'Alien' director Ridley Scott trashes modern movies: 'Most of it is s**t'



Veteran director Ridley Scott didn't mince words when asked to describe the state of modern filmmaking. In fact, he needed just four letters: "s**t."

The ornery 87-year-old — the force behind iconic movies like "Alien," "Black Hawk Down," and "Gladiator" — brought down the hammer of justice during a public Q and A with his son Luke in London this week.

'I think a lot of films today are saved and made more expensive by digital effects, because what they haven't got is a great thing on paper first. Get it on paper.'

"Well, right now I'm finding mediocrity, we're drowning in mediocrity," he responded when asked about his own moviegoing habits, according to Yahoo.

Smurfy's law

Pretentious? Maybe, but it becomes more understandable if you consider the recent crop of multiplex mistakes foisted on the public, suggested the Guardian. The newspaper cited the recent "Smurfs" movie as well as the widely criticized live-action "Snow White" remake — which used "CGI dwarves [that] looked like semi-melted CGI gonks" — as evidence for the prosecution.

Director Ridley Scott on the set of the movie 'Alien,' 1979. Photo by Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty Images

During the sit-down at the British Film Institute Southbank, Scott said that this mediocrity prevails despite more movies being made than ever.

"The quantity of movies that are made today, literally globally, millions. There's not thousands, there's millions, and most of it is s**t," he declared.

Numbers game

The "Blade Runner" director then shared the math behind that determination.

"Eighty to 60% eh, 40% is the rest, and 25% of that 40 is not bad, and 10% is pretty good, and the top 5% is great," he explained, as if writing on a chalkboard. "I'm not sure about the portion of what I've just said, but in the 1940s, when there were perhaps 300 movies made, 70% of them were similar, for example."

Harrison Ford and Ridley Scott on the set of 'Blade Runner.' Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images

Man in the mirror

Still, there is at least one talented director still working today, affirmed Sir Scott.

"So what I do, and it's a horrible thing, but I've started to watch my own movies, and actually they're really good. And also, they don't age."

Scott continued his rave review, admitting that he was shocked by the quality of his own work.

"I watched 'Black Hawk [Down]' the other night, and I thought, 'How the hell did I do that?' But I think that occasionally there's a good one that will happen, it’s like a relief that there's somebody out there who's doing a good movie."

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Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

Scott then turned to a trend currently irritating moviegoers of all ages: directors attempting to save bad scripts with excessive CGI.

"I think a lot of films today are saved and made more expensive by digital effects, because what they haven't got is a great thing on paper first. Get it on paper," he said.

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'Hood' rich

Not everyone is ready to embrace this curmudgeonly view — even coming from a legend like Scott.

While Scott makes "a few" good points, his rant is "really rich coming from the director of 'Robin Hood,'" entertainment writer Natasha Biase told Align.

"He must have amnesia about some of his own movies," the writer added.

As for Hollywood, it seems to have forgotten how to get butts in seats.

A decrease in movie quality seems to be at least part of the reason about half the amount of tickets were sold in 2024 compared to 2004.

Scott told the audience that his favorite meal is yogurt and blueberries, because he "got over food years ago."

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Disney, Lucasfilm sued for using likeness of actor Peter Cushing 22 years after his death



Disney and subsidiary Lucasfilm are being sued for the allegedly-unauthorized use of actor Peter Cushing's likeness in a 2016 Star Wars film.

For "Rogue One," released in December 2016, Disney's Lucasfilm resurrected Cushing 22 years after his death to reprise his role as evildoer Grand Moff Tarkin. The studio reconstructed old footage from his appearance in the 1977 Star Wars original "A New Hope."

Cushing died in 1994 at age 81 from prostate cancer but allegedly signed an agreement the year before.

As reported by the Times, the actor signed an agreement that his likeness could not be used without the expressed permission of his friend and movie producer Kevin Francis. The agreement was apparently signed while the two were preparing to make a made-for-TV movie that was never completed.

Disney claimed however, that it did not believe permission was required to recreate Cushing due to the terms of his contract from his original appearance, as it pertains to the use of special effects.

Disney was reportedly contacted by Cushing's agent, who facilitated a payment to the actor's estate in the amount of £28,000, or just under $37,000.

'In an area of developing law it is very difficult to decide where the boundaries might lie.'

Francis is seeking $650,000 in damages, Futurism reported, after a judge in the English High Court has allowed the lawsuit to continue. Disney attempted to dismiss the case in December 2023 but was denied by Master Francesca Kaye, who said it should go to trial.

Judge Tom Mitcheson also denied Disney's appeal and said he was "far from persuaded" that Francis would succeed but added that his case was not "unarguable."

"I am also not persuaded that the case is unarguable to the standard required to give summary judgment or to strike it out," the judge said. "In an area of developing law it is very difficult to decide where the boundaries might lie in the absence of a full factual enquiry."

The lawsuit also named Cushing's estate and his former representation, Associated International Management, as defendants.

The Star Wars studio has, of course, used the likeness of other actors since their passing, including Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia. The actress died in 2016 but appeared in "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" using previously unused footage.

Lucasfilm has also digitally aged down still-living star Mark Hamill for his subsequent Luke Skywalker appearances.

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'They're just going to steal my body': Nicolas Cage says he's terrified of what AI will do to art



Iconic actor Nicolas Cage said he doesn't want his likeness to be used after his passing and wonders what effect artificial intelligence will have on artists.

Cage gave an interview ahead of his latest project described as a Spider-Man noir show for Amazon Prime and mentioned that he was dreading doing digital body scans for his role.

'What are you going to do with my body and my face when I’m dead? I don’t want you to do anything with it!'

The actor said that he needed to end his interview a bit early because of his prior commitments:

"I have to slip out after this to go get a scan done for the show, and then also for the movie I'm doing after the show. Two scans in one day!" he said begrudgingly.

The 60-year-old was asked what the purpose of the body scan was, at which point Cage began to express his discontent with the new, digital aspects of his art form.

"They have to put me in a computer and match my eye color and change — I don’t know," he tried to explain. "They’re just going to steal my body and do whatever they want with it via digital AI. ... God, I hope not AI," Cage told the New Yorker.

"I'm terrified of that. I've been very vocal about it."

The living legend clarified that he didn't know what would happen to his likeness after he passes away but is certain he doesn't want anything to be done with it.

"It makes me wonder, you know, where will the truth of the artists end up? Is it going to be replaced? Is it going to be transmogrified? Where's the heartbeat going to be? I mean, what are you going to do with my body and my face when I'm dead? I don't want you to do anything with it!" he exclaimed.

Cage also answered questions about his aura and the "meme-ification" he has received over time for his performances, both iconic and infamous.

"Well, I used to be in control of [the myths]. I don't think I'm in control of that anymore. ... I'm now 60. Nonetheless, some of the roles that I've gravitated toward have created this mythology, or compounded it. When I signed up to be a film actor, we didn't have the Internet. We didn't have cell phones with cameras. I didn't know this was going to happen to me in such a pervasive way—the so-called memes. So that, now, is out of my hands."

In addition to stating that he wasn't a fan of playing violent roles anymore — killing monsters is ok — he isn't interested in "$100 million science fiction" movies, either.

"I'm interested in 50mm [cameras], right in your face ... the psyche," he added.

Cage has explained some of his meme-able roles in a 2018 interview with GQ. In the sit-down, Cage said that he was actually blackout drunk while filming "Leaving Las Vegas."

"There were a couple scenes where I really wanted to be hammered because I wanted to be out of control and have them photograph that so I could reach that kind of credibility, of authenticity of what I saw on the streets of Mexico [while researching for the film]."

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