Ridley Scott says ‘Alien’ TV series will “never be as good” as original

Ridley Scott has said that he believes the upcoming ‘Alien’ TV series will never be as good as his 1979 classic.

Speaking to the Independent, the British director shared his lack of belief in the upcoming FX series being directed by ‘Fargo’ showrunner Noah Hawley.

“It’ll never be as good as the first one,” Scott said, apparently with a “grin”. He added: “That’s what I’ll say.”

The director, who also has ‘Gladiator 2’ in the works, reflected on his own attempt to resurrect the ‘Alien’ franchise with the 2012 origin story ‘Prometheus’. 

“I never showed an alien in it,” he said, “and the studio…said, ‘See, it didn’t do so well!’ Really?”

In 2017’s ‘Alien: Covenant’ he “put the aliens back in there”, to a far smaller box office draw than ‘Prometheus’. “When you’ve got a marvellous beast, it does wear out and you have to actually think again.”

Hawley spoke to Vanity Fair in July, explaining that the series is “not a Ripley story”, referring to Sigourney Weaver’s leading role in the original.

He added:  “She’s one of the great characters of all time, and I think the story has been told pretty perfectly, and I don’t want to mess with it.”

He also shared some insight about what to expect from the new show. “ You will see what happens when the inequality we’re struggling with now isn’t resolved. If we as a society can’t figure out how to prop each other up and spread the wealth, then what’s going to happen to us?

Hawley added that a season five of ‘Fargo’ is looking hopeful, though further details are yet to be released.

Ridley Scott is also set to release two films before the end of the year, ‘The Last Duel’ and ‘House of Gucci’.

The former, which stars the likes of Jodie Comer, Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Ben Affleck, is a medieval saga. ‘House of Gucci’ is a real life drama about the turbulent marriage of Patrizia and Maurizio Gucci, also starring Adam Driver alongside Lady Gaga.