Alien is one of the most iconic sci-fi horror franchises of all time. But the director who started it all is not only done with the franchise, but is a bit disappointed in how its legacy turned out. In an interview with ScreenRant, Ridley Scott explained how he’s done with the franchise, and reveals his true feelings about the franchise, beyond the films that he directed.
Scott laid the groundwork for what the Alien franchise became. The first film establishes its setting, the Nostromo spaceship, as a claustrophobic labyrinth that induces more terror than the Xenomorph hunting and killing its crew members, and the moment a tiny alien bursts through the chest of Kane (John Hurt) is burned into the memory of anyone who saw it. While Scott returned to direct the 2012 prequel film Prometheus and 2017’s Alien Covenant, he knows his time with the Alien franchise is likely done. “Where it’s going now, I think I’ve done enough, and I just hope it goes further.”
His time with the franchise may be done, but he’s still probably the most trusted authority on what does and doesn’t work in Alien films. To him, the series “deadened after 4,” referring to 1997’s Alien: Resurrection film. Part of the reason he thought there was nowhere else the franchise could go after the Jean-Pierre Jeunet-directed film is because he just didn’t think the movies after his and James Cameron’s films were that good.
“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, ‘Fuck, that’s the end of a franchise which should be as important as bloody Star Trek or Star Wars,’ which I think is phenomenal.”
He did have very nice things to say about Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth TV series coming to FX starting August 12. As an executive producer on the show, Scott told The Hollywood Reporter that he appreciated how Hawley definitely respected the original Alien.”
As he made clear, there’s much of the Alien franchise Scott doesn’t like, so him praising the upcoming series bodes well for the saga’s upcoming earthbound chapter.
