( CNN ) Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Rick Deckard in the `` Blade Runner '' sequel . `` Prisoners '' director Denis Villeneuve is in talks to helm the Alcon Entertainment film . The film is scheduled to start principle photography in the summer of 2016 . Hampton Fancher , who co-wrote the original , and Michael Green have written the screenplay , which is based on an idea from Fancher and Ridley Scott . The story takes place several decades after the conclusion of the 1982 original , which centered on a man ( Ford ) working as a blade runner who was tasked with chasing down machines called replicants . Alcon Entertainment acquired the rights to `` Blade Runner '' in 2011 with the intention of making both prequels and sequels to the iconic science-fiction thriller . Bud Yorkin will serve as a producer on the sequel along with Alcon co-founders Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson . Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble , CEOs of Thunderbird Films , will serve as executive producers . Villeneuve most recently directed the crime thriller Sicario , staring Emily Blunt , Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro . He also directed Canada 's Oscar-nominated French-language film `` Incendies '' and `` Prisoners , '' staring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal . Ford next will be seen in Lionsgate 's `` The Age of Adaline '' and will reprise his role as Han Solo in `` Disney 's Star Wars : The Force Awakens . '' He 's repped by UTA . ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter . All rights reserved .
Harrison Ford will reprise his role . The film is set in the year 2029 and follows a group of people who are sent to Mars on an expedition led by Dr. Ryan Stone (Harrison). Ford next will be seen in `` The Age of Adaline ''