“Blade Runner” is about to get the limited series treatment — and Ridley Scott is producing it himself.
Amazon Prime Video has officially greenlighted a sequel series in the sci-fi franchise, The Hollywood Reporter said Thursday. Scott, who directed the initial 1982 film, will executive produce the show alongside “Shining Girls” writer Silka Luisa and Michael Green, who co-wrote the recent follow-up “Blade Runner 2049.”
“The original Blade Runner ... is considered one of the greatest and most influential science-fiction movies of all time, and we’re excited to introduce Blade Runner 2099 to our global Prime Video customers,” Vernon Sanders, Amazon’s head of global television, told the outlet.
While Amazon had already said it was developing the series in February, Thursday’s confirmation yielded new details about the project — which will take place 50 years after the 2017 sequel film that starred Ryan Gosling and brought original lead Harrison Ford back into the fold.
1982′s “Blade Runner,” based on a novel by Philip K. Dick, explored a near future in which armed agents of the state hunt down noncompliant androids, or “replicants,” who abandon their physical labor duties in off-planet colonies.
“[Director] Denis Villeneuve’s follow-up sequel, Blade Runner 2049, then became one of the best reviewed sequels of all time,” Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson — the co-CEOs of Alcon Entertainment, which holds the rights to “Blade Runner” — told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement.
“So, we recognize that we have a very high bar to meet with this next installment. … We hope that we can live up to that standard and delight audiences with the next generation of Blade Runner.”
“2049” was a box office disappointment, grossing $92 million domestically, according to Box Office Mojo. Fans of the original, however, were stunned by its quality and the melancholy atmosphere that Villeneuve delivered. It holds an 88% “fresh” rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Adult Swim later produced an animated series called “Blade Runner: Black Lotus,” which debuted in November and appears to have stalled. “2099,” meanwhile, will be the franchise’s first live-action TV project — and has its creators salivating with glee.
“We are delighted to continue our working relationship with our friends at Amazon,” Kosove and Johnson told The Hollywood Reporter. “And we are beyond excited to continue to extend the Blade Runner canon into a new realm with the provocative storyline that Silka has created.”