Ridley Scott has never been one to hold back on criticizing something he doesn’t like, or feels could be done better…and his candid views even extend to his own failings with the Alien franchise. While speaking to Deadline, the director reflected on the 45-year-old sci-fi horror saga, and how he partly takes responsibility for the franchise’s failings.
In 1979, Scott created a sci-fi masterpiece with Alien, a claustrophobic horror movie that held back on excessive action and gore, but delivered a tense and unforgettable cinematic experience. However, when the second movie was released in 1986 under the simple title of Aliens, it was James Cameron behind the camera, and the movie he delivered was completely different to Scott’s tight, closed in original. During his interview, Scott explained that after Aliens, things began to head south. He recalled:
“Jim’s was a very good sequel. Three and four became more and more difficult. As it unrolled, I thought, oh God, they’re f*cking it up. And then from that, honestly, I said okay, that’s done.”
Ridley Scott Had Hoped To Revive Alien With Prometheus
As Scott said, several of the sequels that followed Aliens failed to please fans in the same way as the first two movies. Several variants of the Xenomorph were introduced, and the franchise also crossed over with another sci-fi classic, Predator, for two divisive movies. Then, 15 years after Alien: Resurrection seemed to have become the final movie in the linear Alien franchise, Scott did the unthinkable and directed Prometheus – a prequel to his original 1979 movie.
Oddly, the connection to the Alien franchise was originally hidden, but when the connection was revealed, it garnered a mixed response among fans. Scott tried to bridge the gap between Prometheus and Alien a little more with Alien: Covenant, but again, the response was not as expected and the planned prequel trilogy remains incomplete. In the grand scheme of things, Scott partly blames himself for all of this, as he knows he should not have let the franchise go so far from his sight. He said:
“Years later, I saw this bloody film that they keep playing every night somewhere on the globe, on all the platforms. There’s life in the beast, yet. That’s why I sat down with the great writer [Damon] Lindelof, and we reconstructed a resurrection of the era, with Prometheus, and how it evolved from Alien. But we were asleep at the wheel. My advisors, who frankly no longer are with me, were asleep at the wheel, certainly. And I partly blame myself, except I was busy making other films. And so it was let go and it shouldn’t have been. When you resurrect, you better put your nail into the wall.”
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Despite fans believing the Alien franchise to be completely done with Disney’s acquisition of Fox, who previously owned the IP, this year’s Alien: Romulus became one of the best performing movies in the entire saga, both in terms of box office and reviews. Next for the franchise is Noah Hawley’s TV series Alien: Earth, which is heading to the small screen in 2025 with some very high expectations as the first Alien movie to be set on Earth.
- Runtime
- 117 minutes
- Writers
- Dan O’Bannon
- Budget
- $11 million
- Studio(s)
- 20th Century Fox
- Distributor(s)
- 20th Century Fox