A television sequel to Blade Runner 2049 is being produced for Amazon Prime Video, with Michelle Yeoh in one of the lead roles.
The show, which will be titled Blade Runner 2099, was first announced back in 2022 and it will serve as a follow-up both to the 1982 original film and its 2017 sequel.
Variety report that Yeoh, who won an Oscar for her role in Everything Everywhere All At Once, will be one of the stars of the show. She will reportedly play a character named Olwen, a replicant nearing the end of her life.
No further plot details or release date information has been provided.
Yeoh became the first Asian person to win the Best Actress Oscar, and the first Malaysian to win any Oscar. She had previously starred in films including Crazy Rich Asians, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Sunshine and Tomorrow Never Dies.
When first announcing the show, Amazon confirmed that Ridley Scott, who directed the original film, will serve as an executive producer. Silka Luisa (Shining Girls) is the showrunner, while Michael Green, who co-wrote Blade Runner 2049, will also be an executive producer.
Vernon Sanders, head of global television at Amazon Studios, said at the time: “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.
“We are honoured 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.”
In a five-star review of Blade Runner 2049, NME wrote: “Villeneuve has no intention of its being the ugly sibling to one of the most beautiful films ever made. It’s all jaw-dropping, a world of smog and neon, where impossible skyscrapers carry the rich above the filth and tangle of cities built so densely that from above they look like a single block. It’s a triumph.”
