Ridley Scott Doesn’t See Why ‘Alien’ Can’t Be as Big as ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Star Trek’

“Alien” isn’t exactly a cultural phenomenon on the level of “Star Wars,” but Ridley Scott thinks there’s no reason it can’t be. The very busy 80-year-old, who just re-shot a number of “All the Money in the World” with Christopher Plummer taking Kevin Spacey’s place, also directed this year’s underrated “Alien: Covenant” — and wants to keep going.

“There’s no reason why ‘Alien’ should now not be on the same level for fans as ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Star Wars,’” Scott told the Toronto Sun in a recent interview. “So I think the next step as to where we go is, do we sustain the ‘Alien’ (series) with the evolution of the beast or do we reinvent something else? I think you need to have an evolution on this famous beast because he’s the best monster ever, really.”

That response naturally led to a question about more “Alien” movies, and Scott was unequivocal in his response. “I would like to; they’re crazy if they don’t,” he said. “David is a fantastic villain. I love what (Michael Fassbender) did in ‘Covenant.’ But it’s f—ing hard, dude. We lifted ‘Alien’ out of a ditch and made “Prometheus.’” Here’s hoping they lift it out of the ditch again.