Ridley Scott tipped for best director Oscar for The Martian

Ridley Scott, 77, is on course to become the oldest winner of the best director Oscar.

Ridley Scott won the Hollywood producer award for The Martian at the Hollywood Film Awards in Los Angeles.

More than 30 years after he made Alien and Blade Runner, a new space adventure has put Ridley Scott, 77, on course to become the oldest winner of the best director Oscar.

The Martian, starring Matt Damon as an astronaut left behind by his crew on the red planet, has become the highest grossing film of Scott’s career. The British-born director thinks it “is maybe the first film in a while that’s had all four cornerstones of success: drama, emotion, action, humour.”

However, it had been barely considered as a contender. Despite outstanding reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, none of the 22 pundits at Gold Derby, the Oscar forecasting website, listed it among their top 10 best picture candidates before it opened.

With the film having grossed nearly $US500 million ($703m) worldwide, 21 of them have since listed it as a top pick, making it the joint most backed film, along with Spotlight, a drama based on The Boston Globe’s exposure of sex abuse in the Catholic Church, and Danny Boyle’s biopic, Steve Jobs.

The Times