A live-action Blade Runner sequel series is in development at Amazon, Deadline reported today.
Titled Blade Runner 2099, the series will serve as a follow-up to the Blade Runner sequel Blade Runner 2049. Silka Luisa (Shining Girls new series) will write and executive produce, with Ridley Scott set to executive produce via his Scott Free Productions company.
Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson of Alcon Entertainment are also executive producing along with David W. Zucker of Scott Free, Blade Runner 2049 screenwriter Michael Green, Ben Roberts, Cynthia Yorkin, and Clayton Krueger. Alcon Entertainment and Amazon Studios will also produce along with Scott Free.
Plot details on the series are being kept under wraps, but the title suggests it takes place fifty years after events of the most recent film in the franchise, which debuted in theaters in 2017 with Denis Villeneuve directing. Villeneuve directed the current hit Dune, but there’s no indication he’s involved in the Amazon series.
In addition to the two films, Adult Swim recently aired the anime series Blade Runner: Black Lotus, which takes place in the year 2032. It stars a female replicant, voiced by Jessica Henwick.
Scott had previously teased that a Blade Runner live-action series was in the works, telling the BBC in November 2021 that the pilot had already been written and a series bible had been prepared.
The original Blade Runner film was released in 1982, and directed by Scott. It is based on the Philip K. Dick book “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” Harrison Ford starred along with Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos among others. The trio reprised their roles in the 2049 sequel. Will they be in Blade Runner 2099?
An interesting third company is involved, Alcon Entertainment. The company acquired the rights to Blade Runner in 2011. They’ve been ramping up projects across the Blade Runner franchise in the last few years. Last year it made a licensing deal with Striker Entertainment to create a range of Blade Runner consumer products and, in September 2021, Alcon Entertainment co-founder and co-CEO Andrew Kosove revealed that the company has two people whose job it is to keep the franchise’s timeline and continuity intact. The company also is behind Prime Video series The Expanse, and co-produced Blade Runner 2049.
The Blade Runner series is the second high-profile feature film directed by Scott currently being adapted for television. Noah Hawley (Bones, Legion) is behind a reinvention of Alien for FX that is in prep for a 2023 production. Scott Free Productions is also behind the original HBO Max sci-fi series Raised By Wolves, which launched its second season earlier this month.
Sources said the show is in priority development at Amazon Studios, meaning they are fast tracking scripts and eyeing production dates. Staffing is currently underway for writers to join a writers room. Scott may direct episodes if the series moves forward.
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