Ridley Scott is making headline a lot these days, eh? With his latest film, Exodus: Gods and Kings, fully whitewashed and ready to release, he’s also been chatting about Blade Runner 2. Scott has leaned away from the idea of directing it in the past month or so, but he apparently heard back from Harrison Ford on his impressions of the script: “I sent him [the script] and he said ‘wow, this is the best thing I’ve ever read.’ It’s very relevant to what happened [in] the first one.” High praise, it seems. I hope it actually is as good as Scott portrays it to be. In lieu of him, who do you think should direct the film? I’m not 100% sure, but I think a good name to suggest would be Nicolas Winding Refn. Since we can’t replicate the success of the original, why not try something totally unique and different? Read more…
It’s hard to think of many aliens more iconic than the Xenomorph of Ridley Scott’s Alien. Scott realizes we still need new attempts though, so apparently he has teased a new alien to appear in the third act of Prometheus 2. Scott said that he’d avoid species from previous Alien films, and to “Stop the dragons.” The rumor of God or Satan being involved was also denied. I’m not that surprised, I always figured there were more aliens in that version of space. I’d be interested to hear how they may relate to other species though. Read more…
And no, it will not have aliens in it. The Martin has been scheduled as Ridley Scott’s next film, arriving November 15th, 2015. The tale is based off of Andy Weir’s 2012 novel of the same name, which follows an astronaut stranded on Mars when his crew leaves him behind. Believed dead and with very few resources to survive, the astronaut Mark Watney struggles to live in the harsh Martian environment until help can arrive… if it ever does! (Insert typical dramatic trailer music here.) This seems like a good fit for Scott (Apollo 13 meets Castaway, essentially), but I’m sure some fans will be upset he’s not doing Prometheus 2. Or that supposed Blade Runner sequel. I think this could turn out well, though — it’s definitely more appealing to me than Exodus! Read more…
Ridley Scott’s biblical epic about Moses has finally gotten a trailer, and sadly it confirms a lot of my fears about Exodus: Gods and Kings. While Scott’s direction is always at least above average (and I’m sure there will be some excited shots in this film), I can’t help but feel that the world is over whitewashed portrayals of history. I mean, there are so many good actors of other races, it seems so bizarre to see Christian Bale in the middle of a crowd of Egyptians. I don’t doubt that Bale will display a good performance, and the spectacle alone might make this worth seeing, but hopefully people will ask why a more fitting actor couldn’t have had the part of Moses. Still, it’s a cool-looking trailer with some neat music. Check it out! Read more…
Blade Runner isn’t just a fantastic sci-fi film (particularly if you watch Ridley Scott’s final cut), it’s a neo-noir detective story. YouTube user Chet Diamond decided to cut a new trailer to emphasize its noir style, putting it in black-and-white and focusing on certain dialogue. It’s actually cut more modern than an actual noir film’s trailer would be, but it’s still an interesting take on the film that makes me want to watch it all over again. Now if only someone would give The Big Lebowski a noir trailer, seeing as it’s basically a noir film in disguise. Read more…
Against better judgment, Ridley Scott wants to make a sequel to Blade Runner. The man has made some fantastic films, but his work of late hasn’t been quite as good (see: Prometheus). What’s even worse? Harrison Ford has considered returning to the role of Rick Deckard. During promotion for Ender’s Game, IGN asked Harrison Ford about the potential sequel. Ford revealed that not only was he interested in playing the human/replicant/whatever-you-think, but he has talked with Ridley Scott about it. Read more…
At first I hadn’t been too excited for Ridley Scott’s next film, The Counselor. The one sentence blurb didn’t catch my eye (a counselor gets in deep with the drug trade and meets strange people), so I wasn’t really paying attention. That is, until the casting and scripting news arrived. Penned by No Country for Old Men writer Cormac McCarthy, and starring Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, and Penélope Cruz, it looks to be a hard-R return for Scott, and I really can’t wait to see it later this year. The Counselor arrives in theaters October 25th. Trailer after the break. Read more…
Since everyone seems to be complaining or celebrating the news that Fox is pushing forward with a Prometheus sequel, I thought I would try to bring a different opinion to the table. While having Michael Fassbender (the best character of Prometheus) and Noomi Rapace return along with director Ridley Scott is good news in my book, I can understand why people may be hesitant about the return to the Alien universe. However, I think a sequel will actually end up solving several problems that existed in the first film. Spoilers for the end of Prometheus after the break! Read more…
And now Ridley Scott wants Harrison Ford for Blade Runner II? The saddest thing an artist can do is to be forced to go back to their past to amuse the masses. This was the trap that poor George Lucas fell into: Try-and-try as he did to remake Star Wars he couldn’t pull it off. The result? Of course we all stood in line and watched Jar Jar Binks, but now that it’s been more than a decade since The Phantom Menace and today fanboys still yearn for the real thing — Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. And sadly I fear Ridley Scott is going down the same path to schlockdom. Read more…
This latest featurette on Ridley Scott’s upcoming Prometheus really gives a good look at how big and detailed the sets they made really are. Especially that impressive-looking chair that Michael Fassbender settles down into – it makes me sad that there’s less and less of that happening. I hope this shows studios that traditional sets still have a place in sci-fi films. The recent R rating news also gives me some hope that Scott was given free reign with the entirety of the film, which is always good. This short video gives a glimpse into the amount of work put into Prometheus, but it might be a little spoiler-y for some people, so beware!
