Ridley Scott’s Alien is widely considered one of the most influential science fiction and horror films of all time. Alien received mixed reviews at the time of release but managed to find success at the box office. Scott was meticulous with the film and did everything in his capacity to bring his vision to the screen.
However, after the film, Scott largely stayed away from the franchise for the sequels. He wasn’t too appreciative of the sequel films, although he may have had a few kind words to say about James Cameron’s Aliens. Scott, who recently served as a producer on Alien: Romulus, confirmed that he will not be directing any more Alien films.
Ridley Scott wasn’t exactly a fan of the sequels to his first Alien movie
During his most recent interview with ScreenRant, Ridley Scott talked about his past, present, and future with the Alien franchise. Scott’s film was a landmark in the sci-fi horror genre, setting the standards for films that followed. In his own words, he had created a film as big as George Lucas’s Star Wars or the Star Trek movies.
After his first film hit the theater, a sequel plan was almost immediately on the table. However, there was a major lack of enthusiasm from 20th Century Fox to make it. Many Fox execs believed that neither the box office nor the audience interest showed that the film warranted a sequel.
Moreover, the production company of Alien, Brandywine, sued Fox for unpaid profits from the film. In a Hollywood-style accounting, Fox had deemed that the $100 million-grossing film was a box office disaster. It was only when Lawrence Gordon took over as studio head at Fox that a sequel under James Cameron was put into action.
While Aliens ran into problems during production due to the conflicts between Cameron and the British crew at Pinewood Studios, it was a critically acclaimed film. However, neither David Fincher’s third film nor Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Alien Resurrection was able to emulate the success of Ridley Scott and Cameron’s versions.
During the interview, Scott shared that he was amazed at the franchise “spreading like wildfire” currently. He shared that he pretty much believed that the franchise was dead after the fourth film. He shared that while his and Cameron’s versions were good, the rest were not as good. He was disappointed, thinking that it was the end of the franchise that could have been as big as Star Wars or Star Trek. He shared:
It is spreading like wildfire, and not really. I think I felt it was deadened after 4. I think mine was pretty damn good, and I think Jim’s was good, and I have to say the rest were not very good. And I thought, ‘F***, that’s the end of a franchise which should be as important as bloody Star Trek or Star Wars,’ which I think is phenomenal.
Interestingly, it wasn’t the first time that Scott had expressed his disappointment with the Alien sequel films. He earlier told THR that his biggest mistake with Alien or Blade Runner was that he didn’t negotiate an ownership stake in the IP. He shared, “I watched Alien 2, 3, and 4 and realized, ‘Oh, you just ran that firmly into the ground.’”
He shared that while Aliens was fun, Cameron had allegedly admitted to him that he couldn’t do what Scott did with the first film. Scott shared, “Jim said to me, ‘I’ve watched f**king Alien 19 times. I can never be as frightening. The cat’s out of the bag, we’ve seen the shark. So I’m going to go more military.’” Scott added, “And that’s what he did. But it was sweet that he said that.”
Ridley Scott shares why he is perfect for the Alien IP and credits himself with resurrecting the franchise
Ridley Scott further shared with ScreenRant that two inspirations helped him figure out Alien when the film was offered to him out of the blue. He had watched George Lucas’s Star Wars a year before he was offered the sci-fi horror film. He shared, “I think the first one by George is seminal… To me, it was that important in terms of film language and where you go next.”
He also shared that he was reading the comics of French comic artist Jean Giraud, also known as Moebius, whom he later brought in to work on the film’s storyboard. However, he shared that he was kind of offended when he realized that he was the “fifth f**king choice.” He shared:
Why you offered Robert Altman Alien, God only knows. Altman said, ‘Are you kidding? I’m not going to do this,’ and I went, ‘Are you kidding? I have to do this,’ because it borders and verges on heavy metal. So that’s where I went, and then it died.
After the fourth film, it took more than a decade for Scott to realize that he wanted to resurrect the film. He shared that it prompted him and Damon Lindelof to come up with a script for Prometheus, the prequel to the Alien films. After Prometheus‘s success, he also directed Alien: Covenant, which wasn’t as successful as its predecessor.
Interestingly, while Ridley was planning Prometheus, Neill Blomkamp had plans to revive the franchise with a fifth Alien film. It would have served as a sequel to James Cameron’s Aliens and would’ve completely ignored the events of David Fincher’s film or Alien Resurrection.
Why does Ridley Scott say he will never make another Alien movie?
Alien: Covenant was the final straw that forced Ridley Scott to hang up his creative work for the franchise. He shared with THR that even after resurrecting the franchise with two prequel films, he “stupidly didn’t lock it up.” He shared that he blamed it on people who tried to take advantage of him and added that he had parted company with them.
During his interview with ScreenRant, Ridley Scott shared that he had done enough for the franchise. He hoped that it would go further without him. He shared, “Where it’s going now, I think I’ve done enough, and I just hope it goes further.” While he has stepped down from directing duties, it doesn’t mean that Scott has abandoned the franchise.
When Fede Álvarez made the critically acclaimed spinoff film, Alien: Romulus, Scott’s Scott Free Productions was one of the production houses behind the film. He served as the film’s executive producer. Álvarez is planning a sequel to this film, which will also probably include Scott as a producer.
Scott is also one of the executive producers on the FX TV show from the franchise, titled Alien: Earth. Noah Hawley’s show is set two years before Scott’s first film in the franchise, and will star Sydney Chandler, Timothy Olyphant, Alex Lawther, Essie Davis, and Samuel Blenkin. Besides these producer roles, it is unlikely that Scott would return to the franchise as a director.
All films in the Alien franchise are currently available for streaming on Hulu.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
