If I had a nickel for every film that fell through in Hollywood, I’d be as rich as those jerks at Weyland Yutani. Thus was the case for District 9 director Neill Blomkamp’s once highly anticipated sequel, Alien 5. At the time of development, Sigourney Weaver was set to reprise her role as Ripley, alongside Michael Biehn as Corporal Hicks. The character of Newt would’ve also returned, in a plot that would have retconned the events of Alien 3.
The opening scene deaths of both Hicks and Newt have long been a fan criticism of Alien 3. So, the concept of them returning in a new film from the visionary director had us all drooling like xenomorphs. But alas, it didn’t happen. And now we’re learning that Weaver believes there’s one main culprit for the death of Alien 5…series creator, Ridley Scott.
According to The Playlist, Weaver attended a screening of Alien earlier this month and participated in a Q&A at a Career Masterclass panel at the Cinémathèque Française in Paris, France. There, she spoke out on why she thinks Alien 5 fell through, pointing to Ridley Scott’s prequels and his “possessive” hold on the franchise.
Said Weaver, “Yes. Well, I think like many of us, I was a big admirer of Neill. His movie was so striking, and I worked with him on a movie called Chappie. And I loved working with Neil, and he had this idea of bringing Ripley and Newt back. It was a wonderful script, and unfortunately, it was at that point I think that Ridley Scott decided to be very possessive about the series and really drilled down on his prequels. And so I think it was a disaster for that project. We were never able to… I think Neil, in fact, just gave up, and he’s so talented. I wish him all the best“.
Well, that sure is disappointing. Personally, I’m a fan of Scott’s Prometheus, and Alien: Covenant has its charms. Still, what Blomkamp had in mind sounds truly spectacular.
Weaver revealed some of those details during the Q&A. “Actually, Walter Hill has written about 50 pages. Maybe, by now, he’s written more about where Ripley might be now. And although I’ve never particularly wanted to go back to the series, there’s something about her experience being sidelined now, probably by this society, by this company, by this world, and being probably around 200 years old, but still Ripley, and you know, presumably these problems still out there. So I’m going to see what happens with Walter’s script. It would not be like what we’ve seen tonight. It would not be running around through airshafts. It would be a very different kind of story.”
Watch the full interview with Weaver here:
At this point, we’ll likely never see what Blomkamp had in store for audiences, nor does it seem we can expect Scott’s third prequel film any time soon. But at least we have Alien: Earth keeping the franchise ticking in the meantime. Let’s hope that leads to renewed interest in Hill’s script down the line.
https://ift.tt/CLgil8M https://ift.tt/xrWbf4A
No comments:
Post a Comment