Ridley Scott Regrets Not Getting The Alien Movie Franchise Rights

The Alien movies returned to cinemas with the successful Alien: Romulus. Original Alien director Ridley Scott served as a guiding hand on the franchise’s latest entry, and now the filmmaker is admitting one regret he has about the film series.

Alien debuted in 1979 and gradually became recognized as one of the best science fiction films, spawning a 1986 sequel directed by James Cameron that many people regard as equal to or better than the original. However, the Alien franchise arguably struggled in the ’90s and 2000s with sequels and crossovers (without Scott at the helm) that many feel didn’t measure up to the first two films. Scott returned to the director’s chair in the 2010s for the Alien prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, but he feels he missed an opportunity when he resurrected the franchise.

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During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Scott lamented the fact that he and his Scott Free production company team don’t have ownership over the Alien or Blade Runner franchise. Although Scott and his production company produced director Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus, this lack of ownership over the franchise means they must earn the right to be part of any new Alien or Blade Runner entry. Scott partly lays the blame for this on the production company’s previous management:

An Alien: Romulus sequel was all but confirmed by 20th Century Studios boss Steve Asbell. A deal with Álvarez hadn’t closed at the time Asbell revealed the news, but they were working on an idea and the 20th Century boss implied Alien: Romulus stars Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson would return. Scott presumably has to earn a spot on the team, but Scott Free president and COO Justin Alvarado Brown stressed the importance of keeping Scott and the production company on board for any future Alien and Blade Runner entries. “It would make no sense that another movie is made without Ridley and us,” Brown said.

The future of the Alien franchise is both bright and unclear. While Alien: Romulus reenergized the franchise, many fans hope the film series to avoid the mistakes of the past. One way to accomplish this is to avoid turning Alien: Romulus star Cailee Spaeny’s Rain into the next Ellen Ripley. What Álvarez and 20th Century Studios have planned for the Alien franchise remains to be seen, but after Romulus revived the film series, fans are finally excited to see it all unfold.

The Alien movies are available on Disney Plus.

Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.

Release Date

August 16, 2024

Director

Fede Alvarez

Cast

Cailee Spaeny , David Jonsson , Archie Renaux , Isabela Merced , Spike Fearn , Aileen Wu , Rosie Ede , Soma Simon , Bence Okeke , Viktor Orizu , Robert Bobroczkyi , Trevor Newlin , Annemarie Griggs , Daniel Betts

Runtime

119 Minutes

Writers

Fede Alvarez , Rodo Sayagues , Dan O’Bannon , Ronald Shusett

Studio(s)

Scott Free Productions , 20th Century

Distributor(s)

20th Century

Character(s)

Rain , Andy , Tyler , Kay , Bjorn , Navarro , WY Officer , 10-Year-Old Punk #1 , 10-Year-Old Punk #2 , 10-Year-Old Punk #3 , Offspring , Xenomorph , MU/TH/UR (voice) , Rook (Facial and Vocal Performance)

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Alien: Romulus Backs The Franchise Into A Corner

Alien: Romulus introduced an idea that may be a problem for future Alien sequels.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter