UPDATE: GREEN LANTERN's Michael Green Signs On To Pen BLADE RUNNER Sequel
Michael Green (one of the screenwriters for 2011's Green Lantern) has been hired to rewrite Ridley Scott's sequel to the classic Blade Runner. Plus, Harrison Ford is being courted to return as Rick Deckard. [Updated With Press Release]
News on director Ridley Scott's planned Blade Runner sequel has been quiet for a while, with the screenwriter for the original film, Hampton Fancher, being hired to pen the follow-up. Now, according to The Wrap, a new scribe has been hired. Michael Green, who recently co-wrote Warner Bros.' DC adaptation Green Lantern, will rewrite the Blade Runner sequel for WB, Alcon Entertainment and Scott Free. A source tells the site that the film is definitely a sequel (rather than a prequel, which was previously rumored), and it takes place "some years" after the ending of the 1982 sci-fi classic. Additionally, Scott is courting Harrison Ford to reprise his role as Rick Deckard from the first movie. Green is also known for his work on Smallville and Heroes. Some of his currently unproduced credits include WB's Gods & Kings, Fox's Robopocalypse, and co-writing an adaptation of DC's The Flash. No production start date for the Blade Runner sequel has been confirmed yet. Are you looking forward to this follow-up?
UPDATE: Alcon just put out the following press release confirming the news of Green's negotiations to rewrite the Blade Runner sequel.
LOS ANGELES, CA, MAY 31, 2013, 3:30 pm, EST — Writer Michael Green is in negotiations to do a rewrite of Alcon Entertainment’s “Blade Runner” sequel penned by Hampton Fancher (“Blade Runner,” “The Minus Man,” “The Mighty Quinn”) and to be directed by Ridley Scott. Fancher’s original story/screenplay is set some years after the first film concluded.
Alcon co-founders and co-Chief Executive Officers Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove will produce with Bud Yorkin and Cynthia Sikes Yorkin, along with Ridley Scott. Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble, CEO’s of Thunderbird Films, will serve as executive producers.
Green recently completed rewrites on “Robopocalypse” and Warners Bros.' “Gods and Kings.”
Alcon and Yorkin previously announced that they are partnering to produce “Blade Runner” theatrical sequels and prequels, in addition to all television and interactive productions.
The original film, which has been singled out as the greatest science-fiction film of all time by a majority of genre publications, was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1993 and is frequently taught in university courses. In 2007, it was named the 2nd most visually influential film of all time by the Visual Effects Society.
Released by Warner Bros. almost 30 years ago, “Blade Runner” was adapted by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples from Philip K. Dick’s groundbreaking novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” and directed by Scott following his landmark “Alien.” The film was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Visual Effects, and Best Art Direction). Following the filming of “Blade Runner,” the first of Philip K. Dick’s works to be adapted into a film, many other of Dick’s works were likewise adapted, including “Total Recall,” “A Scanner Darkly,” “Minority Report,” “Paycheck,” and the recent “The Adjustment Bureau,” among others.