In an age when familiarity is preferential to the unknown, we are knee deep in a sea of cultural revivals. A buoyant Hollywood has become a replicating machine, capable of serving up the chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure. But this is one we’ve been in before; Blade Runner 2049 is the latest of these familiar adventures. And there’s a new trailer to remind us exactly why we’re going back to the future.

Shown originally as part of the CinemaCon presentation last month word quickly leaked out on the internet that this new footage of Denis Villenueve’s film was astonishing, and now we get to judge this for ourselves.

Blade Runner 2049
Ryan Gosling and HArrison Ford in Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049.

The dark star of the 80s sci-fi boom Blade Runner has a colourful history. The various cuts of the film have divided fans through the years. The much-lauded Final Cut took the many good decisions of Ridley Scott’s Director’s Cut (the silencing of Harrison Ford’s weary voice over, and the original ambigious ending restored) and turned them into a definitive version. This is the world we’re about the return to.

Ryan Gosling is our new lead in the world of the future. He is joined by other newcomers Ana de Armas, Robin Wright, Jared Leto, Dave Bautista and, of course a returning Harrison Ford. Edward James Olmos was also recently confirmed to be reprising his role as Gaff in the sequel. The Walking Dead’s Lennie James also appears in a small role, and he talked about the intense security on set when we talked to him last year.

Blade Runner 2049

Denis Villeneuve has previously commented on the rating of the film, reassuring fans that it’ll be as dark as the first.

“My producers are finding it fun to remind me that it will be one of the most expensive R-rated independent feature films ever made.”

He also suggested we may see more Blade Running in the future…

“I’m doomed, I love sci-fi. I have two more ideas now that I would love to do. [And] Blade Runner could go on… we’ll see how this one goes.”

Here’s our best look yet at the future of replicant hunting.

Blade Runner 2049 is set for release in UK cinemas on the 6th of October 2017.

Blade Runner 2049 Trailer

Blade Runner 2049 Synopsis

Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.