Production on Blade Runner 2099 is now into its fourth month in Prague, with filming slated to run through December. The majority of production has occurred within Barrandov Studio, but shooting has also taken place on location in Prague, including scenes shot within the Žižkov Tunnel, as well as areas outside the capital.
This week, from Oct. 14-17, Blade Runner 2099 is filming in Jablonec nad Nisou, in particular within the building that once housed the city’s municipal spa but has long been neglected. Portions of Budovatelů Street in the city center are closed due to the production.
“Our company searches for and offers interesting spaces for shooting films throughout the country,” Marek Řídel from Film Makers, s.r.o., which is coordinating the local shoot of Blade Runner 2099 in the Czech Republic, told Jablonec nad Nisou officials.
“The building of the former Jablonec city spa was one of many. The foreign filmmakers were so impressed with the space and atmosphere that they decided to film their work here in Jablonec.”
Constructed between 1908 and 1909, the Jablonec nad Nisou municipal spa was designed by architect Robert Hemmrich and dedicated to Emperor Franz Joseph. It opened in May 1910 and was a key cultural and recreational facility in the city throughout much of the 20th century, but suffered damages in the 1960s and was never fully restored.
The spa closed for good in the mid-1990s, and numerous proposals to renovate the spa and convert it into another type of facility have failed to materialize. In recent years, the art group Artproprostor has staged art installations and projections within the spa to advocate for its restoration. A feasibility study on restoring the spa to its former glory is currently underway.
Blade Runner 2099 stars Hunter Schafer (Euphoria, Cuckoo) opposite Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once). While story details remain confidential, a leaked plot summary reveals that Schafer will take on the lead role as a replicant on the run. Yeoh will portray Olwen, a blade runner entangled in a conspiracy with far-reaching consequences for the city of Los Angeles in the year 2099.
Additional primary cast members for Blade Runner 2099 include Dimitri Abold (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) and Lewis Gribben (Masters of the Air) alongside recurring roles filled by Matthew Needham, Johnny Harris, Amy Lennox, Sheila Atim, Katelyn Rose Downey, and Daniel Rigby.
Blade Runner 2099 is set 50 years after the events of Blade Runner 2049 and 80 years after the original Blade Runner, which took place in 2019. While Blade Runner stars Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford are unlikely to play large roles in the series, their characters could conceivably appear in cameos or flashbacks.
Ridley Scott, director of the original Blade Runner, returns as executive producer for Blade Runner 2099, alongside David W. Zucker and Clayton Krueger of Scott Free Productions. Silka Luisa (Halo) is the series showrunner, with Jonathan van Tulleken (Shogun) directing the first two episodes and serving as an executive producer.
Lead photo: Hunter Schafer in Cuckoo (2024), Jablonec nad Nisou municipal spa via Facebook / Artproprostor
One Response
Greetings from Los angeles! Thanks for the updates about filming on BR2099, appreciate it