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| Image Credit: 2012 Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC. |
Ridley Scott now regrets that he should have made the sequels to the sci-fi horror masterpiece Alien. He confessed this to Vanity Fair.
The Alien series is a masterpiece film created by Ridley Scott in 1979. It was a success and became a series, with James Cameron directing the sequel Alien 2 in 1986 and David Fincher directing Alien 3 in 1992. The franchise continued to expand, with Scott returning as director with the prequel series Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017). "I started late. I should have done the sequels to Alien and Blade Runner myself," said the 86-year-old master, expressing his regrets. "You change over the years. I didn't want to do it again. So Jim Cameron came with Alien, and David Fincher came with it."
As he once again points out Blade Runner (1982), Scott has said before that he should have shot the sequel to Blade Runner 2049 (2017) himself. He had to give up on it because it clashed with the production schedule of Alien: Covenant. He has no grudge against Denis Villeneuve, who took over the sequel. "He did a good job, but I regret it." "I'm the author of two franchises," Scott continues. "A lot of Hollywood directors... I mean, directors at my level, I'll say it, don't want to let go of those things. But Alien was my second film, so I didn't have much of a choice. Blade Runner was my third film, so I didn't have a choice. My partners were very tough. It was like, 'Welcome to Hollywood.'"
In the 80s, the option to make a sequel didn't exist. "I was never told about it, I was never asked about it. You know, it didn't feel right." Fast forward to 2024, and Scott is now directing his own sequel to his masterpiece: Gladiator 2. The sequel, the first in 24 years since the 2000 film, is set 25-30 years after the previous film and tells the story of Lucius, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and nephew of Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Given the setting, it can't be helped, but this time Russell Crowe, star of Gladiator, has mixed feelings about a sequel being made without his knowledge.
"I don't feel good about it... because they're making another one, right? Obviously, I'm dead, so I'm not in a position to say anything about what's been made, but I heard some stuff, and I was like, 'Oh no, no, that's against the morality of the character.' But there's nothing I can say because it's not my place, I'm dead, so we'll just see what happens." Gladiator II is scheduled to be released in the US on November 22, 2024. Scott is also in the production of the latest Alien film, Alien: Romulus, which will be released in Japan on September 6, 2024.