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| Ridley Scott |
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Forecourt Ceremony held on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 |
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Born: November 30, 1937, in South Shields, Northumberland, England
Age at the time of the ceremony: 79 |
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The name Ridley Scott carries a lot of weight with film-goers worldwide. A director with tremendous skills in design and atmosphere, Scott has as much floor experience making huge movies as Steven Spielberg — if not more — and he also has a sure knowledge of what will "play" out there. A true master.
Ridley Scott's great uncle was the owner of a chain of cinemas in the northeast of England, so young Ridley spent many a matinee watching films like Them! and The Day the Earth Stood Still with his brother Tony. Ridley attended various art schools, graduating from West Hartlepool College of Art in 1958.
Scott attended the Royal College of Art in London. By this time, he had secured a gig as a designer for the show Tonight, aired over the BBC in February 1963. Scott worked designing television programmes for the next two years. While at school, he directed his brother Tony and his father Francis in the short film Boy and Bicycle (filmed in 1965; released to DVD in December 2002).
Scott made his first commercial directing job on the police show Z Cars with Sara Aimson, aired over in the BBC in June 1965. Then, something happened: Scott saw 2001: A Space Odyssey and it just blew the young man's mind: "It showed me what was possible." He and brother Tony opened a studio to make commercials on an unprecedented scale.
Scott wanted to branch out into feature filmmaking. For his debut, he selected adapting the Joseph Conrad story "The Duel" which became The Duellists (released in May 1977) with Keith Carradine. The film placed Scott squarely on the international "arthouse" map.
Scott was planning a film of the opera Tristan and Iseult, but changed his mind after seeing Star Wars; Scott considered several sci-fi scripts before choosing to make Alien (released in June 1979) with Sigourney Weaver. The dark, violent and hair-raising thriller became a huge hit and became the new gold-standard for space-based films.
Not to be outdone, Ridley Scott directed the unforgettable Blade Runner (released in June 1982) with Harrison Ford; this film changed the way we think about the future — grim, pointless and robotical. The film semi-flopped, but has since become revered.
Scott then directed the fantasy romance Legend (released in April 1986) with Tom Cruise; he then directed and executive produced the contemporary murder mystery Someone to Watch Over Me (released in October 1987) with Tom Berenger.
Scott was going to let someone else direct and he would only co-produce Thelma and Louise (released in May 1991) with Susan Sarandon, but he dicided to direct the film after all. The film became a lighting rod of sorts, and made an instant star of Brad Pitt. After co-producing and directing the flop 1492: Conquest of Paradise (released in October 1992) with Gérard Depardieu as Christopher Columbus, Scott took a slight break from directing, but remained busy buying Shepperton Studios in Surrey, outside London.
Scott brought all of his visual magic tricks to his directing Gladiator (released in May 2000) with Russell Crowe. The film mopped up at the box-office, won the Oscar for Best Picture, and launched a new series of historical films from the Hollywood studios.
While watching Scott's next directing and producing job, it's hard not to think: "How the hell did they make Black Hawk Down ?" (which played the Chinese in January 2002) with Josh Hartnett, a harrowing depiction of war in Somalia.
Scott became excutive producer for 119 episodes of Numb3rs with Rob Morrow, aired over CBS from January 2005 to March 2010, then produced and directed a film about the Crusades, Kingdom of Heaven (which played the Chinese in May 2005) with Orlando Bloom.
Scott was executive producer for a straight dramatic re-telling of Tristan + Isolde (released in January 2006) with James Franco. Scott was a co-producer of the western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (released in October 2007) with Brad Pitt.
He co-produced and directed the real-life cops and robbers story American Gangster (released in November 2007) with Denzel Washington. Scott produced and directed the CIA in the Middle East picture Body of Lies (which played the Chinese in October 2008) with Leonardo DiCaprio. Scott had his greatest television success as executive producer on 156 episodes of The Good Wife with Julianna Margulies, aired over CBS from September 2009 to May 2016.
Scott produced and directed Russell Crowe in a re-telling of Robin Hood (released in May 2010); his mixture of realism and fantasy was a royal disappointment at the box-office. Scott bounded back by being executive producer for yet another re-make of The A Team (released in June 2010) with Liam Neeson. The film squeaked by.
Scott was executive producer for eight episodes of the documentary Prophets of Science Fiction aired over The Science Channel in November 2011. Scott then produced and directed what was billed as an Alien prequel, and Scott's first 3D film, the beautiful and puzzling Prometheus (released in June 2012) with Noomi Rapace.
He was executive producer for 40 episodes of The Man in the High Castle with Alexa Davalos, streaming on Amazon Prime beginning in February 2015, then produced and directed The Martian (which played the Chinese in October 2015) with Matt Damon.
Ridley Scott was asked to make his imprints at the Chinese just a few days prior to the opening of his sequel to Prometheus, Alien: Conevant (which played the Chinese in May 2017) with Katherine Waterston.
Reluctant to direct a sequel to his Blade Runner, he begame executive producer on Blade Runner 2049 (which played the Chinese in October 2017) with Ryan Gosling. Scott produced and directed All the Money in the World (released in December 2017) with Michelle Williams.
During the Covid lockdown, Ridley kept busy, with 2021 seeing two Scott features coming out: The Last Duel with Matt Damon (released in October), and House of Gucci with Lady Gaga (released in November). In 2023, he was able to realise a life-long project: Napoleon with Joaquin Pheonix in the title role (which played the Chinese in November 2023). He is working on lots more stuff. |
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| TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX®, Hollywood, California. FraRidley Scott Forecourt block. Executed by unknown, Wednesday, May 17, 2017. 30 x 20 inches. |
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| TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX®, Hollywood, California. Ridley Scott Forecourt ceremony, Wednesday, May 17, 2017. Ridley Scott seems very pleased with the sensation of wet cement. |
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