Ridley Scott Bids Farewell to Alien Franchise, Wishes for Its Future Success

Visionary filmmaker Ridley Scott has announced his departure from the Alien franchise, stating, “I’ve contributed all I can.”

The 87-year-old British director and producer, who helmed the groundbreaking 1979 sci-fi horror Alien and rekindled the series with 2012’s Prometheus, shared with ScreenRant recently: “The franchise is on a strong path now, and I hope it continues to thrive.”

Scott has entrusted the Alien saga to capable successors, with Fede Álvarez’s hit Alien: Romulus and Noah Hawley’s upcoming FX series Alien: Earth, created by the Fargo showrunner. The success of Alien: Romulus has already sparked plans for a sequel, and the forthcoming Predator: Badlands includes several Alien crossover nods.

In the same interview, Scott reflected on the franchise’s decline after 1997’s Alien: Resurrection, which spurred his decision to reinvigorate it with Prometheus. He followed that with 2017’s Alien: Covenant, the last mainline film until Alien: Romulus hit theaters last year.

“After the fourth film, the series lost its spark,” he remarked. “My Alien was strong, and James Cameron’s Aliens was excellent, but the others fell short. I thought, ‘This franchise deserves to stand alongside Star Trek or Star Wars—it’s that significant.’”

The Alien Movies in Chronological Order

He continued: “Years later, I decided to bring it back with Prometheus, starting from a clean slate. Damon Lindelof and I crafted Prometheus together.”

“The audience embraced it warmly, craving more. I felt it needed to soar. No one else was stepping up, so I made Alien: Covenant, and it resonated too. Now, I believe I’ve done my part, and I hope the franchise keeps evolving.”

Though Scott will no longer direct Alien films, he served as a producer on Alien: Romulus and is an executive producer on Alien: Earth through his company, Scott Free. The debut trailer for Alien: Earth has already given fans plenty to anticipate.