While Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens remain two of the greatest examples of science fiction in cinematic history, the sequels Alien3 and Alien Resurrection don’t exactly have the shiniest reputations. As such, it’s pretty easy to argue that Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley never really got the send-off that she deserved in the franchise, but that’s an issue, it seems, that Weaver and director Neill Blomkamp are eager to do away with forever in the next chapter of the series.
Both the actress and the director are currently on the promotional tour for Chappie - their soon-to-be-released first collaboration – and it was while speaking with Sky Movies that they revealed some very interesting information about the direction of the recently-announced Alien film currently in development. Specifically, Weaver lamented that the sci-fi franchise never really delivered her legendary character the resolution she deserved, and she revealed that part of the new movie’s plan is to do just that. Said the actress,
I would love to take Ripley from sort of orbiting around in space and give a finish to what as such an excellent story. So when someone like Neill Blomkamp suddenly said, ‘Well, I’m interested in finishing this story,’ my little ears perked up.
She added that she is still very much a fan of the Alien series, and added, rather bluntly, "It deserves a proper ending. I know the fans would love that."
This is seemingly a confirmation that the new Alien movie will be set a little later in the franchise timeline, but Neill Blomkamp took that a step further in the interview by noting where the movie fits in with the legacy of the series. He revealed,
I want this film to feel like it is literally feel like it is the genetic sibling of Aliens. So it’s Alien, Aliens, this movie.
It’s an interesting quote, if not only because there are multiple interpretations of what he means. If he’s talking about continuity connectivity, there is a suggestion that that he may be just straight up ignoring the events that occurred in Alien3 and Alien Resurrection, and instead move the story in a different direction than what was already established. Conversely, he could be talking more about feel and tone, which means that the lesser-loved movies will still be canon. Until more information becomes available about the new film, it’s hard to say for certain.
In addition to talking about making a proper ending for Ripley, and the new Alien film’s connection to the original classics, Sigourney Weaver and Neill Blomkamp also touched on how they started talking about doing the movie together and what it is that draws the filmmaker to the material. You can watch them talk about the project in the video bleow.
There still isn’t much information available about Neill Blomkamp’s Alien movie, but given that it is now one of our most anticipated projects, you can be sure that we’ll be reporting a lot more about it in the future.
