Ridley Scott Returning to Roots with TWO “Alien” Prequels in 3D

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Ridley Scott Returning to Roots with TWO “Alien” Prequels in 3D

By our guest blogger, Tim Strain

Ridley Scott, he of “Blade Runner,” “Gladiator,” and yes, “Alien” fame, has caught the “Avatar”-induced bug and is set to return to the story that launched his Hollywood career…this time in three dimensions. The project(s), which long have been merely a rumor in Hollywood, began to pick up steam in December 2008 and Scott was confirmed as the director last summer.

Why is Scott going back to the well after decades of swearing that he wouldn’t? Well, he appears to be just as out of ideas as anyone else in Hollywood (Robin Hood gets the “Gladiator” treatment!).

Apparently, a seventh and possibly eighth entry into the once classic horror series is necessary. Says Scott in at a press junket for “Robin Hood”: “Alien. Yeah. We're doing that now. We've got a fourth draft, which is pretty good."

Bam. He wants the faster-, slicker-moving digital sheen for the new take on the series rather than the gritty and inexpensive original.

“Would things move faster today? Yeah. I had no technology at all. I had no digital technology at all. The movies that followed us in the series, they all had tech. But I had no computers at all. 'Alien' was all physical. Even the spaceship, which was about the size of this table. You'd just hang it from a wire and the camera would push in underneath... I was the operator on it myself. You'd try to keep it steady with this fan and all this dry ice blowing to give some sense of movement. That was it. And it worked pretty good, actually."

Ridley! That’s the whole damn thing. “Alien” was tight and dark and grainy and claustrophobic. Bigger, more expensive technology won’t scare audiences. I can count the number of times a film has scared me more than “Alien” on one hand. It’s not because it looks sexy and sleak and well-lit--it’s the opposite. "Alien" played up on the innate fear of the dark and what kind of monster can be waiting around the corner or beneath your feet without you even realizing it. With 3D, though, the craft is clearly being put before the story and atmosphere, rather than complementing them.

And does this smell a bit like “The Godfather Part III” to anyone else? A director going back to the source of his fame, arguably his greatest work, and trying to wring out the story when it didn’t need to be revisited? I understand if Scott doesn’t want the "Alien" franchise to end on a note as sour as “Alien vs. Predator: Requiem,” but this is too much. Not just one film to literalize the mystery behind one of the greatest creatures in cinema, but two?

For a more in-depth dialogue about Scott’s thoughts on the 3D process, which frankly disgusts me, visit Cinematical.