Alright, time to speculate! Fox made a slew of release date announcements today regarding various sequels for 20th Century Fox’s Marvel properties, but lost in the mix was the reveal that an untitled Ridley Scott project is slated for release on March 4, 2016. Why is this worth noting? Well, let me explain.
We have been hearing speculation for over a year that Ridley Scott is exploring making a sequel to PROMETHEUS as well as a second BLADE RUNNER film. Both have been in development and Scott himself has revealed tidbits on them over the last several months, but nothing beyond that. Scott has been working on his biblical epic EXODUS with Christian Bale which would likely mean this untitled project would be his next film after that.
So, why would we even consider this project could be one of those anticipated sequels? Because of the locked in release date. For smaller films, studios do not usually lock in a date until the movie is completed. But, as has become the norm in recent years, studios want to make sure they have dates set aside well in advance for their major tentpole releases. Even though THE COUNSELOR was a weak box office entry for Scott, either a sequel to PROMETHEUS or BLADE RUNNER is going to be a big deal, at least for the opening weekend.
While BLADE RUNNER was distributed by Warner Bros, it is not outside the realm of possibility the sequel could be made at Fox. The signs point to this being PROMETHEUS 2 unless another contender pops up in anyone’s mind. Either way, I would anticipate production for this mystery film would ramp up next year, so stay tuned for more info.
Ridley Scott‘s untitled film is slated for March 4, 2016.