Ridley Scott has revealed that he was the fifth choice to direct 1979's Alien. Alien follows the crew of the Nostromo as they respond to a distress call that sees one of the team attacked by a face-hugging alien that brings about an even greater threat, forcing the crew to fight for survival against an inhuman creature known as a Xenomorph. The film stars Ian Holm, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton, and Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, the central protagonist who helped redefine female heroes in cinema.
Alien was a hit with critics and audiences who praised the film for its visceral scares, tense direction, and Weaver's heroine. Alien was made on an $11 million budget, which it easily recouped during the initial release that saw the film bring in $78 million at the worldwide box office. With rereleases over the years, Alien has garnered over $100 million worldwide while spawning a franchise. The Alien franchise has seen its highs and lows over the years, but it all started with Scott's vision, which it would seem the world was lucky to get.
In an interview with AV Club, Scott reflected on his career in the director's chair. During the interview, Scott revealed that he was far from the first choice to helm Alien, saying, "I was fifth choice." While Scott didn't mention every director who was offered the project before him, he did say that Robert Altman, was offered the gig directly before him. Scott refers to Altman as a "great filmmaker," though he felt the project didn't suit him, saying, "But what on earth would you offer Robert Altman Alien for?" Scott credits his knowledge as an art director as the reason he could visualize what to do with Alien before using a decidedly British phrase in saying, "it's horses for courses," which essentially means different people are suited for different things. Check out Scott's comments below:
"Alien landed on my desk. I was fifth choice. The guy before me, bizarrely, was a great filmmaker called Robert Altman. But what on earth would you offer Robert Altman Alien for? He must have got to the breakfast scene and started thinking, 'What??' But because of where I come from, which was fundamentally being a pretty good art director, I could see what I could do with it immediately. So I said, 'I’ll do it.' So, you know, it’s horses for courses."
Scott's comments about Altman stem from Altman's career up to that point. By the time of the offer, Altman already had a prolific career going back to the early 1950s, though he was most prominently known for directing MASH, a hit Korean War dramedy. While it seems odd that Scott would be the fifth choice, he was still early in his career, meaning he didn't have the clout or level of success he does today. At the time, Scott had directed a few episodes of TV with only a single feature film under his belt, which was 1977's The Duellists.
With the success of Alien, Scott's career took off, and his immediate follow-up was another sci-fi classic with 1982's Blade Runner. However, Alien took on a life of its own as numerous sequels would expand on the lore and continue to make Xenomorphs nightmare fuel even today. Scott has revisited the Alien franchise with 2012's Prometheus and 2017's Alien: Covenant. It also looks like he may return again for a yet-to-be-titled Alien prequel film, though that is still in the early stages of development. Whether Scott returns to the Alien franchise again or not, the prolific nature of the series and the enduring success of the original shows that the fifth choice was ultimately the right choice to bring Alien to life.
Source: AV Club