Alien: Romulus Director Reveals the Hilarious Note Ridley Scott Gave Him

Alien: Romulus hits theaters this week, and will see director Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) taking the reigns of the Alien franchise. Ridley Scott originally held those reigns as the creator of Alien, and there was no way he was passing the torch to Alvarez without some sagely words of advice – as only Sir Ridley Scott could deliver. 

In an Instagram post before Alien: Romulus‘ release, Fede Alvarez shared the concise words that Ridley Scott had for him, before production: 

Dear Fede,
Good Luck.
Good Health.
Good Hunting.
Don’t F*ck Up.
Very Best
Wishes, Ridley Scott

It’s not an industry secret that Ridley Scott is extremely touchy when it comes to the Alien franchise. In fact, Alvarez has already revealed just how much anxiety he had about making Alien: Romulus good enough to impress Sir Ridley: 

“I wanted him to see it before anybody,” Álvarez told director Guillermo del Toro during a convention panel. “And everyone gave me the head’s up that Ridley is really tough. He’s really tough, particularly if it has something to do with his movies. He was really tough on Blade Runner [2049], which I thought was a masterpiece, and he had issues with it because it’s really hard for him because it’s his work. I asked him about the new ‘Top Gun’ and he’s like ‘meh.’ I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ And he was like, ‘My brother’s was original and this is like eh.’ He really respected it, but you could see how tough he was. So I was like, ‘There’s no way I win this one.’”

Ridley Scott’s reaction to Alien: Romulus may be the greatest endorsement of the film:

“He walks into the room and he did say, ‘Fede, what can I say? It’s fucking great,’” Álvarez shared. “For me it was like…My family knows it was one of the best moments of my life to have a master like him, who I admired so much, to even watch a movie I made – but particularly something like this…and talk to me for an hour about what he liked about it. One of the best compliments he said was, ‘The dialogue is great. Are you the writer?’ Yes!”

Alien: Romulus stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla, Civil War) and features David Jonsson (Industry), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (Transformers 5, Madame Web), Spike Fearn (The Batman) and Aileen Wu.

Alien: Romulus will be in theaters this week.