MOVIE NEWS – The series will reportedly take place 50 years after Blade Runner 2049.

The next instalment of Blade Runner will reportedly be a live-action TV series from Amazon, with original director Ridley Scott returning as executive producer on Blade Runner 2099.

The new series picks up 50 years after 2017’s Blade Runner 2049, directed by Denis Villeneuve, and will see Silka Luisa (showrunner of Apple TV Plus’ Shining Girls) as a writer and executive producer. According to Deadline, Scott himself will direct the series.

Ridley Scott had previously hinted at the project in a BBC interview back in November – the first public mention of the series – mentioning that the live-action series is being developed as a 10-episode series with a pilot already written. This won’t be the first spin-off series of the iconic sci-fi franchise; Adult Swim also debuted an anime series, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, which further expanded the Blade Runner universe late last year.

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The original Blade Runner hit cinemas in 1982 and has since become known as one of the most beloved sci-fi films ever made (and also one of the most controversial, given the many different cuts, the relative merits of which have been the subject of internet debate for decades). The sequel, Blade Runner 2049, completed 35 years later, was released in 2017 to critical – if not commercial – success.

The fact that Amazon is reportedly the home of the live-action series is a good indication of the megacompany’s streaming ambitions as it continues to build its library of must-see content. Amazon Studios has invested heavily in genre television in recent years, picking up The Expanse after its original cancellation, as well as big-budget projects such as The Wheel of Time and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – the latter of which, with a budget of $465 million, is believed to be the most expensive TV series ever made.

Source: Variety