The Ronin can exclusively reveal a nifty department head hiring for the upcoming Alien series on FX that hails from showrunner Noah Hawley with Ridley Scott‘s involvement via his production company Scott Free. We’ve been able to confirm that production Designer Andy Nicholson has been tasked for the Earthbound prequel series.
The spinoff Alien series is expected to take place before the events of the main canonical Alien films, which should be interesting since neither the original Ripley films or Scott’s two prequels featuring the homicidal android David have never hinted or established that the xenomorph had ever been on Earth (The AVP movies aren’t really considered canonical) or experimental on by humans.
Nicholson’s career as a production designer spans across all sorts of films such as Gravity, Captain Marvel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Assassin’s Creed, and the Netflix action-comedy Red Notice.
Hawley is no stranger to genre television working on series like the massively popular Fargo (loosely inspired by the Coen Brothers film) and the mind-bending X-Men series, Legion. What’s interesting is we still haven’t heard any real concrete casting announcements, but that is expected to change as production ramps up.
This isn’t the only Alien project on the horizon either, a new feature film is also on the way as a Hulu exclusive with both Scott Free and 20th Century Studios partnering. The project is expected to be a streaming only venture, although, after the demand to see their Predator prequel Prey on the big screen the studio might reconsider giving the new pic a short theatrical run.
With Ridley Scott‘s historical epic Napoleon starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby currently in the post-production phase at Apple TV+. The filmmaker has moved on to tackling an equally challenging period piece. His long-gestating sequel to the massively successful film Gladiator that also starred Phoenix and landed Aussie actor Russell Crowe an Oscar statue.
A release date for the tentatively titled Gladiator 2 has been announced via Deadline as they report that Paramount Pictures has locked it in for November 22, 2024. Certainly a wise choice given that will take place over the Thanksgiving holiday season in the United States and a prime time for folks to flock to theaters as they aim for an older demographic given the violent action scenes we are expecting to see in it. This comes after Irish actor Paul Mescal reportedly became the frontrunner to lead the sequel after beating high-profile competition from the likes of Richard Madden, Miles Teller, Austin Butler, and Timothée Chalamet for the part.
Of course, fans of that first installment already know that General Maximus Decimus Meridius, aka, The Spaniard died at the end of the 2000 film with Mescal instead taking on the role of Lucius Verus II, the young son of Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla and next inline to become Emperor of Rome. That role had been occupied by American actor Spencer Treat Clark, who was simply recast with a more high-profile name as Mescal is part of this year’s Best Actor Oscar race thanks to his performance in Aftersun. We’re beyond excited to see who else Scott casts alongside Mescal and if any of those previous contenders are given other roles in the film. These big movies tend to be populated with a multitude of recognizable names and plenty of actors are going to want to be involved with a second Gladiator movie given how it gave both Crowe and Phoenix a massive career boost.
While the original film wasn’t exactly as historically accurate as expected with Napoleon, Scott and his team decided to create a fictionalized version of the Roman Empire with some real figures/events inspired from it. Given the dramatized take on history in the previous film, we really shouldn’t assume that audiences will be getting a true-to-life take on this adult version of Lucius and instead a more entertaining take, possibly just as violent as the original pic. Will the film become more of Roman Empire epic covering other battles as they attempt to keep their power over most of Europe or could it actually make a triumphant return to the gladiator pit? Only time will answer our questions concerning the plot.
There was some expectation that after Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049, a sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 landmark sci-fi film Blade Runner, we’d get more live-action stories set in that fantastic universe but when Blade Runner 2049 didn’t light the box office on fire that seemed to be put on ice.
Director Denis Villeneuve had teased interest in returning to the franchise tackling a new story that wasn’t a direct sequel to 2049. Eventually, an anime series Blade Runner: Black Lotus from Japan was produced and recently debuted on WarnerMedia’s Adult Swim.
However, Ridley Scott has revealed a live-action Blade Runner series in the works at Alcon with the pilot written and is eyeing a 10-episode run. Scott mentioned this on BBC Radio 4’s Today this Monday.
“We’re already into having written the pilot for Blade Runner and the bible, so we’re already presenting Blade Runner as a TV show, which will probably be the first 10 hours.”
