Summary
- Ridley Scott’s original Alien franchise efforts should not end with Disney’s new movie. Scott has been influential in shaping the franchise and should have the opportunity to provide a proper ending to his prequel story.
- Disney’s new Alien movie will likely offer a completely new take on the franchise and will not closely relate to Scott’s prequel movies.
- Scott’s prequel trilogy and Disney’s Alien installments can coexist and provide exceptional context. Scott’s mastery of the original film’s tone can benefit future Alien movies, as long as he wants to continue making them.
Disney’s new Alien movie shouldn’t mark the end of Ridley Scott’s original franchise efforts. Scott has directed three out of the six total movies in the Alien franchise and has largely influenced the iconic shape and scope of the franchise at large. Other prominent directors that have been a part of the Alien franchise include James Cameron, David Fincher, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and Joss Whedon as a screenwriter. Fede Alvarez of 2016’s Don’t Breathe acclaim will direct Disney’s upcoming Alien project.
Disney’s new installment of the long-running science fiction franchise is set to release in 2024 after several changes were made to the studio’s theatrical release schedule. Scott’s highly-anticipated Gladiator 2 is set to premiere at the end of 2024 after his 2023 historical drama Napoleon hits theaters this November. There is currently an “Untitled Alien Prequel” listed under Scott’s IMDb credits, although the plot remains unknown and the production status indicates that the project is still in the early development stages.
Ridley Scott’s Alien Prequel Story Deserves A Proper Ending
Ridley Scott followed up his original 1979 Alien movie with 2012’s Prometheus, which started a prequel narrative that dove into some of the backstories of the events that took place in later Alien films. Prometheus was then followed by Scott’s 2017 Alien: Covenant which acted as a sequel taking place roughly a decade after Prometheus. Scott’s two most recent efforts to add to his Alien franchise, however, failed to win over audiences and critics as much as the original Alien did. Despite the lack of mass appeal, Ridley Scott’s prequel story still deserves a proper ending that only a new Alien movie under his direction can attain.
Alien 7 under Disney’s oversight will offer fans of the franchise with a completely new take on the beloved sci-fi content. The new Alien movie stars a mostly young cast of lesser-known actors, indicating that it will not be closely related to Scott’s Alien prequel movies at all. Disney and director Fede Alvarez appear to hold the intention of distancing their new Alien movie from the previous tone and direction that Scott established so deliberately with his original film and subsequent prequels. Regardless, Scott should still embrace the opportunity to solidify his latest Alien movies as a standalone prequel trilogy.
Alien’s New Movie & Ridley Scott’s Next Alien Movie Can Coexist
A future world with both Scott’s and Disney’s Alien installments can certainly coexist, even simultaneously. While there’s unlikely to be much intentional timeline or character overlaps between the two separate Alien movies, Scott’s prequel trilogy can provide exceptional context from the original canon source that later Disney Alien installments can potentially pull from. Scott possesses a mastery of the original Alien movie’s tone that Disney will likely either emulate or deviate from in their Alien film. As long as Ridley Scott wants to keep making more Alien movies, there should be nothing stopping him from concluding his prequel narratives.