Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions is looking to move forward with further series adaptations of Ridley Scott and Tony Scott movies if all goes to plan, following in the footsteps of FX’s “Alien: Earth,” which comes out Aug. 12, and Prime Video’s “Blade Runner 2099,” which will be ready next year.
Speaking to Variety at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, David W. Zucker, chief creative officer at Scott Free, notes that “Alien: Earth” and “Blade Runner 2099” are the first series adaptations of the Scott brothers’ films that the company has undertaken in the 24 years that Zucker has been at the company. It isn’t the first time Scott Free has adapted movies, per se, into series, Zucker points out, as the company did “Andromeda Strain” for A&E, and “Coma” for Universal.
For Zucker, the series adaptations have to be a “different beast” to the movies. It helps in this regard that “Alien: Earth’s” showrunner, Noah Hawley, has proven experience when it comes to adapting a much beloved movie and taking it to a new place in the TV sphere, as he did with FX’s “Fargo.” (Hawley set out his vision for “Alien: Earth” in an interview this week with Vanity Fair.)
“Alien: Earth”: Jonathan Ajayi as Smee, Adarsh Gourav as Slightly, Sydney Chandler as Wendy, Timothy Olyphant as Kirsh, Kit Young as Tootles, Erana James as Curly, Lily Newmark as Nibs.
Courtesy of FX
Referring to “Alien: Earth” and “Blade Runner 2099,” Zucker tells Variety, “I think those two titles in particular, ‘Alien’ and ‘Blade Runner,’ were pretty unapproachable for most of the time that I’ve been [at Scott Free], both because of their ambition and what that would require financially, as well as, frankly, coming up with a concept and hopefully a creator who conceptually was up to that task. And I mean, personally, I find those two titles extremely intimidating … touching any piece of that kind of iconic status,” Zucker says.
“But we are looking at a number of different [Ridley and Tony Scott movie titles] right now, and the point of entry is really: ‘What is its reason to be?’ because while it’s certainly [the case that] IP is ruling the day, and those titles all have different potential values and degrees of familiarity, it still comes down to what’s the foundational premise and concept for a piece that really merits it being brought forward now. And so that kind of development in some ways is the same as original development. It gives you some source from which to build potentially, but how much of that proves applicable remains to be seen.
Samuel Blenkin as Boy Kavalier in “Alien: Earth”
Courtesy of FX
“With each of those titles, it requires more hurdles out of the gate, because you have to align with the controlling studio and making sure that rights are available, and it demands a partnership and a mutual interest and an alignment going forward.
“But there are a few of them that we’re exploring now that I think could have some great potential. By end of summer, I think we’ll know if we have some traction going forward with them.”
In terms of what has changed to make TV adaptations like “Alien: Earth” and “Blade Runner 2099” possible now, a change in the mindset among studios and streamers, and the lower cost of visual effects are parts of the equation. “I’d say both the increase in spend in television and the viability of being able to achieve something of that scale exists now in a way it didn’t years ago,” Zucker says.
“Alien: Earth”: Alex Lawther as Hermit, Diêm Camille as Siberian, and Moe Bar-El as Rashidi.
Courtesy of FX
The end result, as can be gauged by the “Alien: Earth” trailer released last month, is spectacular and there are few shows that compare with it. “Yeah, I would agree. We’re about halfway through the mixes on it right now, and it’s really quite extraordinary, and I think it really speaks to the partnership … the long partnership Noah Hawley has had with FX, and we’ve had a long relationship with FX. [Our] relationship with Noah is new, but we’ve been at this particular production for some years, from COVID on through, but I think that partnership uniquely speaks to both the creative collaboration that one really enjoys at a place like FX and also the support of the whole Disney Corporation to get behind a project of that scale, which I think is as big as anything they’ve done, certainly up there with ‘Shogun.’ And I mean, the success of ‘Shogun’ … I couldn’t have been more ecstatic, because those are the kinds of swings that we used to see with some regularity in television, and I’m really thrilled that FX enjoyed the rewards of their commitment to that, and hopefully the second cycle will be equally successful. I mean, we need those kinds of victories to encourage other buyers to go for content that might not at first blush seem so assured.”
Having a behemoth like Disney with its worldwide distribution and marketing muscle is clearly of benefit to Scott Free, which remains steadfastly independent, in putting together a show like this. “I think it’s essential for a piece like this. I mean, I think one of the things I’ve heard John [FX boss John Landgraf] talk about is how profound the scale of audience was internationally for ‘Shogun.’ I think there were some great surprises that are obviously benefiting and informing their approach with ‘Alien,’ in terms of how robust the U.S. audience is, but also how meaningful that international audience is for the right titles. So in terms of being able to achieve something of this magnitude, you have to have the potential for that, and, to your point, I think the reach of what the studio and the potency of what the studio can both support and ultimately deliver is essential,” Zucker says.
In an interview about “Alien: Earth” published in late May, Hawley spoke about how – if you took the monsters out of the show – it would still work as a drama. Does Zucker have the same view? “Absolutely, I mean, especially for it to be a returning series. I think that both the story of Wendy and this sort of hybrid type of existence that she’s the prototype for and examining this whole question, especially in this time of burgeoning AI, of transhumanism, and what that means, not only for our existence, but for the potential future of how we may evolve, coinciding with these huge technological leaps that we are already beginning to encounter, and what that also portends, in terms of the corporate overlords, which is also a big part of the ongoing story, and the struggles for dominance and how that can be achieved, I think those are two very essential and robust pieces of Noah’s conception, separate and apart from the hubristic folly of humanity to begin to explore with, in this instance, this multitude of creatures about which we understand nothing, and which prove to be quite a horrifying threat to those who begin to play with them.”
Like “Jurassic World: Rebirth” and Season 3 of “The White Lotus,” “Alien: Earth” was shot in Thailand, and this was, primarily, the result of a creative decision rather than an attempt to find the most financially efficient location, Zucker says. “That was primarily an aesthetic choice on Noah’s part. I mean, the type of environment that he was interested in portraying in the future – one that would be hotter, would be wetter – seemed well suited to what ecologically one can find [in Thailand]. And I also love that he wanted to skew away from some of the more traditional brutalistic architecture of the future in favor of something that had a greater organic quality to it. And so, there were a number of different locations we looked at internationally, and we also, frankly, had to be in a city that could accommodate the stage footprint that we needed to be able to mount the show. So, Thailand brought a lot of those benefits to the fore. Plus, we had a wonderful production crew there, which we really needed for something like this.”
Scott Free utilized more than a dozen stages, across a number of different facilities, in Thailand, as well as locations across the country. “We used as much of Thailand as we could access for the show,” he says.
“Blade Runner 2099,” meanwhile, was mostly shot at Barrandov Studio in Prague, as well as various locations in and around the city and in Barcelona. The show is now in post.
This year has already been busy for Scott Free on the TV front, with the releases of “Dope Thief” and “Prime Target” on Apple TV+. Season 3 of AMC’s psychological horror anthology “The Terror,” titled “The Terror: Devil in Silver,” is likely to be out later this year, although a release date is yet to be decided.
In terms of upcoming TV productions for Scott Free, one of the biggest will be limited series “Pompeii: A Day of Fire,” which is in development at Amazon MGM Studios, with Michael Hirst and Horatio Hirst set as showrunner.
Nothing else is going into production this year on the TV fiction side. “There are a couple of things that are potentially on the runway, which I think we’ll know about come fall. I’m hoping we’ll have some green lights before the end of the year. I’m not sure that we’ll get anything before cameras this year. They are very slow on the turnaround,” Zucker says.