Ridley Scott Updates Blade Runner Sequel/Prequel and Addresses Harrison Ford Rumors
Posted 02.09.12 by Ryan
When it comes to a potential prequel or sequel to Blade Runner, it's understandable that rumors of Harrison Ford's involvement would continue to swirl. Alcon Entertainment acquired the franchise rights to director Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi classic last March, and five months later Scott was committed to direct and produce either a prequel or sequel. With Scott on board, it only seemed natural to assume that Ford would return as retired police officer Rick Deckard, though producer Andrew Kosove was quick to dismiss the rumor.
Despite the denial, Twitch reported last week that Ford had "entered into early talks" to join the next Blade Runner movie, leading both Kosove and Scott to separately address the casting rumor. Kosove told Deadline this week that any talk of Ford's casting was "patently false" while also updating the progress on the next Blade Runner.
It is absolutely patently false that there has been any discussion about Harrison Ford being in Blade Runner. To be clear, what we are trying to do with Ridley now is go through the painstaking process of trying to break the back of the story, figure out the direction we’re going to take the movie and find a writer to work on it. The casting of the movie could not be further from our minds at this moment.
Kosove did not entirely rule out that Ford could suddenly surface as more progress on the story is made, but didn't sound positive about it either. "In advance of knowing what we’re going to do, I supposed you could say yes, he could. But I think it is quite unlikely," said the producer.
Scott was slightly more upbeat about Ford's involvement in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly. "Don’t know yet," said Scott about Ford. "Don’t know yet...I’m not sure that that’s going to be a story point, so I don’t know. But if it were, nothing would please me more. Honestly."
As Kosove had inferred, Scott admitted that the story for another Blade Runner installment had not been settled on.
We’re still in discussions about whether it should be a prequel or sequel. It’s an interesting conversation. I’m meeting with writers and I’ve also gone back to [original Blade Runner screenwriter] Hampton Fancher and he still speaks the speak. He’s right there. I spoke with him this week. But we don’t even have a script yet.
Scott admitted that his work on Prometheus, the quasi-prequel to Scott's 1979 sci-fi classic Alien, is what inspired him to agree to make another Blade Runner.
I just thought Prometheus was so enjoyable — returning to the world of science fiction was so fun — that I wanted to [go back to Blade Runner, too]. I’m also thinking about what the hell I might do for a Prometheus 2.
When asked whether a Prometheus 2 was possible, Scott reportedly knocked on the wooden table and grinned. The same luck will also be needed for another Blade Runner, unless the "discussions" Scott is having prove more productive.