In recent months, you’ll have probably noticed how many cinematic universes have expanded simultaneously with films and TV series. Warner Bros. gave us The Penguin, a spin-off series of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, and Dune: Prophecy, a prequel to Denis Villeneuve’s two sci-fi movies. Harry Potter is getting a new series adaptation, not to mention the mysterious movie set in the Game of Thrones universe.
Disney isn’t far left behind its rival, working ferociously on the Alien: Earth series to expand the franchised centred around Xenomorph. However, one of the few famous universes that hasn’t got too many instalments is the one created by Ridley Scott. Based on Philip K. Dick’s novel, 1982’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Blade Runner, lived to see only two big sequels.
Blade Runner: 2049, created by Villeneuve, was released in 2017, along with three short films filling in the gaps between the two films. The anime Blade Runner: Black Lotus and several comic issues were released in 2021, but not much has happened in the world of androids and their hunters over the decades.
Amazon Prime Video, however, wants to change that with the Blade Runner 2099 TV series. The show will take viewers even further into a dystopian future full of humanoid machines and their existential dilemmas.
When will Blade Runner 2099 be released?
For now, it’s unknown when the series may premiere on Prime Video. The production kicked off in Prague, Czech Republic, in May 2024 and is said to wrap up in December 2024. The series’ creators certainly need to hurry up, as in January 2025 shooting for Euphoria season 3 will begin, and Hunter Schafer, one of the stars of Blade Runner 2099, will be very much needed on set.
Considering the time needed for post-production and marketing, even if filming for Blade Runner is completed as planned, the series will likely debut in late 2025/early 2026 at the earliest.
Who is the team behind Blade Runner 2099?
Silka Luisa, a Halo and Shining Girls writer, is a showrunner, while Ridley Scott serves as an executive producer for the series. Jonathan van Tulleken, Shōgun director, is set to create the first two episodes.
What will the plot of Blade Runner 2099 be?
As the series’ title suggests, the story will be set fifty years after the events of Blade Runner 2049. According to ComicBookMovie.com, the show’s synopsis goes as follows:
In Los Angeles 2099, Cora lived her entire life on the run, a chameleon forced to adopt numerous identities. To secure a stable future for her brother, she assumes one final identity and is forced to partner with Olwen, a Replicant who’s confronting the end of her life. The two are pulled into a widening conspiracy that poses an existential threat to a city that’s fighting to be reborn.
In the 1982 film, Harrison Ford plays a detective (or a blade runner, as they’re called in this universe), Rick Deckard, who is in charge of catching and killing escaped androids. While investigating four dangerous fugitive robots (so-called Replicants), he traverses the dystopian Los Angeles and encounters its bizarre inhabitants on his way. He meets a brilliant creator of artificial intelligence and starts a romance with the mysterious Rachel, portrayed by Sean Young.
In 2017’s sequel, the story follows another blade runner, K, a replicant himself, played by Ryan Gosling. 30 years in the future, Rick Deckard and Rachel are legends whose further fate remain unknown. K is sent to investigate the case of a female Replicant who died after a caesarean section. Hunting her child, K reaches the end of the civilised world and falls on the trail of the androids’ freedom movement.
For now, it’s unclear how the events of the two cinematic films apply to the Blade Runner 2099 plot. Some speculate that Ryan Gosling’s K will have a cameo in the series, but the show’s creator hasn’t confirmed this rumour.
Who is the cast for Blade Runner 2099?
The series’ main character will be played by Michelle Yeoh, whose career has rocketed in recent years. The actress, known for her performances in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Everything Everywhere All at Once and Wicked, is rumoured to star as a Replicant named Olwen.
She is partnered on screen by Hunter Schafer, known for her role as Jules in Euphoria, as well as for her appearances in the films The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Cuckoo, and Kinds of Kindness. Details about her role in the series are kept under wraps.
The series’ cast also includes Tom Burke, whom we saw not long ago as Praetorian Jack in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Fans of House of the Dragons will also recognize Matthew Needham, who played the infamous Ser Larys Strong in the HBO series.
The rest of the cast looks as follows:
- Dimitri Abold
- Lewis Gribben
- Lewis Gribben
- Katelyn Rose Downey
- Daniel Rigby
- Johnny Harris
- Amy Lennox
- Sheila Atim
- Maurizio Lombardi
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