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Updated: Ridley Scott Reminisces Alien for 40th Anniversary, Talks Franchise Future

Marking the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the original Alien, Director Ridley Scott had a chat with The Hollywood Reporter about his experiences regarding how Alien coalesced.

Those who have watched behind-the-scenes materials or read books regarding the film’s production may be familiar with the events described. Regardless, Scott revisiting them makes for an engaging read.

 Ridley Scott Reminisces Alien for 40th Anniversary, Talks Franchise Future

Sigourney Weaver, director Ridley Scott on the set of ALIEN, 1979, TM & Copyright (c) 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved.

Back in 1977, after having been invited to a showing of Star Wars and seeing the audience reaction, Scott saw the power of blockbuster Sci-Fi…

“The theater was positively boiling with expectation. I have never seen such audience participation,” remembers Scott. “Because I had a very good time in France doing The Duellists, I was seriously thinking about doing Tristan & Isolde next. So I looked at Star Wars and thought, ‘Why on earth am I even thinking about doing Tristan & Isolde when this guy is doing this kind of movie? And it literally stopped me in my tracks. I was depressed for three months — that’s my highest form of accolade — to get very depressed first, then get very competitive.”

“And suddenly, out of the blue, came this script called Alien,” he says. “And I’m still, to this day, baffled about how someone who is at Cannes seeing The Duellists had put two and two together and said, ‘You know what? You might want to meet this guy, because he may be the right one for Alien.’ That’s how it happened.”

Scott chronicles how ideas, casting, editing and release of the film progressed, and his collaborations with writer Dan O’Bannon and artist H.R. Giger.

 Ridley Scott Reminisces Alien for 40th Anniversary, Talks Franchise Future

According to Scott, talks are happening at 20th Century Fox, now owned by Disney, regarding where to take the films next.  He feels the franchise needs to evolve to move forward…

Ruminating on the immediate future of the Alien franchise, now that Disney has acquired 21st Century Fox, Scott confirms that there are discussions for future installments, but warns that if the basic premise of “the beast” does not evolve like the Xenomorph itself, the “joke” gets old.

“You get to the point when you say, ‘Okay, it’s dead in the water,’” he says. “I think Alien vs. Predator was a daft idea. And I’m not sure it did very well or not, I don’t know. But it somehow brought down the beast. And I said to them, ‘Listen, you can resurrect this, but we have to go back to scratch and go to a prequel, if you like.’ So we go to Prometheus, which was not bad actually. But you know, there’s no alien in it, except the baby at the end that showed, itself, the possibility. I mean, it had the silhouette of an alien, right? The alien [origin concept] is uniquely attached to Mother Nature. It simply comes off a wood beetle that will lay eggs inside some unsuspecting insect. And in so doing, the form of the egg will become the host for this new creature. That’s hideous. But that was what it was. And you can’t keep repeating that because the joke gets boring.”

Scott has argued this before, multiple times, with comments like “the beast has almost run out,” and how he would like to shift the focus to what he perceives as a more dangerous threat: Artificial Intelligence. The topic of the Alien having run its course is something that Scott has gone back and forth on, around the release of Alien: Covenant he admitted that there was still an audience and fan appetite for the Xenomorph.

But again, it seems for Scott, the Alien as it was known in the original film has had its day. Head on over to The Hollywood Reporter to read the full article/interview.

Additionally, according to another interview with Variety, Scott’s third Alien prequel is actually being written:

“Alien” made $105 million worldwide back in 1979 — the adjusted gross is $283.5 million — and spawned three sequels, two crossovers with the “Predator” franchise, and two prequels, 2012’s “Prometheus” and 2017’s “Alien: Covenant,” both directed by Scott. A third prequel, which he will direct, is in the script phase.

Though this doesn’t come from a direct quote but Variety is a reputable website.

Keep a close eye on Alien vs. Predator Galaxy for the latest Alien news! You can follow us on FacebookTwitter and Instagram to get the latest on your social media walls. You can also join in with fellow Alien fans on our forums!



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Comments: 126
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  1. Immortan Jonesy
    Quote from: The Old One on May 31, 2019, 11:07:58 AM
    It's absolutely a reasonable goal, but you need a central idea to focus them around.
    Spoiler
    Just like Prometheus applying to the Alien Universe or Prometheus in general, the writing is the key element that either means it works or it doesn't work.

