Ridley Scott reveals biggest regret of his career

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Friday November 15, 2024 6:45 p.m., United Kingdom

Creating a timeless classic is a double-edged sword. That could make its creator the toast of Hollywood, but it also runs the risk of becoming the target of bloodsucking studio executives who want to exploit it for sequels, prequels and remakes. Ridley Scott knows more than most filmmakers. When he released his landmark sci-fi horror film Stranger in 1979, he became one of the most promising young directors in the industry, but he also learned the hard way that nothing is sacred.

The follow-up of Stranger1986s Extraterrestrialsactually started things off quite brilliantly. Directed by James Cameron, the film took the genre from suspenseful sci-fi to pure, grimy action. After that, however, things took an artistically disastrous turn. Seven films followed, often created by a who’s who of Hollywood blockbuster creators. Joss Whedon wrote some of the worst screenplays, even though Greg and Colin Strause’s Alien vs. Predator: Requiem takes the cake as the bottom of the franchise.

The problem, according to Scott, is that he didn’t take control of the sequels when he directed the first film. Instead, he had to watch the franchise he created reinvent itself, and be brought to its knees, torn apart and mind-numbing until he regained control of future sequels decades later.

“I should have locked them up, like (Steven) Spielberg did with Jurassicand everything he does, and James Cameron did with what he had,” Scott said. The Hollywood Reporter in 2024. “I resurrected a dead Stranger (franchise) with Prometheus And Extraterrestrial: Allianceand we should have re-entered the property at that time, but we didn’t, because someone was negligent.

It’s debatable whether the creator of the first film in a franchise is always the best creator of the sequels. THE Stranger The series itself is a great example of this, given that Cameron’s auteur approach to the second film is by far the second best film in the series. Scott’s own additions to the franchise have been more difficult. Extraterrestrial: Alliance was a high-concept, angsty prequel that divided critics and audiences and lacked the tense simplicity of the first. As second prequel after Prometheusit also seemed somewhat redundant.

As for Spielberg’s control over Jurassic Park franchise, it’s hard to see how it helped make the films better than they would have been had he not been involved. The rebooted series, beginning with Jurassic world in 2015, it’s Hollywood at its most shameless. Focusing on special effects rather than characters or story, each film is soulless compared to Spielberg’s 1993 original and serves as a prime example of how creative control isn’t always synonymous with artistic success.

If the Stranger And Jurassic Park Something sequels tell us is that some films are so fully realized that they don’t need to be expanded upon, even if the creators behind them can’t resist. In some cases it would be better if they didn’t have creative control just so someone could tell them to move on and let the original speak for itself.

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