The original Blade Runner is loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electic Sheep? and was adapted by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. It’s considered one of the most visually striking films ever made.
We’re still in the dark about who is writing the pilot and if it’ll land at HBO Max or elsewhere. It’s also unknown if we’ll continue on Earth as Los Angeles has been the primary setting or if we’ll finally explore the multiple off-world colonies. One of the biggest mysteries of the franchise is what the off-colonies look like along with how Replicants are forced into labor and warfare.
I have to assume WarnerMedia would be involved given rights holders Alcon had Warner Bros. distribute Blade Runner 2049 and Black Lotus at Adult Swim. Ridley Scott’s sci-fi series Raised By Wolves debuted at HBO Max’s launch and had been one of their most popular originals, leading to a season two order.
BLADE RUNNER – Deckard (Harrison Ford) is forced by the police Boss (M. Emmet Walsh) to continue his old job as Replicant Hunter. His assignment: eliminate four escaped Replicants from the colonies who have returned to Earth. Before starting the job, Deckard goes to the Tyrell Corporation and he meets Rachel (Sean Young), a Replicant girl he falls in love with.
BLADE RUNNER 2049 – Officer K (Ryan Gosling), a new blade runner for the Los Angeles Police Department, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos. His discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former blade runner who’s been missing for 30 years.
Last December, it was made official by Disney that Noah Hawley (Legion, Fargo) would be making an Earthbound series set within the Alien franchise for FX On Hulu with Ridley Scott taking a producing role (Scott being the gatekeeper of the Alien franchise via Scott Free).
While speaking with The Independent, Ridley Scott gives the impression he might be more hands-off than we previously expected and proceeded to theorize the show will “never” be as good as his original 1979 film, which comes off as more of a dig towards Hawley than trying to motivate the successful creator of FX’s Legion and Fargo to outshine Alien.
“Wherever [the series goes], whatever they do, ‘It’ll never be as good as the first one,’ [Scott grins] ‘That’s what I’ll say.’”
These somewhat passive-aggressive comments aren’t terribly shocking given that Ridley Scott seems to big his own biggest cheerleader and believing he alone knows what is best for the Alien franchise. Then again, Alien: Covenant ended up one of the biggest misfires in the franchise and due to it’s weak audience response, the cliffhanger ending never paid off similar to Prometheus.
When Neill Blomkamp got candid about Alien 5 over the summer, the director cited Ridley Scott as the reason his movie never went into production and how he basically intervened with the studio to have him thrown off Alien 5, potentially because of Chappie.
“At the end of the day even though Ridley Scott is producing it, he brought that to the world, so if he changes his mind or if there is a director on it he doesn’t want, whatever it may be, it’s his. I understand that, it makes logical sense to me.”
“It’s possible that Ridley watched Chappie and he was like, this guy can’t do Alien so let’s just go ahead and move on.”
Scott already taking minor shots on the series in the press isn’t all that surprising, hopefully, he won’t throw his weight around for a second time to get another Alien project killed/blocked.
The director has The Last Duel and House of Gucci hitting theaters alongside period dramas Kitbag and a sequel to Gladiator on the horizon to go behind cameras in the near future. While he’s teased talks with 20th Century Studios about a third Alien prequel, that hasn’t been made official or greenlit.
FX boss John Landgraf previously indicated back in August that the show could be ready for 2023 (possible 2022 shoot) and will feel like it is part of the cinematic universe.
“I think you’ll also see that the show will feel like a part of the cinematic universe you’re familiar with in terms of Alien. I have optimism that that show may well roll out in 2023. It will probably roll out 2023, but we want to get it right.”
Noah Hawley is also busy lining up an untitled heist thriller at Netflix starring Rege-Jean Page and will be produced by The Russo Brothers.
Granted, Alien is an amazing movie, but it comes off as reductive and childish for Scott to dismiss the potential of the series before it’s even started filming.
A weird project that director Ridley Scott has been developing over the years is a sequel to his Oscar-winning ancient Rome action film, Gladiator. However, the project would follow a grown Lucius Verus, rather than Russell Crowe’s Maximus, given the latter died.
