Alcon Entertainment has announced that production on the follow-up to Ridley Scott’s sci-fi masterpiece Blade Runner is set to get underway this July, with Warner Bros. Pictures handling U.S. distribition and Sony tackling international markets.
The film will be directed by Denis Villeneueve (Prisoners, Sicario) from a script by Hampton Fancher (co-writer of the original) and Michael Green (Green Lantern), from a story by Fancher and Ridley Scott. The sequel will take place several decades after the 1982 original, with Harrison Ford reprising the role of Rick Deckard, and Ryan Gosling (The Big Short) also featuring in the cast.
“We are excited to work with Tom Rothman, Michael Lynton and the entire Sony team on this very special project as well as maintaining our important and long-standing relationship with our domestic partner Warner Bros. Pictures,” states Alcon’s Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson.
“At Sony, we have made a strong commitment to the international marketplace,” adds Sony’s Tom Rothman. “We know of few projects with greater international potential than the long dreamed of sequel to Blade Runner, especially given the all-star creative team Andrew and Broderick have assembled. We are deeply grateful to everyone at Alcon, Denis and Ridley for entrusting us with such a gift. Working on a Blade Runner film also fulfills a long-time personal ambition, as I deeply love and admire the original.”