The Internet was abuzz last year when it was announced that District 9 and Chappie director Neill Blomkamp was working with 20th Century Fox on a new sequel to Alien starring Sigourney Weaver and Micheal Biehn, but it now looks like that movie is in trouble.
Following the announcement that Ridley Scott was making three sequels to his movie Prometheus, set in the Alien universe before the first film, and that it was now titled Alien: Paradise Lost, fans began to wonder just how Fox would handle to Alien franchises being developed at the same time.
The answer: they’re not.
Taking to Twitter, Blomkamp announced that Alien 5 was on hold pending Alien: Paradise Lost and that he was leaving to do other things. He hasn’t officially left the project, but he certainly won’t be working on Alien 5 for the foreseeable future. It had previously been revealed that the announcement of Alien: Paradise Lost had forced Blomkamp to change the story he’d penned for Alien 5.
alien is kinda holding/ pending prometheus 2. So I shall be working on other things… as much as I love the xeno- and Lt ripley
— Иeill BlomkΛmp (@NeillBlomkamp) October 30, 2015
SEE ALSO – Paradise Lost: The Already Troubled Production History of Neill Blomkamp’s Alien 5
This is another blow for Blomkamp’s relationship with 20th Century Fox. The two were set to work together on the big screen adaptation of Halo, which ultimately never happened. And complications in their relationship during the film’s development meant that Blomkamp swore to never work with them again.
Originally published October 30, 2015. Updated April 15, 2018.
