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Ridley Scott Returning to Sci-Fi After Nottingham!

by Alex Billington
June 4, 2008
Source: EclipseMagazine.com

Legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott is finally returning to the science fiction genre! It's been over 25 years since Ridley made Blade Runner and he's recently made public statements claiming "sci-fi films are as dead as westerns." Apparently it's not dead Mr. Scott! The guys over at EclipseMagazine.com recently interviewed Ridley and he spoke to them about a project he's excited to work on following Nottingham. It's sci-fi, it's based on a book, and it's something he's been wanting to make for over 20 years. He wouldn't reveal any more details at the moment, but this one has got to be big if he's decided to come back to sci-fi. And it seems like we're finally going to see his follow-up to Blade Runner!

Now don't misinterpret me, what I meant by follow-up is that it's a project that he was interested in working on following Blade Runner. He says that he's been waiting to get this book for 20 years which means he must've found it and fell in love with it just a few years after finishing Blade Runner. Eclipse asked Scott why he hasn't done more sci-fi films and he gave this answer.

I am going to do one. I waited for a book for 20 years and I have got the book. I am not going to tell you what the book is but that film is going to probably be written within the next month. That will definitely be what I do next after Nottingham, the Robin Hood film that I am doing now in England.

The Nottingham film he's talking about is the revisionist Robin Hood with Russell Crowe. Scott is also finishing up House of Lies, a CIA thriller with Leonardo DiCaprio and Crowe. I think Scott's line-up for the next few years sounds incredibly promising. House of Lies looks great, Nottingham I've been excited for since the start, and now we'll see him finally return to sci-fi!

Last August Ridley made a rather bold statement claiming that "sci-fi films are as dead as westerns." He explains that "there's nothing original. We've seen it all before," adding that "there is an overreliance on special effects as well as weak storylines" in modern sci-fi films. So obviously this one must be something special. Not only is it entirely original and something we've never seen before, but like Blade Runner, it will be heavy on story and light on special effects. Actually, it's incredibly refreshing to hear that he's out to break the Hollywood mold again and show us how great sci-fi movies should be made nowadays!

I do believe that Ridley Scott is one of the great filmmakers ever and it's ridiculously exciting to know that he's going to return. Any thoughts on what book he might be adapting? How many of you are excited to see Ridley return to sci-fi? And here's an interesting question - with some rough-on-the-edges films like Kingdom of Heaven and A Good Year recently, does Ridley still have it in him to make another brilliant sci-fi flick? You can read the complete interview over at EclipseMagazine.com, where he also goes on to mention some new details about Blood Meridian, another project he's got in the works.

Filed under Discuss, Movie News, Opinions

From around the web:

http://www.drduvel.net Dr.Duvel

Hi Alex, interesting to read your interpretation of Mr. Scott's statement : "I waited for a book for 20 years and I have got the book". Suggests to me that after 20 years he finally has a sci-fi book worth making into a film. I have to agree with my interpretation of his statement ;o) I love me some sci-fi. I'm a trekker, a stargate-r, a babylonian, a knuckle dragger and even a 4400, but I constantly find myself slightly let down. I was very excited for Jumper, it looked original and fresh, but turned out to be an excellent concept executed badly. I am Legend also dumbed down a very cerebral book - but hey - hollywood, its what we expect right ? Sunshine ? beautiful, and it still stands up on repeat viewing, but the ending is erratic and frustrating. So, whats the Book ? Been a while since I read a great scifi book (and yes, I am aware that that term is very subjective) and many of the good sci-fi books wouldnt make it to screen. I reckon I'm miles off, but I'm hoping for Consider Phlebas, although I reckon I'd have heard about that from the Banks camp by now. Come on Ridley, give us another stunner.
CrypticName

I've heard rumours that he might be adapting Huxley's Brave New World...
Devon Shaw

The Andromeda Strain wasn't considered a return to sci-fi? For all points and purposes it was a 2 hour and 45 minute movie.
Richard

Nottingham sounds awesome and so does this, however those statements he made piss me off, the matrix was awesome, so was minority report to name a couple, his arrogance is irritating so he better deliver or hes gonna get a crapton of backlash. His works vary, sometimes good sometimes bad, sometimes look good but are meh overall. Lets hope he makes these 2 something better.
jason_md2020

