Ridley Scott shares the notes he gave to director Fede Álvarez, after he was shown the first cut of 'Alien: Romulus.' Scott also compares Paul Mescal's immediate casting in 'Gladiator II' to that of Sigourney Weaver.
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00:00Fede Alvarez has said that he showed you the movie before anyone else.
00:03What did you tell him? What was your first reaction to seeing the film?
00:06Well, I was hugely relieved that it was potentially a huge film.
00:11And I just said, you don't have to take a note, but I'll tell you what I think.
00:16And instead of talking, I sit down and write notes.
00:19Then he reads them privately, kicks the wall, punches the door,
00:23and then comes back and says, they were good notes.
00:26And from that, I was impressed he took on board.
00:31Mostly directors tend to make it too long.
00:35It was long, and so you don't want to lose your dynamic.
00:39So the dynamics in this kind of movie are everything.
00:42But he had so much going on, he didn't need so much. That was it.
00:46Can you share how long the first cut was?
00:48No.
00:50How did you know he was the right person to direct this movie?
00:54Anyone has to qualify.
00:57You don't give this to a starter, because you can get eaten alive by the studio.
01:02Where's the studio? The studio will eat you alive.
01:05What are you doing?
01:07People have no idea what it is to be a director starting on your first movie
01:11with everybody telling you what to do.
01:13Talking about too many cooks in the kitchen, you're kidding me.
01:16And you've got to actually say, stand back.
01:19How is this film a return to the roots of the Alien franchise?
01:23Well, you know, people forget a unique monster is maybe,
01:29this maybe, from H.R. Giger, is maybe the most unique monster in history.
01:36I say that because I came across him through Dan O'Bannon.
01:41Dan had written the screenplay.
01:43He said, look at this guy.
01:45I looked at a book called Necronomicon and opened the pages and went, that's it.
01:50And he said, no, there's other things.
01:52That was the one. That became Alien.
01:54On the third page in Necronomicon, he had to fly to Switzerland to meet Giger,
01:59who wouldn't fly because he was scared to death of flying.
02:02Had to put him on a train and bring him to London.
02:04And without him, you wouldn't have this film tonight.
02:08And we're here for Alien today, but coming up you have Gladiator 2.
02:11How did you know Paul Meskel was the right person to lead that film?
02:14I'm good at that. That's how.
02:15I watch shit and I go, who's that guy?
02:18I'm good at it.
02:20Did you see him before he auditioned? How did you find him?
02:22No, no. They don't audition.
02:24I called and said, do you want to do it?
02:25They don't audition.
02:26You make a decision.
02:28Sigourney didn't read.
02:30Brad didn't read.
02:33That's it.