Ridley Scott Thinks The Alien Movies Should Be As Popular As Star Wars

Following the box office disappointment of last year's Alien: Covenant, the future of the long-running sci-fi franchise is in doubt. Director Ridley Scott initially suggested that he was finished with the series. But in a subsequent interview last month, Scott spoke about a possible new direction, arguing that the franchise should "drift away from the Alien stuff" and focus more on artificial intelligence.

In a new interview with the Toronto Sun, Scott again sounded more optimistic about the future of the series. "There's no reason why Alien should now not be on the same level for fans as Star Trek and Star Wars," he said. "I think the next [question] as to where we go is, do we sustain the Alien [franchise] 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."

The decision to continue the series now lies with Disney, following the recent deal for the studio to acquire Fox's entertainment assets. Scott stated that the studio would be "crazy if they don't" make more Alien movies. He also praised Michael Fassbender's character, sinister android David. "David is a fantastic villain," he said. "I love what Fassbender did in Covenant. But it's f***ing hard, dude. We lifted Alien out of a ditch and made Prometheus."

Covenant made $240 million worldwide, much less than Prometheus's $403 million take. Prior to the movie's release, Scott had been talking enthusiastically about the future of the series. In March last year, he suggested that the next movie would be called Alien: Awakening, and that the series would continue for several more films beyond that.

In related news, Scott has also expressed his dissatisfaction with the running time of Blade Runner 2049. He produced the recent sequel to his 1982 sci-fi classic, and was recently asked what he thought of the movie. "I have to be careful what I say," he says. "It was f***ing way too long. F*** me! And most of that script's mine."