Ridley Scott confirms Blade Runner 2, hints at Prometheus sequel

Thanks to a new interview with director Ridley Scott, we've got confirmation of a Blade Runner sequel and obtuse hints about Prometheus 2.

Given the recent release of the Prometheus Blu-ray, it only makes that director Ridley Scott would be hitting the promotional circuit hard. Less expected however, is how liberally Scott has been discussing his upcoming projects. Increasingly it seems as if any question posed to the director will elicit a thoughtful reply.

You may recall that way back in May we brought you word that screenwriter Hampton Fancher (writer of the original Blade Runner screenplay) had been brought on board to pen a script for Blade Runner 2 — we’re still lacking any better title for the project, so consider that name to be a dull placeholder — and that Scott was keen on featuring a strong female protagonist in the then-still-arguably-hypothetical sequel. “… I started my first meetings on the Blade Runner sequel last week. We have a very good take on it. And we’ll definitely be featuring a female protagonist,” Scott told reporters at the time.

Following that, it was apparent that Blade Runner 2 was in the works, but apparently that wasn’t good enough for the inexplicably anonymous “Metro Film Reporter.” In a recent interview with Scott published this morning, the unnamed journalist asks Scott about the “rumour” that he’s working on a Blade Runner sequel. Scott’s response is both succinct and intriguing for fans of Blade Runner canon:

It’s not a rumour — it’s happening. With Harrison Ford? I don’t know yet. Is he too old? Well, he was a Nexus-6 so we don’t know how long he can live [laughs]. And that’s all I’m going to say at this stage.

We expected Scott to confirm the film, but what’s all this chatter about Harrison Ford? Scott never clarifies those words, so we’ll apparently have to wait until he’s next asked about Blade Runner 2 to find out whether or not Rick Deckard will return in the sequel.

Of course, Scott wasn’t there to discuss the Blade Runner franchise. That interview was supposed to be promotional work for the Prometheus Blu-ray. Humorously, Scott used the opportunity to talk about almost anything but that home release. When asked why he opted to return to the hardcore sci-fi genre with Prometheus, Scott claimed that he wanted to explore the origin story of the universe created in his 1979 classic Alien. Seconds later, Scott diverts the conversation toward vague, semi-helpful hints about where the upcoming Prometheus sequel might take this story. Keep in mind that the following quotes are likely to contain spoilers both for Prometheus and, in all likelihood, its sequel. Additionally, these quotes don’t really work out of context, so we’re reprinting them verbatim with minor formatting changes due to the conversational nature of what you’re about to read:

Ridley Scott: You’ve got a person [Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw] with a head in a bag [Michael Fassbender’s David] that functions and has an IQ of 350. It can explain to her how to put the head back on the body and she’s gonna think about that long and hard because, once the head is back on his body, he’s dangerous. 

Metro: So that’s the sequel? 

Ridley Scott: [Laughs] I wish it was that easy. They’re going off to paradise but it could be the most savage, horrible place. Who are the Engineers?

And that’s it. While the above certainly could inspire fan speculation on the Prometheus 2 plot, it isn’t exactly much to go on, is it?  For that matter, with the recent revelation that the Blade Runner, Prometheus and Alien universes are all the same place separated only by vast stretches of time, and at least one of the characters mentioned by Scott could effectively be immortal, there’s a nearly infinite number of directions this story could take. 

We don’t know about you, but we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed that most of those hypothetical directions involve acid blood, chestbursters and Noomi Rapace proving once again that a flamethrower is the perfect accessory for a latent maternal instincts. We’re not sure how Scott could make that work, but we’ve got faith in the man.