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 acclaimed series, Prime Video's Blade Runner 2099.
Tulleken will replace Jeremy Podeswa, who was originally set to direct the first two episodes but was forced to leave due to scheduling conflicts as Blade Runner 2099's production schedule changed due to film industry strikes, Deadline reports.
Filming for the series was scheduled for last summer in Belfast. In May, a few weeks after the writers' strike, it was revealed that the shutdown had delayed production on Blade Runner 2099, likely until spring 2024. Northern Ireland Screen said at the time that the project had been “prepared on site in Belfast for many months.”
In October it became known that filming was moving from Belfast. Since then, the show's studio, Alcon, has set up production in Prague, which has been able to attract producers from major sci-fi series for streaming, including Foundation on Apple TV+.
Filming on 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 film, serving as executive producer. The series will be a direct continuation of the sequel Blade Runner 2049, which was directed by Danny Villeneuve in 2017.
Silka Louise is the writer, executive producer and showrunner of the series. Michael Green, who wrote the script for Blade Runner 2049, serves as executive producer along with Alcon co-founders Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson, Alcon head of television Ben Roberts, David W. Zucker and Clayton Krueger with Scott Free, Cynthia Yorkin, Frank Giustra and Isa Dick Geckett . Tom Speziali, who was part of the show's writing team, also serves as executive producer along with 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. He is repped by WME, Grandview and Independent.
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