Though it may not have been immediately recognized as such on its release in 1982, Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’ (itself an adaptation of the Phillip K Dick novel ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’) has since been acknowledged as not only a classic, but as one of the most influential science fiction films of the twentieth century. Set in a dystopian future version of Los Angeles, the film follows Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, an ex-cop charged with tracking down a group of renegade replicants (bioengineered androids, nearly indistinguishable from humans) who have come to Earth in an attempt to extend their lives.
For a long time, that was all there was to it. But all that changed when it was Ridley Scott began developing a sequel in 2011. Though there had been the occasional rumor of a sequel before, it was only when Scott became involved that the idea seemed to gain momentum. And today, at long last, Warner Bros and Alcon Entertainment announced the title of the sequel. The film, directed by Denis Villenueve, will be titled ‘Blade Runner 2049’ and will pick up several decades after the original, with returning star Harrison Ford reprising his role as Deckard.
Despite the fact that the film has been in development for five years (and is barely a year from release), there has been surprisingly little announced to the public. Prior to today’s announcement of the title, much of what has been known about ‘Blade Runner 2049’ has come in the form of casting announcements and statements from Villenueve that the film will return to the original’s cyberpunk vision of Los Angeles and that the world has since been subject to a series of environmental calamities and that as a result “…the ocean, the rain, the snow is all toxic”.
‘Blade Runner 2049 is currently scheduled for release on October 6, 2017. The film’s cast so far includes Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright, Dave Bautista, Jared Leto, Ana de Armas, and Sylvia Hoeks.
