The idea of a Blade Runner sequel just got a hell of a lot more interesting. Alcon Entertainment, the studio producing the sc-fi followup, announced via press release that director Denis Villeneuve — known for the Oscar-nominated war drama Incendies and tantalizing thrillers Prisoners and Enemy — is currently in talks to direct the film from a script by Hampton Fancher (Blade Runner) and Michael Green (“Heroes“).
The screenplay is based on an idea by Fancher, who co-wrote Blade Runner with David Peoples, and Ridley Scott, who directed the original and will executive produce the sequel. In addition, Harrison Ford will reprise his role from the original film as Rick Deckard, a cop who specializes in terminating human clones called replicants.
Up until about an hour ago, the idea of a Blade Runner sequel did pretty much nothing for me, but with Villeneuve in negotiations to take over the director’s chair, my interest just skyrocketed. I unfortunately have yet to see Incendies, but Enemy earned a spot on my Top 10 list for last year and Prisoners was just barely on the outside looking in the year before. Villeneuve has a knack for making engrossing films filled with alluring atmosphere, and I think the original Blade Runner fits that description, so I’m excited to see what happens.
Principal photography is slated to begin in the summer of 2016, so there is still plenty of time before anything really gets under way, but by attaching Villeneuve early I am hoping this means he will have some opportunity to make the project his own to whatever extent he can. In the release the co-CEOs of Alcon note Villeneuve is a “singular talent”, so clearly they see something special in him. More on this as it develops.
