Harrison Ford talks about the BLADE RUNNER sequel; says he and Ridley Scott have been "chatting about it"

For decades, the major debate raging around Ridley Scott’s classic sci-fi opus, Blade Runner, was whether or not Harrison Ford’s Deckard was actually one of the replicants he was supposed to be wrangling (Scott said “yes”, Ford said “hell no!”). Then the Blade Runner sequel got announced, and all of sudden it was “who cares if Deckard is a human toaster or not, as long as he is in it!”. Except, that Ford’s involvement “was quite unlikely”, according to some.

That “some” didn’t include Harrison Ford and Tony Scott though.

Scott has previously indicated that he would like Ford to return, but seeing as how the sequel would be boasting a new female protagonist, it would perhaps only be in an “amusing” minor role. I don’t know how amusing Ford would find that though, seeing as he’s made very public the fact that working with Scott on the original film was a nightmare, and that he’d never want to do it again. However, it looks like the two may have mended some professional bridges, as Ford has revealed in an interview with IGN that he and Scott have “been chatting about it”.

That doesn’t mean that Ford has changed his tune on his previous working experience though, he’s just being a professional about the whole thing.

“I remember [filming the original film] with complication, but I’m not there to generate nostalgic moments, I’m there to do a job of work. I quite understand that everybody has an ambition when they come and do a film, and everyone’s ambition may not be focused on the same thing. I truly admire Ridley as a man and as a director, and I would be very happy to engage with him again in the further telling of this story.”

And maybe that story would even settle the “Is Deckard a replicant or not?” debate once and for all. Just don’t expect Ford to do any more voiceovers, like the infamously poor one he was forced to record for the intro of the theatrical cut of the film (it was later removed in the director’s cut), which was not an experience he would like to repeat.

“That was a big part of the issue. I don’t think it was necessary… and Ridley didn’t think it was necessary. That was something that came up from the studio.”

And if the studio or Scott were to ask him to record a voiceover again?

“I’m now capable of losing my voice: cutting out my tonsils and my vocal chords!”

Frankly, voiceover or not, I feel that unless Ford is given a significant role  – and not just some background cameo where he buys noodles from a weird Asian guy or shoots snake loving strippers in transparent jackets – I’d prefer that he rather be kept out of the sequel. Hell, while we’re being completely honest here, I’d prefer there be no sequel at all, but seeing as how that’s already an impossibility, I’d much rather that one of sci-fi cinema’s most famous protagonist not be relegated to a fan service in-joke, just because. But hey, that’s just me.

We’re still a long way off from seeing whether my fears play out or not, with the last bit of (not so comforting) news being that Green Lantern scribe Michael Green was being brought in to take a swing at the original film scribe Hampton Fancher’s script. For all we know, Green and Scott could toss out all Fancher’s idea of a new protagonist, and instead this would be another Deckard story, or they may just cast Miley Cyrus as the lead while Justin Bieber provides the soundtrack. Who knows?!

And while you’re trying to get that bit of nightmare fuel out of your head, here’s the full IGN video interview with Ford.

Last Updated: October 10, 2013