While Alien: Covenant turned out to be merely acceptable both critically and at the box office – grossing $240.7 million on a reported $97 million budget – director Ridley Scott seemed to retain a desire to continue the franchise and take it to the places he envisioned.
He has been reportedly planning at least one more Alien film, however in a new interview with THR he seemed to change his tune slightly.
When tackling the subject of deciding to merely produce Blade Runner 2049 rather than direct it himself, Scott went on to say in regards to the Alien franchise:
“It was a crossfire of too much business. I’m doing a lot of TV and films, there are six films going out this year. I figured it was a good piece of business to follow through ‘Prometheus’, which, from ground zero, had good lift-off. So we went to ‘Covenant’ to perpetuate the idea and [revive] the franchise of the Alien. I think the beast has almost run out, personally”.
Scott then added that if continuing the franchise, he’d prefer the film to focus on Michael Fassbender‘s android David rather than the Xenomorph:
“I think the evolution of the Alien himself is nearly over, but what I was trying to do was transcend and move to another story, which would be taken over by A.I.’s. The world that the AI might create as a leader if he finds himself on a new planet. We have actually quite a big layout for the next one”.
This mirrors what Scott was attempting to accomplish in Prometheus, when the focus leaned much heavier on Fassbender’s character, with the Xenomorph making no more than a cameo appearance. This was to continue with Covenant, but audiences demanded the Xenomorph make a return, and Scott obliged.
It seems though, that his desire to simply rehash old scenes of the infamous creature destroying all in its path is waning.
20th Century Fox is reportedly rethinking their strategy regarding the Alien franchise. Which might lead to a new director taking over from Scott, or maybe a new sequel, or maybe something else entirely. It’s clear that Scott’s vision for the prequels haven’t exactly clicked with audiences, so we’ll have to wait and see if he’s truly interested in finishing the saga himself.
#Peace.Love.Alien
