seat that we must change for Heav’n.
With a swift motion he CUTS the Model across the ABDOMEN. She stands for an uneasy moment as he continues:
NIANDER WALLACE (cont’d)
I cannot breed them. I have tried, so help me. Tyrell’s final puzzle in adamantine chains and penal Fire.
He drops the scalpel.
NIANDER WALLACE (cont’d)
We need more Replicants than can ever be assembled. Millions so we can be trillions. More. Worlds beyond worlds, diamond shores. We could storm Eden and retake her...
THE MODEL COLLAPSES.

enter image description here

Note that he specifically mentions how he has to 'create' them and refers to them as his 'angels'. He sees himself as a god and the Replicants his created children.

This is why when speaking with Deckard, he refers to the millions of Replicants as his 'children':

DECKARD
You don’t have children, do you?
NIANDER WALLACE
I have millions.
Deckard shakes his head. Laughs.

enter image description here

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    I don't disagree, I feel there's enough ambiguity in English consider the following hypothetical construction. There are currently millions of fully human colonists Wallace considers his children being supported by thousands of replicants. Wallance wants millions of replicants in the future so he can have eventually trillions of human colonists. The script you quote does not contradict this interpretation, again I merely claim the English is ambiguous. And the comment on the question that every colonist gets a replicant I suspect is from the novel - I'm not inclined to fact check it.
    – lucasbachmann
    Commented May 12, 2023 at 18:57
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    @lucasbachmann Totally understand, which is why I included the previous discussion to give some context about how Wallace sees his replicants, etc. Either way, my interpretation is that he's referring to the Replicants as his children and that he has millions.
    – Möoz
    Commented May 14, 2023 at 22:50

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