After 40 years steadily directing some of Hollywood’s biggest films, Ridley Scott is saying everything he wants to say. Sometimes that comes back to bite him in the ass, like his past comments defending the white-washed casting of Exodus: Gods and Kings. Other times, like now, it leads to some real gems. In an interview with Vulture about his gutsy decision to reshoot parts of All the Money in the World in just nine days, Scott also couldn’t help but take a shot at Star Wars. When asked if he had ever been approached by Lucasfilm to direct a Star Wars movie, here was his bragging response…
“No, no. I’m too dangerous for that,” he continues. “Because I know what I’m doing. 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 f**kin’ stupid. You know what the reshoots cost? 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 [frick]ing 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.”
Pretty sure that’s a shot at Gareth Edwards who went from the tiny-budgeted Monsters to massive studio movies Godzilla and Rogue One, the latter faced with creative hurdles and costly reshoots. I guess Scott had nothing to say about The Last Jedi which ran smoothly under the guidance of Rian Johnson in his first huge movie. Personally, I think Scott’s been doing generic work behind the camera for years, and having him on a Star Wars movie would be like having Ron Howard. Oh wait, we already have that, don’t we?
The full interview is interesting if you want to get a full sense of the size of Scott’s ego. He also talks about Blade Runner 2049 and why it doesn’t work (“Too fucking long”), and teases another film that he was asked to replace a director on this year. It’s pretty obvious which one he’s talking about, but you can figure it out for yourself.
