Director Ridley Scott has confirmed that live-action TV shows for both Blade Runner and Alien are in production, with plots already written.
During an interview with Today on BBC Radio 4, the 83-year-old director confirmed that the pilot for the upcoming Blade Runner TV series has been written.
“We have already written the pilot for Blade Runner and the bible,” he said. “So, we’re already presenting Blade Runner as a TV show, probably the first 10 hours.”
A Blade Runner TV series had been rumoured back in February, but nothing was confirmed about the project until now.
Although details are scarce, it’s thought that the show will debut on a streaming service, but it’s unclear where. It’s also unclear whether this will affect Denis Villeneuve’s hopes to make another Blade Runner movie.
“It's such an inspiring place, the Blade Runner world," said Villeneuve. "The problem I have is the word 'sequel.' I think cinema needs original stories. But if you ask me if I'd like to revisit this universe in a different way, I can say yes. It would need to be a project on its own. Something disconnected from both other movies. A detective noir story set in the future… I wake up sometimes in the night dreaming about it.”
Scott also confirmed that Alien is in a “similar” position, with a TV series currently in the works. “Alien is now being written for pilot,” he said. He added that an 8–10 hour bible was also being put together.
The Alien TV series was announced earlier this year and will be heading to FX. FX boss John Landgraf has described the series as “the first ‘Alien’ story set on Earth — and by blending both the timeless horror of the first ‘Alien’ film with the non-stop action of the second, it’s going to be a scary thrill ride that will blow people back in their seats.”
However, Ridley Scott himself expressed doubt that the TV show will ever be as good as the original Alien:
“It’ll never be as good as the first one,” he said. “That’s what I’ll say.”
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.