Did you know that Ridley Scott was originally the fifth choice of the producers and the studio to direct Alien? Fox had previously approached other directors, including Robert Altman and Robert Aldrich, before Brandywine Productions turned to Scott based on his extensive experience directing visually striking commercials.
His previous movie – The Duellists – was purely arthouse. Scott himself was initially reluctant, and only became enthusiastic when Star Wars went huge and proved big-budget sci-fi could work.
He didn’t work on the three main sequels, so it is kind of weird that he’s somehow become this guardian of the Alien franchise. It looked as if Alien: Romulus director Fede Álvarez was set to replace him as the go-to director, when suddenly Álvarez exited the Romulus sequel over creative differences that, some say, involved Scott.
Now, after making noises that made it sound like he had stepped away from the franchise, Scott is once again fully involved, and has confirmed he is planning a follow-up to 2017’s Alien: Covenant. That movie, remember, derailed the fan-anticipated Alien 5 from director Neill Blomkamp. That project would have reset the events of Alien 3 and 4 to bring back Ripley, Newt and Hicks.
After they greenlit the project, Fox placed it on hold so Scott could make Alien: Covenant, a follow-up to his 2012 prequel movie Prometheus.
Now, out doing press for The Dog Stars, Scott tells the The Los Angeles Times that his follow-up is still in the works and would once again center on Michael Fassbender’s character of David, the android. He said the story will follow David creating a new world for himself, and the potential of AI to malfunction will remain a central theme.
