Ridley Scott's Involvement With Blade Runner 2099 Clarified For Prime Video's New Sci-Fi Series: "I Can't Blame My Lawyers”

Published Aug 30, 2026, 10:01 AM EDT Adam has been writing in the entertainment news space for over a decade. Beginning his career of covering film and TV at CinemaBlend, he has also appeared on The Flash Podcast and done several radio spots. Ridley Scott has set the record straight on his involvement with the upcoming TV series Blade Runner 2099. Following his work on 1978’s Alien, Scott directed Blade Runner, which was released in 1982, and adapted the Phillip K. Dick-written novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. 35 years later, though Denis Villeneuve took over directorial duties for Blade Runner 2049, Scott remained involved as one of the sequel’s executive producer. Prime Video’s Blade Runner 2099, however, was a different story. While speaking with The Los Angeles Times, Scott clarified that he wasn’t involved in making this Blade Runner series. Regarding why this happened, he simply stated that it somehow fell through through the cracks. As he put it: I can’t blame my lawyers and my agents at that time, but somehow we let ‘Blade Runner’ go. And when you’re not the author of the actual written word, you don’t have a piece. In 2021, Scott revealed that development had begun on a Blade Runner TV show, with the pilot and series bible having been written. However, per his new comments, Scott’s association with Blade Runner 2099 ended sometime after that, though he’s still listed as one of the show’s executive producers. In contrast, he had a direct hand in the making of fellow TV series Alien: Earth. He recently described the FX show as “pretty damn good,” and Alien: Earth has been renewed for season 2. 50 years after the events of Blade Runner 2049, Blade Runner 2099 sees Los Angeles now being controlled by Replicants following an uprising, while humans are treated as second-class citizens. The show follows Michelle Yeoh’s Olwen, a Replicant Blade Runner who’s nearing the end of her life, and Hunter Schafer’s Cora, Olwen’s partner who’s a human pretending to be a replicant. They team up to hunt down a gang of antagonistic Replicants. Dimitri Abold and Lewis Gribben join Yeoh and Schafer as series regulars on Blade Runner 2099, though both their roles remain undisclosed. The lineup of recurring actors includes Daniel Rigby, Johnny Harris, Amy Lennox, Sheila Atim, Matthew Needham, and Tom Burke, among others. It’s already been stated that Harrison Ford will not reprise Rick Deckard, who was Blade Runner’s main protagonist, and a supporting protagonist in Blade Runner 2049 opposite Ryan Gosling’s K. Shining Girls’ Silka Luisa serves as Blade Runner 2099’s showrunner. While Alien: Earth is continuing, Luisa confirmed in July that Blade Runner 2099 will remain a limited series consisting of eight episodes. The showrunner explained that it was important for her and the rest of the creative team to tell a “story that, in a way, is like a movie in the sense that there’s a beginning, there’s a middle, and there’s an end.” Luisa has also described the show’s visual style as “sunshine noir” rather than duplicating the dark and rainy aesthetic from the Blade Runner movies. The entirety of Blade Runner 2099 premieres Wednesday, November 25, on Prime Video. Scott’s new movie, The Dog Stars, is now playing in theaters. Release Date 2026 - 2027-00-00 Network Prime Video Showrunner Silka Luisa Directors Jonathan van Tulleken Writers Silka Luisa, Ryan Willison, Claire Kiechel, Kirsa Rein, Tom Spezialy Franchise(s) Blade Runner Creator(s) Silka Luisa