Mark Blade Runner as another fan-favorite franchise that just keeps going and going and going. While Blade Runner 2049's box office numbers seemingly failed to ignite a franchise, this saga has seen comic books and an Adult Swim anime keeping the torch lit in the name of Replicants and those that would hunt them. Now fans are presented with one hell of a present for their continued support, as Ridley Scott himself is returning to the world he helped create, and it sounds intriguing.
You can thank the good folks at Amazon Studios, as Blade Runner 2099 is currently in development as a new exclusive series for the company's Prime Video platform. Directly cited by Deadline as a sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s 2017 cinematic entry, Sir Ridley is potentially going to slip into the director’s chair, should the project take off. Presumably running the show is executive producer/writer Silka Luisa, who will be debuting the Apple TV+ original adaptation of Lauren Beukes’ Shining Girls later this spring.
Though primarily known as a film director, Ridley Scott is no stranger to the world of streaming. He's executive produced HBO Max’s futuristic epic Raised By Wolves, which also had its first two episodes directed by the man himself. Whether or not he’ll be taking on the entire run of episodes for this next project is yet to be seen, but it doesn’t seem like a stretch. As Scott’s movies like The Last Duel seem to have extended cuts sitting in the wings, lengthy storytelling seems like the man’s area of interest. And there’s another huge gap that affords the opportunity to tell as much story as humanly, or inhumanly, possible.
Jumping ahead 50 years into the future is a pretty big feat, as humans and Replicants have a pretty limited lifespan. While both Blade Runner and 2049’s stories and characters will most likely be referenced, it’s not as if Harrison Ford’s Rick Deckard or Ryan Gosling’s Officer K can just waltz into a new case. As we’ve seen in previous extensions like the anime series Blade Runner: Black Lotus, a brand-new protagonist will probably guide us into this brave new world.
Another interesting note to be made about Blade Runner 2099 is the fact that it seems to have escaped HBO Max’s library. As the studio home of the franchise and the current streaming provider for Blade Runner 2049, one might have assumed that this would have been the place to be. But much like the upcoming Apple TV+ Godzilla series, Warner Bros is seeing another IP farmed out to a competing service.
There’s no official word on when Blade Runner 2099 is looking to go into production, or even when the series may debut. If you want to take a look at the TV premieres scheduled to take place throughout winter and spring of 2022, we have you covered. Last, but not least, if you want to revisit both previous Blade Runner films, both are available, at the time of this writing, on HBO Max.