While speaking with Empire Magazine, director Ridley Scott has revealed that he hopes to get cameras rolling on the untitled Gladiator sequel after he completes his upcoming Napoleon film, Kitbag, that will star Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator, Joker) and Jodie Comer (The Last Duel, Killing Eve).
“I’m already having [the next] Gladiator written now. So when I’ve done Napoleon, Gladiator will be ready to go.”
Returning to ancient Rome should be interesting given that Scott will have way more special effects tools (CGI) than he did in the late 1990s.
GLADIATOR – Set in Roman times, the story of a once-powerful general forced to become a common gladiator. The emperor’s son is enraged when he is passed over as heir in favour of his father’s favourite general. He kills his father and arranges the murder of the general’s family, and the general is sold into slavery to be trained as a gladiator – but his subsequent popularity in the arena threatens the throne.
While director Neill Blomkamp was able to convince both actress Sigourney Weaver and Aliens director James Cameron (called the film’s outline/idea “gangbusters”) about his pitch for Alien 5, but it sounds like Ridley Scott was ultimately the harder sell and may have ultimately led to the project’s death.
During a recent interview with The Playlist, Blomkamp suggested that Ridley Scott was possibly behind his exit from the sci-fi sequel.
“At the end of the day even though Ridley Scott is producing it, he brought that to the world, so if he changes his mind or if there is a director on it he doesn’t want, whatever it may be, it’s his. I understand that, it makes logical sense to me.”
Blomkamp further alluded to The Guardian that Alien 5 producer Ridley Scott (current gatekeeper of the Alien franchise) potentially watched Chappie and that may have behind Scott changing his mind about letting Blomkamp direct Alien 5 (a project Ridley Scott tried to make 20 years ago).
“It’s possible that Ridley watched Chappie and he was like, this guy can’t do Alien so let’s just go ahead and move on.”
When asked if he’d return to the franchise anytime in the future he declined that as a possibility and quickly debunked online rumblings that Alien 5 was back on track with his involvement.
“Not after, no no no, there’s no coming back from that. I’m not gonna work on a film for two years and have the rug pulled out from underneath me and then go hang out and have beers. It’s exactly why I don’t want to do IP based on other people’s stuff ever again.”
“I’m sure they will make many films with that piece of IP, it just doesn’t include me.”
It’s worth noting that as soon as Alien 5 got nixed by Scott/20th Century Fox, they quickly moved forward with Scott’s Alien: Covenant. There is a good chance that Scott saw Alien 5 as a competing film to Covenant and decided to curb-stomp it (considering his high status at the studio). There were some similarities between the two films with multiple androids as revealed in concept artwork (one good and one bad), and we wouldn’t be terribly shocked if Covenant lifted other elements from Alien 5.
Chappie was both a critical and box office disaster for Blomkamp. The sci-fi movie had multiple oddball choices including giving large roles to non-actors Die Antwoord (rapper pals of Blomkamp), who played awful characters that were on par with Hugh Jackman’s villain but were supposed to be “likable.” It certainly had less to say than the social commentary infused into the story as Blomkamp’s prior two movies District 9 and Elysium, feeling like more of “this would be cool if we did this” exercise.
With District 10 in development and other Elysium films on table, I don’t think we can say that the director has any interest in Chappie follow-ups anytime soon.
CHAPPIE – In the near future, a mechanized police force patrols the streets and deals with lawbreakers — but now, the people are fighting back. When one police droid is stolen and given new programming, he acquires the ability to feel and think for himself. While the robot, dubbed “Chappie (Sharlto Copley),” puzzles out human behavior, the authorities begin to see him as a danger to mankind and order; they will stop at nothing to ensure that Chappie is the last of his kind.
We’re all excited to see Noah Hawley’s latest entry in the Alien franchise with his FX series that will be produced by Ridley Scott. FX boss John Landgraf spoke at the TCA presentation via Deadline and gave some brief updates on the Earthbound show he’s calling “very grounded.”
First, Landgraf made it clear that the “beast” of a show will feel familiar to fans.
“I think you’ll also see that the show will feel like a part of the cinematic universe you’re familiar with in terms of Alien.”
He also teased a potential release in 2023.
“I have optimism that that show may well roll out in 2023. It will probably roll out 2023, but we want to get it right.”
