'Blade Runner' Sequel Gets Official Title And Release Date

The hugely anticipated sequel to the iconic sci-fi classic Blade Runner finally has an official title: Blade Runner 2049.

In contrast to existing reports about when it might be released, the film now also has a confirmed release of October 6th, 2017 – precisely one year after the studio Alcon made the announcement on Thursday.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve (who helmed the likes of Sicario and the forthcoming movie Arrival), the sci-fi sequel is set to see Harrison Ford reprise his role as Rick Deckard from the 1982 original. Hollywood A-lister Ryan Gosling also has a leading role, and he’ll be starring alongside Jared Leto, Robin Wright, Barkhad Abdi and Ana de Armas.

Harrison Ford is to reprise his role as Rick Deckard in 'Blade Runner 2049'

Villeneuve also shared a behind-the-scenes picture from the set as part of the announcement, which sees himself and Ridley Scott (who, of course, directed the first Blade Runner) having a discussion with both Ford and Gosling.

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The original movie, regularly hailed as one of the greatest science-fiction movies ever made, was set in 2019, so the title of the sequel obviously suggests that it’s jumping three decades into the future.

Hampton Fancher, who was responsible for the screenplay of the Blade Runner - in turn loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ – returned to work on the script for the new movie, in tandem with Alien: Covenant’s Michael Green.

Villeneuve said that his presence throughout the process has relaxed him and made him feel less nervous about such a prestigious undertaking.

“He told me that Blade Runner was a dream. We just have to dream again and not worry too much about logic,” he said to Entertainment Weekly. “That removed so much pressure and gave me the key to move forward.”

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