Alien And Blade Runner Fans Just Got The Best News From Ridley Scott
Clearly, age is but a number to legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott. After delivering not one but two star-studded films this year with "The Last Duel" and "House of Gucci," the 83-year-old Oscar-winning director is showing no sign of stopping. Besides prepping for his Napoleon-biopic, "Kitbag," starring Joaquin Phoenix, he's also looking over stories born from his most iconic work — "Alien" and "Blade Runner" — which are set to arrive in all-new stories selected for the small screen.
News of face-huggers and chest busters breaking out on television was made last year during the Disney Investors announcements. Set to air on FX, the as yet to be titled show would see the infamous xenomorphs finally arriving on Earth in a story penned by Noah Hawley ("Fargo," "Legion"). Since then, there's been little coming up on the scanners regarding its development, but thankfully Sir Ridley provided the BBC with an all-new update on the current stage of LV-426's most hostile inhabitants.
Mystery Blade Runner show is further ahead than Alien
Speaking to the BBC radio show Today this week (via Variety), Ridley Scott revealed that the "Alien" series pilot is in the process of being written, along with a bible that will detail what happens in a series set to span 8-10 episodes. Scott also mentioned the development of a "Blade Runner" live-action series that was unknown up to this point and now looks to be further ahead. "We [have already] written the pilot for 'Blade Runner' and the bible," said Scott. "So, we're already presenting 'Blade Runner' as a TV show, the first 10 hours."
In the most recent efforts for both franchises, the success levels have been pretty low for very different reasons. The last time we took on those acid-bleeding beasties was in "Alien: Covenant," which was met with a weaker reception than hoped. Earning a 65% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Newsweek described it as "not ambitious, but it's roaringly, repulsively effective." As for "Blade Runner 2049," which NME described as "a cinematic miracle" and earned a Rotten Tomatoes score of 88% the positive reviews didn't reflect the box-office receipts, making only $259 million with a production budget of $150 million.
Hopefully, both projects could find a new life for the beloved franchise on a primetime TV slot. There really is so much to explore in the world of Replicants and rib-cracking monsters from our nightmares, and maybe this could give both of them a second life.