Ridley Scott’s notes about Alien: Romulus made director Fede Álvarez ‘punch the door' in excitement
After Ridley Scott handed Fede Álvarez some notes he had for 'Alien: Romulus', the director "punched the door" and "kicked the wall" in excitement.
Ridley Scott’s notes about ‘Alien: Romulus’ made director Fede Álvarez “punch the door” and “kick the wall” after he read them.
The 86-year-old filmmaker was happy to give Álvarez, 46, some advice on how to make the sci-fi blockbuster which is set in the world of the Xenomorph which Scott created with his 1979 space horror classic 'Alien' starring Sigourney Weaver.
Scott has now shared the excited reaction he received from Fede after he went over his tips.
He told The Hollywood Reporter: "I was hugely relieved that it was potentially a huge film and I just said, ‘You don’t have to take a note, but I’ll tell you what I think.’ Instead of talking, I’d sit down and take notes. And he reads them privately. [He then] kicks the wall, punches the door, and then comes back and says, ’They were good notes.’”
The ‘Gladiator II’ filmmaker was “impressed” with Álvarez’s work on the movie and how quickly he took on board his feedback, particularly when it came to the movie's runtime.
Scott added: “Mostly, directors tend to it too long; it was long so you don’t want to lose your dynamic. The dynamics in this kind of movie are everything, and he had so much going on; he didn’t need so much.”
‘Alien: Romulus’ - which stars Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn and Aileen Wu - is set between the events of 'Alien' and 1986's 'Aliens', which was directed by James Cameron.
Álvarez admitted it was a daunting prospect to enter the franchise, which also includes David Fincher's 'Alien 3', Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 'Alien Resurrection' and Scott's prequels as well as other spin-offs.
He said: “‘Alien’ has always been the scariest movie ever for me, so to be able to go into that world and bring it to a new generation, and bring it to life in a way it’s never been brought to life before and in such a realistic and almost documentary way, it really was the things that made all my nightmares.”
Álvarez wanted to honour the original movies by using as many practical effects as possible instead of computer-generated visuals.
He explained: “Obviously it’s easier to just shoot an empty space and get some CG creature later on; we didn’t do that.
“We went all the way to create creatures — we did technology of today with the philosophy of the old movies, but with technology of today to create something that people don’t see onscreen everyday.”
