''Blade Runner (a movie)'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

novella by Beat Generation author

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

, first published in 1979. The novella began as a story treatment for a proposed film adaptation of

Alan E. Nourse Alan Edward Nourse (August 11, 1928 – July 19, 1992) was an American science fiction writer and physician. He wrote both juvenile and adult science fiction, as well as nonfiction works about medicine and science. His SF works sometimes focused ...

's novel ''

The Bladerunner ''The Bladerunner'' (also published as ''The Blade Runner'') is a 1974 science fiction novel by Alan E. Nourse, about underground medical services and smuggling. It was the source for the title, but no major plot elements, of the 1982 film ''B ...

''. A later edition published in the 1980s changed the formatting of the title to ''Blade Runner, a movie''. Burroughs' treatment is set in the early 21st century and involves mutated viruses and "a medical-care apocalypse". The term "blade runner" referred to a smuggler of medical supplies, e.g. scalpels. The title was later bought for use in Ridley Scott's 1982 science fiction film, ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...

''. The plot of that film was based on Philip K. Dick's ''

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? ''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' (retroactively retitled ''Blade Runner: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' in some later printings) is a dystopian science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in 1968. Th ...

'' and not the Nourse and Burroughs source material, although the film does incorporate the term "blade runner", though with a different meaning from in the novel.

Adaptations

''Blade Runner (a movie)'' was loosely adapted as the 1983 film '' Taking Tiger Mountain'', after co-director Tom Huckabee purchased the rights to the novella from Burroughs for $100.

Adaptations

References

Further reading