Ridley Scott's 1979 science fiction horror film
Alien not only jump-started the director's career, but also became a staple in sci-fi cinema while also spawning an entire franchise of films. While the franchise has struggled to find its footing with audiences since the James Cameron-directed Aliens released in 1986, there always seems to be intrigue surrounding xenomorphs. Well, if Ridley Scott has his way, xenomorphs could be on the way out.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the director talked a bit about the future of the Alien franchise, suggesting it could shift its focus from aliens to AI.
"We are [going to make another], we are,” Scott confirmed, before dropping a major bomb.
“I think what we have to do is gradually drift away from the alien stuff.”
While it may certainly sound odd to fans of the franchise, Scott defended his position.
“People say, ‘You need more alien, you need more face pulling, need more chest bursting,’ so I put a lot of that in Covenant and it fitted nicely," the director said, adding,
"But I think if you go again you need to start finding another solution that’s more interesting. I think AI is becoming much more dangerous and therefore more interesting.”
The director cited Facebook's recent experiment from last summer to prove his point.
“They put two AIs together and they were communing. It already invented a f—ing language! And they couldn’t decipher what the language was so they had to switch them off. What was said and where’s it gone? They could have already implemented something we don’t know.”
Anyone familiar with Scott is already aware of the director's fascination with AI, so this shift probably doesn't come as much of a surprise. In fact, Scott's
Alien: Covenant - while returning to its sci-fi horror roots - had a major emphasis on AI, particularly with Michael Fassbender's characters David and Walter. And, of course, Ridley Scott is also widely known for bringing the world of
Blade Runner - a film that's heavily focused on AI (Replicants) - to life on the big screen. But, if films like
Blade Runner 2049 and
Alien: Covenant are any indication of the path the
Alien franchise is on, then 20th Century Fox better start bracing itself now for
potentially disappointing box office returns. Though the Denis Villeneuve-directed
Blade Runner 2049 was much more well-received than
Alien: Covenant, both struggled domestically at the box office.
While there's no doubt AI can be just as, if not more, terrifying than actual aliens, it'll be hard to convince fans that putting less xenormophs into future
Alien films is a good thing for the franchise.