I like Ridley Scott. I like his films. Apparently, these actors love Ridley too. A lot. Of course, it’s just how the featurette is cut, I’m sure, but the real news here is the excellent look at the sets and process behind Prometheus, Ridley’s latest sci-fi film. I’ve always admired Ridley’s desire to stick with traditional sets. Building the environments for the actors to actually move around in helps a great deal in enhancing the believability of a film. I’m interested in seeing how it all pans out when the film finally releases on June 8th.
I have to admit that as a jaded fanboy the idea of revisiting the Alien universe leaves me feeling a bit jaded — but this trailer that Ridley Scott could pull this thing off: Read more…
I’ll take any opportunity to write about Blade Runner, and the last week has been filled with speculation and rumors. It all began with Twitch posting an article claiming they learned that Harrison Ford was in talks to join the sequel. Two days later, the head honchos at Alcon (the company financing the sequel) said this wasn’t true at all. Now, AICN posted an Entertainment Weekly article in which Ridley Scott himself speaks out on the film. What did he have to say? Read more…
When news first broke of Ridley Scott creating a prequel to Alien, many people were rightfully excited. While that specific project broke down, it turned into something equally interesting: Prometheus. Now, I’m not using Alien “DNA” in the literal sense. Instead, I’m referring to Ridley Scott’s original comments about the film, in that it will share many “strands of Alien’s DNA” and have similar underlying themes. That fact is incredibly apparent with these new images released to tide us over until the inevitable trailer release. Read more…
I just came across this amazing short film made by Stargate Studios which is a tribute to Blade Runner. If they had done nothing but the opening animation here I would have been blown away, but they took it to the next step and work with some live actors. If you’re a film snob it’s too easy to forget that the original film was done on a budget of $28 million, but just remember that what you’re seeing here was done with no budget and you’ll be impressed: Read more…
Many of us were psyched when Ridley Scott announced plans for an upcoming film set in the Blade Runner universe, but until recently, news has scarce. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Scott gave us a bit of an update regarding the project. In addition to stating that it’ll be the next film on his plate, Scott hinted that the film would actually serve chronological sequel, though it won’t feature any of the original cast, or even the character of Richard Deckard. I’m not sure how I feel about that, especially since the first film left so many unanswered questions. The film, of course, was loosely based on the Phillip K. Dick novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and while there have been several novelized sequels that try to bridge the gap between the two, it’s hard for anyone to really consider them cannon. Considering this new film will take the series in a new direction, I wonder if we’ll ever see a proper sequel. Still, it’s pretty awesome that we’re even going to get one in the first place.
On paper it sounds like a good idea: Why not take the Philip K. Dick book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and make a graphic novel out of it? And that’s what BOOM! Studios has been trying to do for about seven issues of this comic book and they just can’t get it right. I’ve been looking at the previews for a while and something has always set me off about them. Then it struck with this latest issue — this isn’t a graphic novel based upon the novel, but a bad xerox copy of Blade Runner which was the famous film which was based upon the novel. Read more…
I’ll be honest: My first reaction to even hearing that there was a big budget Robin Hood in the works make with cringe as grow men prancing around in tights lacking proper machine guns just seems silly to me thanks to Bugs Bunny. However when I realized that Ridley Scott was directing my thinking is that he might do something interesting with the story after all. Read more…
While Ridley Scott’s Alien is an amazing horror film, my favorite in the genre goes to his brother Tony Scott who directed The Hunger. To me the genre of werewolves can be a bit campy, but if there is anyone who can get it right it would be Ridley Scott:
“We learned of some interesting news this evening as we were tipped off that Ian Jeffers, who wrote both James Wans’ drama-thriller DEATH SENTENCE and Sylvain White’s upcoming adaptation of CASTLEVANIA, has sold an original script to legendary director-produce Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner). Here’s the juicy tid-bit… apparently the film is a werewolf project! No other details were revealed, but it sounds like we might have something pretty huge to look forward to in the coming years.”
