It’s been over 30 years since the Ridley Scott directed sci-fi cult classic Blade Runner released and the still untitled sequel has been given a release date. Warner Bros. has announced that the film starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, returning to play Rick Deckard, will hit theaters January 12, 2018 during MLK weekend.
Directing the film will be Denis Villeneuve, who’s latest project, Sicario, garnered 3 Academy Award nominations. Hampton Fancher, co-writer of the original script will be joined by Michael Green. Cinematographer Roger Deakins, who has worked with Villeneuve on Sicario and Prisoners, hopes to start principal photography in July.
The story, based on concepts by Scott and Fancher, will continue several decades after the conclusion of the original film.
Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, and Cynthia Sikes Yorkin of Alcon Entertainment, who acquired the film, television, and ancillary franchise right’s to the futuristic noir in 2011, will produce. Scott is attached to the project as executive producer.
Gosling, last seen in The Big Short will star alongside Russell Crowe in this year’s The Nice Guys. Ford will continue a trend of reprising popular characters of his past. After returning as Han Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he’s rumored to appear in the planned sequel to Indiana Jones.