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Ridley Scott

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Sir Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott in 2015
Born (1937-11-30) 30 November 1937 (age 87)
South Shields, Tyne & Wear, England
Alma materRoyal College of Art
Occupation(s)Film director and producer
Years active1965–present
Spouse(s)Felicity Heywood
(m. 1964 – div. 1975)
Sandy Watson
(m. 1979 – div. 1989)
ChildrenJake, Luke, and Jordan
FamilyTony Scott (brother)

Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. Following his commercial breakthrough with the science-fiction horror film Alien (1979), his best known works are the neo-noir dystopian science fiction film Blade Runner (1982), crime drama Thelma & Louise (1991), historical drama and Best Picture Oscar winner Gladiator (2000), war film Black Hawk Down (2001), crime thriller Hannibal (2001), biographical film American Gangster (2007), and science fiction films Prometheus (2012) and The Martian (2015).

Scott is known for his atmospheric, highly concentrated visual style.[1][2] Though his films range widely in setting and period, they frequently showcase memorable imagery of urban environments, whether 2nd century Rome (Gladiator), 12th century Jerusalem (Kingdom of Heaven), medieval England (Robin Hood), contemporary Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down), or the future cityscapes of Blade Runner. Scott has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Directing (for Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down).[1] In 1995, both Ridley and his brother Tony received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema.[3] In 2003, Scott was knighted for his "services to the British film industry".[4] In 2015, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Royal College of Art in London.[5]

Early life and career

Scott was born in South Shields in South Tyneside, North East England,[6] to Elizabeth (Williams) and Colonel Francis Percy Scott.[7][8] He was brought up in an army family, so for most of his early life, his father – an officer in the Royal Engineers – was absent. His elder brother, Frank, joined the Merchant Navy when he was still young and the pair had little contact. During this time the family moved around, living in (among other areas) Cumberland, Wales and Germany. He had a younger brother, Tony, who also became a film director. After the Second World War, the Scott family moved back to their native North East, eventually settling on Greens Beck Road in Hartburn, County Durham, whose industrial landscape would later inspire similar scenes in Blade Runner.[9] He studied at Grangefield Grammar School and West Hartlepool College of Art from 1954 to 1958, obtaining a diploma in design.[10]

"I use everything I learned everyday at art school. It's all about white sheets of paper, pens and drawing."

— Scott speaking on the influence the Royal College of Art has had in designing the visuals for his films.[11]

Scott went on to study at the Royal College of Art in London, contributing to college magazine ARK and helping to establish the college film department. For his final show, he made a black and white short film, Boy and Bicycle, starring both his younger brother and his father (the film was later released on the "Extras" section of The Duellists DVD). In February 1963 Scott was named in title credits as "Designer" for the BBC television programme Tonight, about the severe winter of 1963. After graduation in 1963, he secured a job as a trainee set designer with the BBC, leading to work on the popular television police series Z-Cars and science fiction series Out of the Unknown. He was originally assigned to design the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks, which would have entailed realising the serial's eponymous alien creatures. However, shortly before Scott was due to start work, a schedule conflict meant he was replaced by Raymond Cusick.[12] In 1965, he began directing episodes of television series for the BBC, only one of which, an episode of Adam Adamant Lives!, is available commercially.[13]

Gold Hill, Shaftesbury in the English county of Dorset where Scott filmed the 1973 Hovis television commercial

In 1968, Ridley and Tony Scott founded Ridley Scott Associates (RSA), a film and commercial production company.[14] Working alongside Alan Parker, Hugh Hudson and cinematographer Hugh Johnson, Ridley Scott made many commercials at RSA during the 1970s, including a notable 1973 Hovis advertisement, "Bike Round" (underscored by the slow movement of Symphony No. 9 rearranged for brass), set in the north of England but filmed in Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset.[15][16] A nostalgia themed television advertisement that captured the public imagination, it was voted the UK's all-time favourite commercial in a 2006 poll.[17][18] In the 1970s the Chanel No. 5 brand needed revitalisation having run the risk of being labelled as mass market and passé.[19] Directed by Scott in the 1970s and 1980s, Chanel television commercials were inventive mini-films with production values of surreal fantasy and seduction, which "played on the same visual imagery, with the same silhouette of the bottle."[19]

