His latest costume epic, “Robin Hood” starring Russell Crowe, recently earned $300 million globally but 72-year-old director Ridley Scott raised the expectations of fans worldwide when he recently announced his next project would be a two-part prequel to “Alien” shot in 3D. According to London’s “Independent,” Scott wanted to return to the franchise he helped launch and the sci-fi genre he clearly admires.
“”Alien is a landmark, one of the really good science-fiction films,” Scott said. “Then “Blade Runner’s” pretty good, too! I thought “Legend” (the 1985 fantasy starring Tom Cruise) was a landmark but I jumped the gun and simply started doing fantasy 25 years too soon. But it’s a pretty good movie.”
Scott has confirmed other projects, some which he may direct before the "Alien" movies, including a movie based on the Monopoly board game and an adaptation of the vampire novel “The Passage.” But it’s his “Alien” prequels that have generated the most excitement.
Scott also revealed a personal agenda for making the movies. He was never asked to make the sequel to “Alien,” which went to James Cameron, and he has wanted for years to return and put his stamp back on the sci-fi series he helped launch.
“Jim’s (Cameron) raised the bar and I’ve got to jump on it,” Scott said jokingly. “He’s not going to get away with it.”
Scott also said the sequels are set 30 years before the 1979 original movie and will show how the aliens came into existence.
“The film will be really tough, really nasty. It’s the dark side of the moon. We’re talking gods and engineers of space. And were the aliens designed as a form of biological warfare or biology that would go in and clean up a planet?”
“Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof is finishing a re-write of the first prequel’s script and Scott continues early pre-production prep on the films.
