In space, no one can hear you scream. That mantra has sold the Alien franchise through good and bad times for the better part of the last four decades. Fans have waited eagerly for news related to District 9 director Neill Blomkamp's potential installment in the long running sci-fi/horror series, and it seems that those close to the project share that insane level of excitement. Sigourney Weaver recently spoke out about Blomkamp's Alien 5, and her reaction should be enough to get any self-respecting Xenomorph fan excited.
During a recent interview with EW, Alien icon Sigourney Weaver opened up about the nature of Alien 5 and expressed profound excitement for the project's narrative. She said:
It's a great story and it's satisfying to me to give this woman an ending... The script itself has so much in it that's so original, but also really satisfies the, I would say, the primal needs of the aliens. It's a tribute to all of the great work that the other directors have done, in a way, but goes in a completely new direction. I hope we'll do it.
So it seems that, despite the long wait, Neill Blomkamp's Aliens sequel will be worth the wait if it manages to make it to the silver screen. As a proper follow-up to James Cameron's Aliens (meaning that it will only acknowledge the first 2 Alien films) Alien 5 will explore the Xenomorphs in unprecedented ways, and dig deeper into the motivations of the slimy beasts. While this could potentially take away some of the mystique enjoyed by the creatures, it could also up a whole new world within the Alien mythology if done right.
Fans of the Alien franchise will find it endlessly refreshing to learn that Neill Blomkamp has every intention of honoring the vision of directors who have come before him. Although the quality of the Xenomorph-based adventures has seemed somewhat hit or miss over the years, there's no denying that the Alien franchise has generally managed to attract prestigious directors. From series originator Ridley Scott, to James Cameron, and even David Fincher; each of these men have brought something unique to the series, and it looks like Alien 5 will honor those contributions -- even if the film ignores certain aspects of the continuity.
Of course, at this point it's worth noting that Neill Blomkamp's Aliens sequel remains more hypothetical than practical. With Ridley Scott currently working on another entry in the series titled Alien: Covenant (slated to hit theaters next year) and Sigourney Weaver committed to several Avatar films, it's unclear when (or even if) Ellen Ripley's next adventure will even come to fruition. Sigourney Weaver seems confident in the project's potential and excited by its script, so our hopes remain high that we will finally receive a proper follow-up to James Cameron's Aliens.
We have a long way to go before Neill Blomkamp's Alien 5 can make it to theaters, but it sounds like it will be worth the wait. Stay tuned for more details related to the project, and make sure to check out Ridley Scott's Alien: Covenant when it hits theaters on August 4, 2017.
