Ryan Gosling excited for role in 'Blade Runner 2'

LOS ANGELES, May 11 (UPI) -- Ryan Gosling is gearing up for Blade Runner 2.

The 35-year-old actor discussed the Blade Runner sequel in an interview with IGN. Gosling will co-star with Harrison Ford, who played Rick Deckard in the original 1982 film directed by Ridley Scott.

"First of all, as a fan of the film, the fact that Ridley and Harrison wanted to extend that story and keep going was exciting enough," Gosling said of what attracted him to the project.

"Then, the idea of getting to be an actor and involved in that in some way? I kind of can't believe it," he admitted. "I'll believe it when we're there doing it."

Scott will produce Blade Runner 2, with Prisoners and Sicario helmer Denis Villeneuve as director. The sequel will also feature Robin Wright, Dave Bautista and Sylvia Hoeks, and open in theaters Oct. 6, 2017.

"We talked at length about what it could be, and came up with a pretty strong three-act storyline," Scott previously told Variety of writing the movie with Hampton Fancher.

"It all makes sense in terms of how it relates to the first one," he added. "Harrison is very much part of this one, but really it's about finding him; he comes in in the third act."

The original Blade Runner is based on the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. The film takes place in dystopian Los Angeles, where Deckard, a "Blade Runner," hunts down bioengineered beings known as replicants.

Gosling will next star with Russell Crowe in The Nice Guys, which opens May 20. The actor welcomed his second child, daughter Amada, with Eva Mendes in April, and was able to keep the birth secret until this week.