Ridley Scott revealed on the Directors Guild of America’s “Director’s Cut” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly) that he was criticized by a studio executive early in his career for not making films about “regular people.” Scott’s directorial career began with his Cannes-winning historical drama “The Duellists,” followed by “Alien,” “Blade Runner” and the fantasy adventure “Legend.”
“There’s only one movie ever made out of all of them, but the first four are pretty good. So I knew I was on the right track,” Scott said. “But someone at one of the studios said to me: Why don’t you make a movie about regular people? “I said, ‘What the hell does that mean?’ Because no one is normal unless you’re completely boring, right?
While “Alien” and “Blade Runner” are considered sci-fi classics, they didn’t necessarily start out that way. “Blade Runner” in particular was hugely divisive and far from a box office success when it opened in 1982. Scott recalled that respected film critic Pauline Kael “destroyed” the film in her review: “I hadn’t even met her. For me, it was “It almost falls into the industrial espionage column, because you’re destroying the product before it comes out.”
“These are all good movies, so there’s a lot wrong with the audience or the marketing,” Scott asserted of his early directorial efforts. “But you know, I’m not bitter. I’m very happy where I am. It’s the best attitude one can have. I think, you know, that’s the best attitude one can have, which is to love all his films, trust them, and keep going.” .
Scott is currently returning to theaters with the long-awaited sequel “Gladiator II,” which has surpassed $100 million at the domestic box office and $320 million worldwide.