'Blade Runner 2' Cast News: Harrison Ford Returning, Ridley Scott Not Directing

By Liezl Dunuan, Christian Post Contributor Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Harrison Ford will be reprising his role as Rick Deckard in the 1982 science fiction film "Blade Runner," in the movie's sequel "Blade Runner 2." Ridley Scott, who directed the first film, will return, not as director but as the movie's Executive Producer.

Denis Villeneuve, director of "Prisoners" and "Enemy," was in talks to direct the still untitled sequel as reported in Variety in February 2015. The French-Canadian director and screenwriter has received accolades for his work, including Best Director for the thriller "Enemy."

Ford reportedly received a copy of the script during the latter part of 2014, and had publicly said that it was "the best things he's ever read," Variety reported Scott said that the sequel's screenplay was "written and ready to go." He also confirmed that Ford will play a big role in the sequel.

Some plot details have been confirmed by Scott himself. The movie will be set several decades later and will feature an older Deckard. Screen Rant also reported that there will be a female protagonist in the film.

"We talked at length about what it could be, and came up with a pretty strong three-act storyline, and it all makes sense it terms of how it relates to the first one," Scott said. "Harrison is very much part of this one, but really it's about finding him; he comes in the third act."

A draft of the script was written by Scott and Hampton Francher, who also wrote the first film. Michael Green of "Green Lantern" was later signed on to revise it with Francher.

According to a report in The Independent, the producers of the film from Alcon Entertainment, Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove had this to say about writers Francher and Green: "Hampton and Michael, with Ridley, have crafted a uniquely potent and faithful sequel to one of the most universally celebrated films of all time, and we couldn't be more thrilled with this amazing, creative team."

The sequel will start filming in summer 2016. No release date has been set. The first film was released in 1982, and was critically-acclaimed for its cinematography, special effects and original musical scoring.