    Prometheus didn't work because of the writing,
    Alien worked in major part because of the writing, all the other aspects are important yes, but if the writing doesn't work- everything else is for nothing.
    As such is Prometheus' case.
    Going on a mission funded by an eccentric multi-billionaire Capitalist to find God, but finding an/several old God(s) instead/
    Mountains of Madness in the Alien universe. With a Pathogen that generates new horrors based upon circumstances of infection. + Philosophical pondering on the meaning of life in the face of such abject horror.

    It's a superb idea, wasted.
    [close]

    Spoiler
  2. Voodoo Magic
    Quote from: The Old One on May 31, 2019, 05:43:25 PM
    Prometheus didn't just miss the mark, it missed every mark.
    Regardless of having everything for a home run in place,
    apart from a clear idea of the film's objective and a well-written script.

    A perfect home run, whilst forgetting to pick up the ball.

    Resurrection was always going to be trite, brining back Ripley through cloning- are you serious?
    The best you could hope for is stylish trite, which is exactly what we got.

    May I ask politely for an American Football analogy instead? It's my favorite sport.

    Spoiler
    ;)  ;D
    [close]
  3. The Old One
    Prometheus didn't just miss the mark, it missed every mark.
    Regardless of having everything for a home run in place,
    apart from a clear idea of the film's objective and a well-written script.

    A perfect home run, whilst forgetting to pick up the ball.

    Resurrection was always going to be trite, bringing back Ripley through cloning- are you serious?
    The best you could hope for is stylish trite, which is exactly what we got.
  4. Voodoo Magic
    Quote from: The Old One on May 31, 2019, 05:33:24 PM
    Yeah, could've been a sci-fi classic, sitting alongside 2001, Alien and The Thing. It had that potential.

    The Prometheus we got is embarrassing.

    So just because it could have been a classic but missed that benchmark, it's automatically a disaster, trash and embarrassing? And here you actually used to like Prometheus. :P

    Resurrection is much, much closer to those comments than Prometheus in my opinion. We'll agree to disagree on all parts.  ;)
  5. The Old One
    Yeah, should/could've been a sci-fi classic, sitting alongside 2001, Alien and The Thing. It had that potential.

    The Prometheus we got is embarrassing.
  6. The Old One
    Nah, Prometheus is trash.

    It sits alongside VIII-TLJ, GoT-S8, SWPrequelTrilogy and The Hobbit Prequel Trilogy.
    The shelf of immense wasted potential, scripts full of holes and bizarre acting caricatures.
  7. The Old One
    As I said, already discussed to death.
    Which do you like better? is not Which is better? -anyway.
    I don't see why you'd even bring it up frankly, I wasn't discussing the "Prometheus Vs Covenant" argument.

  8. The Old One
    The reason Prometheus' sequel was received as is, regardless of being a superior film,
    and more internally consistent- is already discussed to death.

    Quote from: The Old One on Jan 24, 2019, 10:33:28 PM
    Lacklustre trailers, title.
    With the awareness that Prometheus was crap, a sense of "Oh you won't fool me this time, Ridley Scott!" was in the air,
    which most likely contributed to it's sequel's decrease in commercial success despite IMO, being a superior film and script.
    And a concept that we'd seen before.
    (From the trailers perspective.)

    It's more easy to see why audiences didn't have a interest when you compare it to what Prometheus did have.

    Prometheus' the return of Ridley Scott to Sci-Fi, a cast of hot new stars and an return to sense of legitimacy in that Prometheus was described as it's own thing in the Alien Universe, the complete opposite of the abortion of AVP/AVPR people had suffered five years prior- that had little to do with the series history creatively, aesthetically, narratively or thematically beyond the creature itself. 
    Quote from: The Old One on Apr 29, 2019, 04:45:12 PM
    It's because Prometheus was touted as Ridley Scott's return to Sci-Fi, a amazing cast and a superb trailer. Obscuring the awful script.

    So by the time the sequel appears, people are throughrally disenchanted.
    Quote from: The Old One on Jan 25, 2019, 04:08:26 PM
    The cast isn't superior to Prometheus' but they're better acted and directed.

    The editing in Prometheus is completely f**ked, Covenant's is not.

    Covenant knows what it is, Prometheus does not.

    Nah, Covenant- aside from the Xenomorph in the ship at the end being somewhat lacklustre but not always- is a superior film.
    (when it's standing up and moving around slowly like a man it's pretty fantastic and so is the visuals of the atmospheric decompression.)
    Aside from some of the production design of the human crafts, spacesuits and weaponry which I thought were much more interesting looking in Prometheus, Covenant is much, much better film it's probably just that because Prometheus doesn't know what it's about- in your head you can define it therefore in whatever way you want, whereas Covenant actually has a strong narrative theme. As many smarter than me have said, Covenant's a Romanticism; Gothic Horror in space and if you're not willing to approach it like you would that genre of literature, you're not going to be interested.
  9. Nostromo
    True, this was definitely not handled well at all..no idea why it was made so stupidly and no editor or anyone didn't see it's shortcoming.