Five members of the Scott family are directors, and all have worked for RSA.[20] His brother Tony was a successful film director whose career spanned more than two decades; his sons Jake and Luke are both acclaimed directors of commercials, as is his daughter, Jordan Scott. Jake and Jordan both work from Los Angeles; Luke is based in London. In 1995, Shepperton Studios was purchased by a consortium headed by Ridley and Tony Scott, which extensively renovated the studios while also expanding and improving its grounds.[21]

Early films

The Duellists

Main article: The Duellists

The Duellists (1977) marked Ridley Scott's first feature as director. Shot in Europe, it was nominated for the main prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and won an award for Best Debut Film. The Duellists had limited commercial impact internationally. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, it follows two French Hussar officers, D'Hubert and Feraud (Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel) whose quarrel over an initially minor incident turns into a bitter extended feud spanning fifteen years, interwoven with the larger conflict that provides its backdrop. The film has been acclaimed for providing a historically authentic portrayal of Napoleonic uniforms and military conduct.[22][23] The 2013 release of the film on Blu-ray coincided with the publication of an essay on the film in a collection of scholarly essays on Scott.[24]

Alien

Main article: Alien (film)

Scott had originally planned next to adapt a version of Tristan and Iseult, but after seeing Star Wars, he became convinced of the potential of large scale, effects-driven films. He accepted the job of directing Alien, the 1979 horror/science-fiction film that would win him international success. The female action hero Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver), who appeared in the first four Alien films, would become a cinematic icon. The final scene of John Hurt's character has been named by a number of publications as one of the most memorable in cinematic history.[25] Filmed at Shepperton Studios in England, Alien was the sixth highest-grossing film of 1979, earning over $104 million worldwide.[26] Scott was involved in the 2003 restoration and re-release of the original film. In promotional interviews at the time, Scott indicated he had been in discussions to make a fifth film in the Alien franchise. However, in a later (2006) interview, the director remarked that he had been unhappy about Alien: The Director's Cut, feeling that the original was "pretty flawless" and that the additions were merely a marketing tool.[27] Scott would later return to an Alien-related project when he directed Prometheus three decades after the original film's release. (See 2006 – present section, for more on Prometheus.)

Blade Runner

Main article: Blade Runner

After a year working on the film adaptation of Dune, and following the sudden death of his brother Frank, Scott signed to direct the film version of Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Starring Harrison Ford, Blade Runner was a commercial disappointment in cinemas in 1982, but is now regarded as a classic.[28][29] In 1991 Scott's notes were used by Warner Brothers to create a rushed director's cut which removed the main character's voiceover and made a number of other small changes, including to the ending. Later Scott personally supervised a digital restoration of Blade Runner and approved what was called The Final Cut. This version was released in Los Angeles, New York City and Toronto cinemas on 5 October 2007, and as an elaborate DVD release in December 2007.[30] Today, Blade Runner is ranked by many critics as one of the most important and influential science fiction films ever made,[31] partly thanks to its much imitated portraits of a future cityscape. It is often discussed along with William Gibson's novel Neuromancer as initiating the cyberpunk genre. Scott has described Blade Runner as his "most complete and personal film".[32]

"1984" Apple Macintosh commercial

Main article: 1984 (advertisement)

In 1984 Scott directed a big-budget ($900,000) television commercial, "1984", to launch Apple's Macintosh computer.[33] Scott filmed the advertisement in England for about $370,000;[34] which was given a showcase airing in the US on 22 January 1984, during Super Bowl XVIII, alongside screenings in cinemas.[35] Some consider this advertisement a "watershed event" in advertising[36] and a "masterpiece".[37] Advertising Age placed it top of its list of the 50 greatest commercials.[38]

Set in a dystopian future modelled after George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Scott's advertisement used its heroine (portrayed by English athlete Anya Major) to represent the coming of the Macintosh (indicated by her white tank top adorned with a picture of the Apple Macintosh computer) as a means of saving humanity from "conformity" (Big Brother), an allusion to IBM, at that time the dominant force in computing.[39]

Legend

Main article: Legend (1985 film)

In 1985 Scott directed Legend, a fantasy film produced by Arnon Milchan. Scott decided to create a "once upon a time" tale set in a world of princesses, unicorns and goblins, filming almost entirely inside the studio. Scott cast Tom Cruise as the film's hero, Jack, Mia Sara as Princess Lili and Tim Curry as the Satan-horned Lord of Darkness.[40] Scott had a forest set built on the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, with trees 60 feet high and trunks 30 feet in diameter.[41] In the final stages of filming, the forest set was destroyed by fire; Jerry Goldsmith's original score was used for European release, but replaced in North America with a score by Tangerine Dream. Rob Bottin provided the film's Academy Award-nominated make-up effects, most notably Curry's red-coloured Satan figure. Though a major commercial failure on release, the film has gone on to become a cult classic. The 2002 Director's Cut restored Goldsmith's original score.[42]

