Alien Director Ridley Scott Calls Disney’s Approach to Star Wars Films “F—in’ Stupid”

Ridley Scott
HOLLYWOOD, CA - MAY 17: Sir Ridley Scott attends the ceremony honoring him with a hand and footprint held at TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on May 17, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Tran/FilmMagic)

Alien director Ridley Scott blasted Disney’s approach to Star Wars directors in a brand new interview promoting his new film All The Money in the World.

In an interview with Vulture, he was asked whether or not he’d been approached to direct a Star Wars film by Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy.

He resoundingly answered, “No, no. I’m too dangerous for that.”

He elaborated and blasted Disney and Lucasfilm’s process for hiring directors.

Because I know what I’m doing. [Laughs.] I think they like to be in control, and I like to be in control myself. When you get a guy who’s done a low-budget movie and you suddenly give him $180 million, it makes no sense whatsoever. It’s fuckin’ stupid. You know what the reshoots cost?

He wasn’t done there. He said experience matters when it comes to big budget movies and you shouldn’t give directors big budget movies when all they have done is low budget films.

Millions! Millions. You can get me for my fee, which is heavy, but I’ll be under budget and on time. This is where experience does matter, it’s as simple as that! It can make you dull as dishwater, but if you’re really experienced and you know what you’re doing, it’s fucking essential. Grow into it, little by little. Start low-budget, get a little bit bigger, maybe after $20 million, you can go to $80. But don’t suddenly go to $160.

However, when Vulture let him know there really aren’t any mid-budget films anymore, Scott couldn’t have been more blunt. “And you get killed,” he responded.

While Scott’s argument does make sense, Marvel Studios has had success with indie creators. Most recently, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi crushed at the box office with nearly a $850 million global take. His previous film was Hunt for the Wilderpeople which had a $2.5 million budget.

Marvel Studios also had success with James Gunn and both of his Guardians of the Galaxy films. Gunn previously directed the $15 million horror film Slither before the over $770 million worldwide gross of Guardians of the Galaxy and the $860 million Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

While Marvel Studios has seen success with relatively newcomer directors, Lucasfilm has seen their share of struggles. They fired Phil Lord and Chris Miller from Solo: A Star Wars Story. The duo had recently directed the $60 million The Lego Movie. And while Star Wars: The Last Jedi has already grossed over $840 million worldwide, the movie seems to have divided audiences with poor audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.

What do you think about Ridley Scott’s comments? Do you think Disney and Lucasfilm should follow his advice and hire more experienced directors for their big budget projects or do you think they should keep taking risks with lesser known and inexperienced directors?

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