Blade Runner 2049 will be the title of the sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 film, Blade Runner, starring Harrison Ford. The sequel will be set 30 years in the future of the events of the first film.
Ford is reprising his role as bounty hunter Rick Deckard.
Joining Ford is a star-studded cast including Ryan Gosling (The Big Short, Drive), Robin Wright (Forrest Gump, House of Cards), Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy), Lennie James (The Walking Dead), and Jared Leto (Suicide Squad, Dallas Buyers Club).
The film will be released October 6, 2017.
Blade Runner was based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. In the sci-fi/detective novel, Rick Deckard must destroy (retire) six humanoid androids who have come to Earth.
Scott is not returning to direct the sequel, but he is producing it.
Also returning is Hampton Fancher, one of the original film’s screenwriters.
The new film will be directed by Denis Villeneuve. Villeneuve’s 2011 film Incendies was nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
There are no details on the plot of the sequel, yet according to Villeneuve, the setting will still be in future Los Angeles. The rain, snow, and ocean have become toxic due to the rampant effects of climate change.
Though three sequel novels were written by a friend of Dick’s in the 90s, none of them are being adapted for the new film.
Despite winning the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Blade Runner flopped in its initial box-office run. It developed status over the years a cult classic, particularly gaining popularity after the release of Blade Runner: The Director’s Cut, when Ford’s voice-overs were removed from the film.
