Fresh off having his role as the Joker in the current late summer superhero smash Suicide Squad reduced to a brief cameo, Oscar-winning actor Jared Leto has signed on to co-star in the untitled sequel to the 1982 sci-fi masterpiece Blade Runner.

Cameras are set to roll next month on the film that has been in development for years, with a release scheduled for later next year. Denis Villeneuve, the acclaimed filmmaker responsible for Prisoners, Sicario, and the upcoming Arrival, is directing the sequel from a screenplay penned by original Blade Runner scribe Hampton Fancher and former Heroes/Smallville producer Michael Green. Fancher based the original on the late Philip K. Dick‘s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

Although Leto’s role has yet to be revealed, he joins a cast headlined by Harrison Ford (returning as Rick Deckard) and Ryan Gosling that also includes Robin Wright (House of Cards), Mackenzie Davis (The Martian), Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips), David Dastmalchian (Ant-Man), Lennie James (The Walking Dead), and Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy).

Ridley Scott, the director of the original Blade Runner, has been shepherding the project through development as a producer. The cinematography is being handled by the great Roger Deakins, who previously shot Prisoners and Sicario for Villeneuve as well as most of the Coen Brothers’ finest features (including the recent Hail, Caesar!), so the sequel is sure to look amazing on the big screen.

The untitled Blade Runner sequel is being produced by Alcon Entertainment, with Warner Bros. distributing it in the U.S. and Sony taking overseas territories. It’s set for an American theatrical release on October 6, 2017.

[Source: Deadline]