Blade Runner 2099 is progressing without Ridley Scott‘s involvement. The second sequel to the 1982 film Blade Runner is scheduled to premiere on November 25, 2026, on Prime Video.
Scott directed the original 1982 film. However, the filmmaker is not directing the upcoming limited series. In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, the director explained why he is not more directly involved with the series.
“I can’t blame my lawyers and my agents at that time, but somehow we let ‘Blade Runner’ go. And when you’re not the author of the actual written word, you don’t have a piece,” Ridley said.
Ridley’s 1982 film is widely regarded as a science-fiction classic. Starring Harrison Ford, the movie had a modest theatrical run, grossing nearly $40 million worldwide. However, it has since become a critical favorite, as reflected in its Rotten Tomatoes scores. The Warner Bros. film has an 89% Tomatometer score and a 91% Popcornmeter score.
Thirty-five years later, a sequel, Blade Runner 2049, was released in 2017. While Scott didn’t take up the director role, Denis Villeneuve helmed the project. However, the English filmmaker remained involved as an executive producer.
What is the Blade Runner 2099 show about?
Blade Runner 2099 is set 50 years after the events of Blade Runner 2049. The series takes place following a replicant uprising in which the replicants emerged victorious and became the dominant power in Los Angeles. Humans have been relegated to second-class status under replicant rule.
The synopsis of the upcoming show reads, “Cora, a fugitive in a final bid to stop running, takes on one last identity: a Blade Runner; forced to partner with Olwen, a Replicant days from dying, she hunts down a runaway hiding a truth that could collapse their fragile city.”
The cast of the limited series includes Michelle Yeoh, Hunter Schafer, Dimitri Abold, Tom Burke, Lewis Gribben, Johnny Harris and others. Jonathan van Tulleken directs the first two episodes of the limited series.
