When Ridley Scott made Alien in 1979 and Blade Runner in 1982 they could only be movies. Television in that era was not equipped for the budgets, the style, not to mention the adult themes and content of these dark, violent, bleak science-fiction movies. 40 years later, everything has turned upside down. Now cable and streaming television is home to most mature storytelling, while movies are increasingly the exclusive domain of only the biggest of the biggest franchises and the tiniest of indie movies.

Perhaps inevitably, then, the next iterations of the Alien and Blade Runner franchises will likely appear on television. Scott told the BBC (via Variety) in an interview about his new movie, House of Gucci, that both projects are in the development phase. Regarding Blade Runner, Scott said:

We [have already] written the pilot for Blade Runner and the bible. So, we’re already presenting Blade Runner as a TV show, the first 10 hours.

As for Alien, a script and bible are being written for what could ultimately become an eight or ten hour series.

This isn’t the first time word has emerged of a potential Alien TV series. Last December, Disney announced at an investor day that Noah Hawley, the creator of the TV version of Fargo, would adapt the film to television. At that time, the show was described as the first Alien work that takes place on Earth, rather than deep space.

It sounds like Blade Runner is further along in development than Alien, even though this is the first we’ve heard about the Blade Runner series while Alien has been in the works since at least last fall. (Blade Runner is also currently the subject of an anime series on Cartoon Network, Blade Runner: Black Lotus.) We’ll see which show actually makes it to the air first.

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