Rutger Hauer starring in the original Bladerunner

In a move that’s certain to set sci-fi and action film fan’s pulses racing, Warner Brothers has announced award winning sci-fi director, Michael Bay, to head production in the long awaited prequel to Ridley Scott’s cyberpunk classic.

Michael Bay – whose film credits include such groundbreaking works as Bad Boys (1995), The Island (2005), and Transformers (2007) – is no stranger to the sci-fi genre. He was reportedly first choice of Warner Brothers president, Alan F. Horn, from a shortlist of directors including Ridley Scott, Chris Nolan and Andrei Zvyagintsev.

In an interview with Inside Film, Bay talks of his initial doubts taking on such a seminal work, but tells how they soon evaporated when he realised the potential for reimagining Scott’s vision.

“When you consider what Ridley could’ve done on that movie with today’s technology, it dawns on you that the Blade Runner we’ve all seen is really just the tip of the iceberg,” enthused Bay.

“The original movie was great in the 80s, but try watching it now next to movies like Attack of the Clones and The Last Airbender, and it really does feel lacking by today’s standards.”

When asked about casting, Bay’s keeping tight-lipped for now, although sources inside Hollywood say both Shia Leboeuf and Will Smith are in callbacks for the part of Rick Deckard, while Chris Tucker and Nicholas Cage have both been hinted at for the part of sadistic Replicant, Roy Batty (expected to be renamed: Roy Barry).

Asked how he plans to update the characters: “In the original, the robot characters really didn’t look or act much like robots – due to a lack of CGI options in the 80s. So you really had to use your imagination there. That was the first thing I wanted to address, and while I can’t give much away yet, lets just say you’re gonna know the robots in this movie are robots from the 21st century!”

Bay’s also keeping tight-lipped about rumours he’s planning to shoot in a newly developed 2.1:1 aspect ratio – adding an extra 2 feet onto the width of the cinema screen to accommodate the explosions in the climactic finale. All we know is that with Bay at the helm, this will be one film you won’t be sleeping through. “As we’re already saying: 500% more blades! 300% more running!”

Blade Runner 3D is set to begin shooting in summer.