Since their collaboration on the really rather disappointing Chappie last year, Sigourney Weaver and director Neill Blomkamp have become attached to a new entry in the Alien canon that’s currently going by the unofficial name of Alien 5. Picking up the story strands from James Cameron’s 1986 sci-fi masterclass, and promising a fitting conclusion to the arc of one Ellen Ripley, 20th Century Fox has quietly placed Blomkamp’s embryonic sequel on the back-burner to double down on the release of Alien: Covenant, the next entry in the franchise that will continue to flesh out Ridley Scott’s prequel trilogy off the back of Prometheus.
Now that Scott’s vision has taken precedence, questions marks have been raised as to whether Weaver and Blomkamp will ever reconvene to fire up production on Alien 5 – or, more accurately, if they will ever find space on Fox’s stacked slate. In short, production schedules can be a logistical nightmare for all involved, and that’s something Weaver herself touched base on during a recent interview.
Per Variety: “He has got work to do, and I have things going on. I hope we do get to do it,” she said. “It’s one of those things we wanted to do this past year, but I think Ridley [Scott] didn’t want them all coming out at the same time.”
Coming off the back of A Monster Calls, Sigourney Weaver will soon be making a surprise return to James Cameron’s Avatar universe in time for its many sequels. Neill Blomkamp’s slate is relatively sparse by comparison, but it remains to be seen if Fox can make the stars align in the not-so-distant future.
With Alien 5 simmering on the back-burner at 20th Century Fox, the studio has its sights firmly placed on Alien: Covenant. Helmed by Ridley Scott, the sequel recently wrapped principal photography ahead of its expected launch on August 4, 2017.