Ridley Scott revealed on the Director’s 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 movies about “normal people.” Scott’s directing career kicked off with his Cannes-winning historical drama “The Duellists,” followed by “Alien,” “Blade Runner” and the fantasy adventure “Legend.”
“There’s only one film worked out of all of that lot, but they’re a pretty good first four movies. So I knew I’m on the right track,” Scott said. “But somebody at one of the studios said to me, ‘Why don’t you do a film about normal people?’ I went, ‘What the fuck does that mean?’ Because no one’s normal unless you’re totally boring, right?”
While “Alien” and “Blade Runner” are considered science-fiction classics, they did not necessarily start out their runs that way. “Blade Runner” in particular was critically divisive and far from a box office success when it opened in 1982. The esteemed film critic Pauline Kael “destroyed” the film in her review, Scott recalled: “I didn’t even meet her. To me, it almost walked in the column of industrial espionage, because you’re destroying a product before it’s out.”
“These are all good movies, so there’s something deeply wrong with the audience or marketing,” Scott maintained about his early directorial efforts. “But you know, I’m not bitter. I’m very happy where I am. It is the best attitude that one can have. I think, you know, that’s the best attitude that one can have, to just love all of your movies, trust, and keep going.”
Scott is currently back in theaters with his long-awaited sequel “Gladiator II,” which has crossed $100 million at the domestic box office and $320 million worldwide.