Subsequent films

1987–1992

Scott made Someone to Watch Over Me, a romantic thriller starring Tom Berenger and Mimi Rogers in 1987, and Black Rain (1989), a police drama starring Michael Douglas and Andy García, shot partially in Japan. Both achieved mild success at the box office. Black Rain was the first of Scott's six collaborations with the composer Hans Zimmer.[43][44]

Road film Thelma & Louise (1991) starring Geena Davis as Thelma, Susan Sarandon as Louise, in addition to the breakthrough role for Brad Pitt as J.D, proved to be one of Scott's biggest critical successes, helping revive the director's reputation and receiving his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.[45][46] His next project, independently-funded historical epic 1492: Conquest of Paradise, was a box office failure. The film recounts the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus (French star Gérard Depardieu). Scott did not release another film for four years.

1993–1999

In 1995, Ridley and his brother Tony formed a production company, Scott Free Productions, in Los Angeles. All Ridley's subsequent feature films, starting with White Squall and G.I. Jane have been produced under the Scott Free banner. In 1995 the two brothers purchased a controlling interest in the British film studio, Shepperton Studios, which in 2001 merged with Pinewood Studios to become The Pinewood Studios Group which is headquartered in Buckinghamshire, England.[47]

2000–2005

Scott's historical drama Gladiator (2000) proved to be one of his biggest critical and commercial successes. It won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor for the film's star Russell Crowe, and saw Scott nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director.[1] Some have credited Gladiator with reviving the nearly defunct "sword and sandal" historical genre. The film was named the fifth best action film of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. Scott then turned to Hannibal (2001) starring Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. The film was commercially successful despite receiving mixed reviews. Scott's next film, Black Hawk Down (2001), based on a group of stranded American soldiers fighting for their lives in Somalia, saw him receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.[1]

In 2003, Scott directed a smaller scale project, Matchstick Men, adapted from the novel by Eric Garcia and starring Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell and Alison Lohman. It received mostly positive reviews, but performed moderately at the box office. In 2005, he made the modestly successful Kingdom of Heaven, a film about the Crusades. The film starred Orlando Bloom, and marked Scott's first collaboration with the composer Harry Gregson-Williams.[48] The Moroccan government sent the Moroccan cavalry as extras for some battle scenes.[49]

Unhappy with the theatrical version of Kingdom of Heaven (which he blamed on paying too much attention to the opinions of preview audiences in addition to relenting when Fox wanted 45 minutes shaved off), Scott supervised a director's cut of the film, the true version of what he wanted, which was released on DVD in 2006.[50] The director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven has been met with critical acclaim, with Empire magazine calling the film an "epic", adding: "The added 45 minutes in the director’s cut are like pieces missing from a beautiful but incomplete puzzle."[51] "This is the one that should have gone out" reflected Scott.[51] Asked if he was against previewing in general in 2006, Scott stated: "It depends who's in the driving seat. If you've got a lunatic doing my job, then you need to preview. But a good director should be experienced enough to judge what he thinks is the correct version to go out into the cinema."[52]

2006–present

Scott teamed up again with Gladiator star Russell Crowe, for A Good Year, based on the best-selling book by Peter Mayle about an investment banker who finds a new life in Provence. The film was released on 10 November 2006. A few days later Rupert Murdoch, chairman of studio 20th Century Fox (who backed the film) dismissed A Good Year as "a flop" at a shareholders' meeting.[53]

Scott's next film was American Gangster, based on the story of real-life drug kingpin Frank Lucas. Scott took over the project in early 2006, and had screenwriter Steven Zaillian rewrite his script to focus on the dynamic between Frank Lucas and Richie Roberts. Denzel Washington signed on to the project as Lucas, with Russell Crowe co-starring. The film premiered in November 2007 to positive reviews and box office success, and Scott was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Director.[1]

In late 2008, Scott's espionage thriller Body of Lies, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, opened to luke-warm ticket-sales and mixed reviews. Scott directed a revisionist adaptation of Robin Hood, which starred Russell Crowe as Robin Hood and Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian. It was released in May 2010 to mixed reviews, but a respectable box-office.

