Blade Runner 2099 Casts Michelle Yeoh as Lead

Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh is headlining the upcoming Blade Runner 2099 series for Prime Video. Yeoh’s star in Hollywood continues to rise, following her win in the Best Actress Oscars category for Everything Everywhere All at Once. She also has Star Trek: Section 31 coming for Paramount+, with the show recently announcing that production began earlier in the year. Star Trek: Section 31 is a spinoff of Star Trek: Discovery, which is currently streaming its final season. But as far as Blade Runner is concerned, Yeoh’s leading role in the secretive Blade Runner 2099 will see the continuation of Philip K. Dick’s sci-fi franchise.

Deadline reports Michelle Yeoh’s role in Blade Runner 2099, along with the show’s plot, are being kept under wraps. What we do know is Blade Runner 2099 is a limited series that follows up on Denis Villeneuve’s 2017 Blade Runner 2049 feature film starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, as well as Ridley Scott’s 1982 Blade Runner. Shōgun director Jonathan van Tulleken is set to helm the first two episodes of Blade Runner 2099. Jeremy Podeswa was previously on board to bring the project to life, though Podeswa had to exit the project due to scheduling conflicts.

Amazon announces Blade Runner 2099 series

“The original Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, is considered one of the greatest and most influential science-fiction movies of all time, and we’re excited to introduce Blade Runner 2099 to our global Prime Video customers,” Vernon Sanders, head of global television, Amazon Studios, said when Blade Runner 2099 was initially announced. “We are honored to be able to present this continuation of the Blade Runner franchise, and are confident that by teaming up with Ridley, Alcon Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, and the remarkably talented Silka Luisa, Blade Runner 2099 will uphold the intellect, themes, and spirit of its film predecessors.”  

“We are delighted to continue our working relationship with our friends at Amazon,” Alcon Entertainment co-CEOs and co-founders Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson, added of Blade Runner 2099. “And we are beyond excited to continue to extend the Blade Runner canon into a new realm with the provocative storyline that Silka has created. Audiences first discovered Ridley Scott’s brilliant vision for Blade Runner 40 years ago, and since then, it has become one of the most influential science-fiction films of all time. Denis Villeneuve’s follow-up sequel, Blade Runner 2049, then became one of the best-reviewed sequels of all time. So, we recognize that we have a very high bar to meet with this next installment. Together with Silka and our partners at Amazon, and Scott Free Productions, we hope that we can live up to that standard and delight audiences with the next generation of Blade Runner.”  

Photo credit via JP Yim/Getty Images for The Asian American Foundation