Ridley Scott is finishing up work on Gladiator II – and he’s still not happy about not getting the chance to make Alien and Blade Runner’s first sequels.
It’s not an unfamiliar drum for director Ridley Scott to beat, but he’s been chatting about being cut out of the first raft of sequels to his 1979 classic Alien. Scott made the original, of course, but it was James Cameron who eventually got the nod to direct 1986’s Aliens. For Ridley Scott, he never got the opportunity at the time.
Chatting to Vanity Fair he admits that “I was slow out the starting gate” when it came to directing sequels. Currently putting the finishing touches to this winter’s Gladiator II, Scott argues “I should have done the sequels to Alien and to Blade Runner”. Yet it notes that “at the time, I didn’t want to go through it again. So Jim Cameron came in – and then David Fincher – on Alien”.
David Fincher, of course, directed Alien 3, and it wasn’t until 2012’s Prometheus that he’d return to direct an Alien film, before opting for another with 2017’s Alien: Covenant.
Reflecting on the fact that he’s the “author of two franchises” and that most directors of his level “don’t let that stuff go”, he also considers that he was early in his career when he made Alien and Blade Runner. As such “I was never told or asked”, when it came to sequels. “You can imagine I wasn’t happy”.
He usually comes across so upbeat though: it takes a bit of a leap of faith to imagine him unhappy, but we’ll give it a go.
His previous experience with sequels is what’s led him to make sure he’s very much behind the camera for the new Gladiator movie. He’s also involved with the new Blade Runner TV series, and the director of the incoming Alien: Romulus – Fede Alvarez – was particularly keen to seek Scott out and keep him involved.
The full interview with Ridley Scott – and he’s got another press tour coming up! – can be found here.
