Blade Runner takes place in a futuristic 2019, which will give us about two years after the new release date of Blade Runner 2 to develop flying cars, space mining colonies and perfect human replicants. That’s right, Blade Runner 2, originally scheduled for Jan. of 2018, has a new release date of Oct. 6, 2017. With Prometheus sequel and Alien prequel Alien: Covenant booked for Aug. 4, a little over one month of 2017 will now offer us the rare opportunity to see new stories in two of the most consequential sci-fi universes of the past century.
So Alien: Covenant and Blade Runner 2 are releasing earlier. I'm perfectly fine with this.
— Ephrain (@SilvaOfSteel) April 20, 2016
So far all we know about Blade Runner 2 is that it will star Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, Ryan Gosling and Dave Bautista. The sequel will be directed by Sicario director Denis Villeneuve.
We know quite a bit more about Alien: Covenant, since Ridley Scott has largely brainstormed the movie in public (changing the title multiple times in the process). Here’s the official synopsis:
“Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world -- whose sole inhabitant is the "synthetic" David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.”
The earlier Blade Runner 2 release date could make for an awkward month for sci-fi fans. Could a few weeks in 2017 bring us the further degradation of two remarkable narratives at the hands of Ridley Scott?
Throw Star Wars: Episode 8 into the 2017 stew and it’s looking like a banner year for science fiction, with a high probability of one or two spectacular disasters.