    QuoteFifield and Millburn are intelligent scientists early

    Ok, but then later on wants us to believe they're idiots-?

    Loved most of the rest though.
  10. The Old One
    Again, all those elements mean absolutely nothing without a good script to work from, it doesn't matter how good your Director, actors and production is if the play's story is absolute garbage.

    And Prometheus script is a trashfire.
    Spoiler
    Alien or no Alien.

    Defying audience expectations is alright, as long as you have something of substance to replace it with. Prometheus' fault is it didn't. For heaven's sake, some of the dialogue alone: "Half a billion lightyears." -So barely out of our solar system Meredith Vickers?

    Doesn't exactly encourage the audience to engage with the lofty questions the film poses when they can't believe in the world because of it's lack of logic, or a solid character to attach to, and I don't mean attach to as in care for, I mean believable characterisation.

    The clearest example I can think of is that Prometheus wants us to believe, that both Fifield and Millburn are intelligent scientists early on- poking fun at the mission's ridiculous premise. (While using "Darwinism" as terminology, oh Lord.) Ok, but then later on wants us to believe they're idiots- neither is an unattainable goal. But which is it Prometheus?

    Don't get me started on how hard it is to take a antagonist (The Pathogen) seriously when it's "power" is so inconsistent and dependant upon what the plot requires, it doesn't make your antagonists or protagonists impressive or respectable. You respect them whenever they do everything right and still fail.
    [close]
  11. Nostromo
    If only they had made better use of the deacon or if Fifield had turned into one...


    Quote from: The Old One on May 31, 2019, 12:56:55 PM
    Quote from: Nostromo on May 31, 2019, 12:50:50 PM
    Prometheus is great seriously.

    No, no it isn't. It's seriously a disaster.
    A interesting idea totally wasted on a inane script.

    A disaster? Common man. It has some seriously nice settings, actors, world building, music, effects.

    Script could have obviously been better but I would definitely not call it a disaster. 9/10 for me. Without the dumb snake scene and dumbed down acting decisions and with the deacon creeping around it would have been a 10.
  12. The Old One
    It's absolutely a reasonable goal, but you need a central idea to focus them around.
    Spoiler
    Just like Prometheus applying to the Alien Universe or Prometheus in general, the writing is the key element that either means it works or it doesn't work.

    Prometheus didn't work because of the writing,
    Alien worked in major part because of the writing, all the other aspects are important yes, but if the writing doesn't work- everything else is for nothing.
    As such is Prometheus' case.
    Going on a mission funded by an eccentric multi-billionaire Capitalist to find God, but finding an/several old God(s) instead/
    Mountains of Madness in the Alien universe. With a Pathogen that generates new horrors based upon circumstances of infection. + Philosophical pondering on the meaning of life in the face of such abject horror.

    It's a superb idea, wasted.
    [close]
  13. maron
    How can anyone still expect a good movie from Scott after Prometheus and Covenant? Even the new The Thing movie and Descent knew how to be a better movie.

    And Scott still disrespects the beast. I gave up hope for a really good Alien movie ever to appear. In the end it's Alien 1-3 which are precious. The rest...not so much.
  14. TC
    Quote from: Evanus on May 31, 2019, 01:42:22 AM
    Nope, which makes me wonder why that lousy article exists in the first place.  :o

    Opinion is the plague of the modern age. It has its place in certain corners of the internet (like fan forums - no, not joking ) but I'd hoped that established old media journals like the Guardian would hold out for actual news reporting for a few more years yet. This guy isn't even presenting us with an argument, with supporting facts and evidence or logic or reasoning, just boring us with his hot air.

    TC
  15. The1PerfectOrganism
    It's clear A.I is where Ridley Scott's interest lies.
    Now that the Alien retroactively is created by one,
    I'm interested in what he means by evolving it because he didn't say it's done.
  16. Huggs
    Quote from: Nostromo on May 29, 2019, 11:30:24 PM
    QuoteA.I. is literally alien lol. You only see human similarities because that's what you're looking for. Nothing about David is human other than his appearance and the facade he maintains because of his programming, which he breaks.


    A.I. in both prequels has been top notch. TOP. Just wish the Alien was also. I'd love to see Scott and Cameron do one more film each at least. Wouldn't that be great. Full expansion, 2 different timelines expanding with Scott and Cameron at the helm, who woulda thunk of this ever happening again in the AR-AVPR era.

    A tree with too many branches, blocks out too much sun.

    I don't know what that means, but it seemed pertinent.
  17. The1PerfectOrganism
    Spoiler
    1. Eggmorphing (may/may not be canon)
    2. Dead, from starvation obviously.
    3. Concept replaced by the Neomorph.
    4. Using Elizabeth Shaw's ovaries lead to the Alien.
    5. A bigger Big Chap, as Engineers are just bigger humans, down to the DNA- Prometheus tells us.
    6. Sure, I don't see that being explored to be honest.
    7. Definitely a thing.
    8. Definitely a thing.
    9. Yeah.
    [close]

    The Neomorphs, although I'd like to see them again- got fully explored, by my count you only have the practices of the Engineers which "got sidetracked" and that's something better left mostly ambiguous, unless you're going to use it to say something meaningful about the whole Creator and Created cycle that's going on.

    The LV-426 Derelict will apparently be the culmination in some fashion of the Prequel storyline.
  18. Nostromo
    David w/ interesting A.I. as 3rd antagonist seems like a very safe bet and would be fantastic. Hopefully they do concentrate on at least some of these gems, otherwise you may get a Fire & Stone full psycho android with tentacles coming out of his rear and which may get old rather quickly.

    QuoteSome interesting developments I noticed, which got sidetracked -

    1. Egg morphing
    2. Deacon on LV223
    3. The Octopus-like squeezing of the xeno-body in the Engineers script
    4. David experimenting on Shaw
    5. Ultramorph
    6. Excretion of cocoon-substance from the alien's groin
    7. The bizarre religious practices of the Engineers and cryptic use of the black goo.
    8. Neomorphs
    9. Cave under LV426
  19. Nostromo
    QuoteA.I. is literally alien lol. You only see human similarities because that's what you're looking for. Nothing about David is human other than his appearance and the facade he maintains because of his programming, which he breaks.


    A.I. in both prequels has been top notch. TOP. Just wish the Alien was also. I'd love to see Scott and Cameron do one more film each at least. Wouldn't that be great. Full expansion, 2 different timelines expanding with Scott and Cameron at the helm, who woulda thunk of this ever happening again in the AR-AVPR era.

  20. Samhain13
    Quote from: newagescamartist on May 29, 2019, 06:24:16 AM
    A.I. is literally alien lol. You only see human similarities because that's what you're looking for. Nothing about David is human other than his appearance and the facade he maintains because of his programming, which he breaks.

    Not when an A.I. is meant to replicate with accuracy a human mind. I'm not looking for anything I'm just capable of seeing human similarities when they are right in front of me. His current behavior is a result of  his human programming. Walter is more alien than David.
  21. newagescamartist
    Quote from: Samhain13 on May 29, 2019, 01:56:04 AM
    Quote from: newagescamartist on May 29, 2019, 01:20:26 AM
    Quote from: Samhain13 on May 28, 2019, 11:36:39 PM
    There is nothing alien about David. His A.I. is based on a man, too much, he was made too human. There is nothing unknown and unfamiliar on what he is and is doing.

    An A.I. that goes rogue to create a xenomorph and considers himself the devil is pretty alien.

    "goes rogue" meaning he goes human and decides to act like one and be free instead of continuing to be a machine on slavery. Going rogue is a human thing.

    Considering himself to the devil? Misanthropy? Emotional anger? Conflicted feelings towards Shaw? All human things. There is nothing unfamiliar about any of that. Plenty of men went there. David is just behaving like an emotional depressive angry man. Merely a consequence of an accurate A.I. based on a human male put into a plastic body. I don't see anything alien about that.

    A.I. is literally alien lol. You only see human similarities because that's what you're looking for. Nothing about David is human other than his appearance and the facade he maintains because of his programming, which he breaks.
  22. Nostromo
    Honestly, I love the David Character, almost or just as much as Ash. Bishop is great too but not as intriguing as those 2. David's character is just awesome, would love to see the sequel made but with a bit more focus and story towards the Alien also. I didn't except though he'd take over the whole story. I liked the way he was used in Prometheus, that David was much more liked I'd think. Now he's become a bit annoying.

    It'd be freaky if David and the cargo were captured by real Space Jockeys and his anatomy and experiments were blended together to create a bio-mechanical Alien. I'd imagine trying to create that entire scene would be messy and complicated though.....
  23. Samhain13
    Quote from: newagescamartist on May 29, 2019, 01:20:26 AM
    Quote from: Samhain13 on May 28, 2019, 11:36:39 PM
    There is nothing alien about David. His A.I. is based on a man, too much, he was made too human. There is nothing unknown and unfamiliar on what he is and is doing.

    An A.I. that goes rogue to create a xenomorph and considers himself the devil is pretty alien.

    "goes rogue" meaning he goes human and decides to act like one and be free instead of continuing to be a machine on slavery. Going rogue is a human thing.

    Considering himself to the devil? Misanthropy? Emotional anger? Conflicted feelings towards Shaw? All human things. There is nothing unfamiliar about any of that. Plenty of men went there. David is just behaving like an emotional depressive angry man. Merely a consequence of an accurate A.I. based on a human male put into a plastic body. I don't see anything alien about that.
  24. Immortan Jonesy
    Quote from: Predwars24 on May 28, 2019, 11:20:41 PM
    Quote from: Immortan Jonesy on May 28, 2019, 02:46:15 AM
    Quote from: newagescamartist on May 28, 2019, 02:43:16 AM
    Quote from: Predwars24 on May 27, 2019, 08:16:44 PM
    I watch alien for alien, not Terminator.

    You assume the title is in reference to the xenomorph.

    Yup. AI can be alienish sometimes.

    Yes, but the Androids in the Prequels aren't really all that alien.

    I never said that.  :-X   

    Quote from: Predwars24 on May 28, 2019, 11:20:41 PMThey actually act more human than anything

    https://i.imgur.com/G2vHizS.jpg

    Quote from: Predwars24 on May 28, 2019, 11:20:41 PMI guess in that aspect they can be terrifying but in technical terms they aren't really alien at least not to me.

    https://i.imgur.com/3cNbBGN.jpg

    But seriously, I didn't say that David is like an alien. I mean artificial intelligence in general, and Ridley's previous wishes to explore this topic in depth. So maybe I'm talking about things like...the transcendence/transformation of David into something else, a literal alien AI of extraterrestrial origin as the last legacy of a long-gone civilization, biomechanical intelligent beings (like the Space Jockey before the Engineers), an equivalent of MU-TH-UR 6000 in the Engineers/Space Jockeys vessels. etc. 

    Quote from: Predwars24 on May 28, 2019, 11:20:41 PMYes when I go to an Alien film I expect a Xenomorph, isn't that the creature we've kept our entire focus on?

    But but! there aren't humans in the Alien universe, just aliens  :) (JK)


    Quote from: Predwars24 on May 28, 2019, 11:20:41 PMI mean right from the beginning we've only really focused on the xenomorph or a creature very similar in biology. If Aliens, Alien 3, and Resurrection had shifted focus and looked at other terrifying creatures from deep space that weren't the xeno, my opinion might be changed. However since this isn't cloverfield yes I expect the focus to be what it's always been on.

    https://i.imgur.com/nUphEOX.gif





    Quote from: newagescamartist on May 29, 2019, 01:20:26 AM
    Quote from: Samhain13 on May 28, 2019, 11:36:39 PM
    There is nothing alien about David. His A.I. is based on a man, too much, he was made too human. There is nothing unknown and unfamiliar on what he is and is doing.

    An A.I. that goes rogue to create a xenomorph and considers himself the devil is pretty alien.

    Good point. Also, maybe it's like a cosmic cycle, and the same thing happened eons ago:

    https://i.imgur.com/W3TqAtw.jpg
    https://i.imgur.com/L9SCCzY.jpg

    An ancient civilization ends up being enslaved and finally destroyed by machines, kinda like the ending of Battlestar Galactica, but without religious stuff of course:

  25. newagescamartist
    Quote from: Samhain13 on May 28, 2019, 11:36:39 PM
    There is nothing alien about David. His A.I. is based on a man, too much, he was made too human. There is nothing unknown and unfamiliar on what he is and is doing.

    An A.I. that goes rogue to create a xenomorph and considers himself the devil is pretty alien.


    Quote from: question11 on May 28, 2019, 11:50:38 PM
    Quote from: Corporal Hicks on May 28, 2019, 01:08:28 PM
    Leave the politics in the politics board. Any further attempts to continue that angle will be deleted.

    can you delete my account. don't want to be on a site that discourages free expression.

    It's off topic.  ::)

    bai
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