‘Blade Runner 2’ Is Still in the Works, but Ridley Scott Won’t Direct It
What a great day for dinosaurs who refuse to die! First a new ‘Jurassic Park’ trailer and now, via Variety, a report on the sequel to ‘Blade Runner,’ which has been rumored for most of the 30 years, since Ridley Scott released the original film back in 1982. Scott says that, yes, you can expect Harrison Ford to return as detective Rick Deckard, but no, you shouldn’t expect Scott to direct the film; instead he’ll just be serving as a producer (he’s already busy on another sci-fi film, ‘The Martian’ with Matt Damon). Scott did work with ‘Blade Runner’ co-writer Hampton Fancher on the sequel’s screenplay; here’s what he had to say about it:
We talked at length about what it could be, and came up with a pretty strong three-act storyline, and it all makes sense in terms of how it relates to the first one.
Ford, Scott says, “is very much part of this one, but really it’s about finding him; he comes in in the third act.” (Have they looked under the Millennium Falcon? Sometimes Harrison Ford is under there.) I guess an older Ford would probably settle once and for all the debate over whether or not Decker was a replicant (although, as ‘Terminator Genisys’ is teaching us, some robots can age, or something). But who needs richly layered ambiguity when you can have money? Lots and lots of money! Believe it or not, ‘Blade Runner 2’ is expected to start shooting some time next year.