Around this time last year, everyone lost their collective cool when Neill Blomkamp teased a potential Alien sequel. Remember all that amazing concept art? It was a glorious time to be an Alien fan, especially when Ridley Scott came onboard to produce the movie along with his own Prometheus sequel. And then, our excitement quickly faded as Scott put his foot down, and bumped Blomkamp's flick in favor of his own retooled movie - now going by the name Alien: Covenant. While Blomkamp's sequel is currently "kinda holding/pending", according to Ripley herself, that doesn't mean it's off the table.
Speaking at an event for software company VMWare, Sigourney Weaver assures fans that the movie is still happening. “Well, I think it is. Ridley asked Neill not to make our Alien ’til after ‘Prometheus 2.’ [Ridley] wanted his movie to shoot and be released first. But it’s an amazing script, and Neill and I are really excited about doing it. We’re doing other things until we can get going on that. I’d be really surprised if we didn’t do it, because it’s such a great script, and we love working together. So, it’s just going to take a little bit longer to get out to you, but it’ll be worth the wait.”
Blomkamp's proposed idea slots into Fox's plans for a larger, interconnected Alien universe. The sequel is poised to take place between the events of Aliens and Alien 3, splintering off into a timeline where Hicks and Newt survived. Michael Biehn says he's been contacted to reprise his role, as he features heavily in the concept art, and that the movie would include a late-twenties version of Newt. Blomkamp did go to some lengths to make clear that it won't completely ignore what happens in Alien 3 - hence the added mystery.
The film was originally scheduled to hit theaters in 2017, before Scott's prequel sauntered into view and nabbed that spot on the calendar. So if Weaver and Blomkamp do get the go-ahead for Ripley's next xenomorph adventure, we probably won't see it on the big screen until 2019.
Images: Fox
