The most important lesson Ridley Scott learned as a director: “You have got to be stupid to do that”
Ridley Scott has experienced pretty much every aspect of the moviemaking business. He’s reached the very pinnacle of the art form with movies like Alien and Blade Runner, which still define entire genres decades after their initial release. At the other end of things, he’s made some absolute flops. Napoleon anyone? House of Gucci? How about Exodus: Gods and Kings? Scott is living proof that even the greats can’t get it right every time.
The outspoken Englishman released his first feature film, The Duellists, in 1977, meaning he’s been at the forefront of the industry for the best part of 50 years. In that time, he crossed paths with a host of legendary actors, producers, and fellow directors, and in typical Scott fashion, he had something to say about all of them.
When describing his rise up the industry ladder to The Talks, the knight of the realm recounted what it was like to start out in Tinseltown. “It was my first time in Hollywood, and I was no fool!” he said. “I was no child; I was 42 or 43 at that point, and I was already quite a successful businessman.”
Before he got behind the camera full-time, Scott and his brother Tony ran a production company specialising in TV adverts. The commercial they made for Hovis Bread, affectionately known as Boy on the Bike, is one of the most famous adverts in British television history.
However, no amount of wholesome Yorkshire-ness could prepare Scott for the cutthroat world of the movies. “I was way too experienced! I was 40 before I did a movie, but I had wanted to do a film from when I was 30 and had just never gotten an opportunity then,” he recalled.
“I didn’t care because I was having an inordinate success with advertising and loving every minute of it. What I didn’t realise was that I was on a learning curve, right?” he explained. “When a guy comes in at 25 or 26 and gets a huge amount of money to make a movie, and it fails, then people kill him! You can’t jump a person from doing a $3 million movie to a $150 million movie. You have got to be stupid to do that; it just simply doesn’t make sense.”
The Duellists, a historical drama set in Napoleonic France, had a budget of just $900,000, which is still less than $5 million when adjusted for inflation. Scott’s next movie, Alien, was a significant step up, costing roughly ten times more. It wasn’t until Blade Runner came along in 1982, costing a whopping $30 million, that he started playing around with big money.
Even in recent years, film history is littered with cases of promising young filmmakers dropped by studios after one bad blockbuster. Josh Trank, who jumped from a $15 million budget on Chronicle to a $120 million budget for his ill-fated Fantastic Four, was made an outcast for years following the latter’s disappointing results. Scott’s words rang truer than ever before.
It’s always been tough for new talent to break into the film industry, and with more and more focus on getting it spot on the first time, it’s only going to get harder. Had Ridley Scott come along today, would he have enjoyed the same success? It’s an interesting hypothetical.
