Remember when everybody was getting up in arms about an Alien reboot? I can imagine Tom Rothman, Hollywood’s own professional griefer, rubbing his hands together in joy. Then when it became clear that the film would be just a glorified sequel (in this case some kind of prequel) and that Ridley Scott would be overseeing it, people cooled down a bit.
So what can Rothman do? He wants to see the internet aflame with anger and anguish, and the fires were dampened by Collider reporting that commercial director Carl Erik Rinsch, under the direct supervision of Scott and his Scott Free banner, would be helming.
Solution: Demand that Scott himself direct the movie. That’s what Entertainment Weekly is reporting, at any rate. If true, this means the end of this iteration of an Alien prequel, and then Rothman can hand the movie off to some peon who will accept all of his micromanaging nitpicks as if they were the words of Eisenstein himself. And that means we can all start getting upset again.
Which means we’re all just puppets dancing for Tom Rothman.
Maybe Scott will agree to direct, but he has twenty other projects on his plate. Also, I sort of feel like it would be crazy for Scott to make another movie (as director – his shingle is set up at Fox) for Fox after the Kingdom of Heaven debacle, when the studio straight up ruined his film. Also, Rinscher is dating Ridley’s daughter, so this shit is kind of personal. So maybe Fox will back down and let Scott do what he wants with the franchise he birthed.
But if I had to bet, I’d bet on Paul WS Anderson getting back in the picture sooner rather than later.