There aren’t a ton of ongoing science-fiction horror franchises in modern Hollywood, but that may be because Alien already did it about as good as anyone could. Ridley Scott’s seminal 1979 classic has spawned several sequels and influenced generations of filmmakers, and the universe will soon boast a streaming television series as well. Though the famed director won't be working on the series directly, Scott recently spoke about the latter and shared a hilariously blunt thought about Noah Hawley’s upcoming small-screen project.
Ridley Scott spoke to The Independent about a litany of topics, and while he wasn’t willing to talk about the highly anticipated Gladiator 2, he did offer his thoughts on the upcoming Alien television show. When asked about it, Ridley gave a grinning response, perhaps indicating his statement was intended to be as cheeky as it was fiery.
It’ll never be as good as the first one. That’s what I’ll say.
A hilarious response from Ridley Scott, because what can be said to that? Alien is undoubtedly a cinematic classic, and is still considered such decades after its release. Noah Hawley’s series would need to pull off some pretty incredible storytelling, character building and effects work during its run to even enter the same neighborhood of the mothership film's acclaim. Even if it did all that, it would 100% be debatable which one is truly better.
Given Alien's legend status, It’s hard to take Ridley Scott’s comments as legitimately offensive or truly mean-spirited in regards to the Alien television reboot. After all, Scott didn’t just direct the original Alien, he also returned to the franchise to direct Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. If this were purely about filmmaking pride or something of that nature, Scott would probably mention the full body of his franchise contributions and not just the first movie. Plus, Scott is a lover of the big screen, so perhaps a bit of the snark comes from Alien’s transition to a television format in and of itself, even if he'd likely share the same thought about James Cameron's Aliens sequel.
Ridley Scott’s thoughts aside, there’s still not a ton we know about Noah Hawley’s Alien series, which is expected to debut sometime in 2023. The series will take place on Earth with a near-future timeline, and the character Ellen Ripley will not be involved at this point. With only that much information for the fanbase to go on, it's hard to know if Scott has more insider info about where the story will go, or if he's making vague predictions like anyone else would.
Regardless of Ridley Scott’s comments, Noah Hawley’s Alien series will remain a hotly anticipated project mainly because of what he’s delivered to date. Hawley’s television adaptation of Fargo has earned 55 Emmy nominations with 6 wins so far, and Legion is another great example of just how creative he can get with episodic storytelling. The quality of those projects obviously does not guarantee that Alien would fare the same just because of Hawley's creative involvement, but the novelist and showrunner's track record with critically acclaimed television speaks for itself, so perhaps he can inject fresh ideas into a franchise like Alien in ways no one else has before him.
As mentioned, the Alien reboot is expected to arrive via FX on Hulu sometime in 2023. That’s still a long enough way away for plenty of things to change, so be sure to stick with CinemaBlend for any and all updates on the series. For more on the Alien franchise, read what one star had to say on whether or not Ridley Scott will ever make another sequel to the franchise.
