‘Blade Runner 2’ Cast, Updates: Jared Leto Joins Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford in Mysterious New Role

‘Blade Runner 2’ is set to feature Jared Leto in a new yet unnamed role. Leto joins cast members Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Lennie James, Dave Bautista, and Barkhad Abdi in the sequel.

According to Maxim, Leto has officially boarded Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming sequel to the 1982 science-fiction tech-noir film directed by Ridley Scott. Leto joins Ryan Gosling and returning star Harrison Ford for the new film.

Leto’s character remains to be confirmed but it was teased in a newly released statement that his role will be made especially for the sequel. According to IGN, Alcon co-founders Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson said in the statement, "We are thrilled that Jared has agreed to play a key role in the Blade Runner sequel. He is a phenomenal actor, and we know he will create a truly memorable, never before seen character."

The Oscar-winning actor and musician made his film debut on Jocelyn Moorhouse’s ‘How To Make an American Quilt’. He went on to play supporting roles on films such as David Fincher’s ‘Fight Club’, James Mangold’s ‘Girl, Interrupted’, and Mary Harron’s ‘American Psycho’. He later achieved critical acclaim for his performance as Harry Goldfarb in Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Requiem for A Dream’.

Leto then earned an Academy Award for his role as transgender woman Rayon in Jean-Marc Vallee’s ‘Dallas Buyers Club’. His latest appearance on film was in David Ayer’s ‘Suicide Squad’ as the iconic villain The Joker.

Lennie James of AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’ fame will also be joining the new cast. James also appeared on numerous feature films such as 1998’s ‘Les Miserables’, 2000’s ‘Snatch’, and 2011’s ‘Columbiana’. Dave Bautista of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and Barkhad Abdi ‘Captain Phillips’ will also star in the sequel.

The original film directed by Ridley Scott starred Ford as main protagonist Rick Deckard. Rick was a special agent for Los Angeles department tasked at hunting down bioengineered androids called replicants after they’ve been banned from Earth.

It was released on June 25, 1982 to mixed reviews but soon established itself as a cult classic in the film industry. According to The Numbers, the film underperformed in North America with only $32.65 million in earnings. In the end, it earned $33.14 million worldwide against a production budget of $28 million.

‘Blade Runner 2’ is an upcoming science-fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green. It is produced by Warner Bros., Alcon Entertainment, 16:14 Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, Thunderbird Films, and Torridon Films.

The sequel is scheduled to be released on October 6, 2017.