Ridley Scott Thinks Noah Hawley’s ‘Alien’ TV Series Will “Never Be As Good” As His Original Film

Ridley Scott makes BIG films. Dating back to features like “Alien” and “Blade Runner” all the way to more modern films like “The Martian” and his latest feature-length movie, “The Last Duel,” the filmmaker creates movies that almost demand to be seen on the biggest screen possible. And for that reason, he believes that any film made will be more potent in a theater. 

Speaking to the Independent, Ridley Scott talked about his two new films hitting later this year, “The Last Duel” and “The House of Gucci.” And though he understands there’s a place for Netflix and other streaming services in the world of the film industry, Scott doesn’t believe that films can work quite the same way when you watch them on a TV or mobile device. And therefore, cinemas are vital to the medium.

“The film is gonna be more powerful in cinema,” explained Scott. “It should never go away. It should not be allowed to go away.”

Of course, Scott is also not someone that is opposed to non-film mediums, particularly TV. He’s developed several TV series and directed episodes as well. Projects like “Taboo,” “The Terror,” and last year’s “Raised By Wolves” all carry the Ridley Scott seal of approval. And fans are also really excited to see what he does with Noah Hawley, as they work on a new TV series based on the “Alien” franchise for FX. 

Scott isn’t going to spill the beans on that untitled show just yet. However, he knows one thing is true—no matter how good Hawley’s FX series might be (this is the guy who made “Fargo,” it should be noted), no ‘Alien’ TV series will stack up to Scott’s original film. 

“[The ‘Alien’ TV series will] never be as good as the first one,” he said, grinning. “That’s what I’ll say.” That’s quite the way to sell a series you’re an executive producer on and quite the choice of words, but Scot is said to be protective of the series. He reportedly killed Neil Blomkamp’s “Alien 5” pitch because he felt it competed with his then-running “Prometheus” series. Blomkamp intimated as much this past summer in an interview with the Playlist. Maybe that competitive streak in him still runs deep.

Scott did complain a little bit about what happened to the “Prometheus” series (essentially killed by 20th Century Studios for underperforming financially), so perhaps this is where his comments are coming from. “I never showed an alien in it,” Scott said of ‘Prometheus,” which still made $404 million at the box office (and does feature aliens, just not the exact xenomorphs from the original series. “And the studio … said, ‘See, it didn’t do so well!’ Really?” So, he returned with 2017’s “Alien: Covenant” and “put the aliens back in there,” and the film severely underperformed at the box office: $240m worldwide. “When you’ve got a marvelous beast, it does wear out, and you have to actually think again.”

No release date has been set for the ‘Alien’ TV series. “The Last Duel” hits theaters on October 15. “The House of Gucci” is set to arrive in theaters on November 24.