Production on the upcoming Blade Runner sequel series, Blade Runner 2099, has been impacted by the ongoing WGA writers' strike.
BBC News NI announced that the WGA strike has caused 2099's scheduled production to be postponed. The report added that filming is “unlikely to resume before spring 2024,” which is a big blow to the series. Production was set to take place at Belfast Harbour Studios. While this is unfortunate news for Blade Runner fans, the BBC News report also added that the live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon is currently still in production in Northern Ireland.
Blade Runner 2099 was announced back in 2021 when Ridley Scott — director of the 1982 sci-fi classic — revealed that a series was already in the works and that a pilot was written. In 2022, Deadline reported that the series landed at Prime Video and that Silka Luisa (Shining Girls) was writing and executive producing the series. Scott would also serve as an executive producer.
While the Blade Runner franchise has continued on — an anime series titled Black Lotus ran from November 2021-February 2022 on Adult Swim — 2099 will serve as the first live-action project since Blade Runner 2049. The sequel film starred Ryan Gosling as a new bounty hunter that's tracking down replicants. The legacy sequel also brought back the original film's star, Harrison Ford, back into the fold. Denis Villeneuve, who would go on to direct another sci-fi classic in Dune just a few years later, helmed the sequel film and proved to be more than capable hands. As the title of 2099 would suggest, it will take place a half-century after Villeneuve's film.