Alcon Entertainment has sent out a press release announcing that they've put out an offer to Harrison Ford to reprise his role as Rick Deckard in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner sequel.  It's a bit unusual for a production company to announce that they're courting an actor; usually, press releases state that the actor is officially on board.  I'm sure this news is making fans happy, and Ford has expressed his interest in returning for the sequel on multiple occasions.  The press release doesn't provide any details on the story other than saying it takes place several decades after the original.  It also doesn’t state the size of the role, but presumably it would be the lead, or at least one of the leads (maybe they'd hand it off to a younger actor?).  With an offer out to Ford, we don't know if Scott plans to make Blade Runner 2 his next movie, but it's certainly an interesting development/studio power play.

Hit the jump for Alcon Entertainment's press release regarding Blade Runner 2 and Harrison Ford.  Ford is currently reprising another of his classic roles by starring in Star Wars: Episode VII, and he'll be seen later this summer in The Expendables 3.  As for Scott, he's currently in talks to direct The Martian starring Matt Damon.

blade-runner-poster

Here's the press release:

OFFER OUT TO HARRISON FORD TO RETURN IN

ALCON ENTERTAINMENT’S “BLADE RUNNER” SEQUEL

DIRECTED BY RIDLEY SCOTT

LOS ANGELES, CA, MAY 14, 2014—Warner Bros-based Alcon Entertainment (‘Prisoners,’ ‘The Blind Side,’ ‘The Book of Eli’) has an offer out to Harrison Ford to reprise his celebrated role of Rick Deckard in its Ridley Scott-directed sequel to ‘Blade Runner,’ it was announced by Alcon co-founders and co-CEO’s Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson.

Hampton Fancher (co-writer of the 1982 adaptation) and Michael Green are the screenwriters.

While the story is being kept under wraps, it takes place several decades after the conclusion of the 1982 original.

State Johnson and Kosove: “We believe that Hampton Fancher and Michael Green have crafted with Ridley Scott an extraordinary sequel to one of the greatest films of all time. We would be honored, and we are hopeful, that Harrison will be part of our project.”

Alcon Entertainment acquired the film, television and ancillary franchise rights in 2011 from producer Bud Yorkin to produce prequels and sequels to the iconic science-fiction thriller. Yorkin will serve as a producer on the sequel along with Kosove and Johnson. Cynthia Sikes Yorkin will co-produce. Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble, CEO’s of Thunderbird Films, will serve as executive producers.

Among its many distinctions, “Blade Runner” has been singled out as one of the greatest movies of all time by innumerable polls and media outlets, and overwhelmingly as the greatest science-fiction film of all time by a majority of genre publications.

Released by Warner Bros., "Blade Runner" was adapted by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples from Philip K. Dick's novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and was directed by Ridley Scott following his landmark “Alien.” The film was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Visual Effects, and Best Art Direction).

“Blade Runner” was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1993 and is frequently taught in university courses. In 2007, it was named the 2nd most visually influential film of all time by the Visual Effects Society.