Ridley Scott Says ‘I Don’t Need Advice’ on Directing and Tried Not to Meddle With ‘Alien: Romulus’: ‘If I Fall on My Own Sword and Lie Bleeding’ Then ‘It Was My Fault’
After directing 2012’s “Prometheus” and 2017’s “Alien: Covenant,” Ridley Scott gave up the franchise director’s chair to “Don’t Breathe” and “Evil Dead” helmer Fede Alvarez for the upcoming “Alien: Romulus.” But Scott, who is still a lead producer on the project, worked closely with Alvarez on its development. He recently told the Los Angeles Times that Alvarez’s first draft of the screenplay was long in the way most screenplays are long at the start, and the two worked together to finesse it.
“The danger of all franchises is they do die unless somebody suddenly decides to pick up the mat and run down the field with a ball,” Scott told the publication. “Fede is a surge of energy, and I had to step back and let him do it … Fede had a blueprint firm in his mind, and his script was pretty clear. It was also long, but the screenplay is always long. And so we got into that a little bit.”
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While Alvarez contacted Scott every time a milestone was hit in the development of “Alien: Romulus,” Scott was adamant about not meddling with the new director’s work as the one thing Scott hates when he’s directing his own projects is constant advice.
“It is hard work with anybody and their mother giving you advice — the last thing you want at a certain point is advice,” Scott said. “I do not need advice. If I fall on my own sword and therefore lie bleeding, I say, ‘It was my fault.’”
“I hope Fede’s got another one up his sleeve because I think this is going to do really well,” Scott added about the film. “He’s got a streak of brilliance.”
Speaking at last year’s DGA Latino Summit, Alvarez said that he “had to go through the incredibly tense process of obviously sending” his final cut of “Alien: Romulus” to Scott.
“I wanted him to see it before anybody,” Alvarez said at the time. “And everyone gave me the head’s up that Ridley is really tough. He’s really tough, particularly if it has something to do with his movies. He was really tough on ‘Blade Runner [2049],’ which I thought was a masterpiece, and he had issues with it because it’s really hard for him because it’s his work.”
“Even if he didn’t ask for it, I was gonna go there and sit at a table and look at him and get it,” the director said of hearing Scott’s reaction to the film in person. “Even if he was gonna say, ‘You destroyed my legacy,’ I wanted to be in front of him and see him in the eye. I didn’t want to get an email where it says ‘Ridley says…’ And then he walks into the room and he did say, ‘Fede, what can I say? It’s fucking great’ … One of the best compliments he said was, ‘The dialogue is great. Are you the writer?’ Yes!”
“Alien: Romulus” is set for release on Aug. 16. Next up for Scott in the director’s chair is his long-awaited “Gladiator 2,” which opens in theaters Nov. 22 from Paramount.
Head over to the Los Angeles Times’ website to read Alvarez’s latest profile in its entirety.
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