Fede Alvarez nervously showed a director’s cut of Alien: Romulus to Ridley Scott. His response was, allegedly, “It’s f_cking great.”
Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe director Fede Alvarez is the latest filmmaker to take over the Alien franchise, following in the footsteps of Ridley Scott, James Cameron, David Fincher and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Called Alien: Romulus, Alvarez’s entry is billed as a standalone film in the franchise, and therefore unrelated to Ridley Scott’s prequels, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.
Filming on Alien: Romulus ended in July, and speaking on stage with Guillermo del Toro at the Directors Guild of America Latino Summit this week (as spotted by AVPGalaxy), Alvarez said that his director’s cut is now complete. He also revealed that he’s recently shown the early version of the film to Ridley Scott, who serves as its co-producer.
Understandably, given that Scott made the original Alien, Alvarez was somewhat nervous about the famously irascible filmmaker’s reaction.
“I finished the director’s cut a week ago and had to go through the incredible tense process of obviously sending to Ridley,” Alvarez told del Toro. “I wanted him to see it before anybody. And everyone gave me the heads-up that Ridley is really tough. He’s really tough, particularly if it has something to do with his movies…”
Read more: Why Fede Alvarez’s Alien could give the series the clean break it needs
Alvarez then said he was keen to meet Scott so that he could get his verdict face-to-face. “Even if he was going to say, ‘You destroyed my legacy,’ I wanted to be in front of him and see him in the eye.'”
According to Alvarez, Scott insisted on watching the film on his own – even studio executives weren’t allowed into the screening room, apparently – and so Alvarez was left alone, anxiously awaiting the verdict.
“…then he walks into the room and he [says], ‘Fede, what can I say? It’s fucking great.'”
Scott then went on to talk to Alvarez “for an hour about what he liked about it,” and added that, “the dialogue is great.”
You can see the full Latino Summit talk on YouTube, and the Alien section can be found at around the 18 minute mark. Alvarez’s relief is plain to see.
Should we take Scott’s words with a grain of salt? Possibly. Lest we forget, James Cameron was effusive about Terminator: Genisys before its release, describing it as a “renaissance” for a franchise he first established in 1984. The audience reaction to that film was negative enough that its planned sequels were dropped.
Still, it’s certainly true that Ridley Scott doesn’t mince his words if a film isn’t to his liking. He described Blade Runner 2049, post-release, as “fucking way too long.”
According to Alvarez, he was also lukewarm on Top Gun: Maverick, Joseph Kosinski’s sequel to the late Tony Scott’s 1985 blockbuster. Ridley Scott’s verdict? “My brother’s was the original. This one’s, like, ‘Meh.'”
Alien: Romulus is due for release on 16 August 2024.
