Remember a couple of years ago when it looked likeDistrict 9directorNeill Blomkampwas going to make a proper sequel toAlienswith Sigourney Weaver and other cast members set to return? That idea has unfortunately been scrapped, despite the fact that everyone seemed to be totally into it. Even the folks at Fox. A lot of that seemingly had to do with Ridley Scott wanting to finally makeAlien: Covenant. But now he has shed some light, at least from his perspective, on the proposedAlien 5and, according to him, it wasn’t really all that far along.
As part of the promo tour forAlien: Covenant,Ridley Scottrecently did an interview with the French publicationAllocine. Some of what was said in that interview has been translated to English and, while the translation is a bit rough, it looks likeAlien 5wasn’t nearly as far along as had been previously reported. Here is what Ridley Scott had to say about it.
“I think he will never see the light. There was never a scenario, just an idea that evolved into a pitch of ten pages, I had to participate as a producer but it did not go any further because the Fox decided that She did not want to do it. I had already donePrometheusand worked onCovenant.”
This seems to contradict what we had heard aboutAlien 5previously. In case you aren’t familiar with the situation or don’t totally remember, during the press tour forChappie, Neill Blomkamp randomly posted some concept art for anAliensequel idea he had, which would largely ignore the events ofAlien 3andAlien: Resurrection. Fans went absolutely crazy for the artwork, which then got Fox’s attention. That led to the movie reportedly getting the green light, withSigourney Weaveron board set to reprise her role as Ripley and Michael Biehn as Hicks. The script was reportedly done, a script that James Cameron called “amazing.” However, before things could really get going, Ridley Scott decided that he finally wanted to make his follow-up toPrometheusand that is whereAlien 5stalled out.
The fact of the matter is thatAlienis Ridley Scott’s franchise. Even though he would have been a producer onAlien 5, it wouldn’t have really been his movie. At the time, that seemed like an okay thing for many fans, sincePrometheuswasn’t quite what many wanted it to be. But now thatAlien: Covenantlooks to be a return to form for the franchise, the fact thatAlien 5isn’t happening stings a lot less. Plus, Ridley Scott has stated that he has plans for quite a few moreAlien moviesfollowingAlien: Covenant. He will have one more prequel movie that leads us up to the events of the originalAlien, as well as another new trilogy of movies.
It is hard to know exactly who is right here and to what degree. Is there actually a completed script forAlien 5that Ridley Scott just didn’t see? Maybe we’ll never know, because it seems like this movie isn’t going to happen. Sigourney Weaver and Neill Blomkamp want to do it, but the director cast serious doubt on it earlier this year on Twitter, saying that the chances of it happening are “slim.” That is sad, but the good news is thatAlien: Covenantis set to hit theaters on May 19. So you will be able to get yourXenomorph actionin very soon, even withoutAlien 5.
