MOVIE NEWS – Director Neill Blomkamp has revealed his reaction to the cancellation of the Alien sequel, which would have seen the return of Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley.

 

 

Director Neill Blomkamp reveals how he felt about the cancellation of his potential Alien sequel. The film, which would have starred Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley. At the time the film was in development, the Alien franchise returned to the big screen after 15 years with the 2012 Ridley Scott-directed prequel Prometheus. Despite the high anticipation surrounding the film’s announcement and promising teasers, Blomkamp’s sequel was scrapped.

Now that Blomkamp’s Gran Turismo film adaptation is set to hit theatres in August, the director reflected on his 2010s career with Empire magazine and discussed several abandoned projects, including the abandoned Alien sequel.

Alien: Xeno, originally intended as the fifth instalment in the franchise and starring Weaver’s Ripley, was cancelled along with two sequels to the 2015 sci-fi film Chappie. Although the series of cancellations hit the director hard, Blomkamp took the opportunity to reassess his career goals. Instead, he decided to set up Oats Studio to develop his own ideas.

“The stuff that’s hit me the hardest in my own career are the projects that didn’t get made – Alien, predominantly.”

[He could have kept working within the US film system] “… if I was more of a McDonald’s, Burger King-type studio-lackey director that makes one film every year or every 1.5 years… Naturally, I’m an artist who doesn’t play the Hollywood game. When I left, I thought about things and came back with a different point of view about how I’m going to approach Hollywood.”

 

How would Alien: Xeno have changed the trajectory of the franchise?

 

Although Alien: Xeno was abandoned early in development, Alien fans have gained significant insight into how Neill Blomkamp’s film would have changed the franchise. The concept art for Alien: Xeno not only hinted at the return of Ripley but also suggested the return of Michael Biehn Hicks and an older Newt. This would have presumably negated their off-screen deaths in Alien 3 (and perhaps the entire film). It would have set the franchise narrative in a new continuity. As well as the return of old favourite characters, concept art also showed new types of Xenomorphs, jungle-like environments, factions of mercenary groups and deadly androids.

While Blomkamp’s sequel was cancelled, the franchise continued with Ridley Scott’s second planned prequel, Alien: Covenant. The poor box office performance of Scott’s sequel, however, resulted in the franchise lying dormant under Fox for several years. Scott’s plans for the series remained unfinished.

Following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox, it has been confirmed that several new titles in the Alien franchise are in development, including a film directed by Fede Álvarez and a TV series to be broadcast by Noah Hawley on FX.

For many longtime Alien fans, Blomkamp’s rejected Alien: Xeno will always remain a missed opportunity. It wasn’t just the franchise that missed out on the celebrated sci-fi director’s vision. Ripley’s return would have fit perfectly alongside other recent cinematic returns of horror icons, including 2018’s Halloween and 2022’s Scream. While Blomkamp and viewers may wonder what could have been, the experience has helped the director decide how he thinks his career should shape up going forward.

Source: Empire Magazine