Ryan Gosling: 'New Blade Runner is a huge responsibility'

Ryan Gosling finds it "unbelievable" that he's starring in the upcoming Blade Runner sequel.

The new film, directed by Denis Villeneuve, is set several decades after the 1982 original, with filming scheduled to begin this month (Jul16). Headlined by the Canadian-born star, as well as Harrison Ford and Robin Wright, the screenplay has been written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, and succeeds the sci-fi story based on Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

Speaking about making the new film, Ryan says the narrative is definitely an extension of the original film, and it should not be considered to be a remake but a sequel. But as the plot details and character arcs are currently under wraps, he couldn't divulge too much about the narrative.

"As an actor, to be part of a project like this is unbelievable. It's unreal, but they are being very secret about the project," he told SciFiNow magazine, adding that he's always been a fan of the sci-fi genre. "Obviously Blade Runner is a seminal science fiction movie. It really set the bar, and is probably one of the most borrowed-from science fiction films, aside from Alien."

Working on such a high-profile project draws a lot of attention from fans, and Ryan feels duty-bound to make the film as engaging as possible. But making the film into a hit shouldn't be an issue considering the level of talent associated with the project, including producer Ridley Scott, Sicario director Denis Villeneuve and veteran cinematographer Roger Deakins.

"There's certainly a lot of excitement around the project," he admits. "There's a huge responsibility as well. I think we all feel that, but we're not doing it on our own. We're doing it with Ridley (Scott) and with Harrison's help, and they are experts."

The Blade Runner sequel is slated to be released on 5 October next year (17).