Overview
Forty years ago, fresh from making one of the greatest sci-fi/horror movies ever made in Alien, Ridley Scott gifted the world another futuristic classic that helped define and reshape science fiction on-screen. It's almost impossible to name a movie or TV series in the genre that's popped up over the past four decades and hasn't owed a huge debt to Blade Runner — and, soon, that list will include a new Blade Runner TV series.
Philip K Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? has already given rise not just to Scott's iconic Harrison Ford-starring adaptation in 1982, but also to exceptional 2017 sequel Blade Runner 2049 and recent animated series Blade Runner: Black Lotus. Of course, if Ford's other huge sci-fi franchise can just keep popping back up, including on both the big and screens — see: The Force Awakens, Rogue One, The Last Jedi, Solo, The Rise of Skywalker, The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett — then clearly this one can as well.
The Blade Runner series obviously has some catching up to do to get to Star Wars-level continuations, and quantity isn't the same as quality, but spending more time in its vision of the future is definitely welcome. The OG film was set in 2019, so we're now well past then — and the new series has been dubbed Blade Runner 2099, which means we'll be jumping quite a ways forward in time.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Amazon Studios is behind Blade Runner 2099, once again bringing a small-screen favourite to streaming given that it's doing exactly that in September this year with the eagerly awaited The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
When it leaps forward to 2099, the new Blade Runner show will act as a sequel to both the initial film and Blade Runner 2049 — but who'll be starring and directing hasn't yet been revealed. That said, busy The Last Duel and House of Gucci filmmaker Scott has confirmed his involvement, Variety reports, noting that the pilot for the show has already been written, and that it's envisioned as a ten-hour series.
There's obviously no sneak peek at Blade Runner 2099 yet, but you can check out the trailer for the original 1982 Blade Runner below:
Blade Runner 2099 doesn't yet have a release date — we'll update you when more news is announced.
Via Variety / The Hollywood Reporter.