F. Scott Fitzgerald is often (mis)quoted as having written, “There are no second acts in American lives.” What he really wrote was more along the lines of, “I used to think there were no second acts, but...”
Hampton Fancher, who shares a screenwriting credit and has the sole story credit on ‘Blade Runner 2049’ doesn’t just prove there are second acts, but third and fourth ones. He’s been a professional flamenco dancer in Spain, a successful actor in TV westerns, and had a sparse but notable screenwriting career in the late ’70s, which included adapting Philip K. Dick’s ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” into the iconic sci-fi classic, ‘Blade Runner’.
He had a falling out with director Ridley Scott, however, and nearly had his name removed from the original film’s credits. That didn’t do his career much good; from the late ’70s until he was in his 70s, the phone hardly rang. But when it finally did, in 2012, it was Ridley Scott
Scott, who also directed the recent ’Runner reboot is another near-octogenarian.
Fancher spent much of the time between the two Blade Runner movies teaching screenwriting. He’s the subject of a documentary film called ‘Escapes’, although at the rate he’s going, that too may spin off a sequel.
Fancher says that he’s got a few more finished screenplays. “Since they’re knocking on the door again, maybe I’ll open it.”