Harrison Ford signed up for 'Blade Runner 2049' after deciding it was the right time to revisit his character Rick Deckard.

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford

The Hollywood legend played the lead in Sir Ridley Scott's original 1982 cult classic and reprises his role in the upcoming sequel directed Denis Villeneuve.

When he was approached to star in the film, Ford said yes because Deckard has such a "strong emotional" connection to the story.

Speaking to IMAX on Facebook, the 74-year-old actor said: "The character Rick Deckard is woven into the story in a way that intrigued me. There's a very strong emotional context. The relationship between the character Deckard, that I play, and other characters is fascinating. I think it's interesting to develop a character after a period of time - to revisit a character."

Ford's return to Deckard comes after he reprised one of his most famous big screen roles; portraying space smuggler Han Solo in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens', the long-awaited sequel to the original trilogy.

'Blade Runner 2049' is set 30 years after the original film and follows an LAPD officer named K, played by Ryan Gosling, in search of Deckard who has been missing since the events of the first movie.

The cast is packed with big name stars such as Jared Leto from 'Suicide Squad', Dave Bautista of 'Guardians of the Galaxy' fame, Robin Wight star of TV show 'House of Cards' and Mackenzie David from 'Halt and Catch Fire'.

As well as bringing back Deckard, Villeneuve is also resurrecting another character from the original movie.

Edward James Olmos, who played Eduardo Gaff in the original, will be reprising his role.

Revealing his casting, Olmos, 70, said: "This is the first time that I'm telling the whole world that yes I am going to be Eduardo Gaff in 'Blade Runner 2049'. I signed a seven-page non-disclosure contract. I did, my manager did, my agent did, everybody did. I couldn't talk about it. I couldn't talk about it to anybody."

'Blade Runner 2049' is set for an October 2017 release.

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