Scott speaking with Prometheus stars Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender at Wondercon 2012 in Anaheim, California on 17 March 2012

On 31 July 2009, news surfaced of a two-part prequel to Alien with Scott attached to direct.[54][55] The project, ultimately reduced to a single film called Prometheus, which Scott described as sharing "strands of Alien's DNA" while not being a direct prequel, was released in June 2012. The film received mostly positive reviews and grossed $403 million at the box office.[56] A sequel is in development for 2017.[57]

In 2009, the TV Series The Good Wife premiered with Ridley and his brother Tony credited as executive producers. On 6 July 2010, YouTube announced the launch of Life in a Day, an experimental documentary executive produced by Scott. Released at the Sundance Film Festival on 27 January 2011, it incorporates footage shot on 24 July 2010 submitted by YouTube users from around the world.[58] As part of the buildup to the 2012 London Olympics, Scott produced Britain in a Day, a documentary film consisting of footage shot by the British public on 12 November 2011.[59]

In 2012, Scott produced the commercial for Lady Gaga's fragrance, "Fame." It was touted as the first ever black Eau de Parfum, in the informal credits attached to the trailer for this advertisement. On 24 June 2013, Scott's series Crimes of the Century debuted on CNN.[60] In November 2012 it was announced that Scott would produce the documentary, Springsteen & I directed by Baillie Walsh and inspired by Life in a Day, which Scott also produced. The film featured fan footage from throughout the world on what musician Bruce Springsteen meant to them and how he impacted their lives.[61] The film was released for one day only in 50 countries and on over 2000 film screens on 22 July 2013.[61]

Scott directed The Counselor (2013), with a screenplay by author Cormac McCarthy.[62][63] On 25 October 2013, Indiewire reported that "Before McCarthy sold his first spec script for Scott's (Counselor) film, the director was heavily involved in developing an adaptation of the author's 1985 novel Blood Meridian with screenwriter Bill Monahan (The Departed). But as Scott said in a Time Out interview, '[Studios] didn't want to make it. The book is so uncompromising, which is what's great about it.' Described as an 'anti-western'..."[64]

Scott directed the biblically-inspired epic film Exodus: Gods and Kings, released in December 2014. Filmed at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, the film starred Christian Bale in the lead role.[65] In March 2013, Twentieth Century Fox optioned the film rights for the novel The Martian, and hired screenwriter Drew Goddard to adapt and direct the film.[66][67] In May 2014, it was reported that Scott was in negotiations to direct the adaptation, set to star Matt Damon as Mark Watney.[68] The film was originally scheduled for release on 25 November 2015, but Fox later switched its release date with that of Victor Frankenstein, and thus The Martian was released on 2 October 2015.[69][70] The Martian was a critical and commercial success, and has grossed over $630 million worldwide, becoming Scott's highest-grossing film to date.[71][72][73]

On 10 May 2016, it was announced that Scott and Goddard would be reteaming to adapt the book Wraiths of the Broken Land by S. Craig Zahler. It is described as a piece of fiction that combines elements of “horror, noir, and Asian ultra-violence.”[74]

Television projects

Scott and his brother produced CBS series Numb3rs (2005–10), a crime drama about a genius mathematician who helps the FBI solve crimes, and The Good Wife (2009–2016), a legal drama about an attorney balancing her job with her husband, a former state attorney trying to rebuild his political career after a major scandal. The two Scotts also produced a 2010 film adaptation of 1980s television show The A-Team, directed by Joe Carnahan.[75][76]

Scott was an executive producer of the first season of Amazon's The Man in the High Castle (2015–16).[77] Scott, through his Scott Free Productions, is an executive producer on the dark comic science-fiction series BrainDead which debuted on CBS in 2016.[78][79][80]

Current projects

In August 2009, Scott planned to direct an adaptation of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World set in a dystopian London with Leonardo DiCaprio.[81]

In August 2011, information leaked about production of a sequel to Blade Runner by Alcon Entertainment, with Alcon partners Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove.[82] Scott informed the Variety publication in November 2014 that he was no longer the director for the film and would only fulfill a producer's role. Scott also revealed that filming would begin sometime within 2015, and that Harrison Ford has signed on to reprise his role from the original film but his character should only appear in "the third act" of the sequel.[83]