I suppose it's too much to ask that he got the rights to Neuromancer. But what's all this book nonsense? Blade Runner was based on 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' by Phil K. Dick. But compare the two and the stories twist so far away from each other. So this "book" he's talking about. Is he gonna stay true to it, or is he gonna rewrite it to fit his vision? I'm pretty much fine with it either way. Ridley rocks.
scotty

Richard, the simple fact remains that minority report and the second two matrix movies were shallow and over the top. Ridley is a genius. Yes he has made some that are not up to par with others that he has made, but he is still one of the greatest film makers in hollywood history. so you can get over being hurt by his comments, because he is honest enough to be bold and say what he thinks.
Scotty G

Could it possibly be Ender's Game? THAT would be awesome...
wiredfu

I was hoping for Ender's Game as well. With every movie studio wishing to cash-in on young adult titles (Harry Potter, Narnia, Spiderwick) I'm amazed no one's gotten their act together to film this.
http://www.firstshowing.net Alex Billington

I think Ender's Game and Neuromancer are both being adapted by other people... We wrote articles about them previously (click the links) but none of them seem to have anything to do with Ridley Scott... What about Huxley's Brave New World that #2 mentioned?
zubzwank

Ridley Scott once said (early 80's) that he wouldn't mind being "the John Ford of science fiction." Considering his efforts at the time, ALIEN and BLADE RUNNER, that sounded like a great idea. Then, he abandoned science fiction. I always felt that the (initial) flop of BL may have caused that. I agree with him that most current science fiction movies are retreads, re-cycles--I did like MINORITY REPORT. The whole genre needs a reboot, perhaps using some of the old tropes--space travel, time travel, artificial beings, alien races, alternate universes, etc. are going to be hard to ignore--but with new slants. Look to the literature, some younger talents, extrapolations from life. Nobody to date has really done Philip K. Dick or HP Lovecraft completely right. There have been laudable efforts. I look forward to James Cameron's AVATAR. He's been away too long. PS: I would hardly describe BLADE RUNNER, as did the story above, as being "light on special effects."
Squiggly_P

@ #4 - Richard: He didn't say all Sci-Fi films were bad, he just said that they weren't really doing anything new or exciting anymore, and that's pretty much true. Almost all of the sci-fi movies lately are either 'computer hacker' movies 'dystopian action' movies or 'space monster' movies. Yeah, the Matrix has a Sci-Fi setting, but it's really an action flick. I think his idea of sci-fi is more along the lines of what Blade runner is... Stuff like 2001, Solaris and his own work which are more dramatic and which have a calmer sort of pace and flow to them with accents of tension. Brave New World is a really interesting idea... Ender's game is listed in pre-production without a director or cast attached as of yet. Possible... I think the list here - http://listverse.com/literature/top-15-great-science-fiction-books/ pretty much lists the must read sci-fi books, and I'd bet good hard cash that it could be any one of those which haven't already had a film adaptation.
Julia

Nice creepy floating head picture. It's enough to give small children nightmares. Well done, with your mad photoshop skillz!
Vega Bro

Yeah Alex, did you have the Stalker poster in mind when you were making that by any chance?
http://www.firstshowing.net Alex Billington

Stalker? Don't even know what that movie is... And sorry Julia, didn't mean for it to be creepy! It actually didn't turn out the way I wanted... Not sure if anyone noticed, but that's the ship from Alien in the background. I wanted to add some sort of sci-fi element to the image beyond just Ridley's head! But I was tired and I was out of ideas... Oh well...! I also just found out that the book is indeed Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I'm not too familiar with the book - does it have the makings for the next classic sci-fi on the level of Blade Runner?
Vega Bro

A Brave New World? Thats the mystery book? I thought it would be a little more obscure. Yeah, its supposed to be a must-read for sci fi fans, but I didnt think it was all that great. Its basically Equilibrium, just instead of Gun Katta, its Shakespeare. If you wanna see it, there is a really shitty made for TV version starring the big eyebrowed guy from Mr. Deeds. Here is Stalker btw (which I definately recommend you seeing if you want to see a good sci fi film): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079944/
avoidz

It'll be interesting and exciting to see Ridley return to sci-fi after all this time [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World[/url]
avoidz

Peter Gallagher and Leonard Nimoy in the 1998 version? (How do I do URLs in posts here?)
http://www.kogmedia.com patrick

Russell Crowe's accent already resembles something that would fit in another version Robin Hood... though he'll probably have to drop some of that girth he developed for Body of Lies