Ridley Scott Condemns Bad ‘Alien’ Sequels: “The End of a Franchise”
Long before Scott’s Gladiator came along, Alien was the director’s greatest sci-fi achievement which he’s now ready to abandon completely — here’s what he said about the “deadened” franchise.
Ridley Scott might not be the most reliable source when it comes to historical accuracy, but he was certainly one of the founding fathers of the modern sci-fi genre.
Scott’s magnum opus, a 1979 sci-fi horror Alien, has been one of the most influential movies throughout decades, eventually spawning several movie sequels and a TV show set to be released on Hulu this year.
Yes, but: even with all box office and critical success that the franchise keeps to this day, Ridley Scott feels like he’s finally had enough of Alien — just because the hit sci-fi franchise didn’t accomplish the mission its creator always wanted it to.
Ridley Scott Says He’s “Done Enough” for the ‘Alien’ Franchise
Even though Scott wasn’t always at the helm of Alien-related movies, he was still attached to the franchise as one of the executive producers, also coming on board as one for Noah Hawley’s TV series Alien: Earth which will premiere on Hulu.
Still, Scott’s best efforts to bring the sci-fi franchise to an even higher level than it actually had weren’t really successful as, according to him, Alien was always meant to be something grand just on par with other similar franchises.
“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. At least, I think the first one by George is seminal–it was as seminal as 2001. To me, it was that important in terms of film language and where you go next”, Scott admitted in an interview with ScreenRant.
He then added that at some point the entire franchise went in a completely wrong direction which Scott himself had tried to avoid; now, however, the director feels like there’s nothing else he can do for his brainchild.
“So that's where I went, and then it died. A number of years after, I said, "I'm going to resurrect this," [and wrote] Prometheus from scratch–a blank sheet of paper. Damon Lindelof and I sat then hammered out Prometheus. It was very present and very welcome. The audience really wanted more. I said, "It needs to fly." No one was coming for it, [and] I went once again [and made] Alien Covenant, and it worked too. Where it's going now, I think I've done enough, and I just hope it goes further”, Scott said.
‘Alien’ Is Getting a TV Prequel This Year
Despite Ridley Scott’s regrets, the franchise is still moving forward with expanding the original movie’s universe.
Set to premiere on Hulu on August 12, Alien: Earth is the second TV instalment in the Alien franchise, coming as a prequel and believed to have its events unfolding two years before the events of the original film.
