Amazon boots up 'Blade Runner 2099' limited series from producer Ridley Scott

Start folding those origami unicorns. Ridley Scott is officially returning to the Blade Runner universe! The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Amazon has placed an order for Blade Runner 2099, a new limited series based on the iconic sci-fi, neo-noir property. Scott will executive produce under his Scott Free banner, while Shining Girls creator Silka Luisa occupies the role of showrunner. Announced earlier this year and hinted at by Scott even earlier than that, the project, as its title suggests, is set 50 years after the events of Blade Runner 2049. No plot details were announced at this time.

"The original Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, is considered one of the greatest and most influential science-fiction movies of all time, and we’re excited to introduce Blade Runner 2099 to our global Prime Video customers,” Amazon Studios head of global television Vernon Sanders, said in a statement published by THR. “We are honored to be able to present this continuation of the Blade Runner franchise, and are confident that by teaming up with Ridley, Alcon Entertainment, Scott Free Productions and the remarkably talented Silka Luisa, Blade Runner 2099 will uphold the intellect, themes and spirit of its film predecessors.”

Scott directed the 1982 original, which adapted Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Harrison Ford starred in the film as Rick Deckard, a rugged detective known as a Blade Runner who hunts down androids (referred to as "replicants") that have gone rogue.

The sequel, 2049, was released over three decades later with Denis Villeneuve at the helm. While Ford did reprise Deckard, the narrative mainly focused on K (Ryan Gosling), a replicant Blade Runner hot on the trail of a child born to an android mother. Despite critical and audience acclaim, the follow-up was a box office disappointment, though it did take home a pair of Oscars for cinematography and visual effects. In addition to the movies, the franchise also includes books, games, comics, and an anime television series.

“We are delighted to continue our working relationship with our friends at Amazon. And we are beyond excited to continue to extend the Blade Runner canon into a new realm with the provocative storyline that Silka has created,” added Alcon co-CEOs and co-founders Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson. “Audiences first discovered Ridley Scott’s brilliant vision for Blade Runner 40 years ago, and since then, it has become one of the most influential science-fiction films of all time. Denis Villeneuve’s follow-up sequel, Blade Runner 2049, then became one of the best reviewed sequels of all time. So, we recognize that we have a very high bar to meet with this next installment. Together with Silka and our partners at Amazon, and Scott Free Productions, we hope that we can live up to that standard and delight audiences with the next generation of Blade Runner.”

Looking for some sci-fi TV? Check out shows like Resident Alien, Brave New World, Project Blue Book, Eureka, Heroes, Intergalactic, and more streaming now on Peacock.