Ridley Scott's decision to return to the world of ALIEN and continue the BLADE RUNNER story is working out for his son Luke Scott. Luke was the director of the viral shorts that led into the events of his father's ALIEN prequel / PROMETHEUS sequel ALIEN: COVENANT, and now he has directed a prequel short for Denis Villeneuve's BLADE RUNNER sequel BLADE RUNNER 2049 as well.
Luke Scott's short is set in 2036, seventeen years after the original film and thirteen years before the sequel. It centers on Jared Leto's character Neander Wallace, the villain of 2049 who was seen creating an army of replicants in the most recent trailer, and shows us that he had a meeting about whether or not he should be allowed to make replicants in 2036. It doesn't really amount to much, it's just a quick glimpse into Wallace's back story, but if you're hungry for some BLADE RUNNER it will occupy a few minutes of your time.
BLADE RUNNER 2049 was written by BLADE RUNNER co-writer Hampton Fancher and ALIEN: COVENANT's Michael Green, working from a story Fancher crafted with Ridley Scott. The synopsis:
Officer K, a new blade runner for the Los Angeles Police Department, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. His discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former blade runner who's been missing for 30 years.
Ryan Gosling stars as K, with Harrison Ford reprising the role of Rick Decard. They are joined in the cast by Leto, Ana de Armas, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis, Dave Bautista, David Dastmalchian, Lennie James, Sylvia Hoeks, Carla Juri, Hiam Abbass, Barkhad Abdi, and Edward James Olmos.
BLADE RUNNER 2049 is set to reach theatres on October 6th. The prequel short can be seen right here: