Ridley Scott is considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. His brilliance is in a league of its own, but there are times when the greats can feel like their work isn't good enough. At the premiere of Alien: Romulus, Scott was asked what his favorite movies were. His answer revealed that one particular movie put him in a months long depression: Star Wars.
Speaking with Letterboxd, the director was asked for four of his favorite movies, starting with a classic. He said, "Two that are seminal, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The computer knows that the mission is more important than the people. So, we copied that in Alien."
He then revealed his second choice, saying, "Then, another seminal movie was Star Wars. I'd finished my first film, it was The Duellists. Very good film. I won a prize at Cannes. I was going to do Tristan & Isolde next. I mean how artistic can you go?"
"Came here to see the opening night of Star Wars, and I sat there, I was depressed for three months. How could I be doing Tristan & Isolde when this guy does this?"Ridley Scott
Four Favorites with Alien director Ridley Scott and Alien: Romulus director @fedalvar 🎤@AlienAnthology #AlienRomulus pic.twitter.com/4Vthm4VUS0
— Letterboxd (@letterboxd) August 15, 2024
Maybe it was a serendipitous moment, though. Because thanks to this, we got one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time. Scott explained, "Did a U-turn. offered Alien within six weeks. It was an accident. I went, 'I'll do it.'" In turn, Alien would become one of the most influential franchises of all time. It even influenced an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars in the Season 2 entry called "Legacy of Terror."
If you're wondering what Scott's other two favorite films were, one was his own Blade Runner, and the other was Quest for Fire.