It was not until the Hollywood people
brought in David W. Peoples (as a screenwriter
for a re-write of the film), that Philip felt
much more at ease with the project. Peoples was
a respectable writer at that time in Hollywood,
and Philip thought he did a good job on the new
screenplay. Peoples diligently studied the
novel and transferred the essential thematic
material of the book and created the screenplay
for the film.

The original, pre-Peoples screenplay, was
full of 'Chandleresque' voice-over narration
provided by Rick Deckard which was detested by
Philip - and also removed by Ridley Scott for
the 1992 director's cut version. The original
film as shot and previewed, contained no voice-
overs at all and ended with Rachael's and
Deckard's fate unresolved; a lift door closing

The concept of the novel - who is human? -
has been integrated into the film's climax by
this changing of roles. The hunter, Roy Batty,
by releasing his helpless quarry, Rick Deckard,
has performed a humane act, even though Batty's
character throughout the film has been the
hunted prey of the bounty hunter Deckard. For
Philip K. Dick, the book and the film's
screenplay finally began to reinforce each other
rather than appear as two separate entities.

In the December of 1981, Philip K. Dick was
shown twenty minutes of rough-cut footage by
Ridley Scott himself, and was quite impressed.
On the 2nd of March 1982, Dick had a stroke,
followed by more severe strokes and a heart
attack. That was the last footage he saw of the
film. It was in his contract to be featured in
the credits of the film, but his name does not
appear, only a dedication at the end of the
final credits.