Ridley Scott is known for a lot of things. He’s the director of horror and sci-fi classic Alien, as well as the Oscar-winning director behind films like Thelma and Louise, Gladiator, and Blade Runner. When you have a filmography like his, it’s hard to call anything that he does underrated or underrepresented. Even still, the film industry moves so fast, and with such fervor, that some of the work from even the most celebrated of directors will get passed by. Even more so, the work that the director produces behind the scenes might go almost entirely unnoticed as something they had a hand in.
The production work that a director or notable film star does will never get as much credit as those they have more of a direct impact on, but they should be commended for the films that they help to create. Without the guidance or support from a star producer, many films wouldn’t even get made, as Masterclass says. So, it’s important to recognize the work that a filmmaker does behind the scenes, not just behind the camera. Hence, this list of the 10 movies that you didn’t know Ridley Scott produced.
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10 The A-Team
Dune Entertainment
The first inclusion on this list is an often-forgotten reimagining of an old TV show that Scott apparently saw something in: The A-Team. Scott became attached to this film in 2010 alongside director Joe Carnahan and promised, as BBC put it, to make the adaptation as “real and accessible as possible without cheesing it up.” It’s hard to say if they succeeded in that regard because the film received mixed reviews and just barely made back its budget. Regardless, Scott’s contributions here are sort of clouded and uncertain, but it’s safe to assume it was a favor to somebody or something of that ilk.
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9 Murder on the Orient Express
The Mark Gordon Company
In his pursuit to remake the classic Agatha Christie story into a more modern take, director Kenneth Branagh took on Scott in order to make Murder on the Orient Express a reality. Branagh was brought on in 2015 to direct the picture for 20th Century Fox, and also took up the responsibility of playing lead detective in the film: the famous Hercule Poirot. The film itself stars a laundry list of stars that includes Leslie Odom Jr, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, and Daisy Ridley. Upon release, it was considered a great success, grossing ~$350 million worldwide and getting a sequel greenlight immediately.
8 Death on the Nile
Kinberg Genre
Speaking of that sequel, Branagh returned to the world of Agatha Christie with 2022’s Death on the Nile— with Scott as producer in tow. While clouded by some controversy with certain cast members, the film itself was received with okay reviews and a decent enough box office report. Those who enjoyed the film saw it as a glamorous and flashy murder mystery, while detractors cited the film’s overwrought visual style and flat performances to the film’s detriment. Regardless, Branagh and Scott are geared up for a third entry in this series, as A Haunting in Venice is slated for release in late-2023.
7 Concussion
Columbia Pictures
For the first time on this list, we have a project that Scott actually directly developed. According to Deadline in 2013, Scott was inspired to direct a film about the effects of concussions on football players after seeing how many players had health issues after leaving the league. His intentions were to create a morality tale around the supposed entertainment of a sport that leads to people dying young. Of course, he did not end up directing Concussion, but he did stay on as a producer after developing the project and handing it off to director Peter Landesman. Starring Will Smith as the doctor Bennet Omalu, who had his research on the effects of CTE on football players suppressed by the NFL, the film was decently successful even with middling reviews.
6 Stoker
Scott Free Productions
Stoker is the English language-debut of Korean New Wave impresario Park Chan-Wook, director of masterworks like The Handmaiden and Oldboy. It’s safe to assume that Scott (and his brother Tony) helped Park to produce his first English film out of respect for him as a filmmaker, which resulted in Park getting to make a movie without much in the vein of resistance. The film itself is a psychological thriller starring Nicole Kidman, Mia Wiasakowska, and Dermot Mulroney that barely made back its budget, but has sort of a cult following amongst Park Chan-Wook fans as one of his underrated works.
5 The Grey
LD Entertainment
Scott would work with Joe Carnahan again as a producer on this film, The Grey. Both films that the two would make together (this and earlier list contestant The A-Team) would star Liam Neeson at the breakneck part of his action star run following the breakout success of his film Taken. The Grey is a decidedly different project from The A-Team, however, as it is a survival film that takes place after a man is stranded in a remote tundra after his plane crashes. It was well received with positive reviews and a good box office return, although Carnahan and Scott would never work on a film together in this fashion.
4 Cyrus
Fox Searchlight Pictures
The Scott brothers helped to produce the 2010 film, Cyprus, from the Duplass brothers, Jay and Mark, which is a cute little bit of Hollywood familial synergy. The film follows John and Molly (John C. Reilly and Marissa Tomei, respectively), two divorcees who meet and fall for each other, but have to navigate the complications of making their relationship known to Molly’s adult son Cyrus (Jonah Hill). It’s an offbeat, dry dramedy in the style of the mumblecore movement that the Duplass brothers helped form. A mild success with decent enough reviews, but the Scott and Duplass brothers wouldn’t work again from here on.
3 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Warner Bros. Pictures
Scott’s producer credit on this film serves as an announcement: one of a new talent upon arrival. Director Andrew Dominik, who at this point hadn’t yet become the object of ire from many over a certain Marilyn Monroe film, made this epic revisionist western that serves as a dark, moody contemplation of fame and infamy. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is also famous for having been continuously cut down in length by the studio, much to the behest of Dominik. While the film didn’t connect with wide audiences, it’s an oft-cited favorite amongst cinephiles and film fans.
2 Out of the Furnace
Relativity Media
Director Scott Cooper, future director of such films as Netflix’s The Pale Blue Eye, made the crime drama, Out of the Furnace, starring Christian Bale and Casey Affleck in 2012, alongside production support from Scott. It’s about two Iraq war veterans who struggle to adjust to life after getting back from the war. While Bale and Affleck give committed performances, it didn’t particularly connect with audiences: grossing under its budget and receiving generally mixed reviews.
1 Before I Go to Sleep
StudioCanal
Another case in which a project was being developed by Scott before he eventually stepped away from directing duties, Before I Go to Sleep is the second film by British director Rowan Joffe. It’s a psychological mystery film that stars Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth, who are thrown into an unexpected situation when Christine (Kidman) wakes up and doesn’t recognize the man she is sleeping next to (Firth). A mindbender through and through, but not one that really connected with any audience in particular. Before I Go to Sleep failed to make a positive impression on wide audiences and was called a cheap imitation of Christopher Nolan’s Memento.
