First female lead in Blade Runner 2 cast

Los Angeles - Ana de Armas has signed up to the cast of Blade Runner 2.

The 27-year-old Cuban-Spanish actress has boarded the cast of the science fiction sequel to o Ridley Scott's 1982 classic, in one of three lead female roles.However, it's not clear who the Knock Knock star will play because movie bosses have remained tight lipped on the characters' names and plot lines.

Ana - whose other credits include Exposed alongside Keanu Reeves and a string of Spanish titles such as Sex, Party and Lies and The Boarding School - joins House of Cards' actress Robin Wright, Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford in the fantasy film.

The original starred the veteran actor as Rick Deckard, a burnt-out special police operative - known as a Blade Runner - who lives in a dystopian Los Angeles.
Rick takes on one last assignment to track down a rogue replicant - a genetically manufactured being used for dangerous work in Earth's colonies in outer space.

Production on the sequel is set to begin in July and news that Blade Runner 2 will be released earlier than expected.

Ridley is on board as an executive producer with Sicario director Denis Villeneuve helming the sequel from a screenplay by the original film's co-writer, Hampton Fancher, and Green Lantern co-writer Michael Green.

Speaking previously about the script and Harrison's involvement, Ridley said: "It's written and it's damn good. Of course it involves Harrison, who is a survivor after all these years. So yes, that will happen."