Although we initially had mixed feelings about a Blade Runner sequel, the fact that Denis Villeneuve is involved and there's a very strong cast attached has done a huge amount to dissuade our fears.
Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright and Dave Bautista have all been signed on to star in the role and with Roger Deakins helping out as cinematographer, we know for a certainty that it's going to look incredible. Not only that, you've got original screenwriter Hampton Fancher turning in what Harrison Ford's called the best thing he's read in years.
The original release date was slated for January 10th, 2018, however an official press release has now pushed Blade Runner up the schedule and into an extremely Oscar-friendly time period. Generally speaking, from October on to January in any given year is the Oscar season and films aimed at that time for release are doing so to generate buzz.
Blade Runner 2 is now scheduled for a release date of October 6th, 2017 - right at the very beginning of Oscar season. This tells us that the film is being angled towards that season and, quite honestly, it's no surprise really. The original one should have been given all sorts of awards, not just for technicality, but was overlooked because of various reasons - mainly the Academy, at that time, thought sci-fi films like Blade Runner were beneath its stature.
Production for Blade Runner 2 is due to kick off in July of this year, so we're expected more news on the film pretty soon.
