Over the decades since the release of BLADE RUNNER, there's been an ongoing debate about whether Rick Deckard, the replicant-hunting Blade Runner from the Ridley Scott film, is in fact a replicant himself. There's plenty of evidence found in the various cuts of BLADE RUNNER to support either side, but we never really got a definitive answer in the film. Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford famously disagreed on the issue, with Scott believing that Deckard was a replicant and Ford adamantly claiming that he wasn't. While we don't know for certain that Denis Villeneuve's upcoming BLADE RUNNER 2049 will solve the replicant mystery once and for all, I think it'd be mighty strange if it didn't at least address it.
It's something which the BLADE RUNNER 2049 cast and crew will likely be asked a lot leading up to the sequel's release and Entertainment Weekly recently asked Harrison Ford that very question. Ford naturally kept his lips sealed, but not without offering a small tease.
I’m happy to censor myself on this one, I can tell you that it was a question that was of interest to me when we made the first film, and I’m not sure I ever got a straight answer from the people I was working with at that point. I think the answer to your question is worth the price of admission.
I'd imagine that the possibility of finally solving that mystery was one of the elements which drew Harrison Ford back for the sequel, but it certainly didn't keep Ridley Scott and Ford from arguing about it all over again. In the middle of production of BLADE RUNNER 2049 in Budapest, Denis Villeneuve, Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford all went out to dinner and Villeneuve was thrilled to find himself with a ringside seat to their long-lasting replicant argument.
It was very funny, I must say, to find myself in the literal crossfire of Harrison and Ridley, arguing as to why Deckard should be a replicant and why he should be human. As a fan, that’s a dinner I will remember for all my life.
BLADE RUNNER 2049 is set for an October 6, 2017 release.