Sir Ridley Scott would like to make more Alien movies for Disney. Despite his earlier declarations that "the beast has almost run out", the legendary director expressed a willingness to develop the property further under the aegis of The House of Mouse following the recent merger between the Walt Disney Company and 21st Century Fox.
The Alien franchise is one of many properties acquired in the recent buy-out, whose continued status is uncertain. Fans of the Alien films are hopeful that Disney will take a hands-off approach in the daily management of Fox's operations, similar to the one taken when the studio acquired Marvel Comics in 2009, allowing Fox to produce the adult films with which The Walt Disney Company would normally not be associated.
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Scott's wishes were first reported by Digital Spy, where he was quizzed about the fate of the franchise. Sir Ridley confessed ignorance of any specific plans one way or the other, saying "whether or not they go ahead with such a dark subject... remains to be seen." However, Scott expressed his hope that the series would continue in some form or fashion, with or without him.
"I think they should because I think, when people have a hard and fast franchise which has ongoing interest, it's crazy not to do something with it."
Scott seems optimistic, though he also admits that is unlikely the series will continue under Disney's banner given the company's focus on family entertainment. The Alien films, by contrast, are notorious for their violent and disturbing content and for being about as far from family friendly as it is possible to get. Despite this, Scott praised the company's business acumen.
"I think it's great. I think it's very good for Disney. Of all the studios they're far ahead of their game for having a prepared, thought through demographic for the kind of films they're making – for who they're making them for. That's why they're so successful. And they draw the line at anything that crosses PG-13... [If] they find that they're so successful with that that they want to cross the line and do something a little darker, and if they do that, do they want to do that under Disney or do they want to do that under the Fox banner? I think there's a business plan afoot definitely."
Sadly, Scott's newfound optimism seems grossly unfounded. Ignoring the Disney studio's traditional focus (though, they're keen to make more Deadpool sequels), many feel that the Aliens series' best days are behind it. Alien: Covenant, the most recent Alien movie, suffered an 80% drop in its second week, making a mere $3 million at the height of the summer blockbuster season. The final profits of $74 million were so disappointing that Fox has canceled production on the proposed follow-up film. Given that, it seems unlikely then that the profit-minded House of Mouse will be interested in continuing the film franchise any time soon.
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Source: Digital Spy