Filmmaker Ridley Scott has had a long and wild successful career, with plenty of beloved and iconic movies on his resume. While this includes some projects like Thelma & Louise and and Gladiator, his name is also synonymous with sci-fi movies like Alien and Blade Runner. And Scott recently revealed a major regret related to the sequel Blade Runner 2049. Let’s break it all down.
Ridley Scott is showing no signs of slowing down, with a number of exciting projects in the works. Scott reunited with Joaquin Phoenix for his Napoleon movie, and is also working on Gladiator 2. The latter is a highly anticipated sequel, but he did miss out on helming another sequel: Blade Runner 2049, which was helmed by Dune’s Denis Villeneuve. Scott recently spoke to Empire (via Variety) about how directing Alien: Covenant got in the way of him returning the world of replicants. He didn’t mince words, offering:
I shouldn’t have had to make that decision. But I had to. I should have done Blade Runner 2.
Well, there you have it. It looks like Ridley Scott regrets directing the latest Alien installment over the Blade Runner sequel that starred Ryan Gosling and (of course) Harrison Ford. And it seems unlikely that a threequel for the sci-fi property will happen anytime soon, while Alien has never really been far from theaters.
Both Alien: Covenant and Blade Runner 2049 were released back in 2017, and performed quite differently at the box office. Ridley Scott’s Alien sequel was a critical and box office disappointment, although it did continue the narrative of Prometheus. As for Villeneuve's blockbuster, it was also a box office bomb, but performed well critically, is one of the best sci-fi movies ever, and won a few Academy Awards and nominations (although Blade Runner 2049 didn’t get a Best Picture nod). But could this have changed if Scott had gotten behind the camera? Scott maintained most of 2049’s script was his.
While Scott didn’t get to direct Blade Runner’s sequel, he was credited as an executive producer on the sci-fi blockbuster. Given just how beloved and universally acclaimed the original movie was, it was somewhat surprising that he wasn’t behind the camera. But his comments made it seem like the filming schedule of those two movies were out of his control.
Luckily for fans of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, he is returning to the franchise soon, albeit on the small screen. Amazon ordered a series titled Blade Runner 2099 back in September of last year. The timeline of when the show will arrive remains unclear, especially in the midst of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
Obviously Denis Villeneuve is an acclaimed filmmaker, so Blade Runner 2049 was in good hands. I have to wonder if his work on that sci-fi blockbuster helped him land the gig directing the Dune films. Still, Ridley Scott clearly has some regrets.
Ridley Scott’s Napoleon is currently expected to arrive in theaters on November 22nd, 2023. In the meantime, chek out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
