Ridley Scott, the man who first sent a xenomorph slithering through the shadows of sci-fi history, has officially closed the airlock on the Alien franchise. In a characteristically candid interview with ScreenRant, the veteran director made clear that his days of chestbursters and deep-space terror are over — and he’s not looking back with much fondness. Reflecting on the series’ evolution, Scott was unfiltered: "I think mine was pretty damn good, and I think Jim’s was good," he said, referring to James Cameron’s action-driven sequel Aliens.
"And I have to say the rest were not very good. I thought, 'F***, that’s the end of a franchise which should be as important as bloody Star Trek or Star Wars, which I think is phenomenal.'"
For Scott, the downhill turn came after Alien Resurrection in 1997, which he bluntly claimed is when the series "deadened."
Though Scott returned in the 2010s with the philosophically ambitious prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, even those now seem more like attempts to rescue the franchise from creative drift. His vision — blending sci-fi horror with existential weight — divided audiences and critics alike, though some still champion Prometheus as a misunderstood gem.
As Alien: Romulus, helmed by Fede Álvarez, forges ahead with a back-to-basics approach and a sequel already greenlit, Scott is stepping aside. Whether he’ll be watching from the sidelines or avoiding the screening room altogether now remains to be seen.
