Tom Burke has been chatting about the upcoming Blade Runner 2099 series and says it’s closer to Ridley Scott’s original sci-fi classic in its aesthetics.
We’ve not heard much about Blade Runner 2099, Prime Video TV sequel to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049. As the title suggests, Blade Runner 2099 will be set after the events of the two films and will once again explore what it really means to be human.
The series’ cast includes Hunter Schafer and Michelle Yeoh in the lead roles, and the pair will be joined by Tom Burke in the series. Burke recently chatted to Variety about his role in Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag, but the talk quickly turned to all things Blade Runner.
Naturally, Burke was unable to share much, but he did say that Blade Runner 2099 would lean into the aesthetics of Scott’s original sci-fi classic rather than Villeneuve’s 2017 sequel. The series will also return to “that somewhat kind of Baroque, eclectic mix of cultures and time periods.”
Prime Video hasn’t confirmed any story details, but Daniel Richtman (via Empire) reports that Yeoh will play Olwen, a Blade Runner who is facing the end of her lifespan. Again, this has not been confirmed but it would certainly fit with the themes Burke also teased.
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“It’s a lot to do with that thing quite intrinsic to the source material in the movie, which is actually what makes somebody human and what makes somebody not human. Or when does somebody cross some threshold,” the actor said.
“Can we really have a full sense of humanity without being very aware of our own dual sides? We all have the capacity for great evil as well as great good. I suppose every genre does that to some extent, but I do feel that the morality, that whole kind of thing is handled so well in the Blade Runner world, to me. It’s got subtleties and nuances to it that I don’t think necessarily all sci-fi always has.”
Silka Luisa, who was previously a producer on the Halo TV series and a showrunner on Shining Girls, will act as showrunner for Blade Runner 2099. While Villeneuve isn’t involved in the production, Scott is on board as an executive producer.
The series has faced several delays over the years and the series’ previous creative lead, Jeremy Podeswa exited the project and was replaced by Jonathan Van Tulleken as director. Blade Runner 2099 began shooting last year in Prague and filming wrapped in December. Prime Video hasn’t announced any kind of release window for the show, but we’ll make sure to keep you updated.
