Ridley Scott Changes Alien Sequel Plans, Talks Prometheus Fails

Ridley Scott is trying to help the Alien franchise make a legitimate comeback with Alien: Covenant, the new film that tries to take the franchise back to its survivalist horror roots, after getting lost in the heady theological concepts of Prometheus.

A few years back, when the excitement surrounding Alien: Covenant (Alien: Paradise at the time) was really high, Ridley Scott let it be known that he would be directing at least three more Alien movies after Covenant; as the film nears release, the first reactions haven’t been as stellar as Scott and 20th Century Fox hoped, and it seems that the acclaimed filmmaker is already starting to lower his ambitions for Alien‘s future.

Speaking with Yahoo UK, Scott recently re-adjusted his claim of the Alien franchise’s future, sating, “I don’t know. [I’ll make] maybe two more [films], or maybe one more, I don’t know.”

Those new reservations seem to be (at least in part) generated from the negative reaction Scott’s last Alien universe film, Prometheus, received:

“…we discovered from it that [the fans] were really frustrated. They wanted to see more of the original [monster] and I thought he was definitely cooked, with an orange in his mouth. So I thought: ‘Wow, OK, I’m wrong’… The fans, in a funny kind of way – they’re not the final word – but they are the reflection of your doubts about something, and then you realize ‘I was wrong’ or ‘I was right’. I think that’s where it comes in. I think you’re not sensible if you don’t actually take [the fans’ reaction] into account.”

That revelation no doubt led Scott to try a more traditional approach to the franchise with Alien: Covenant, and will continue to dictate his path, as he moves onto his next project in the Alien franchise, which is already written and expected to shoot within the next year. As Scott tells it, that back-to-back rush in sequels is actually a good thing:

“I’ll probably be filming it within a year,” Scott says about the follow up to Covenant. “It’ll be out within a year and nine months. It’s weird when you’re writing, doing, planning, thinking about franchises, it’s amazing how it opens up and starts to evolve.”

MORE Alien News:

• Sequel to the Original Alien in the Works
• The Status of Neil Blomkamp’s Alien 5
• Alien: Covenant Sequel Filming Next Summer
• New Fan Theory Says Predator, Terminator & Aliens exist in same Cinematic Universe

Alien: Covenant will be in theaters on May 19th.

[H/T 20th Century Fox]