Client: Michelle Yeoh – Talent
The “Blade Runner” series in the works at Amazon Prime Video has cast Michelle Yeoh in a lead role, Variety has learned.
The series, titled “Blade Runner 2099,” was ordered at Amazon in September 2022. It serves as a sequel to both the original “Blade Runner” film and the follow up film, “Blade Runner 2049.” Exact plot details are being kept under wraps, but sources say Yeoh will play a character named Olwen, described as a replicant near the end of her life.
Amazon declined to comment on specific character details.
Yeoh won the Academy Award for best actress for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” in 2023, making her the first Asian person to win the award. She also picked up wins at the SAG Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, and the Golden Globes for her work in the film. She is also known for her roles in films like “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 1 & 2,” “Memoirs Of A Geisha,” the James Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies,” and “Sunshine.” In television, she has recently starred in shows like “The Brothers Sun,” “American Born Chinese,” and “The Witcher: Blood Origin.” She is also set to star in the “Star Trek: Discovery” spinoff film, “Star Trek: Section 31,” at Paramount+.
Yeoh is repped by Artist International Group.
Ridley Scott first revealed “Blade Runner 2099” was in the works in November 2021, with Amazon revealing it was in development there in February 2022.
Silka Luisa serves as showrunner and executive producer. Scott will executive produce along with David W. Zucker and Clayton Krueger of Scott Free Productions. Alcon Entertainment co-founders Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson also executive produce, as will Alcon’s president of television Ben Roberts. Tom Spezialy, Richard Sharkey, Michael Green, Cynthia Yorkin, Frank Giustra, and Isa Dick Hackett also executive produce. Jonathan van Tulleken will direct the first two episodes and executive produce. Steven Johnson is a co-executive producer. Film United is the production company in Prague.