Ridley Scott names the three movies he still has to make: “The moment will come”
When Ridley Scott made Alien, he established himself as a true cinematic talent.
Unfortunately, he has since used that supposed talent to differing degrees of success, delivering some of the best and worst of Hollywood over the past few decades.
With Alien and Blade Runner, Scott’s status as a sci-fi genius was cemented. He depicted the kinds of worlds that were both terrifying and mesmerising, communicating real human fears as his characters came into contact with figures wholly inhuman. While he found overwhelming success with Thelma and Louise in 1991, Scott also made some films during this period which didn’t endure as well, like Someone to Watch Over Me and White Squall.
The issue with Scott is that he has these epic-scale ideas that are perfect for Hollywood, and while he pulls many of them off well, like Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, and The Martian, it often feels like he is given too many opportunities. Many of his works feel rather undercooked, as though the desire to direct another big-budget blockbuster has overridden his need to take his time and develop something truly amazing.
So, while he might have many hits to his name, Scott has also made a rather large number of forgettable or downright bad movies, like The Counselor, House of Gucci, and Exodus: Gods and Kings. With the release of Gladiator II, which was fairly well-received, reports of Scott being a miserable and lazy filmmaker began to circulate. It seems like Scott should now be ready to throw in the towel, but the director has other ideas in mind. He’s not done yet.
There are three other genres he is desperate to work within before he officially calls it a day. The first is a western, which perfectly suits his interest in large-scale movies. It’s surprising that the filmmaker hasn’t already made a western, but it’s clearly not too late. “So, I have a western, which is the best western I’ve ever read. It was on a shelf of an author who had died. It’s from his estate. We tracked it. I bought the script, so I own it, and the moment will come to make it,” he rather cryptically told Collider.
Another genre that Scott is desperate to do is musicals, something that might take some fans of the director by surprise. Best known for making sci-fi and historical epics, it might shock some people to learn that he loves a good musical. He once revealed his favourites during a roundtable discussion at the Venice Film Festival: “The best musicals for me have always been All That Jazz and Cabaret. Gene Kelly was an athlete. So was Fred Astaire. And when you see those guys do it then, it is never that good until Cabaret and All That Jazz.”
We might see Scott following in the footsteps of Steven Spielberg, then, who remade the musical West Side Story to acclaim in 2021, which took many fans by pleasant surprise. However, there’s another genre he wants to get around to as well – a pirate film.
Perhaps Scott is a big Pirates of the Caribbean fan, or maybe he prefers Treasure Island (or even Muppet Treasure Island). Regardless of the vision he has in mind for a potential pirate movie, it appears as though the filmmaker won’t retire until he’s made everything he wants to. With the ease he has in accessing funding, it seems like it won’t be long until we see Scott’s ideas come to life.
