For a while last year, it seemed as though the next film in the Alien franchise would come from Neill Blomkamp, who teased his take on a Xenomorph movie with concept art featuring Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley and Michael Biehn's Cpl. Dwayne Hicks. But as Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant picked up speed, Blomkamp's film was put on the back burner. That doesn't mean it still isn't cooking, though, as Sigourney Weaver recently offered an optimistic update on Blomkamp's Alien movie, aka Alien 5.
According to AvPGalaxy (via Aggressive Comix), when asked about the status of Alien 5 while speaking at a VMware event, Weaver shared her continued enthusiasm for the project and discussed whether or not it is still moving forward:
“Well, I *think* it is. Ridley asked Neill NOT to make our Alien til after Prometheus 2. He (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.”
Weaver seems confident that it's not a matter of if, but when Blomkamp's Alien movie will get made. The actress previously worked with Blomkamp on 2015's Chappie (2015), and it sounds like she's eager to continue working with the District 9 writer/director, both on Alien 5 and other projects.
Scheduled for an August 4th, 2017 release, Scott's Alien: Covenant is a follow-up film to 2012's Prometheus, and has been described as the second of three planned prequels to 1979's Alien. Blomkamp’s Alien 5, on the other hand, was originally expected to take place sometime in the Ellen Ripley cinematic timeline, at least after the events of Aliens.
With April 26th's Alien Day fast approaching, fans will have to wait and see if 20th Century Fox makes any official announcements about Alien 5, but in the meantime, Weaver's words are encouraging for those who were excited to see the Alien universe through Blomkamp’s vision. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more details.