Veteran Hollywood badass Harrison Ford is all about bringing things full circle these days. After reprising his role as intergalactic smuggler Han Solo this coming Christmas for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ford will begin work on the planned sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi noir classic Blade Runner, in which he will return as the Replicant-hunting detective Rick Deckard.
Collider reports that, according to Scott, who will produce the sequel, Ford’s role will be “significant yet minimal,” and that he won’t appear until the film’s third act.
Director Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Enemy) is set to take charge of the new film, according to Paste, which is scheduled to begin production summer of 2016. The sequel will be based on an original story by Scott and co-writers Hampton Fancher, who shared writing duties with Scott on the original, and Michael Green (Green Lantern). Blade Runner‘s source material is, of course, inspired by Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep?
Andrew Kosove, co-founder of the film’s production company Alcon, said in a press release, “We are honored that Harrison is joining us on this journey with Denis Villeneuve, who is a singular talent, as we experienced personally on Prisoners. Hampton and Michael with Ridley Scott, have crafted a uniquely potent and faithful sequel to one of the most universally celebrated films of all time, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with this amazing, creative team.”
Now, the real question: How many director’s cuts will there be?
