Harrison Ford Is Up For Blade Runner 2 If The Script Is Right

That's a big if.

By Brent McKnight | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

BladeRunnerRidley Scott dumped Blade Runner in our laps in 1982, and the landscape of science fiction cinema has never been quite the same. You can still see the influence of the visual style and world building in movies and television today, and damn near every sci-fi film in between. Just look at Pacific Rim and Almost Human if you need examples from just the past year. In the 30 plus years that have followed the iconic release, talk of a sequel has popped up from time to time. Over the last few years there’s been a great deal of talk about Blade Runner 2, and one key piece of the puzzle, star Harrison Ford, is interested in reprising one of his most memorable roles.

During a Reddit Ask Me Anything over the weekend, Ford sounded receptive to the prospect of playing protagonist Rick Deckard, though not so gung-ho that he’ll sign on to any old movie just because it happens to be called Blade Runner 2. If this film does happen, and he does decide to take part, the project has to meet some very specific criteria.

Ford says:

I’m quite curious and excited about seeing a new script for Blade Runner if in fact the opportunity would exist to do another, if it’s a good script I would be very anxious to work with Ridley Scott again, he’s a very talented and passionate filmmaker. And I think it would be very interesting to revisit the character.

Those sound like reasonable requests. Hell, I don’t think any of us are particularly interested in seeing Blade Runner 2 that isn’t directed by Scott, that’s just crazy talk. And hopefully a good script is a given. Why even bother if you’re just going to throw some lazy garbage up on screen. It’s nice to know that Ford seems more interested in producing a good product than simply churning something out for a paycheck. The last we heard, Michael Green (Green Lantern) is working on a script, which doesn’t exactly inspire an avalanche of optimism and enthusiasm.

Loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Blade Runner follows Deckard—a kind of futuristic Philip Marlowe—through a dystopian Los Angeles as he hunts and disposes of genetically engineered organic robots called replicants, who look and act almost exactly like humans.

This isn’t the first time that Ford has indicated that he’s up for Blade Runner 2. Last fall, while hyping Ender’s Game, he said that he’s interested in going on another journey in that particular universe, and even called the prospect of it happening “likely.” He’s also not the only one. Sean Young, who plays the replicant Rachel, has threatened to boycott the film if she’s not in it, and pop star Katy Perry has said, multiple times, that if a sequel happens, she wants in. Who knows if Perry can act, but she actually looks something like a young version of Young, and also looks weirdly artificial already.

Right now there’s no schedule for Blade Runner 2. At this point it sounds like a script is in the works, and if and when they come up with something people like, then perhaps they’ll move forward. No hurry. If it turns out that Ford is in fact in Star Wars: Episode VII, as we all presume, he has at least one of those movies to shoot before he can do anything else.