Ridley Scott spoke with ‘Alien: Romulus’ writer/director Fede Alvarez on the Directors Guild of America podcast ‘The Director’s Cut’ about the criticism his first four directorial works received back in the day.
“There’s only one film worked out of all of that lot,” he shared, “but they’re a pretty good first four movies. So, I knew I’m on the right track. But somebody at one of the studios said to me, ‘Why don’t you do a film about normal people?’ I went, ‘What the f*ck does that mean?’ Because no one’s normal unless you’re totally boring, right?”
Scott’s first film, ‘The Duellists,’ came out in 1977 and, based on a short story by Joseph Conrad, won a Cannes for Best First Work, though the director said the studio didn’t put enough effort getting it to a wider audience.
‘Alien’ did better at the box office with some critics praising it as a sci-fi project, but ‘Blade Runner’ didn’t have such luck. Famous critic Pauline Kael’s review of the movie at the time hit its performance hard. 1985’s ‘Legend’ had a similar experience.
Still, the director said, “These are all good movies, so there’s something deeply wrong with the audience or marketing. But you know, I’m not bitter. I’m very happy where I am. It is the best attitude that one can have, to just love all of your movies, trust, and keep going.”
Ridley Scott’s most recent film, ‘Gladiator II,’ is a sequel to his 2000 hit ‘Gladiator.’ The movie is successfully competing at the box office against other major films like ‘Moana 2’ and ‘Wicked’ at the moment.
