Ridley Scott has shared an amusing anecdote about Stanley Kubrick – and it turns out Kubrick had a pretty relatable question about Scott's sci-fi masterpiece Alien.
Kubrick, of course, is the legendary director behind the likes of The Shining and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
"Stanley called me the week Alien opened," Scott reflected to The Times. "He said: 'It's Stanley Kubrick.' I said: 'Fuck off!' He said: 'No, it's Stanley Kubrick.' He said: 'I just watched Alien – how did you bring that creature out the guy's chest?'"
It's certainly a worthy question. Watching the tiny Xenomorph burst from John Hurt's chest for the first time is an experience that stays with you, that's for sure, and it also looks so shockingly real it's easy to believe an alien really did come bursting out of that poor guy.
If you're just as desperate as Kubrick was to know the behind-the-scenes secret, it was accomplished with some genuine guts from a butcher, fake blood, and a false chest for Hurt.
Scott's next release is Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby. Kubrick attempted to make a film about Napoleon, though it ultimately never happened. "I knew Stanley Kubrick," Scott told Total Film. "The script was sent to me by his estate, to say: 'Do you want to look at this?' But it was birth to death – the whole nine yards. Napoleon did 66 battles. You can’t do 66 battles [on screen]. So you've got to make some choices."
Napoleon hits theaters this November 22. While you wait, check out our guide to all the upcoming major movie release dates for everything else the year has in store.
