WWE wrestler-actor Dave Bautista confirms 'Blade Runner 2' casting

WWE wrestler-actor Dave Bautista posted a puzzling message on social media in relation to the Blade Runner. The 47-year-old actor is currently reprising Drax for James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

The message accompanied a photo of Bautista holding an origami unicorn, the same one that Harrison Ford's Rick Deckard once used in the original 1982 film, which was inserted by director Sir Ridley Scott to indicate Deckard is a replicant android.

I can't wait to share some really exciting news... pic.twitter.com/fI2VjDjcXM

— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) April 2, 2016

Hours later Bautista posted a video on Twitter confirming the news of being cast in the sequel.

I'm so excited to be able to share this news! Thank you for your support in everything I do. It's humbling. pic.twitter.com/1hlRfdLF6v

— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) April 4, 2016

The plot for the sequel is being kept under wraps, but it is believed to be set several decades after Scott's film, which depicted a dystopian Los Angeles in which replicants are used for dangerous work in Earth's colonies in outer space. 

Sicario filmmaker Denis Villeneuve is on board as director, working with a script penned by the original Blade Runner co-writer Hampton Fancher and Michael Green.

Ford will reprise his robot hunter character Rick Deckard for the long-awaited follow-up while Robin Wright  has also joined the cast. The film is expected to begin shooting in July. 

With ANI/PTI inputs.