Ridley Scott is about to have one of the biggest fall movie seasons of his career thanks to the release of two major new films: “The Last Duel” and “House of Gucci.” The former has already earned strong reviews out of the Venice Film Festival, while the latter features the acting return of Lady Gaga after her Oscar-nominated breakthrough in “A Star Is Born.” But even with two big films on the way, interviewers still can’t help but ask Scott about the past. Specifically, the “Alien” franchise.
During a recent interview with The Independent, Scott expressed a bit of disbelief over the reception to his “Alien” franchise revival. The filmmaker relaunched the franchise with 2012’s “Prometheus” and continued it with 2017’s “Alien: Covenant,” but the disappointing box office returns for the latter have more or less put the franchise in an indefinite hiatus.
As reported by The Independent: “[Scott is] more vocal about the ‘Alien’ franchise, which he resurrected with 2012’s origin story ‘Prometheus.’ ‘I never showed an alien in it” — it still made $404 million at the box office — ‘and the studio … said, “See, it didn’t do so well!” Really?’ He returned with 2017’s ‘Alien: Covenant,’ ‘put the aliens back in there,’ and the film made much less: $240m worldwide. ‘When you’ve got a marvelous beast, it does wear out and you have to actually think again.'”
While no “Alien” movies are in official development, cable network FX is currently developing a television series based on the property with “Fargo” and “Legion” showrunner Noah Hawley at the helm. Hawley has already gone on record saying the “Alien” television series is not centered around Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and takes place on Earth.
The Independent adds: “Wherever [the series goes], whatever they do, ‘It’ll never be as good as the first one,’ [Scott] grins. ‘That’s what I’ll say.'”
Will Scott ever get to bring the “Alien” franchise back to the big screen? In a 2020 interview with Forbes, the director teased that a new “Alien” movie was in the works but likely wouldn’t revisit the worlds set up by “Prometheus” and “Covenant.”
“That’s in process. We went down a route to try and reinvent the wheel with ‘Prometheus’ and ‘Covenant,’” Scott said at the time. “Whether or not we go directly back to that is doubtful because ‘Prometheus’ woke it up very well. But you know, you’re asking fundamental questions like, ‘Has the Alien himself, the facehugger, the chestburster, have they all run out of steam? Do you have to rethink the whole bloody thing and simply use the word to franchise?’ That’s always the fundamental question.”
During a recent interview with The Independent, Scott expressed a bit of disbelief over the reception to his “Alien” franchise revival. The filmmaker relaunched the franchise with 2012’s “Prometheus” and continued it with 2017’s “Alien: Covenant,” but the disappointing box office returns for the latter have more or less put the franchise in an indefinite hiatus.
As reported by The Independent: “[Scott is] more vocal about the ‘Alien’ franchise, which he resurrected with 2012’s origin story ‘Prometheus.’ ‘I never showed an alien in it” — it still made $404 million at the box office — ‘and the studio … said, “See, it didn’t do so well!” Really?’ He returned with 2017’s ‘Alien: Covenant,’ ‘put the aliens back in there,’ and the film made much less: $240m worldwide. ‘When you’ve got a marvelous beast, it does wear out and you have to actually think again.'”
While no “Alien” movies are in official development, cable network FX is currently developing a television series based on the property with “Fargo” and “Legion” showrunner Noah Hawley at the helm. Hawley has already gone on record saying the “Alien” television series is not centered around Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley and takes place on Earth.
The Independent adds: “Wherever [the series goes], whatever they do, ‘It’ll never be as good as the first one,’ [Scott] grins. ‘That’s what I’ll say.'”
Will Scott ever get to bring the “Alien” franchise back to the big screen? In a 2020 interview with Forbes, the director teased that a new “Alien” movie was in the works but likely wouldn’t revisit the worlds set up by “Prometheus” and “Covenant.”
“That’s in process. We went down a route to try and reinvent the wheel with ‘Prometheus’ and ‘Covenant,’” Scott said at the time. “Whether or not we go directly back to that is doubtful because ‘Prometheus’ woke it up very well. But you know, you’re asking fundamental questions like, ‘Has the Alien himself, the facehugger, the chestburster, have they all run out of steam? Do you have to rethink the whole bloody thing and simply use the word to franchise?’ That’s always the fundamental question.”
