Jared Leto has joined the upcoming “Blade Runner” sequel, it was announced on Thursday.
The Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman most recently appeared as the Joker in Warner Bros.’ “Suicide Squad,” which was panned by critics but has enjoyed a strong box office performance. Leto also earned over 60 awards, including an Oscar and a Golden Globe, for his performance in “Dallas Buyers Club” opposite Matthew McConaughey.
The sequel to the 1982 sci-fi classic is set several decades after original, with Harrison Ford reprising his iconic role as Rick Deckard. The cast also includes Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Carla Juri, Mackenzie Davis, Barkhad Abdi, David Dastmalchian, Hiam Abbass, Lennie James and Dave Bautista.
In the first movie, Ford’s Rick Deckard was a cop in a dystopian Los Angeles. He is charged with tracking down and “retiring” four androids who escaped from a space colony and returned to Earth.
The film is written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green and succeeds the initial story by Fancher and David Peoples based on Philip K. Dick‘s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.” Story details are not being revealed.
Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble, CEOs of Thunderbird Films, will serve as executive producers. Ridley Scott, who directed the original film, and Bill Carraro will also executive produce.
Denis Villeneuve is directing the film, which will be released October 6, 2017. Warner Bros. is handling the North America roll out, and Sony Pictures Releasing International will distribute in all media for all overseas territories.