It’s hard to judge the idea of Ridley Scott returning to make some sort of follow up film to his 1982 classic Blade Runner without any details. And up until now there haven’t been any details to judge from.
However, Twitch is reporting from unnamed sources that Contagion screenwriter Scott Z Burns is Scott’s top choice to script the project. Twitch is also reporting to expect an official announcement of whoever is hired to write the film soon.
It’s easy to see why Burns would be a candidate. Contagion, directed by Steven Soderbergh, opened strong this past weekend with $22 million at the box office and lots of accolades from the critics. Burns has also written the screenplay for Soderbergh’s upcoming The Man From UNCLE big screen adaption and worked on 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum. He also has an adaption of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea awaiting a greenlight. While there’s not a lot of hardcore science-fiction on his resume, the thrillers he’s written are solid and smart, which bodes well if he’s the writer who gets the job. It seems to me that if Scott picks him, this Blade Runner film is off to a good start.
Meanwhile, Scott is still in production on his latest film, the “Maybe it is an Alien prequel/maybe it’s not” Prometheus, which should be out next year.
