Blade Runner 2099: Hunter Schafer joins Michelle Yeoh in Prime Video series

Former model Hunter Schafer made her acting debut on hit HBO series Euphoria – and with production on season 3 of that series being delayed while creator Sam Levinson reworks the scripts, The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that Schafer has landed a lead role in the Prime Video limited series Blade Runner 2099 – which is, of course, a continuation of the franchise that began with the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner and then got a long-awaited follow-up called Blade Runner 2049, which had Denis Villeneuve at the helm, in 2017. Details on the role Schafer will be playing are being kept under wraps. She joins the previously announced Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once) in the cast… and we don’t know anything about Yeoh’s character, either.

Blade Runner 2099 was originally expected to start shooting in Belfast last summer, but the Hollywood strikes put the kibosh on that plan. When the show does go into production, it’s now set to be filmed in Prague.

Shining Girls creator Silka Luisa is the writer, showrunner, and executive producer of the series, which has Ridley Scott executive producing through his Scott Free production banner. Jonathan van Tulleken (Shogun) will be directing the first two episodes.

When this project was first announced in 2022, Amazon Studios head of global television Vernon Sanders said, “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.“

While we wait for Blade Runner 2099 to get rolling, we’ll have the chance to see Hunter Schafer on the big screen twice in the next couple months. She has a role in the latest Yorgos Lanthimos / Emma Stone team-up, Kinds of Kindness, which is set to reach theatres on June 21st, and she stars in the horror film Cuckoo, which gets a theatrical release on August 9th.

Are you interested in Blade Runner 2099? What do you think of Hunter Schafer joining Michelle Yeoh in the cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.