The ‘provocative’ new series, set in 2099, will continue the story of the first two films
Amazon has announced that it’s producing a “provocative” new series based on Blade Runner, the iconic 1982 science fiction film.
Ridley Scott, who directed the original, has signed on as executive producer, and the series will be helmed by Silka Rosa, who was the showrunner for Apple+’s critically acclaimed serial killer thriller The Shining Girls, and who also worked on the TV adaptation of video game Halo.
The new series, titled Blade Runner 2099, will follow the events of the 2017 sequel Blade Runner 2049, which was directed by Denise Villeneuve. As of now, no further details about the story have been announced.
The co-founders of Alcon Entertainment, which will be producing the show, said: “We recognise that we have a very high bar to meet with this next instalment. Together with Silka and our partners at Amazon, and Scott Free Productions, we hope that we can live up to that standard and delight audiences with the next generation of Blade Runner.”
Widely considered a cult classic, the original Blade Runner is set in 2019 (which, at the time, was “the future”) in a noirish, cyberpunk LA. It stars Harrison Ford as Deckard, a policeman tasked with hunting down a group of runaway “replicants” – robots who are indistinguishable from humans. The sequel, Blade Runner 2049, stars Ryan Gosling as a replicant who uncovers an explosive secret and has to track down Deckard. Both films are visually stunning, and it will be interesting to see whether the Amazon series will be able to match their high aesthetic standards.