Before Ridley Scott decided to take another stab at the franchise with last year’s Alien: Covenant, District 9 filmmaker Neill Blomkamp was looking to revive the series with a direct sequel to Aliens, which would have seen Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn reprising their roles from the 1986 movie as Ripley and Hicks.
Unfortunately, the project was put on the back burner in favour of Scott’s movie, which ultimately disappointed at the box office, leaving the series in limbo once again. However, if you’re hoping that means we might get to see Blomkamp’s sequel after all, we have some bad news for you as the filmmaker has told Joblo that he believes “its time has come and gone”.
“Yeah, I mean, I wish I could share more, but obviously Fox owns it. It’s just an unfortunate thing. I speak to Sigourney about it sometimes. At this point, it’s kinda like the fire that was burning within me to make that is gone. Stepping outside of even the legal kind of studio-based politics I just feel like its time has come and gone. So, yeah…I think no. And I say that really reluctantly because I cannot state how much of a fan of Sigourney I am and how much of a fan I am of Alien and Aliens and the idea of doing a sequel to James Cameron’s film is amazing on all levels. But, there’s a point at which when you’re years into it you have to move on. So, I think that has happened to me.”
Prior to the release of Covenant, Ridley Scott had announced his intention to make a number of additional sequels taking the story through to the original Alien movie. However, those plans now appear to be on hold, and with Disney in the process of acquiring 20th Century Fox’s film assets, the future of the franchise is looking uncertain at present.
