Michelle Yeoh has been tapped to star in Prime Video’s Blade Runner 2099 series

Michelle Yeoh has come quite a long way from the days of Yes, Madam and Police Story 3: Supercop. While the Malaysian actress used to fight alongside stars like Cynthia Rothrock and Jackie Chan in some of the best martial arts movies to come out of Hong Kong, today she’s broken out into dramas and sci-fi projects in addition to action. Deadline reports that the Academy Award-winning star of Everything Everywhere All at Once is now set to star in the sequel series, Blade Runner 2099, for Prime Video.

The details have been shrouded in mystery as of now. However, the year in the title implies a significant jump in time from the last sequel, Blade Runner 2049. The Denis Villeneuve film brought in talents like Ryan Gosling, Jared Leto and Ana De Armas. It would also see Harrison Ford return to the role of Dekker. Blade Runner 2099 was originally slated to start shooting in Belfast last summer, but the Hollywood strikes put a stop to that. The push also found the series moving out of Belfast in favor of Prague. Shining Girls creator Silka Luisa is the writer, showrunner, and executive producer of the series. Original Blade Runner director Ridley Scott is also onboard as an executive producer through his Scott Free production banner.

“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 in 2022. “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.“

“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 Entertainment 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.“