OK, that was fast. Neill Blomkamp just spoke to Entertainment Weekly and offered no details about his “Alien” reboot, other than confirming it contains Sigourney Weaver’s iconic Ripley character, which some assumed from the concept art, but hey, concept art is sometimes just that.
Given that Blomkamp and Weaver are doing the press rounds for his upcoming sci-fi film, “Chappie,” more and more details are starting to surface. Is it a sequel, a prequel, something in an alternate universe with Ripley? It’s unclear, but it seems as if it negates the chronology of “Aliens 3” and “Alien: Resurrection,” much like the way “Terminator: Genisys” ignores the third and fourth installments of that series.
“I want this film to feel like it is literally the genetic sibling of ‘Aliens,’ so it’s ‘Alien,’ ‘Aliens’ and then this film,” Blomkamp said in a SkyMovies interview. Interestingly enough, both Blomkamp and Weaver use some finality in their language — at least for Ripley’s story.
Weaver expressed her desire to “take Ripley out of… sort of orbiting around in space and give a proper finish to what was such an excellent story.” She then said her discussion on the set of “Chappie” became interesting when Blomkamp said, “Well, I’m interested in finishing the story,” a comment which left Weaver’s “ears perked up.”
“It’s a Freudian nightmare,” Blomkamp said. “That element to me is what is so appealing; to put the audience on the edge of their seat the whole time in a traditional, monster-stalking-you, dark-corridor-way. I love that. It’s a powder keg of creativity for me.”
Later on, Weaver says once again, “It’s a great series and it deserves a proper ending—I know the fans would love that.”
So no new trilogy? Surely you jest. Though who’s to say this film can’t end with Ripley and then spawn off… a new generation? Yeah, that sounds pretty contrived, but we’ll live in the moment and get semi-excited about Ripley’s return one last time.