Important takeaways
- Ridley Scott initially thought the Alien franchise was over after Alien Resurrection, but rediscovered its potential with Prometheus.
- Avoiding excessive blood and gore in Alien films to maintain tension, Scott said proper handling of the monster is key to the franchise's success.
- Scott's direction adds realism, horror and innovation to the Alien franchise, with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant exploring themes of creation and evolution.
Ridley Scott was candid about his thoughts on Foreign franchise. The English filmmaker known for directing science fiction, horror and crime genres admitted that he had thought Foreign has been made since 1997.
The Foreign franchise started with Foreigndirected by Scott, and released in 1979. It was a huge hit, with a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It was well received and made a mark in film history. It even spawned three sequels — Aliens (1986), Aliens 3 (1992) and Alien resurrection (1997). It also scored points Prometheus the prequel series — Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017) – both directed by Scott. Scott shared a surprising thought about the franchise in a recent interview.
Scott has a long history in Foreign franchise. He was the first to direct the first film, and he admitted that he thought it was over after the third film, Alien: Resurrection. However, he realized that it was still alive as he worked further Prometheus. “I believe, wrongly, in Foreigni thought the old beast had worn out. Because when we did the first one [set of films]it was me, Jim [Cameron]David [Fincher]and the French guy [Jean-Pierre Jeunet] – it was four. The worn out. The beast was worn out,” Scott told GameRadar+. Scott added that he found the beast by accident. The initial title for the first film in the series was Star Beast before it was changed to Foreign. According to him, without the said discovery, there would be no such movie, and they had to get the creature right to make it effective.
However, he wanted to avoid certain things that for him would only lead to its downfall. “And it depends on what that monster is, and also how you play with it when mostly less is always better for the tension. And it's easier to have a movie that's blood and does without tension. I tried to avoid that. And so it died,” Scott said. The director felt sorry for the franchise because he considered it huge, sort of Star Wars and Star Trek. So he discussed with screenwriter Damon Laurence Lindelof, who co-wrote Prometheus with him. “So I sat down with Damon Lindelof, actually. We sat down at a table and spun a wheel to see: where could we go? And it all started with Prometheus,” Scott added.
Scott is a significant figure in the success of Foreign franchise due to his direction, which emphasizes realism and terror, making the sci-fi horror film terrifying. Also, his visual mastery is on point, and the excellent pacing and innovative storytelling make it so Foreign a classic. His return to the franchise through Prometheus and Alien: Covenant was probably the right choice as they present new story arcs while staying true to the origins of the Xenomorphs. These films also raised philosophical questions about creation and evolution. Scott has expressed interest in exploring this theme further, and this is probably more than welcome to fans who love the franchise as long as it offers a new storyline while staying true to the core mythology of the franchise to make the new films relevant.
Source: GameRadar+
