The ‘Alien’ franchise was in a much different place a year ago. At the time, fans were expecting Ridley Scott to round out a trilogy (at least) of films that he had kicked off five years earlier with ‘Prometheus’ while Neill Blomkamp went to work on a much anticipated followup to ‘Aliens’. Blomkamp’s film was set to be a direct sequel to James Cameron’s 1986 classic, ignoring the decidedly less beloved ‘Alien 3‘ and ‘Alien: Resurrection’.
Unfortunately, it was not to be. After two years and incalculable anticipation among ‘Alien’ films, the project was canned, apparently in favor of Ridley Scott’s efforts. Since then, some fans have held out hope that the film may somehow find its way to fruition, especially after the decidedly mixed response to Scott’s ‘Alien: Covenant’. Blomkamp, however, would seem to have put the notion to bed. After sharing pieces of concept art on Twitter (as he is wont to do), the director responded to a fan’s question by confirming that he has, in fact, moved on:
“Yes. I have moved on. What I meant was that I wish there was a way for fans to see some of what we had designed. It was an amazing chance to work in the world Ridley and James Cameron created. And collaborate with Sigourney.”
Beyond Blomkamp’s abortive sequel, the events of the past year have served to cast the future of the ‘Alien’ franchise as a whole into doubt. While there will certainly be more ‘Alien’ movies sooner or later, the underperformance of (and tepid fan response to) ‘Alien: Covenant’ has reportedly lead Fox to reconsider the current direction of the franchise, which had been heavily invested in Ridley Scott’s prequel films. While Scott may well get to continue his story (he’s certainly made no secret of his desire to do exactly that), the sudden uncertainty of that prospect combined with the cancellation of Blomkamp’s sequel makes it difficult to make even an educated guess at what to expect from the series.
For more on future ‘Alien’ films, be sure to check back with ScienceFiction.com has it becomes available!
