In a new interview, Ridley Scott muses that theAlienfranchise should be on par with theStar WarsandStar Trekfranchises. Scott helmed the firstAlieninstallment in 1979, which famously starred Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, along with Tom Skerritt as Dallas, Ian Holm as Ash, and many others.Alienopened to near-universal acclaim and became a success at the worldwide box office. James Cameron took over and released the sequelAliensin 1986 and once again, the movie was met with critical and box office success, but for many, 20th Century Fox exploited the franchise at every chance they could after the release of the sequel.
Though theAlienfranchise is huge, it’s nowhere near the incredible successes ofStar WarsandStar Trek. For instance,Star Wars: The Last Jedirecently crossed the $1 billion mark at the box office, three weeks after its initial release.Alien: Covenanton the other hand, ended up with $240 million, which is still good, but nowhere near the franchises ofStar TrekandStar Wars. The entireAlienfranchise has grossed around $1.5 billion total, which again, is still a great success.
While speaking with the Toronto Sun to promoteAll the Money in the World,Ridley Scottbriefly discussedAlien: Covenantas well as the next step in the prequel series. While speaking about the next step, the director revealed that he thought that theAlienfranchise should be up in the ranks of mega Hollywood sci-fi franchises. He had this to say.
“There’s no reason whyAlienshould now not be on the same level for fans asStar Trek and Star Wars. So I think the next step as to where we go is, do we sustain theAlien(series) with the evolution of the beast or do we reinvent something else? I think you need to have an evolution on this famous beast because he’s the best monster ever, really.”
Alien is one of the biggest sci-fi propertiesin history, but it’s definitely not on the same level as some of the others. However, it does not seem that theAlienfranchise was handled with as much care as the aforementioned sci-fi heavy hitters. When asked about the possibility of moreAlienmovies, Ridley Scott said that they’d be dumb not to make more. He explains.
“I would like to; they’re crazy if they don’t. David is a fantastic villain. I love what (Michael Fassbender) did in Covenant. But it’s f$%!ing hard, dude. We liftedAlienout of a ditch and madePrometheus.”
TheAlienfranchise currently includes six main installments as well as two spin-off movies and multiple adaptations in various other forms of media. The franchise even has its own dedicated day on April 26th, just likeStar Wars. Looking at the box office numbers shows a different story when trying to put theAlienfranchise in the ranks ofStar TrekandStar Wars. While it seems like it would be easy to come out with another smashAlienmovie or spin-off, fans are just as critical asStar Warsfans, which along with a plethora of otherAlienprojects, has resulted in less than stellar numbers at the box office.
It seems that Ridley Scott would like to jump back in and helm anotherAlieninstallment, but the future of the franchise is currently unknown now that Disney has acquired the rights from 20th Century Fox. However, Disney’s Bob Eiger has revealed that the company is looking into future R-rated movies under the mouse house umbrella. Will Ridley Scott return to a newAlienmovie under the Disney brand? Only time will tell, but for now it looks highly unlikely. you may read more of what Ridley Scott had to say about theAlienfranchise success viaThe Toronto Sun.
