A direct sequel to Aliens in which an older Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) fights against — and alongside — the xenomorphs will probably never happen. Since 2015, fans have been hopeful that District 9 director Neill Blomkamp’s vision of an Alien sequel could happen, but now, Alien mastermind himself, Ridley Scott says “it will never see the light of day.”
In an interview published on April 27, on the French site AlloCine, Scott responded to questions about the in-development project. Acknowledging that he had to “participate as a producer,” Scott shot down the idea that the Blomkamp idea would get off the ground. “There was never a scenario, just an idea that evolved into a pitch of ten pages … it did not go any further.”
Back in 2015, the internet blew up with excitement when Blomkamp shared concept art for his vision of an Alien sequel while promoting his then-upcoming movie, Chappie. The proposed film would have taken place after the film Aliens and ignore the events of Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection. One of the biggest aspects of the film seemed to be idea of adapting the basic nature of the xenomorphs for human use.
In the art, Ripley is seen in a kind of human-alien hybrid suit, while another piece of concept art shows the threatening xenomorphs being used by humans via remote control, not unlike the “good” velociraptors of Jurassic World.
Because the newer Alien films — like Prometheus and Covenant — take place in a time period well before the first Alien film, literally none of these Blomkamp concepts are likely to surface in a forthcoming film, at least while Ridley Scott is in charge. In another interview, the director said he wouldn’t rule out using a digitally de-aged Sigourney Weaver in one of the upcoming prequels. Which means a future for Ripley beyond the events already witnessed seems impossible.
Alien: Covenant opens in wide release on May 19, 2017.
