Ridley Scott produced Alien: Romulus, but would rather see a sequel to his movie Alien: Covenant than to Fede Alvarez’s movie
Last month, 20th Century Studios president Steve Asbell confirmed that a sequel to director Fede Alvarez’s recently released Alien: Romulus is in the works – so when The Hollywood Reporter mentioned in an article that producer Ridley Scott “revealed he’s developing a new Alien movie for 20th in the wake of Romulus’ success,” they’re probably talking about that Romulus sequel… even though Scott thinks a better choice would be to make a follow-up to his 2017 film Alien: Covenant.
Scott told THR, “Covenant is the best one [for a sequel] because it leaves the girl in the [cryo pod] and [Michael Fassbender’s killer android] David has alien eggs and 2,000 colonists hanging around. It’s a perfect beginning.” Interviewer James Hibberd suggested that the next film could be a sequel to both Covenant and Romulus, since “both films ended with ships headed to a planet we’ve never been to; there’s no reason those characters couldn’t end up in the same place.”
Scott started the Alien franchise when he directed the 1979 film, then left the series behind for several years. Now, he has made it clear that he’s trying to take ownership of this franchise (and the Blade Runner franchise as well). He said, “I made Alien and Blade Runner, but then I moved on. I should have locked them up — as Spielberg would have with Jurassic Park, and everything he does, and Cameron has done. Studios paid for them, but there’s a way of locking yourself into [ownership] during the negotiation. I watched Alien 2, 3 and 4 and realized, ‘Oh, you just ran that firmly into the ground.’ Then I went back to [former 20th Century Fox chief Tom Rothman] and said, ‘Listen, there’s a way out. We should resurrect Alien with Prometheus.’ They made half a billion dollars — by now probably a billion with all the resales. It’s not what happens at the box office, it’s what happens after the box office. Then I went back with Alien: Covenant, and that was big and ambitious and maybe too intellectual to play as well. It still did $250 million, and I still stupidly didn’t lock it up. I don’t blame me, because I’m busy. I blame a couple other people, which is why we parted company.” Scott admitted that Aliens was fun, “and then three and four just evaporated.“
Justin Alvarado Brown, president and COO of Scott’s production company Scott Free, and the rest of the team at Scott Free now work to make sure that the company will stay involved with any continuations of Scott’s legacy titles, which is why Scott was a producer on Alien: Romulus and is producing the upcoming TV series Alien: Earth. Brown said, “It would make no sense that another (Alien or Blade Runner) movie is made without Ridley and us.” On the Blade Runner side of things, Scott Free is producing the Prime Video series Blade Runner 2099.
What do you think of Scott Free being involved with every Alien and Blade Runner project going forward, and do you agree with Ridley Scott that Alien: Covenant is the Alien film that should get a sequel? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
