Ridley Scott says he was ‘never told or asked’ about ‘Blade Runner’ or ‘Alien’ sequels

Director Ridley Scott‘s movies Alien and Blade Runner were hits, but he says that he wasn’t asked to make the sequels.

“I’m the author of two franchises. Most directors in Hollywood — certainly, let’s say, at my level — don’t let that stuff go,” he told Vanity Fair. “But I did Alien as my second movie, so I didn’t have much choice. And Blade Runner was my third movie. So, I had no choice because I had very tough partners. It was kind of ‘Welcome to Hollywood.'” He added, “I was never told or asked [about sequels]. You can imagine I wasn’t happy.”

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Instead of Scott, the sequel to 1979’s Alien, released in 1986 and called Aliens, was directed by James Cameron. The sequel to Scott’s Blade Runner, from 1982, was helmed by Denis Villeneuve — for the record, Scott thinks Villeneuve did a “good job.” Released in 2017, the movie starred Ryan Gosling.

Scott is still involved with those franchises, though. executive producing the upcoming Amazon Prime series Blade Runner 2099 and producing Alien: Romulus, a film set between the events of Alien and Aliens.

However, Scott was back in the director’s chair for the sequel to another of his blockbuster movies, 2000’s Gladiator. The Russell Crowe–starring movie was named the best picture of the year at the Oscars.

Gladiator 2 premieres in theaters on Nov. 22.