Blade Runner TV show sets director, gets filming update – which is very soon

Prime Video has tapped Shogun director Jonathan van Tulleken to helm the first two episodes of Blade Runner 2099.

Per Deadline, Tulleken takes over for Jeremy Podeswa who ultimately dropped out due to scheduling conflicts caused by the WGA strike. Filming is set to begin in April.

Not much is known by way of plot details other than the movie will serve as a follow-up to 2017's Blade Runner 2049 starring Ryan Gosling – and is set 80 years after the original Blade Runner starring Harrison Ford. Ridley Scott is set to executive produce.

The Blade Runner franchise began in 1982, as an adaptation of the sci-fi novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. The dystopian flick underperformed at the box office and went on to become a cult classic, with many crediting the film as having paved the way for both the neo-noir and cyber-punk genres. 

Dune director Denis Villeneuve helmed the 2017 sequel, which starred Gosling as K and saw Ford reprising his role as Richard Deckard from the flagship film. 

Much like the original, the sequel underperformed at the box office, grossing $267 million against a budget of $185 million. Still, the critical acclaim and Academy Award nominations were enough for Amazon Studios to greenlight a sequel series first announced in 2022.

Blade Runner 2099 does not yet have a release date. For more, check out our list of the best new TV shows coming your way in 2024 and beyond, or, check. out our list of the best Prime Video shows to stream right now.