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Recently, director Ridley Scott made it known to the world that he’d still like to tackle a sequel to Alien: Covenant, and he has some ideas. But as Alien history has shown us in recent years, two different paths have been taken by the landmark sci-fi series. With the notion of an Alien 5 still in the air, and Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley being along for the ride, the legendary actor thinks that, maybe, it’s time to hang it up.
Her uncertainty comes from a recent interview with Empire, as while being profiled for their Heroes issue, Weaver gave the following notes on her feelings towards another turn at bat:
I don’t know. Ridley has gone in a different direction. Maybe Ripley has done her bit. She deserves a rest.
As also revealed in this interview, it looks like the Alien 5 that’s currently in play is from a treatment that franchise producer Walter Hill had shown to Sigourney Weaver a little over a year ago. This only further confirms that the really cool version that director Neill Blomkamp had in mind around the same time Alien: Covenant was going into production, is probably dead. That not only confirms the bad news everyone thought was on the vine with that particular sequel, but it’s more than likely the source for Sigourney Weaver’s reluctance to jump into the Alien 5 fray once again.
The Blomkamp variant of Alien 5 floated around for some time, with Weaver’s return to the series supposedly including a resurrection of Michael Biehn’s iconic character from Aliens, Corporal Dwayne Hicks. Both fans, and Sigourney Weaver herself, were really pumped for that version to move forward, which made its slow backslide into oblivion all the more upsetting.
For comparison, when Neil Blomkamp’s version of Alien 5 was on the tracks, Ms. Weaver was more than ready to tackle a true and fitting ending to Ellen Ripley’s story of Xenomorph murder and survival. But now, it sounds like she’s ready to let sleeping eggs lie, and have the Alien franchise progress in its own time and fashion.
At best, there’s a chance that maybe we’ll see Sigourney Weaver in some sort of de-aged cameo in Ridley Scott’s planned Alien prequels. Should the original plan remain for Scott’s half of the continuum, we might see the saga of Michael Fassbender’s David versus the Engineers directly connect to Ripley’s first visit to LV-426 in 1979’s Alien.
While the Alien saga is one of the priority franchises that came from their merger with Fox, there’s still no word as to where or when a sequel or prequel will show up. For now, Ripley and the Xenomorphs are still waiting in the darkness, in case they’re called to clash once more. Though, if Sigourney Weaver’s feelings are any indication, only one of those two parties will emerge in the near future, should that day come.
For now, if you’re interested in seeing the adventures of Ellen Ripley on a screen near you, Sigourney Weaver’s four Alien films are currently streaming on HBO Max. Not a subscriber yet? Check out the 7-day free trial offer that’ll let you see all the acid bloodshed you could hope for in an afternoon!
