Alcon Entertainment announced today that Dutch actress Sylvia Hoeks has been tapped for a leading role alongside Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, Ana de Armas and Dave Bautista in the upcoming sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 Blade Runner. The announcement arrives from Alcon co-founders and co-CEO’s Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson.
Netherlands-born film, stage and television actress Sylvia Hoeks has starred in numerous Dutch and European television series and films, including the title role in the award-winning Tirza, a local box office hit directed by Rudolf van den Berg, which was the official Dutch entry for Best Foreign Language film in 2010. Hoeks has been nominated for and/or won several acting awards for leading and supporting roles, including in such films as Het Meisje en de Dood, Duska, and the box office hit The Storm, among others.
Sylvia Hoeks attended the prestigious Maastricht Theatre Academy in Holland. After graduation, she made her national breakthrough with the Jos Stelling film Duska (2007), for which she won a Golden Calf (the Dutch equivalent of the Oscars) at the annual Dutch Film Festival. She quickly became in-demand for both stage and screen directors and stars in prestigious Dutch TV series like Overspel and Bloedverwanten.
In 2013, Sylvia Hoeks starred in The Best Offer alongside Geoffrey Rush and directed by award-winning Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso). The film was a box office hit in several European countries and was nominated for Best Film at the European Film Awards.
“Sylvia is a radiant talent, a tremendous actress with great appeal in a wide variety of roles,” say Kosove and Johsnon. “Her addition to this vastly accomplished international cast is a perfect fit.”
The Blade Runner sequel is set several decades after the 1982 original, with Harrison Ford reprising his iconic role as Rick Deckard. The film is written by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green, and succeeds the initial story by Fancher and David Peoples based on Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Story details are not being revealed.
Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Prisoners) is directing the film, reuniting with multi-Oscar nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins (Sicario, Prisoners). Principal photography is scheduled to begin July 2016. The film will be released by Warner Bros. in North America and Sony Pictures Releasing International will distribute in all media for all overseas territories.
