— Ch. 1 · Origins And Adaptation History —
Blade Runner.
~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? sat on a shelf for years before anyone could make it into a movie. Martin Scorsese considered filming the book in the early 1970s but never secured the rights. Producer Herb Jaffe optioned the story shortly after its publication, yet Dick dismissed his son Robert's screenplay as terrible and maladroit. He told Robert he might beat him up at the airport or back at his apartment. Hampton Fancher finally optioned a script in 1977, and producer Michael Deeley convinced Ridley Scott to direct. Scott joined the project on the 21st of February 1980, after leaving the slow production of Dune. He pushed financing from $13 million to $15 million. Dick publicly criticized Fancher's draft for relying on clichés and simplifying the book's complex themes. David Peoples rewrote the script in 1981, smoothing dialogue and adding the progeria twist that gave replicants a four-year lifespan. Dick approved this version, saying it reinforced his original work beautifully. Filmways withdrew backing just days before shooting began, forcing Deeley to secure $21.5 million through Warner Bros., Sir Run Run Shaw, and Tandem Productions.
Production Challenges And Design
Principal photography started on the 9th of March 1981, and wrapped four months later in Los Angeles. The Bradbury Building served as a key location while Warner Bros. built street sets on their Burbank lot. Harrison Ford clashed with director Ridley Scott over creative control and the addition of voiceover narration. Ford called the voiceovers a nightmare and recorded them kicking and screaming. Crew members wore T-shirts mocking Scott during the filming process, sparking what became known as the T-shirt war. Scott responded with shirts reading Xenophobia Sucks. Production designer Lawrence G. Paull and art director David Snyder realized Syd Mead's sketches into physical reality. Mead designed the flying cars called spinners using aerodyne principles. Special effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull used multipass exposures and motion-controlled cameras to create the film's visual style. The team lit scenes, rewound film, and rerecorded up to sixteen times for certain shots. Test screenings led to changes including added voiceover and a happy ending that Scott disliked. The relationship between filmmakers and investors grew so difficult that Deeley and Scott were fired yet continued working on the final cut.