After saying he wouldn’t direct the sequel to Blade Runner, and then saying he might, Ridley Scott has now officially passed the job to Denis Villeneuve. Scott remains as a producer of the film, a follow-up to his visionary and highly influential 1982 dystopian sci-fi thriller. Villeneuve is an interesting choice as director. He made the quite excellent, highly intense Hugh Jackman/Jake Gyllenhaal drama Prisoners, and the really quite outstanding, decidedly creepy–and arachnophobic--psychological thriller Enemy, also with Gyllenhaal.
Harrison Ford has confirmed that he will reprise the role of Rick Deckard. Ford considers the screenplay for the movie to be the best he’s ever read, although given the quality of his recent movies, I’m not really sure I trust his judgment. And given that Deckard may or may not be a replicant with a four-year lifespan, I’ll be curious to know how screenwriter Hampton Fancher has come up with a way to bring back the character thirty years after the events of the first movie.
