Ridley Scott

Biography

Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937 in South Shields, England) is a British film director, producer and screenwriter, and one of the most recognisable names in genre cinema and large-scale historical spectacle over the past four decades. He reached feature films after a long career in advertising, and his name is tied to works such as Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise and Gladiator. His importance lies in combining a carefully built visual style, dense with atmosphere, with productions of great scale, a mix that has shaped several generations of filmmakers.

Scott grew up in a military family, moving between Cumberland, Wales and Germany, while his father, a Royal Engineers officer, was away for much of his early childhood. His interest in science fiction began with the novels of H. G. Wells and with films from the genre. By his own account, it was Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey that made him realise what he could do. He studied design at West Hartlepool and then at the Royal College of Art in London, where he helped set up the college's film department. His final-year short, Boy and Bicycle, starring his younger brother Tony and their father, was later released as an extra on the DVD of The Duellists.

After graduating he worked as a trainee set designer for the BBC, on series such as Z-Cars and Out of the Unknown. He was first assigned to design the Daleks for Doctor Who, but a scheduling clash meant he was replaced by Raymond Cusick. In 1965 he began directing episodes of television series. In 1968 he and his brother Tony founded Ridley Scott Associates (RSA), a company making commercials and films. Working alongside Alan Parker and Hugh Hudson, he made many advertisements during the 1970s, among them the 1973 Hovis bread spot "Bike Round", which was later voted the UK's favourite commercial in a 2006 poll. For Chanel No. 5 he directed surreal, seductive mini-films in which the bottle's silhouette was the constant element. Scott is usually grouped with Hudson, Adrian Lyne, Alan Parker and his brother Tony as the "Adland Five", British advertising directors who went on to Hollywood careers.

His first feature was The Duellists (1977), based on a Joseph Conrad story and set during the Napoleonic Wars. Its commercial impact was limited, but it was nominated for the main prize at Cannes and won the award for best debut film. Two years later came Alien (1979). Scott decided that Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, would not be the standard male action hero, and the film became an international hit and the start of a franchise. He then made Blade Runner (1982), an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel, which disappointed at the box office before becoming a classic. Scott returned to it repeatedly: after a rushed cut prepared by Warner Bros. in 1991, he supervised a digital restoration and approved the version known as The Final Cut, released in 2007.

The 1980s and 1990s brought very different projects. Legend (1985), a fantasy with Tom Cruise and Tim Curry, was a major commercial failure that later became a cult favourite. Black Rain (1989), starring Michael Douglas, was the first of his six collaborations with composer Hans Zimmer. Thelma & Louise (1991), with Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis, was a critical and popular success, earned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Director, and featured a young Brad Pitt in a brief but memorable role. In 1992 he released 1492: Conquest of Paradise, which failed at the box office despite Vangelis's score, now highly regarded. In 1995 he and Tony formed Scott Free Productions, the banner under which most of his later films were made, and the same year the brothers bought a controlling stake in Shepperton Studios. Together they also received a BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema.

His return to major success came with Gladiator (2000), starring Russell Crowe, which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor. He then directed Hannibal (2001), a sequel to The Silence of the Lambs with Anthony Hopkins, and Black Hawk Down (2001), which brought him a third Best Director nomination after Thelma & Louise and Gladiator. He followed with the caper comedy Matchstick Men and with Kingdom of Heaven (2005), whose director's cut restored around 45 minutes the studio had removed. American Gangster (2007), again with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, was warmly received by critics. Robin Hood (2010) was cooler in its reception. Prometheus (2012) returned him to the Alien universe, and The Martian (2015), with Matt Damon, became at that point his highest-grossing film, taking more than $630 million worldwide.

In the years that followed he directed Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), Alien: Covenant (2017) and All the Money in the World (2017), in which he replaced Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer after allegations against the actor. His more recent films as director include The Last Duel (2021), House of Gucci (2021) and Napoleon (2023), and Gladiator II was released in 2024. In 2018 he received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement. His legacy combines an almost obsessive attention to image and atmosphere with a wide range of genres, from science fiction to the historical epic and the black comedy. He remains active, and although some projects linked to his name, such as the Blade Runner sequel, have passed to other directors, his work continues to serve as a reference for spectacle cinema.

Key films

• Alien (1979): the science fiction horror that brought him international success and made Ellen Ripley an icon.
• Blade Runner (1982): an adaptation of Philip K. Dick that failed at first and became a landmark of urban science fiction.
• Thelma & Louise (1991): a road movie with Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis that earned him his first Best Director nomination.
• Gladiator (2000): a Russell Crowe epic that revived the historical genre and won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
• Black Hawk Down (2001): an account of a rescue mission in Mogadishu that brought him his third Best Director nomination.
• The Martian (2015): a Matt Damon survival story and his biggest box-office hit up to that point.