Ridley Scott’s early-career sci-fi classicsAlienandBlade Runnerboth ended up launching franchises, but Scott didn’t direct either of the sequels himself. If you need any evidence thatScott is a one-of-a-kind visionary filmmaker, just consider thatAlienandBlade Runner, two of the greatest and most singularly crafted movies ever made, were just his second and third films after his debut feature,The Duellists.Alienintroduced one of the scariest movie monsters of all time, whileBlade Runnerpioneered a whole new subgenre of science fiction by bringing film noir tropes into a futuristic setting.
BothAlienandBlade Runnerestablished fascinating sci-fi worlds for sequels and spinoffs to explore.Alienintroduced a grimy future where intergalactic truckers encounter unspeakable terrors on foreign planets, andBlade Runnerintroduced a slick, neon-drenched future where androids are indistinguishable from humans and trigger-happy detectives are indistinguishable from androids. Butdespite being the legendary director behind both of them, Scott didn’t direct the sequels to either of them. Both of those stories were continued by a different filmmaker, and there’s a curious reason why Scott didn’t come back to helm the sequels.
Ridley Scott Was Never Asked To Direct Sequels To Alien Or Blade Runner
Scott Was Pretty New To Hollywood Filmmaking At The Time
While he was promoting the release ofGladiator IIlast year,Scott opened up about why he didn’t direct the sequelstoAlienandBlade Runner.The director said that, in retrospect, he “should have done” the sequels to his sci-fi masterpieces, but that’s not the way he felt back when he first made them. AfterAlienwas a box office success, 20th Century Fox executives were eager to get a sequel into development. But, having just gone through the laborious process of making a suspenseful sci-fi spectacle,Scott “didn’t want to go through it again.”
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So,the reins of theAliensequel were handed to James Cameron, who pivoted to the action genre and madeAliens, one of the greatest sequels in film history. After the success ofAliens, the third film was given to David Fincher for his feature-length directorial debut (and, by all accounts, he had a nightmarish experience under the thumb of meddling studio executives). While he admitted that Denis Villeneuve “did a good job” withBlade Runner 2049, Scott now feels “regretful” that he didn’t direct the sequel toBlade Runnerhimself.
While he admitted that Denis Villeneuve “did a good job” with Blade Runner 2049, Scott now feels “regretful” that he didn’t direct the sequel to Blade Runner himself.
Scott said that,while he’s the “author” of theAlienandBlade Runnerfranchises, he didn’t have much say in what happened with them. According to Scott, most directors would hold on dearly to a franchise they started, like George Lucas withStar Warsor James Wan withThe ConjuringUniverse. But sinceAlienwas just his second film andBlade Runnerwas just his third — and both were produced with “very tough partners” — back then, Scott “didn’t have much choice.” When the sequels went into development, Scott was “never told or asked” if he wanted to direct them.
How Ridley Scott Eventually Returned To The Alien Franchise
Scott Came Back To Direct The Alien Prequel Movies
After Cameron’sAliens, Fincher’sAlien 3, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’sAlien Resurrection, theAlienfranchise went on hiatus for a decade and a half. The first two films had been hailed as masterpieces of their respective genres, but the reception soured after that.Alien 3received mixed reviews andAlien Resurrectionwas panned by critics. Finally, Scott was able to come back and direct another film in theAlienfranchise — except this one wasn’t a sequel; it was a prequel. 2012’sPrometheuswent back to explore the origin story of the bloodthirsty xenomorphs.
Ridley Scott has a newAlienmovie in development.
This decision was met with some backlash, becauseit could be argued that the xenomorphs didn’t need an origin story. What made them so terrifying in the first place is that they were just a random lifeform lurking out there in the cosmos. It weakened that terror to introduce the notion that they were genetically engineered to be humanity’s worst enemy. But nevertheless,Prometheuswas a stunning sci-fi epicwith gorgeous visuals, horrifying body horror sequences (like Elizabeth Shaw’s self-abortion procedure), and a thought-provoking Biblical allegory examining the inception of the human race.
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AfterPrometheusbecame a commercial hit, Scott followed it up with anotherAlienprequel film,Alien: Covenant, the second in a planned trilogy.Alien: Covenantsaw a ship full of space colonists answering a mysterious beacon on a distant planet and unwittingly stumbling across the android David’s experimentation with xenomorphs, which had been set up atthe end ofPrometheus. AfterPrometheushad been a lofty, philosophical epic,Covenantmarked a return to the franchise’s horror roots, with mixed results. Ultimately, it underperformed at the box office, so the thirdAlienprequel was scrapped (although it may still get made).
Why Blade Runner 2049 Happened So Long After The Original (Without Ridley Scott)
Blade Runner Initially Wasn’t A Box Office Hit
WhileAliengot a sequel within a decade of the original film,Blade Runner’s sequel arrived a whopping 35 years after the first one. The reason it took 35 years forBlade Runnerto get a sequel is thatit took 35 years for Hollywood to seeBlade Runneras a viable franchise. UnlikeAlien,Blade Runnerwasn’t an immediate success, critically or commercially. Contemporary critics didn’t quite get it, so the reviews were mixed, and it was released alongside Steven Spielberg’s heartwarming blockbusterE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, so it effectively got buried at the box office.
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It wasn’t until years later thatBlade Runnerbegan to gain traction as a cult classic.The 1992 release of Scott’s director’s cut, restoring his original vision, massively helped the film’s reputation, as it removed the on-the-nose voiceover narration and incongruous happy ending that the studio tacked on. It wasn’t until 2017, when legacy sequels were all the rage and Harrison Ford had reprised his role as Han Solo to blockbuster success, that the studios finally took a chance on aBlade Runnersequel. Sadly, history repeated itself.Blade Runner 2049bombed, but it’s quickly become a cult classic.
Gladiator 2 Broke Ridley Scott’s Unusual Sequel Trend
Scott Finally Made A Direct Sequel To One Of His Classics
When Scott releasedGladiator IIlast year, it finally broke his unique sequel trend. After the sequels toAlienandBlade Runnerwere helmed by other directors,Scott finally spearheaded a direct sequel to one of his most influential movies. And not only that,Scott is already working onGladiator III. But, while it was well-received,Gladiator II’s reviews didn’t reach the heights ofAliensorBlade Runner 2049, so maybe sequels toRidley Scottmovies actually benefit from having a pair of fresh eyes behind them.
