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The film community almost universally recognizes Blade Runner (1982) as one of the greatest science fiction films ever made, but that legacy wasn't earned so easily. As many will remember, the original theatrical cut of Blade Runner was a box office disaster and ultimately failed to make a connection with critics and audiences, mainly due to massive studio intervention after executives at Warner Brothers thought Ridley Scott's sci-fi epic was too confusing. However, after the release of the superior Director's Cut (1992) and the vastly superior Final Cut (2007), even Blade Runner's harshest critics finally came around on the groundbreaking epic.
Taking place in a hopelessly bleak vision of a futuristic Los Angeles, the story of the original Blade Runner film follows a retired detective, Rick Deckard, (Harrison Ford) as he's brought back into the fold to track down a group of runaway "replicants" - extremely life-like androids being used for hard labor outside of Earth. The entire film feels uncannily similar to that of a classic Humphrey Bogart detective film, while still taking place in a one-of-a-kind setting that's packed to the brim with dystopian detail. A sequel to the now-iconic drama had always seen various stages of production since the original film's release but all its versions were ultimately shot down primarily due to the first film's infamously minimal box office returns.
That was until 2017 when Oscar-nominated filmmaker Denis Villeneuve could finally put a continuation together with Blade Runner 2049. The stellar sequel sees a new Blade Runner take the reins of the franchise with K (Ryan Gosling), as he aims to track down Deckard and solve a major mystery that could change the course of the relationship between human and replicant forever. The critical reception to 2049 was absolutely sensational, with many calling it one of the best movie sequels ever created and one that perhaps surpasses the original. Alas, it wasn't too much of a happy ending for the long-awaited follow-up, as Blade Runner 2049would follow the same path as its predecessor and lost over 50 million dollars at the box office. With that, it seemed that the Blade Runner franchise would once again be put on ice.
However, fans of the franchise will be delighted to hear that the franchise isn't quite dead yet, as a new sequel series is in development titled Blade Runner 2099. As the title implies, this new iteration of the series will launch Blade Runner enthusiasts fifty years after the events of Blade Runner 2049, likely showing a vastly different version of the dystopian version of Earth and potentially even beyond.
The anticipated project is now entering the early stages of development, but with crew, casting, and plot details slowly but surely getting released as production gets underway, here is everything we know so far about Blade Runner 2099.
Editor's Note: This piece was updated on February 20, 2024.
Blade Runner 2049
R Sci-FiActionDramaMysteryYoung Blade Runner K's discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former Blade Runner Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years.
Release Date October 6, 2017 Director Denis Villeneuve Cast Ryan Gosling , Ana De Armas , Dave Bautista , Harrison Ford , Robin Wright , Sylvia Hoeks Runtime 164 minutes Main Genre Sci-FiDoes 'Blade Runner 2099' Have a Release Date?
No time frame or specific release date has been given for Blade Runner 2099 at this time. Given Amazon's history of releasing episodes for high-profile shows like The Boys and Reacher, the series will likely premiere with the first few episodes and then transition into a weekly release for the remaining installments.
Is 'Blade Runner 2099' Releasing on Streaming or on Cable?
Original Blade Runner filmmaker Ridley Scott and his production company Scott Free will be teaming up with Amazon to bring the dystopian world to the small screen. That means that the upcoming sequel series will be making its exclusive streaming home on Amazon Prime Video. Blade Runner 2099 is the latest intellectual property not owned by Amazon to join the streaming giant's rapidly growing library, shortly after the announcements that television adaptations of God of War and Spider-Man Noir are also coming to Amazon Prime Video.
Does 'Blade Runner 2099' Have a Trailer?
Development on Blade Runner 2099 is only just getting underway at the time of this writing, so it will be a little while before we get to physically see what's next for this long-running franchise.
What Is the Story of 'Blade Runner' so Far?
The only details on the plot of Blade Runner 2099 that we have right now are its placement fifty years after the second film and will function as a continuation of the Blade Runner story. Hopefully, we'll get more details soon, but until then, here is the story of Blade Runner so far.
The original Blade Runner takes place in the far-off distant future of 2019, where the futuristic city of Los Angeles seems permanently cloaked in shadow due to the massive skyscrapers. One of the citizens of the city is Rick Deckard - a retired police officer who once worked for the LAPD as a Blade Runner. Blade Runners were a special elite unit designed to hunt down and eliminate rogue robotic replicants, and Deckard's legendary reputation leads his old captain Bryant (M. Emmet Walsh) brings Deckard back into the force to deal with a significant case. A group of rogue replicants, led by a particularly dangerous model called Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), escaped an off-world settlement and are now seeking their creator to extend their short four-year lifespan. Replicants are already banned on Earth, and bloodthirsty ones are obviously a pretty significant problem for the city's law enforcement.
Deckard reluctantly agrees to take the case and thus begins his investigation, starting with an interrogation of the lead replicant manufacturer in the world, Dr. Eldon Tyrell (Joe Turkel). It's there where Deckard meets and eventually falls in love with Rachael (Sean Young) - a secretary at Tyrell's headquarters who ends up being a unique and highly advanced replicant herself. One by one Deckard eliminates the rogue replicants before coming face to face with Roy Batty himself, but Deckard proves to be no match for the advanced android. Just when it appears Batty is about to kill Deckard, the replicant does the unthinkable and saves his pursuer. With his time nearly up, Batty decided to use his last minutes to have a meaningful heart-to-heart with the human, giving Deckard an entirely new perspective on these robots and their ability to critically think and show emotion. The film ends with Deckard taking Rachael with him out of the city to live a peaceful new life together.
Thirty years later, the events of Blade Runner 2049 begin, centering on a new Blade Runner named K. The world has gone through many changes in the last thirty years, the biggest being that replicants are no longer outlawed on Earth and used for various essential tasks. Turns out, not only is K a Blade Runner, he's a replicant Blade Runner. An android tasked with bringing in members of his own kind who went rogue, and one case leads him to the buried body of Rachael. Even more shocking, K finds evidence that Rachael gave birth to Deckard's child - something that should not be possible for replicants. After learning that a replicant can conceive a child, the LAPD and current replicant manufacturer Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) fear this could lead to a war between humankind and replicants. K is tasked to solve this mystery once and for all, and with the hero now believing that he is the child that Rachael gave birth to, he sets out to find his potential father.
Eventually, K finds Deckard living in exile but discovers that he's not Deckard and Rachael's son. Instead, the couple had a daughter, that being a memory designer named Ana Stelline (Carla Juri), which makes Ana the first ever human/replicant hybrid (or just the first replicant-born child if the theories about Deckard being a replicant and not a human are true). After a deadly battle with Wallace's henchman, Luv (Sylvia Hoeks), K ultimately succumbs to his injuries, but not before reuniting Deckard with his daughter.
Who Is Making 'Blade Runner 2099'?
Once again returning to produce for the Blade Runner franchise is Ridley Scott, who of course directed the original film and produced Blade Runner 2049. Acting as the show's showrunner is Silka Luisa, who previously acted as showrunner for Shining Girls and prior producing work includes Strange Angel and Halo. The full list of episode directors has not yet been released, but we do know that the show's first two episodes are set to be helmed by Jonathan van Tulleken, who directed the first two episodes of the acclaimed FX series Shogun. Game of Thrones director Jeremy Podeswa was previously set to direct the inaugural episode but stepped down due to scheduling conflicts. Michael Green, who co-wrote the script for Blade Runner 2049 and recently co-created the popular Netflix series Blue Eye Samurai, is set to executive produce the series. Filming for the limited series is set to begin in April 2024.
Who Is Starring in 'Blade Runner 2099'?
No casting details have been made for Blade Runner 2099 as of yet, but it seems safe to say that the show will focus on a completely original cast of characters rather than pre-established ones. Ryan Gosling likely won't be returning given he seemingly died at the end of 2049, and it doesn't seem likely that Harrison Ford and others would return either given there's a significant time jump. That all being said, who knows? There's always the possibility of flashbacks and this is a series that has brought back deceased characters before, such as when a younger Rachael replicant appeared in 2049 through the use of some scary good CGI.
Are 'Blade Runner' and 'Blade Runner 2049' Available to Stream?
The original Blade Runner film is unfortunately not currently available to stream, but it is available to rent or buy on VOD. The same goes for Blade Runner 2049 which is also only available to rent or buy on VOD.
Rent Blade Runner on Prime Video Rent Blade Runner 2049 on Prime Video
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