Ridley Scott Says ‘I’ve Done Enough’ With ‘Alien,’ Thought ‘F— That’s the End of the Franchise’ After Bad Sequels: This Series ‘Should Be as Important’ as ‘Star Wars’

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/ridley-scott-done-alien-franchise-1236418106/

35 comments

  1. > Scott said the “Alien” franchise is “spreading like wildfire,” which he’s more or less amazed at considering there was a time when he thought the series was as good as dead. Scott directed 1979’s “Alien” before handing the franchise to James Cameron for 1986’s “Aliens.” The series then took stumbles with divisive entries from the likes of David Fincher (“Alien 3”) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (“Alien Resurrection”).

    > “I think I felt it was deadened after 4,” Scott said. “I think mine was pretty damn good, and I think Jim’s was good, and I have to say the rest were not very good. And I thought, ‘F—, that’s the end of a franchise which should be as important as bloody “Star Trek” or “Star Wars,”‘ which I think is phenomenal. At least, I think the first one by George is seminal. It was as seminal as ‘2001.’ To me, it was that important in terms of film language and where you go next.”

  2. I MEAN compared to other. Franchises that they turn into disgraces like Terminator , Jurassic park , Die Hard I thinking the alien film series not bad !! JUSTICE FOR ALIEN 3 AND RESURRECTED

  3. I’m quite content with leaving the Alien franchise behind after Aliens. The franchise has been flogged to death since Alien 3, and Ridley Scott certainly didn’t help by taking a turn on the whip.

  4. There was no world where the vibe of Alien would be the kind of vibe that drove families to Star Wars for generations. Just talking bollocks.

  5. It is as important as Star Wars and Star Trek, it can just never be as far reaching in audience terms because it’s brutal alien horror.

  6. I think the Alien franchise is cool.. **but for me at least** the Xenomorphs are the LEAST cool thing about that universe. They’ve become so predictable and formulaic. The stuff about the Off-world colonies, engineers, colonial marines and androids are more interesting than the actual Aliens for me.

    The only part of Romulus that scared me was the ending Lakers player Alien.

  7. Raised by Wolves deserved so much better than it got

  8. The best movies in the franchise aren’t even done by him aliens,and Romulus,and only 1 of his have been good, the original.Prometheus and covenant are dogshit

  10. I got news for you… Star Wars is not important. It’s a running joke of bad writing. Space fantasy that can’t even manage a coherent storyline.

  11. the alien franchise is in my top three. i’ll take whatever slop they can dish out. i even love the alien comics. the brutality in those is just wild.

  12. The two best sequels I ever saw were Godfather 2 and Aliens. Obviously only my opinion.

  14. As important as Star Wars? Right now it’s just showing that it’s as important as Jar Jar Binks.

  16. I mean… he acts like the movies were all that existed when external media like comics, books, games, and merchandising kept the franchise’s heart beating for years after the second movie.

  18. Prometheus was great. Switching focus from the heroine to the robot in the sequel was a choice.

  19. If you haven’t, play the game Alien: Isolation

  20. He’s not wrong. After aliens in 86, the series really could have been propelled to the next level. Alien 3 ruined that, and the franchise has been limping along ever since

  21. I unapologetically love Prometheus and Covenant. I would still like to see him do more with Alien

  22. This is funny because when I saw Covenant I said to myself, this must be how Star Wars fans feel.

  24. Should have stopped at Alien.
    A perfect movie.
    Look what you’ve all done.

  25. I mean, culturally it kinda is on track with it🤷🏻‍♂️

    As popular? No. But important? Hell yeah. There were alien movies and parasites and mind control and ALIEN was insanely incredible.

    And ALIENS was like leaving dinner and going to a Vegas night club, with pulse rifles and the Queen DJ’ng

    Alien 3 was a total disaste, production wise, so actually going back to the hits shouldn’t be a problem.

    The franchise kept trying to outthink itself. The audience would have been fine with a well executed, already been done before storyline.

    They outpunted their coverage in the Prometheus timeline.

    Romulus was solid. Not perfect. But still awesome.

  26. After his last 3 or 4 movies he’s made thanks bro I’m super happy for you and my eye’s and good luck with that Bee Gs biopick hope it’s better then the slop you’ve been making…

  27. For a while there I got sick of Scott’s cantankerous, self-aggrandizing take on everything, and his mad dash to make every movie not yet made before he finally passes on – but I’ve come around to it, and quotes like that are why: aliens – a bloody horror / action franchise should be as popular as a space wizards franchise that’s stuffed with cuddly creatures and bloodless fantasy action… SURE! Let’s make it happen! Looking forward to the Engineers Holiday Special!

  28. It is as important as Star Wars. With that said, Star Wars isn’t as great as it used to be

  29. Prometheus is what I want, just needed cleaner writing. But even so, I wanted more prometheus. I wanted to see what came after and then Covenant just absolutely took a gigantic shit on everything amazing prometheus was trying to do.

    Alien franchise just feels like what happens when something is made by  a creator that doesnt have any vision for anything beyond the initial project.

    I could FEEL the sci-fi DNA in prometheus with all the wonder and open ended questions about life and meaning, and all that giant existential/philosophy stuff that makes sci-fi so unique and amazing. That felt special, it didn’t just feel like some type of rehash of a preexisting idea for the same of making more content.

    If that was Ridley then he needs to focus on that and not worry about making an “alien” horror movie. Or maybe the studio/producers killed all that cause they only want to put money into it if it hits all the “alien” checks like romulus did. Which was nothing but a fun rehash of what has already been done. There was no true deep sci-fi sparkle to that movie, just a fun popcorn horror movie.

  30. Alien franchise need a revision like the Predator franchise is going through. Romulus was decent, but we need to go beyond the “colonists trapped with Xenomorph” trope.

  31. star wars was made for kids, lucas said it himself. the mass appeal is the difference, star wars had plenty of bad sequels as well.

  33. Star Wars is rich with characters. Alien has, a few I guess

  34. For something to end up as big as Star Wars it pretty much has to be aimed at kids initially, that’s why all of these adults in their 50s have crazy nostalgia for the original trilogy. By default Alien was never going to be as big Star Wars despite those first few films being phenomenal

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