He just did what? Ridley Scott quietly dropped that at 88 years old, he still has to do three things: a musical, a pirate movie, and a Western—and none are placeholdersen.wikipedia.org+3worldofreel.com+3latimes.com+3. Hollywood perks up—but will they actually happen?
The Jaw‑Dropper
Ridley Scott just admitted he's planning a pirate movie—and Hollywood is whispering, “WTF?!” After conquering sci‑fi (Alien, Blade Runner) and historical epics (Gladiator, The Last Duel), the man who almost made Captain Kidd in the early 2000s is rekindling that flame . Lines on deck, hidden treasure, sea‑salted revenge—classic pirate fodder, but coming from the visual maestro of dystopian LA could rewrite genre rules.
Why This Changes Nothing… Or Everything
At 88, Scott is a cinematic tank—but he also juggles projects like a kid in a candy store. Among them:
- A Western written in 1980 by an author who died during COVID, now owned by Scott—he calls it “the best Western I've ever read”.
- A “pirate movie” he's been eager to revisit since Black Hawk Down, when he eyed Captain Kidd under Disney.
- A Bee Gees biopic with Jacob Elordi slated to shoot in November, and The Dog Stars currently filming.
It's The Social Network meets Pirates of the Caribbean—if Zuckerberg was also swashbuckling for the Gibb brothers. Or is it a wild goose chase? Scott's backlog is legendary—his pirate film could remain a dream, like his never‑made Monopoly or Merlin projects. Boom. Mic drop.
The Hidden Story
Hollywood history is full of “almost” Scott projects. In the early 2000s, after Black Hawk Down, he came close with Captain Kidd, a Disney + Jerry Bruckheimer pirate epic.
And that Western? Reddit sniffed the perfume:
“I own a Western, which is the best Western I've read… If you're going to do a Western… it has to be about the Indigenous people and the trappers… It's absolutely great.”
That's not puffery—it's Scott's commitment to radical storytelling, sidestepping saloons for icy plains and indigenous voices. Think Pale Rider meets The Revenant—but more immersed and empathetic.
Now Pick a Side
Genius or garbage? Will Scott transform piracy on-screen the way he redefined sci‑fi and history? Or is this another unfulfilled ambition in his endless backlog? Would you sail aboard—er, watch it—or burn $20 in protest?