In late 2013, it was announced that Scott will begin casting for the film adaptation of Hugh Howey's Wool in early 2014.[84] A sequel to Prometheus titled Alien: Covenant is in development, and has started filming in 2016, for release in 2017.[85] Filming wrapped on July 19, 2016.[86] In 2016, Scott was in early negotiations to direct the screen version of the 1968 British TV series The Prisoner.[87]

Personal life

Scott with his partner Giannina Facio at the world premiere of The Martian held at the Toronto International Film Festival on 11 September 2015

Ridley Scott was married to Felicity Heywood from 1964 to 1975. The couple had two sons, Jake and Luke, both of whom work as directors on Scott's production company, Ridley Scott Associates. Scott later married advertising executive Sandy Watson in 1979, with whom he had a daughter, Jordan Scott, and divorced in 1989.[88][89] His current partner is the actress Giannina Facio, whom he has cast in all his films since White Squall except American Gangster and The Martian.[90] He divides his time between homes in London, France and Los Angeles.[65]

His eldest brother Frank died, aged 45, of skin cancer in 1980.[91] His younger brother Tony, who was also his business partner in their company Scott Free, died on 19 August 2012 at the age of 68 after jumping from the Vincent Thomas Bridge which spans Los Angeles Harbor, after a long struggle with cancer. Before Tony's death, he and Ridley collaborated on a miniseries based on Robin Cook's novel, Coma for A&E. The two-part miniseries premiered on A&E on 3 September 2012, to mixed reviews.[92] In 2013, Ridley stated that he is an atheist.[93]

Ridley has dedicated several of his films in memory of his family: Blade Runner to his brother Frank, Black Hawk Down to his mother, and The Counselor and Exodus: Gods and Kings to his brother Tony.[94] Ridley also paid tribute to his late brother Tony at the 2016 Golden Globes, after his film, The Martian, won Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.[95]

Approach and style

Russell Crowe commented, "I like being on Ridley's set because actors can perform [...] and the focus is on the performers."[96] Paul M. Sammon, in his book Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner, commented in an interview with Brmovie.com that Scott's relationship with his actors has improved considerably over the years.[97] More recently during the filming of Scott's 2012 film, Prometheus, Charlize Theron praised the director's willingness to listen to suggestions from the cast for improvements in the way their characters are portrayed on script. Theron worked alongside the writers and Scott to give more depth to her character during filming.[98]

His striking visual style, incorporating a detailed approach to production design and innovative, atmospheric lighting, has been influential on a subsequent generation of filmmakers.[1][2] Scott commonly uses slow pacing until the action sequences. Examples include Alien and Blade Runner; the LA Times critic Sheila Benson, for example, would call the latter "Blade Crawler" "because it's so damn slow". Another technique he employs is use of sound or music to build tension, as heard in Alien, with hissing steam, beeping computers and the noise of the machinery in the space ship. Scott claims to have an Eidetic Memory, which he says aids him in visualising and storyboarding the scenes in his films.[99]

Scott has developed a method for filming intricate shots as swiftly as possible: "I like working, always, with a minimum of three cameras. [...] So those 50 set-ups [a day] might only be 25 set-ups except I'm covering in the set-up. So you're finished. I mean, if you take a little bit more time to prep on three cameras, or if it's a big stunt, eleven cameras, and – whilst it may take 45 minutes to set up – then when you're ready you say 'Action!', and you do three takes, two takes and is everybody happy? You say, 'Yeah, that's it.' So you move on."[96]

Artificial intelligence is a unifying theme throughout Scott's career as a director, particularly in Blade Runner, Alien, and Prometheus.[100] The recent book The Culture and Philosophy of Ridley Scott identifies Alan Turing and John Searle, a professor at the University of California, as presenting relevant models of testing artificial intelligence known as the Turing test and the Chinese Room Thought Experiment, respectively, in the chapter titled "What's Wrong with Building Replicants," which has been a recurring theme for many of Scott's films.[101] The chapter titled "Artificial Intelligence in Blade Runner, Alien, and Prometheus," concludes by citing the writings of John Stuart Mill in the context of Scott's Nexus-6 Replicants in Blade Runner (Rutger Hauer), the android Ash (Ian Holm) in Alien, and the android David (Michael Fassbender) in Prometheus, where Mill is applied to assert that measures and tests of intelligence must also assess actions and moral behaviour in androids to effectively address the themes which Scott explores in these films.[102] Strong female characters are also a common theme.[103][104]

