Director Ridley Scott Comments On Disney-Fox Merger And What It Means For The Future Of Alien

Even at 80 years young, Ridley Scott continues to be one of the most prolific creators in all of Hollywood.

Between directing, producing and writing, the illustrious filmmaker is often juggling numerous projects simultaneously, and he shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. As a matter of fact, Scott has already floated an idea for a third Blade Runner movie, while a full-blown adaptation of The Merlin Saga is said to be on the cards, too.

But what of his sci-fi gem? We are, of course, referring to the time-honored Alien franchise, which admittedly strayed into troubled waters soon after the release of Covenant. That’s not to say the prequel-sequel was ostensibly bad; rather, it failed to light up the box office in the way Fox would have hoped, leading studio executives to “reassess” the franchise’s future. And that’s before we even factor in the recent Disney-Fox merger.

In fact, while promoting All the Money in the World, Ridley Scott chimed in with his own thoughts on the seismic acquisition, and what it means for the future of Alien.

It looks to me that the Fox deal is certainly going to go ahead with Disney, and I’ve been with Fox for a number years now. I’m hoping I’ll still probably be there so whether or not they go ahead with such a dark subject, being Disney, as Aliens remains to be seen. I think they should because when people have a hard and fast franchise which has ongoing interest, it’s crazy not to do something with it.

The Mouse House is known and loved for its palatable, PG-13 movies, so it’s hard to imagine how Alien could slither into such a strict template. Nevertheless, as Scott says up above, it really would be crazy to leave Alien by the wayside.

That’s why they’re so successful. And they draw the line at anything that crosses PG-13. [If] they find that they’re so successful with that that they want to cross the line and do something a little darker, and if they do that, do they want to do that under Disney or do they want to do that under the Fox banner? I think there’s a business plan afoot definitely.

As for what’s next, a sequel to Covenant is still on the table, even if it comes at the expense of Neill Blomkamp’s planned sequel.

I’m in tune with where Covenant 2 would go. We already know what we’d do with that.

So, there you have it; even after Disney’s historic acquisition, it appears the Alien series is dormant, not dead.