Alienation

Ridley Scott decides to adapt Tristan and Isolde for his next film, with producer David Puttnam on board and a completed screenplay. In 1977 it is placed in development at Paramount. Scott sees Star Wars and is devastated to learn that the movie incorporated many of the ideas he had had for his project. 20th Century Fox puts Scott on a list of possible directors for Alien. Scott is selected and signs onto the dark science fiction/horror film. The movie concerns a beast aboard a spaceship that devours the crew members one by one. The remaining member, a strong and capable woman, manages to eliminate the monster. The visuals are complex, believable, and very scary. The film is a success and puts Ridley Scott on the Hollywood map. Scott next says yes to Dune, a major science fiction project, but his brother Frank dies of cancer at forty-five and Ridley Scott is emotionally unable to continue with the project. In 1975 he marries Sandy Watson, with whom he has a daughter, Jordan. Watson and Scott divorced in 1989.