Production of Amazon Studios’ live-action “Blade Runner 2099” limited TV series has been halted due to the ongoing Writer’s Guild strike.
The project, the third major instalment in the franchise following Ridley Scott’s original 1982 film “Blade Runner” and Denis Villeneuve’s 2017 sequel “Blade Runner 2049,” was to shoot in Ireland shortly when word came of the shutdown.
Scott Free and “The Expanse” producers Alcon Entertainment are behind the project which had been in pre-production for months at Belfast Harbour Studios. It has been speculated in the trades the filming delay could result in the whole shoot being delayed a year.
In a statement, Northern Ireland Screen confirmed “Blade Runner 2099” has been delayed and says:
“Northern Ireland Screen is extremely disappointed that Blade Runner 2099 is not going ahead at this time due to the ongoing writer’s strike. The project has been prepping on the ground in Belfast for many months now. The WGA strike has been halting production all over the world and we hope a fair deal is reached soon so crew can get back to work.”
Silka Luisa (“Shining Girls”) wrote the script and is the showrunner on the series with an executive producer credit. Spezialy and Ridley Scott are also getting producing credits.
TV veteran Jeremy Podeswa has signed on to direct the pilot of the limited series for Amazon Prime.
Source: Screen Daily