DVD format and director's cut

Scott is known for his enthusiasm for the DVD format, providing audio commentaries and interviews for all his films where possible. In the July 2006 issue of Total Film magazine, he stated: "After all the work we go through, to have it run in the cinema and then disappear forever is a great pity. To give the film added life is really cool for both those who missed it and those who really loved it."[52]

Running alongside his enthusiasm for DVD, Scott is known for his use of the director's cut.[51] The positive reaction to the Blade Runner Director's Cut encouraged Scott to re-cut several movies that were a disappointment at the time of their release (including Legend and Kingdom of Heaven), which have been met with acclaim.[51] Today the practice of alternative cuts is more commonplace, though often as a way to make a film stand out in the DVD marketplace by adding new material.

Filmography

Main article: Ridley Scott filmography

Awards and nominations

Sir Ridley Scott, Honorary Doctor, at the Royal College of Art, July 2015

Scott was made a Knight Bachelor in the 2003 New Year Honours for his substantial contribution to the British film industry.[4][105] He received his accolade from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on 8 July 2003.[4] Scott admitted feeling "stunned and truly humbled" after the ceremony, saying, "As a boy growing up in South Shields, I could never have imagined that I would receive such a special recognition. I am truly humbled to receive this treasured award and believe it also further recognises the excellence of the British film industry."[106]

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame inducted him in 2007.[107] In 2011, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[108] He has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Directing—Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down—as well as a Golden Globe, BAFTA and 2 Primetime Emmy Awards. In 1995, Ridley and his brother Tony received the BAFTA for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema.[3]

On 3 July 2015, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Royal College of Art in a ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London at which he described how he still keeps on his office wall his school report placing him 31st out of 31 in his class, and how his teacher encouraged him to pursue what became his passion at art school.[5][109]

Year Award Category Title Result
1977 Cannes Best Debut Film Award The Duellists Won
Palme d'Or Nominated
1979 Saturn Awards Best Director Alien Won
Best Science Fiction film Won
1983 Best Director Blade Runner Nominated
2001 Gladiator Nominated
2004 The George Pal Memorial Award Won
2015 Best Director The Martian Won
1991 DGA Best Director – Motion Picture Thelma & Louise Nominated
2001 Gladiator Nominated
2002 Black Hawk Down Nominated
2015 The Martian Nominated
1991 Academy Awards Best Director Thelma & Louise Nominated
2000 Gladiator Nominated
2001 Black Hawk Down Nominated
2015 Best Picture The Martian Nominated
2000 Golden Globe Best Director – Motion Picture Gladiator Nominated
2007 American Gangster Nominated
2015 The Martian Nominated
2015 Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy The Martian Won
1991 BAFTA Best Director Thelma & Louise Nominated
2000 Gladiator Nominated
2015 The Martian Nominated
1995 Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema Won
2001 Satellite Award Best Director Gladiator Nominated
2015 The Martian Nominated
2002 American Film Institute Director of the Year Black Hawk Down Nominated
Movie of the Year Nominated
2000 Emmy Award Outstanding Made for Television Movie RKO 281 Nominated
2002 The Gathering Storm Won
2008 Outstanding Miniseries The Andromeda Strain Nominated
2009 Outstanding Made for Television Movie Into the Storm Nominated
2010 Outstanding Drama Series The Good Wife Nominated
2011 Nominated
Outstanding Miniseries or Movie The Pillars of the Earth Nominated
Outstanding Nonfiction Special Gettysburg Won
2014 Outstanding Television Movie Killing Kennedy Nominated
2015 Killing Jesus Nominated
2015 Visual Effects Society Lifetime Achievement Award Won
2015 National Board of Review Best Director The Martian Won

