Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Rick Deckard in the Blade Runner sequel and Prisoners director Denis Villeneuve is in negotiations to get behind the camera for Alcon Entertainment. Original writers Hampton Fancher and Michael Green confirmed the news in an announcement on Thursday, saying the sequel would take place several decades after the 1982 classic.

Harrison FordHarrison Ford will return as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner 2

Ford, who also reprises his role as Han Solo in the forthcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, recently said the Blade Runner 2 script was the "best thing he's ever read".

The original movie took place in a dystopian Los Angeles in 2019, though plot details for the sequel are unknown.

Ridley Scott will return as producer, alongside Alcon's Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson.

More: Ridley Scott will make Blade Runner 2 after The Martian

Scott had previously suggested to Yahoo Movies that Ford's schedule was holding up production on the sequel.

"It's on the charts. I can't say when that would be yet, because of [Ford's] thing with Star Wars. It's a sequel - it's what happens next. It's quite surprisingly clever," he said. 

"We are honored that Harrison is joining us on this journey with Denis Villeneuve, who is a singular talent, as we experienced personally on 'Prisoners,'" Kosove and Johnson said in a joint statement. "Hampton and Michael, with Ridley Scott, have crafted a uniquely potent and faithful sequel to one of the most universally celebrated films of all time, and we couldn't be more thrilled with this amazing, creative team."

More: Looks like Blade Runner 2 is a thing. And Harrison Ford is ready.

Villeneuve is one of the most talented filmmakers in the game and was Oscar nominated for Incendies before directing Jake Gyllenhaal in the Rubix-cube of a movie that was Enemy. More recently, he helmed the mystery-thriller Prisoners and is currently working on Sicario with Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benecio Del Toro, which opens on September 18.