Noah Halwey has talked up the idea of an Alien story focusing on the humanity/company angle previously and told Vanity Fair the following:
“Those are great monster movies, but they’re not just monster movies. They’re about humanity trapped between our primordial, parasitic past and our artificial intelligence future—and they’re both trying to kill us. Here you have human beings and they can’t go forward and they can’t go back. So I find that really interesting…It’s a story that’s set on Earth also. The alien stories are always trapped… Trapped in a prison, trapped in a space ship. I thought it would be interesting to open it up a little bit so that the stakes of ‘What happens if you can’t contain it?’ are more immediate.”
“On some level it’s also a story about inequality. You know, one of the things that I love about the first movie is how ’70s a movie it is, and how it’s really this blue collar space-trucker world in which Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton are basically Waiting for Godot. They’re like Samuel Beckett characters, ordered to go to a place by a faceless nameless corporation. The second movie is such an ’80s movie, but it’s still about grunts. Paul Reiser is middle management at best. So, it is the story of the people you send to do the dirty work…In mine, you’re also going to see the people who are sending them. So you will see what happens when the inequality we’re struggling with now isn’t resolved. If we as a society can’t figure out how to prop each other up and spread the wealth, then what’s going to happen to us? There’s that great Sigourney Weaver line to Paul Reiser where she says, ‘I don’t know which species is worse. At least they don’t fuck each other over for a percentage.’”
It’ll be interesting who they will ultimate cast and might end up start production sometime in 2022, given that 2023 target mentioned for a release.
Director Ridley Scott is back with another period action drama after previously releasing Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Exodus: Gods & Kings, and Robin Hood. 20th Century Studios has dropped the first trailer for The Last Duel, which is based on a historical event.
The cast consists of Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Harriet Walter, Marton Csokas, Ben Affleck, Nathaniel Parker, Sam Hazeldine, and Michael McElhatton.
THE LAST DUEL – In 14th century France, Norman knight Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) accuses squire Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) of raping his wife Marguerite (Jodie Comer). He takes the claim to King Charles VI, who declares that the two men must duel to the death. Based on the book The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager with a script written by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Nicole Holofcener.
The Last Duel hits theaters exclusively on October 15.
The film is an original and personal look at Napoleon’s origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine. The intention of the film is to capture Napoleon’s famous battles, relentless ambition and astounding strategic mind as an extraordinary military leader and war visionary.
The Ronin can now confirm that the period epic has added Oscar-winning costume designer Janty Yates, who previously worked with both Ridley Scott and Joaquin Phoenix on Gladiator. Yates’ extensive credits include Kingdom of Heaven, Robin Hood, Exodus, Raised By Wolves, Prometheus, The Last Duel and the Lady Gaga-led crime film House of Gucci.
Phoenix is currently shooting Ari Aster’s Disappointment Blvd. in Montreal and is attached to co-star with Rooney Mara in director Lynne Ramsey’s Polaris.
There is an assumption that Scott’s longtime cinematographer Dariusz Wolski will be part of the film’s crew as well.
Speaking of Gladiator, the British filmmaker has been developing a direct sequel with The Town screenwriter Peter Craig and takes place 25-30 years after the events of the original movie that earned Russell Crowe a Best Actor Oscar statue. There is an expectation that Spencer Treat Clark’s (Animal Kingdom, Glass, Unbreakable) Lucius will be the focus of that project.
Friday marked the 25th anniversary of German director Roland Emmerich‘s alien invasion film “Independence Day,” but it wasn’t the only big sci-fi spectacle he had been working on for 20th Century Fox.
In the wake of David Fincher‘s “Alien 3,” it felt like 20th Century Fox was over the “Alien” franchise, and Sigourney Weaver leading it. Ellen Ripley had killed herself at the end of the film making subsequent sequels seemingly moot after their lead character’s death and flopping at the box office. Thinking they were done with the Ripley saga, between “Alien 3” and “Alien Resurrection” the studio tried to develop an early incarnation of an “Alien vs. Predator” movie years before the Paul W.S. Anderson version.
