When you think of the Alien franchise, the Xenomorphs are one of their first images that will likely pop into your mind. Those terrifying beasts have been the primary antagonists across nearly the entire film series, and they've firmly cemented themselves as one of cinema's greatest monsters since the first Alien movie was released in 1979. However, it appears that director Ridley Scott has grown tired of the Xenomorphs, as evidenced by the below quote where he suggests that it may not be long before they're taken off the proverbial table for good. In his words:
So we went to Covenant to perpetuate the idea and re-evolve the universe of the alien, who --- I think the beast has almost run out, personally. You've got to come in with something else. You've got to replace that. And so I was right, I was ahead of the game.
During a recent roundtable interview with THR, Ridley Scott was asked how he decides between whether to direct a project or produce it, as he chose the former with Alien: Covenant and the latter with Blade Runner 2049. After talking about his "crossfire of business" and how busy he's been, Scott mentioned how it was "good business" to follow through on what he'd started with Prometheus, and from there, he briefly addressed the future of the Xenomorphs in the Alien franchise. Scott is planning on returning for the next installment of this series, so it appears likely that said movie will finally wrap up the creatures' "story," and if the series continues beyond that, it would focus on other threats. Of course, given that both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant are both prequels to the original Alien movies, chronologically-speaking, the Xenomorph reign of terror is only just getting started.
Warning: SPOILERS for Alien: Covenant are ahead!
More than 30 years after Alien's release, Ridley Scott returned to the franchise to helm 2012's Prometheus. In stark contrast with the previous Alien movies, Prometheus didn't include the Xenomorphs, instead choosing to focus on brand-new monsters, the Engineers and Michael Fassbender's David causing trouble. While Alien: Covenant followed up on several Prometheus plot threads, it also opted to move closer to the classic Alien mythology, and it was revealed in the sequel that the android David is the one who created the Xenomorphs. Similarly to Prometheus, Alien: Covenant earned mixed reviews, and commercially it underperformed, earning over $240 million worldwide off a $97 million budget.
As it stands now, Alien: Covenant 2 is in development, and Ridley Scott said earlier this year that with the "evolution of the Alien himself nearly over," the next story, which will lead directly into the original Alien movies, will focus even more on the AI characters. We here at CinemaBlend will keep you updated on what's in store for the Alien franchise, be it Xenomorph-related or something else, as more updates come in. For now, take a look through our 2018 movie guide to see what's being released in theaters next year.