Box office performance

Date Movie Studio United States gross[71] Worldwide gross[71] Theatres[71] Opening weekend[71] Opening theatres Budget
1977 The Duellists Par. $900,000
1979 Alien Fox $80,931,801 $104,931,801 757 $3,527,881 91 $11,000,000
1982 Blade Runner WB $32,768,670 $33,139,618 1,325 $6,150,002 1,295 $28,000,000
1985 Legend Uni. $15,502,112 $15,502,112 1,187 $4,261,154 1,187 $30,000,000
1987 Someone to Watch Over Me Col. $10,278,549 $10,278,549 894 $2,908,796 892 $17,000,000
1989 Black Rain Par. $46,212,055 $134,212,055 1,760 $9,677,102 1,610 $30,000,000
1991 Thelma & Louise MGM $45,360,915 - 1,180 $6,101,297 1,179 $16,500,000
1992 1492: Conquest of Paradise Par. $7,191,399 $59,000,000[110] 1,008 $3,002,680 1,008 $47,000,000
1996 White Squall BV $10,292,300 $10,292,300 1,524 $3,908,514 1,524 $38,000,000
1997 G.I. Jane BV $48,169,156 $97,169,156 2,043 $11,094,241 1,945 $50,000,000
2000 Gladiator DW $187,705,427 $457,640,427 3,188 $34,819,017 2,938 $103,000,000
2001 Hannibal MGM $165,092,268 $351,692,268 3,292 $58,003,121 3,230 $87,000,000
2001 Black Hawk Down Col. $108,638,745 $172,989,651 3,143 $179,823 4 $92,000,000
2003 Matchstick Men WB $36,906,460 $65,565,672 2,711 $13,087,307 2,711 $65,000,000
2005 Kingdom of Heaven Fox $47,398,413 $211,652,051 3,219 $19,635,996 3,216 $130,000,000
2006 A Good Year Fox $7,459,300 $42,056,466 2,067 $3,721,526 2,066 $35,000,000
2007 American Gangster Uni. $130,164,645 $265,697,825 3,110 $43,565,115 3,054 $100,000,000
2008 Body of Lies WB $39,394,666 $115,321,950 2,714 $12,884,416 2,710 $70,000,000
2010 Robin Hood Uni. $105,269,730 $321,669,730 3,505 $36,063,385 3,503 $200,000,000
2012 Prometheus Fox $126,477,084 $403,354,469 3,442 $51,050,101 3,396 $130,000,000
2013 The Counselor Fox $16,973,715 $70,237,649 3,044 $7,842,930 3,044 $25,000,000
2014 Exodus: Gods and Kings Fox $65,014,513 $268,031,828 3,503 $24,115,934 3,503 $140,000,000
2015 The Martian Fox $228,433,663 $630,161,890 3,854 $54,308,575 3,831 $108,000,000