A rumor appeared in 1992 (same year that “Universal Soldier” is released) that Emmerich was going to direct an “AVP” film based on the popular Dark Horse Comics run, this wasn’t hard to imagine because 1990’s “Predator 2” had given audiences a nod to the comic book crossover as they added a xenomorph skull on a wall of trophies in the predator ship at the end of the film. In 1994, “Stargate” is released and that success leads to another original humans vs. aliens project with the 1996 box office juggernaut “Independence Day,” Toho and TriStar Pictures feel confident enough to allow Roland Emmerich to direct a modern “Godzilla” reboot using CGI special effects.
In 1996, “Alien Resurrection” begins shooting in Los Angeles with French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet overseeing the sequel and Ellen Ripley is brought back via the wonders of cloning (originally going to be a clone of Newt), thanks “Jurassic Park.” The film ends with the survivors landing in Paris and leaves the door open for a fifth installment.
In the November 1997 issue of Starlog Magazine, screenwriter Dean Devlin (“Stargate,” “Independence Day,” “Godzilla“) was interviewed about his Fox Television series “The Visitor” and asked about the status with “Alien vs. Predator” he replied, “For the time being, it’s dead. We wanted to do it if they had not just decided to do ‘Alien Resurrection,’ and now we’re all just waiting around to see how that film does. If it really works, the studio is going to want to continue the franchise with just the alien. If that were to happen, then we won’t be involved at all.”
This interview taking place before “Alien Resurrection”s late November release and while the sequel made slightly more than “Alien 3,” it still didn’t meet studio expectations. The following year, Roland and Dean released their critical disaster “Godzilla,” which was ridiculed and likely could have been a reason why 20th Century Fox ultimately didn’t want them handling a crossover to their two lucrative sci-fi franchises.
Speaking of “Predator 2,” Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally going to return as Dutch in the sequel before the role was reworked as Peter Keyes for actor Gary Busey and there has been a longstanding rumor that Arnold was going to star in this “AVP” movie, there might be something behind that.
In 1991, before Emmerich’s “Universal Soldier” starring Jean-Claude Van Damme was released in 1992, Schwarzenegger visited the film’s set, and we have a bunch of photos that documented that visit. There is a possibility that Arnold was there to get a read on Roland Emmerich and speak to Jean-Claude Van Damme about his experience working with him.
JCVD’s star was rising in the 1990s and had played the first incarnation of the alien hunter in “Predator” before leaving during Stan Winston‘s redesign of the creature (with some help from James Cameron) to lead his action film “Bloodsport” instead of being hidden behind a predator costume.
Producers had been trying to lure him back to the “Predator” franchise every chance they got and a crossover with a huge budget along with the right director could be attractive enough for Arnold to get involved. A reminder, the studio was looking to move past Weaver since Ripley was dead and Schwarzenegger was hot as a pistol at the box office, Dutch was theoretically still alive and every “Predator” sequel since there have been attempts to have him appear.
“Something similar to what we did with Aliens. A bunch of great characters, and of course Sigourney [Weaver]. I’ve even discussed the possibility of putting him [Arnold Schwarzenegger] into the Alien movie,” Cameron told the BBC in 2003 about the possibility of adding Schwarzenegger to his “Alien 5.”
Paul W.S. Anderson begins shooting “Alien vs. Predator” in Prague at the end of 2003 and essentially kills “Alien 5,” finally ending the Ellen Ripley saga for good.
James Cameron pivots to “Avatar” and the film still holds the global box office record thanks to a re-release with four sequels on the horizon.
The original version of “Alien 5” would see Ridley Scott direct with Cameron producing and co-writing (possibly with “Alien Resurrection” screenwriter Joss Whedon writing too) and would take Ripley to the homeworld of the xenomorph. The project was never made, but Ridley Scott returned to tackle his prequel “Prometheus” attempting to explore the origin of Space Jockey (engineers) and was a producer on Neill Blomkamp‘s new “Alien 5” incarnation (approved by James Cameron) that would have acted as a direct sequel to “Aliens” (ignoring the other two sequels) before that also stalled, “Alien: Covenant” stepping in to fill the void.
Scott is currently producing Noah Hawley‘s “Alien” series at FX that will be set on Earth and return the franchise to its class warfare root. He’s also talked-up a third prequel film still being in the works that has previously used the working title of “Alien: Awakening.”
THE RONIN 