While we may not be seeing the world of Blade Runner continue on the big screen anytime soon, the franchise will be back as a limited-series on Prime Video. THR has reported that Jeremy Podeswa has signed on to direct the pilot for Blade Runner 2099.
Jeremy Podeswa is best know for his work on HBO’s Game of Thrones, but he’s also helmed episodes of Six Feet Under, Carnivàle, The Tudors, The Pacific, Boardwalk Empire, The Borgias, True Detective, and more. In addition to directing the Blade Runner 2099 pilot, Podeswa will also serve as producing director and an executive producer on the series.
Blade Runner director Ridley Scott is onboard as executive producer, with Silka Luisa (Shining Girls) as showrunner. “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,” said Amazon Studios head of global television Vernon Sanders when the project was announced last year. “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.” Blade Runner 2049 screenwriter Michael Green has also joined as a non-writing executive producer. The writers room includes Tom Spezialy (The Leftovers), who will also serve as an executive producer.
“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,” Alcon co-CEOs and co-founders Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson said. “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.”
Plot details for Blade Runner 2099 are being kept under wraps, but I’m excited to see where the next stage of the story will take us. While I would have loved to have seen a proper big-screen sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049, the sequel’s disappointing box office pretty much nixed the possibility.