'I think I've done enough': Sir Ridley Scott is finished with Alien
After directing the eponymous 1979 sci-fi/horror flick, the 87-year-old filmmaker walked away from the 'Alien' series until returning for the 2012 prequel 'Prometheus' and its follow-up 'Alien: Covenant' in 2017, though Scott now thinks he's "done enough" with the 'Alien' franchise.
Speaking with Screen Rant, he said: " A number of years after ['Alien'], I said, 'I'm going to resurrect this',[and wrote] 'Prometheus' from scratch–a blank sheet of paper. Damon Lindelof and I sat then hammered out 'Prometheus'.
"It was very present and very welcome. The audience really wanted more. I said, 'It needs to fly.' No one was coming for it, [and] I went once again [and made] 'Alien Covenant', and it worked too.
"Where it's going now, I think I've done enough, and I just hope it goes further."
After Scott's exit from the 'Alien' franchise following the original movie, the series was passed to a handful of different directors, with James Cameron helming the 1986 sequel 'Aliens', David Fincher working on 'Alien 3' in 1992, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet directing 'Alien: Resurrection' in 1997.
Following 'Alien: Resurrection', the series crossed over with the 'Predator' franchise for the flicks 'Alien vs Predator' in 2004, and 'AVPR: Aliens vs Predator – Requiem' in 2007.
However, Scott admitted he wasn't a fan of what came after Cameron's 'Aliens'.
He explained: "It is spreading like wildfire, and not really. I think I felt it was deadened after 4. 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, 'F***, that's the end of a franchise which should be as important as bloody 'Star Trek' or 'Star Wars', which I think is phenomenal.
"At least, I think the first one by George [Lucas] is seminal – it was as seminal as '2001' ['A Space Odyssey']. To me, it was that important in terms of film language and where you go next."
Reflecting on 'Alien', Scott revealed he was the fifth director who was asked to helm the movie, with the studio first offering the job to 'M*A*S*H's Robert Altman.
He said: "I'm fascinated [by] very good comics and the best in the world was probably Jean Giraud Moebius. Moebius was a French comics man who was just genius.
"I was staring at these, and suddenly I was offered 'Alien' out of the blue. And because designer is in my blood and DNA, I just knew what to do with it.
"And I was the fifth f****** choice. Why you offered Robert Altman 'Alien', God only knows. Altman said, 'Are you kidding? I'm not going to do this', and I went, 'Are you kidding? I have to do this', because it borders and verges on heavy metal."
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