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Ridley Scott". Encyclopaedia Britannica.
  2. ^ a b Matthews, Jack (4 October 1992). "Regarding Ridley : For 15 years, Ridley Scott has dazzled us with expressive imagery. 'Every time you make a film, really you're making a novel,' says the director". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ a b "Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema". BAFTA. 12 October 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "Queen knights Gladiator director". BBC News. 8 July 2003. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  5. ^ a b "RCA Convocation 2015". RCA [view from 13:55 and 31:45]. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Sir Ridley Scott". Monsters-movies.com. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  7. ^ "How Winston helped save the nation". Scotsman.com Living. 6 July 2002. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  8. ^ "Ridley Scott: England and Wales Birth Registration Index". Family Search.org.
  9. ^ "The Blade Runner Connection". BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2014
  10. ^ "Film fans can watch Sir Ridley Scott's first movie for free". Hartlepool Mail. 13 January 2016.
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  12. ^ Howe, David J.; Mark Stammers, Stephen James Walker (1994). The Handbook: The First Doctor — The William Hartnell Years 1963–1966. Virgin Books. p. 61. ISBN 0-426-20430-1.
  13. ^ "Adam Adamant Lives!". BBC. Retrieved 19 October 2016
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  16. ^ Iain Sinclair (20 January 2011). "The Raging Peloton". 33 (2). London Review of Books: 3–8. Retrieved 11 April 2016. As proudly as the freshly baked loaves in Ridley Scott's celebrated [Hovis] commercial, shot in 1973, on the picturesque slopes of Shaftesbury. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  17. ^ "Ridley Scott's Hovis advert is voted all-time favourite". No. 2 May 2006. The Independent. 13 June 2015.
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  23. ^ "The Duellists: it takes two to tangle". The Guardian. 10 January 2015.
  24. ^ "A Double-Edged Sword: Honor in The Duellists", in The Culture and Philosophy of Ridley Scott, eds. Adam Barkman, Ashley Barkman, and Jim McRae (Lexington Books, 2013), 45-60.
  25. ^ Sources that refer to the final scene of Hurt's character in Alien as one of the most memorable in cinematic history include these:
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  29. ^ "How Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic, Blade Runner, foresaw the way we live today". The Spectator. 10 January 2016.
  30. ^ "Blade Runner Final Cut Due", SciFi Wire, 26 May 2006 Archived 2008-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
  31. ^ "',The Guardian',: Top 10 sci-fi films". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  32. ^ Barber, Lynn (2 January 2002). "Scott's Corner". The Observer. London. Retrieved 22 February 2007.
  33. ^ Friedman, Ted (2005). "Chapter 5: 1984". Electric Dreams: Computers in American Culture. New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-2740-9. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  34. ^ Burnham, David (4 March 1984). "The Computer, the Consumer and Privacy". Washington DC: The New York Times. Retrieved 24 January 2014.
  35. ^ "Apple's 1984: The Introduction of the Macintosh in the Cultural History of Personal Computers". Duke.edu. Archived from the original on 5 October 1999. Retrieved 6 March 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  36. ^ "Apple's '1984' Super Bowl commercial still stands as watershed event". USA Today. 28 January 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
  37. ^ Leopold, Todd (3 February 2006). "Why 2006 isn't like '1984'". CNN. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  38. ^ Elliott, Stuart (14 March 1995). "The Media Business: Advertising; A new ranking of the '50 best' television commercials ever made". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 January 2014. The choice for the greatest commercial ever was the spectacular spot by Chiat/Day, evocative of the George Orwell novel 1984, that introduced the Apple Macintosh computer during Super Bowl XVIII in 1984.
  39. ^ Cellini, Adelia (January 2004). "The Story Behind Apple's '1984' TV commercial: Big Brother at 20". MacWorld 21.1, page 18. Retrieved 9 May 2008.[dead link‍]
  40. ^ "Ridley Scott's beautiful dark twisted fantasy: the making of Legend". The Telegraph. 17 November 2015.
  41. ^ Pirani, Adam (December 1985). "Ridley Scott: SF's Visual Magician". Starlog. p. 64.
  42. ^ "5 Fractured Fairy Tale Movies Worth Watching After 'Snow White and the Huntsman'". Blogs.indiewire.com. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  43. ^ "Hans Zimmer career interview". Empire magazine. 21 October 2015.
  44. ^ "Orchestral manoeuvres in the dark". GQ. 21 October 2015.
  45. ^ Russell Smith (19 October 1993). "Brad Pitt Only Does Interesting Movie Roles". Deseret News. p. EV6. It was in 1991, when he hitched his ride with Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon in Thelma & Louise, that Pitt's star began to twinkle in earnest.
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  47. ^ "Ridley Scott: 'I'm doing pretty good, if you think about it'". The Independent. 21 October 2015.
  48. ^ Gajewski, Ryan (3 October 2015). "'The Martian' Composer on Creating Matt Damon's Theme, Ridley Scott's 'Prometheus' Plans". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  49. ^ "Mooviess.com Kingdom of Heaven production notes".
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  52. ^ a b Total Film magazine, July 2006: 'Three hours, eight minutes. It's beautiful.' (Interview to promote Kingdom of Heaven: The Director's Cut)
  53. ^ "A Good Year is a 'flop', Murdoch admits". The Guardian. UK. 16 November 2006. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
  54. ^ "Ridley Scott Talks 'Alien' Prequel and Timeline". Bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
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  56. ^ "Prometheus Box Office". boxofficemojo.com. Amazon.com. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
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  58. ^ "Life in a Day". The Official YouTube Blog. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
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  61. ^ a b "Springsteen & I: fans tell their stories of The Boss". The Telegraph. 28 December 2015.
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  63. ^ "First Looks at Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt Filming 'The Counselor'". INeedMyFix.com. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  64. ^ Indiewire, 25 October 2013.
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  66. ^ Alter, Alexandra (14 February 2014). "A Survival Guide to Mars". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  67. ^ Sneider, Jeff (15 May 2013). "Drew Goddard in Negotiations to Write and Direct 'The Martian' for Fox (Exclusive)". The Wrap. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
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  69. ^ Anderton, Ethan (1 August 2014). "Fox Shifts Release Dates for 'The Martian,' 'Miss Peregrine' & More". firstshowing.net. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
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  72. ^ Driscoll, Molly (14 September 2015). "Toronto Film Festival: 'The Martian,' 'Room' get critics talking". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  73. ^ Lang, Brent (29 September 2015). "Box Office: 'The Martian' to Blast Off With $45 Million". Variety. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
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  87. ^ Fleming, Mike (8 January 2016). "Ridley Scott Captivated By 'The Prisoner', Film Version Of Patrick McGoohan TV Series". Retrieved 9 January 2016.
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