Jonathan van Tulleken, who directed the first two episodes of FX’s Shōgun, has been tapped to direct and executive produce the first two episodes of another high-profile series, Prime Video’s Blade Runner 2099.
Tulleken will replace Jeremy Podeswa, who was originally set to direct the first two episodes, but had to leave due to scheduling conflicts as the production schedule for Blade Runner 2099 changed due to strikes in the film industry, Deadline reports.
Filming of the series was planned for the summer of last year in Belfast. In May, a few weeks after the writers’ strike, it was announced that production of Blade Runner 2099 had been delayed, possibly until the spring of 2024, due to a work stoppage. Northern Ireland Screen said at the time that the project had been “in preparation on site in Belfast for many months”.
In October, it became known that filming was moving from Belfast. Since then, the series’ studio, Alcon, has set up production in Prague, which has been able to attract producers of major sci-fi series for streaming, including Origins on Apple TV+.
Filming of “Blade Runner 2099” is scheduled to begin in April. Alcon Entertainment and Scott Free Productions are producing, with Ridley Scott, who directed the original 1982 Blade Runner, serving as an executive producer. The series will be a direct continuation of the sequel Blade Runner 2049, which was directed by Danny Villeneuve in 2017.
Sila Louise is a screenwriter, executive producer and showrunner of the series. Michael Green, who wrote the screenplay for Blade Runner 2049, serves as an executive producer along with Alcon co-founders Andrew Kosowe and Broderick Johnson, Alcon head of television Ben Roberts, David W. Zucker and Clayton Kruger of Scott Free, Sint. Tom Speziali, who was part of the show’s writing team, also serves as an executive producer alongside Richard Sharkey.
In 2011, Alcon acquired the rights to produce prequels and sequels to the 1982 sci-fi thriller Blade Runner for film, television and spin-off franchises. Alcon has since financed and produced Blade Runner 2049, as well as the recent Blade Runner: Black Lotus, an anime series that debuted in 2022 on Adult Swim and Crunchyroll.
Van Tulleken also recently served as director/executive producer on Apple TV+’s The Changeling. His interests are represented by WME, Grandview and Independent.
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