Ridley Scott Doesn't Think That Alien TV Series Will Be As Good As His Movies, Sorry

Once a filmmaker reaches a certain point in this industry, they get the right to voice whatever creative opinion they want about whatever topic they choose to. Martin Scorsese is allowed to pen longform essays decrying the current state of the industry for as long as he needs to make that point, Steven Spielberg can wax poetic about the future of the theatrical experience despite our present circumstances, and Ridley Scott is simply going to speak his mind and publicly trash talk other projects set in his own "Alien" universe ... even projects that he himself is attached to. Good for him, I say!

Choice Words

Ridley Scott is currently 83 years of age and he is staying more productive these days than I probably ever will be in my entire life. The legendary filmmaker is still delivering hit movies (check out /Film's review for "The Last Duel" here) as if the possibility of losing a step or two at this point in his career simply never even crossed his mind. As if that wasn't enough, he already has another film set to debut barely a month later with the Lady Gaga-starring "House of Gucci." And to top it all off, Scott is sitting down for interviews in which he shows absolutely no reservations about reasserting who exactly reigns supreme in the classic sci-fi franchise that he began in the first place. 

Filmmakers have been chasing that "Alien" high ever since the 1979 original and that will only continue with Noah Hawley's planned series, which is set on Earth within the same universe. The Independent interviewed Scott (via The Playlist) to discuss all his projects in various stages of development, and talk inevitably turned to "Alien." Scott, in his own inimitable way, cheekily addressed the in-development series exactly as you might expect him to:

"It'll never be as good as the first one. That's what I'll say."

Scott, of course, is serving as an executive producer on Hawley's series and has certainly betrayed no misgivings about returning to his own universe with 2012's "Prometheus" and its follow-up, "Alien: Covenant." Then again ... Noah Hawley isn't Ridley Scott. As much as these might feel like fighting words, however, Scott really is just stating the obvious out loud and with a chuckle.

Scott goes on to address the elephant in the room that are the major streaming services that have increased their efforts during the pandemic to carve out a foothold for themselves. Though he doesn't take an all-or-nothing stance, he does state that, "The film is gonna be more powerful in cinema. It should never go away. It should not be allowed to go away."

Luckily for all of us, it doesn't seem like Ridley Scott is intent on retiring anytime soon. ("I would never make a painter," he says at one point during the interview, before amusingly going on to say anyway that, "I paint all the time.") Here's hoping for plenty more choice quotes from the endearingly cranky director for years to come.