'Blade Runner' Would Have Flopped If Not For One Theater's Mistake

You really can't consider yourself a sci-fi geek if you don't have at least half a dozen viewings of Ridley Scott's 1982 film Blade Runner under your belt. The wildly futuristic flick starring Harrison Ford has long been considered one of the most iconic speculative films of all time, but even hardcore fans may not realize the movie almost never happened. The cinema classic would've completely flopped if it weren't for a careless mistake.

The One And Only Harrison

Fresh off his Star Wars success, Harrison Ford was a hot commodity in Hollywood. Steven Spielberg pulled another memorable performance from him in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the world knew he could carry a movie. That's why, one year after Raiders, a new director approached him with an offer.

Ridley Scott, The Man

That man was Ridley Scott. Throughout his years in Hollywood, he's cranked out a ton of blockbuster hits in all sorts of genres. And, he specifically carved himself out as a magnificent science fiction visionary with one particular spine-chilling tale in 1979.

Horrifying Audiences Worldwide

Fans were treated to a terrifying experience as they watched Sigourney Weaver try to fend off a horrific extraterrestrial in the sci-fi classic Alien. Scott was clearly an adept storyteller when it came to science fiction, and he wanted leading man Harrison Ford for his next big sci-fi undertaking a few years after Alien blew audiences away.

The Blade Runner Premise

Blade Runner was a bleak vision of the future where Harrison Ford played a protagonist tasked with ridding the world of rogue androids in the year 2019 — yea, pretty freakin' cool. The whole idea behind the story was incredibly complex, but Harrison had one request before he agreed to sign on.